MOUNT VERNON — Installing a waterline from the city water plant along Harcourt Road to the school bus garage is expected by many to increase the amount of development in the area.
Joel Mazza said Harcourt Road is poised for an explosion of commercial development. He is a partner in MAFI LLC, a development and advertising company out of Columbus. MAFI LLC owns the property at 564 Harcourt Road, the location of the old tractor supply store. The company recently completed the construction of 10,500-square-foot retail center, half of which will be leased to Fastenal, a national company that sells industrial and construction supplies such as fasteners. He said as soon as the ground was broken on the property, he was bombarded by calls from parties interested in leasing the building, and from national chain restaurants in particular. Mazza said city water is the only thing missing.
“Without water we are just sitting on our hands waiting,” Mazza said. “And these guys don’t want to pull the trigger and I can understand that.”
He said there are discussions under way between developers and property owners in the area, and national chain stores. Ideas for possibile developments range from retail stores to national restaurants and a grocery store, Mazza said.
Rick Fisher, Mazza’s business partner, said it only makes sense to grow toward Columbus, as Centerburg has done.
“As soon as water goes in, [development] is going to grow that way and there’s room to grow that way,” said Fisher.
He said the only reason why the Coshocton Avenue area has grown as it has is because it happened to have access to city water.
Tim Theophilus, president of InfoLink, a tech consulting company located on Pittsburgh Avenue, said he would also like to see commerce built up along the Harcourt Road area, rather than on Coshocton Avenue. He recently bought the property at 1095 Harcourt Road, the location of the former Austin Bradley property.
Theophilus said he has been in communication with restaurant chains that have expressed interest because of the high traffic count in the area. If the right tenant comes along, he said, he would be willing to run a line from the property and tap into city waterlines on Columbus Road. The 4.14-acre property is the home of a 12,000-square-foot office building, two warehouse buildings and a barn. Theophilus said he wants to have the barn moved to another location.
Clinton Township Trustee Terry King said he is skeptical about the idea, mainly because so much of the Harcourt Road is already developed.
“I’ve heard that, too — gosh, as soon as that waterline comes in, this area is going to explode,” said King. “But that waterline only goes to the bus garage. Where is all this development going to go? Unless someone comes in and buys a lot of property and tears it down, where are they going to build?”
King said the board of trustees is in favor of commercial and retail development in the area. The trustees have taken steps to make sure that what development does take place unfolds according to a well-thought-out plan that meets the township’s standards. He said that is why the trustees changed their zoning ordinance to allow for a “Main Thoroughfare Corridor.”
This MTC section in the zoning can help the township manage the number of driveways accessing the main thoroughfare and opens the door for share access or service roads. He said a developer’s plan for a new project may have to allow for a service road.
“The MTC zoning which was adopted as part of the Clinton Township zoning text is very strict,” said King. “It is not to keep the developer from coming in. It’s to what comes in and says, ‘hey, what can we do to make this to everybody’s satisfaction.”
Clinton Township has no comprehensive plan, but has worked with planners to help guide and control development in the Harcourt Road area — and elsewhere in the township — in a responsible way. King said the board of trustees, both the current board and recent boards, have tried to follow the recommendations the planner set forth.
The waterline extension was the main topic discussed at the August meeting of the Knox County Regional Planning Commission. The members of the commission’s Land Use Committee agreed that the installation of the waterline will increase commercial and retail activity along Harcourt Road. According to the committee’s report, the presence of city water will help provide more reliable and potable water to an area with 11 privately owned water systems, one of which is known to be contaminated.
Mayor Richard Mavis said the construction for the waterline extension could theoretically begin in April 2007. He said he expects the city to select an engineer to design plans for the project, and the design process would likely continue through the rest of 2006. If all goes well, then the city could put the project out to bid possibly in February. The city could then possibly identify a contractor in March 2007. He said the project does not include running waterlines up any of the side streets that connect onto Harcourt Road. That would obviouly come later. After the waterline is installed, a developer could pay to run a line from a property in the vicinity of Harcourt Road to the Harcourt Road line.
Mavis said that, according to the city’s preliminary estimates, the project will cost about $660,000. The city will finance the project with a low-interest loan from the Ohio EPA. The actual amount the city borrows will depend on the amount that contractors bid. He said he has been given a verbal approval by the Ohio EPA respresentatives, who consider the extension a high-priority project. He said the city plans to repay the debt primarily through special tap fees assigned just for the project.
