Schumacher Place Community

Spring Street Scene

Carol Haley's tree on the corner of Beech Street and Stanley Avenue has my nomination to be disignated a Schumacher Place landmark.

SWACO Recycles Household Hazardous Waste this Saturday

SWACO will hold the first Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) mobile collection of 2008 this Saturday April 26, 2008.  The collection will run from 8am-2pm in Dublin in the parking lot of Ashland Inc., 5200 Blazer memorial Parkway.

Franklin County residents may bring their old gasoline, lighter fluid,thinners, pool chemicals, paint, fluorescent light bulbs, etc. to the site.  However, people can save time in line at the collections, by drying out their old latex paint.  Once the water evaporates from latex paint, it is no longer considered hazardous and can be disposed of in the trash.  Cat litter, sawdust, and commercial hardening products all work to speed the drying of latex paints.  Residents can see a detailed list of accepted and non accepted items as well as a complete list of collection dates at www.swaco.org.

SWACO also provides a permanent HHW collection site at 1249 Essex Ave.  It is open on Wednesdays 2pm-7pm and Thursdays 9am-5pm (summer hours). 

In 2007, SWACO’s mobile HHW drives netted 1.2-million pounds of material from 12,500 households. That is an increase of about 200,000 pounds from 2006.

...

John Remy
Director of Communications
SWACO
The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio
614-801-6410 (office) 614-203-5966 (cell)
614-871-5103 (fax)
4239 London-Groveport Rd.
Grove City, OH 43123-9518
www.swaco.org

Letter from the President

(photo: what a difference a month makes, top picture April 24,2008, bottom picture May 8th 2008)

This winter season has certainly been unpredictable. March 8 will certainly be a memorable day. The snow just kept coming and coming. I think the best part of this storm was how our residents were concerned about one another. Each time that we were out, I noticed folks pitching in to be sure that snow was getting moved off sidewalks and cars were getting through.

Jim Million ran his snow blower for hours up and down Ebner Street and on to the side streets to clear walkways. Another resident on Stanley was out with his snow blower, too. One of our neighbors had a medical emergency that required him to get to Grant Hospital. Baby sitting was needed for their 2 sick children while we made the hospital run. Dar Buck came to the rescue and watched the children. EJ Jones dug out a parking space so we would be available to provide transportation back and forth to Grant.

Finally, at six PM, the snow stopped. The sun peaked through the clouds and a beautiful winter wonderland was revealed. Isn't it refreshing how no one was really complaining but admiring the beauty of the snow? Do you think that our attitude would have been different if this storm would have come in on January 8? Perhaps, the thought that Spring really is just around the corner has something to do with it.

How many of us walked to Giant Eagle to get groceries? Isn't it amazing how we can walk to the store during inclement weather, but drive one or two blocks in perfectly good weather. I am a big offender of that myself. Even though the lines at the store were long, everyone seemed positive and happy to share a story about the snow in their part of the neighborhood.

I am always happy to say that I think Schumacher Place is a great neighborhood. As one of my neighbors so aptly stated: "It is great to be in an urban neighborhood. We can walk to get groceries, walk our children to school, even walk to Grant Hospital. You just can't do that in the suburbs."

Thank you to all our residents that go the extra distance. You make Schumacher Place a great place to live!

-Linda Welch

Spring is here!

Spring is here and nowhere is it more obvious than in Schumacher Place.  Our streets are lined with blooming trees and yards bursting with color.  If you have a Spring photo you would like to share, please email it to this site.

Zoning Update

(looking onto the lot on the corner of Beck Street and Beech Street)

A variance request for 445 East Beck Street was presented at the February meeting.  The variance would reduce the minimum rear yard requirement from 25% of the total lot area to 12% to allow for the construction of a two-story single-family dwelling with a two-car attached garage.  The property to be developed is a newly created lot from a split of the property at 642 South Ninth that was allowed by the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) in April 2006.  A spirited discussion took place over what seemed to be a simple request to improve a vacant lot.  However, it was evident that there is still frustration in the neighborhood over the original BZA decision that resulted in the creation of these two small lots that do not meet the zoning code and in the loss of nearly all of the green space that was present on the original lot. While the new owners were not part of that request, they were certainly made aware that their property has a stormy history that is still a source of contention for some of the area’s residents.

In addition to the loss of green space, the creation of curb cuts, buildings out of scale to the lot size, unrealistic speculation that some investors have about resale value of newly developed properties, and broken promises made to neighbors were all cited as re-occurring themes in variance requests that don’t always produce the positive results for the neighborhood that are promoted by applicants seeking approval for their projects.  Although it wasn’t mentioned at the meeting these are the kinds of issues that could be addressed more effectively if Schumacher Place was designated a neighborhood conservation district, which the City of Columbus has recently agreed to allow in a few pilot neighborhoods.

Following the discussion a vote was taken and the majority of members present approved the variance request, while several members voted in opposition or abstained.  A letter stating that SPCA supported the request was sent to the BZA which approved the request as presented on February 26.           

by Marlene Kromer

Polly has been FOUND!

Lost March 30th from Elsmere St. Polly is 6 years old, spayed, with no front claws. She is black with yellow eyes and should have been wearing a yellow collar with tags. She's very friendly and "vocal".

I'd just like to know she's ok! UPDATE: Just wanted to let you know my cat has been found! A woman on E Beck called me on Saturday to say that she was in her yard. After just shy of 3 weeks, she’s home safe and sound (if a little thin) Thanks for your help in posting the notice! -Andrea