5-26 Canal Winchester

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May 26, 2011

Waterloo Crossing

Chipotle eyes outlet site at plaza By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Chipotle will occupy one of the first outlots in front of Walmart at Waterloo Crossing, according Canal Winchester development director Chris Strayer. “Chipotle has agreed to come into Canal Winchester,” Strayer said. “Over the next couple of months, they’ll be going through our approval processes

with planning commission, engineering and building permits so they can start construction.” Strayer had been expecting the planning commission to consider the project in June, but now expects it to be heard in July. “We have not had a formal application yet,” he said. “The last meeting was an informal hearing, to show the planning commission here’s what the build-

ing is going to look like, here’s what the site plan is, to start to get an idea and ask questions. The deadline for the June hearing was (Monday), so they will be coming in for the July planning commission meeting.” Strayer said the second anchor for the plaza is Staples, which has broken ground and should be complete before fall. “The outlots in front of Walmart have

not been developed yet,” he said. “The anchor is Walmart, then a mid-sized anchor is the Staples going in as well. It has broken ground and I believe they are trying to get it done by midsummer, August.” Strayer said the Gender Road retail corridor not only serves the city but also is a large drawing area. “It’s a retail corridor for us, a shopping district not only for Canal Win-

chester but the whole southeastern Franklin County region,” he said. “It’s substantially retail. There is some office and professional service sprinkled in there.” Chipotle will join other restaurants in the area, including Butch’s, Las Margaritas, Cool Cravings and others. The Chipotle will be located across West See CHIPOTLE, page A2

Weather delays pool painting

MUSIC AND ART IN THE PARK

City facility opens June 4 under first private manager By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers

nounced $3.7-million budget reduction plan for the 2011-2012 school year, Superintendent Kimberley Miller-Smith said. The plan includes eliminating 49 jobs, including 27 teaching positions, and increasing students’ extracurricular activity fees from $140 to $300 for the next school year. The fees will increase again to

The Canal Winchester Municipal Pool at 180 Groveport Road opens June 4, operating for the first time under private management. “This is the first year the contract has been awarded to Columbus Pool Management,” community affairs administrator Carrie Hoover said. City council had awarded a A closer look contract to paint the pool this month, but the The pool will be open daily wet weather has from noon to 8 p.m., but the made painting facility will stay open for an impractical be- additional two weeks, fore opening Hoover said. The pool day. closed Aug. 22 in 2010, but “It became the last day this year will be apparent, as we Sept. 4. continued to have rain on a pretty much daily basis, it would not happen,” said Bill Sims, Canal Winchester’s construction services manager. “You need to have at least five dry days and we just have not had that.” Public works director Matt Peoples said the painting would be done at the end of the season, after

See BOARD, page A2

See WEATHER, page A2

By Eric George/ThisWeek

(From right) Jacob Williamson, 11, and Robert Warren paint at the Music and Art in the Park at Stradley Place plaza May 20. In celebration of Canal Winchester’s new city status, free commemorative T-shirts and strawberry shortcake were given away.

Board makes no decision about levy By CHRIS BOURNEA ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Canal Winchester Board of Education has not yet made a final decision about placing a levy on the November ballot. Board members and district officials discussed the possibility during a special meeting Monday night, May 23, but did not take action.

“Board members discussed options,” said Bridget Krueger, the district’s family and civic engagement coordinator. “It was just fact-finding.” If the board ultimately decides to proceed with the November levy, it will be a second attempt to renew the two-year, $6.4-million emergency levy that was approved in May 2009. The levy expires at the end of the year. On May 3, the renewal levy failed by

50 votes, a margin of 50.71 to 49.29 percent, or 1,784 “no” votes and 1,734 “yes” votes, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections. The district has until Aug. 10 to file paperwork for the November levy with the elections board. Whether or not the school board opts to move forward with the November levy, the district will proceed with implementing a previously an-

Recurring rain delays Violet Township dog park opening By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers Record rain in April, compounded by a continuing onslaught of water from the heavens over central Ohio, have wreaked havoc on everything from local crop planting and spring baseball and softball games to the renovation and opening of numerous area parks. According to the National Weather

Service, the Columbus area received 7.14 inches of rain last month, beating previous rainfall records for April. Forecasters say chances are good for a rainfilled May. Already, 4.3 inches of rain have fallen — 2 inches more than normal. The wetness has upset farmers’plans, kept people indoors and kept local dogs and their owners out of Fairfield County’s new public dog park in Violet Town-

ship. Township officials and the volunteer group, Friends of the Violet Township Dog Park, have planned for more than two years for the construction of an 8.9acre public dog park at the corner of Pickerington and Stemen roads. It will be the only one in the county. The Friends also have raised money — approximately $42,000 — to match the township’s share of the project in

hopes of having the park open this spring. Yet Mother Nature continues to bog down the project. “Weather has pushed the opening date back,” said Bill Yaple, Violet Township’s director of operations. “The real problem is there was some reseeding of grass done in the last month. Because of the cool, wet weather we’ve had, the root structure just hasn’t de-

veloped.” Rather than turning dogs and their owners loose on the park and risking uprooting the grass seed — something Yaple said would turn the park into a mud pit and likely lead to another reseeding effort — the township continues to restrict access to the area. Yaple said a few other finishing touchSee DOG PARK, page A2

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Annie, a Chihuahua mix, is up for adoption at ADOPT Pet Rescue in Westerville. For information on adopting Annie, visit ADOPT’s website: adoptpetrescue.org. Watch a video of Annie at ThisWeekNEWS.com.

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