Saturday, December 6, 2008

PC on Mon: Historic Preservation, Library Alley, Endless Comprehensive Planning, and more...

Thanks to the YS Arts Council Blog for this image of the John Bryan Community Pottery
Dear People--I still get excited when I wake up to snow coming down. It's completely irrational, possibly atavistic* (Norwegian ancestors), more probably rooted in the thrill of school being canceled in childhood, and no doubt I'll grumble about the cold a little, later in the day, or worry about accidents, etc., but there you have it. I bid you the ephemeral happiness of light snowfall! and will be happy to see anyone who ventures out into this chill in my office hour at the Emporium from 12-1 pm today.

First, there are lots of fun holiday events going on this weekend in the village --I want to alert everyone that today and tomorrow the John Bryan Community Pottery is having an open studio and ceramics sale! Stop by today from 11-6 pm, or tomorrow from noon-3 pm. Local potters, including my husband Frank, will have interesting and useful objects for sale; there will be light refreshments. The pottery shop is owned by the village, by all of us, and is a wonderful community asset.

Second, again, the main event at our Planning Commission meeting (this Monday, 12/8, 7 pm Bryan Ctr) will be a presentation to Planning Commission and Village Council by Glenn Harper, an Antioch College graduate, who is the Certified Local Government and Preservation Services Manager at the State Preservation Office. He works statewide with Certified Local Governments and municipalities seeking certification as well as with preservation organizations throughout the state, and he oversees development of the state's comprehensive historic preservation plan.

Harper will offer a general overview on the benefits of historic preservation planning for communities, best practices for historic preservation ordinances, and how municipalities incorporate historic preservation concerns into their comprehensive plans. It is expected to last about 20 minutes with time for questions from the Council and Commission as well as the public. 

Citizens who would like to come to the meeting well informed are encouraged to peruse the Ohio Historic Preservation Office's website (http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/histpres/index.html), particularly the documents linked under "Preservation in Your Town," which includes model ordinances, information on tax incentives and funding sources, and why planning should include attention to historic preservation.

After that, we'll discuss what we ought to do to make the alley behind the library, and the driveway into the lot from Davis street (which basically just needs to be marked as one-way, coming into to the lot), safer for us all. Lots of letters are flowing in on this issue, which is good. The question is how to provide safe access to and egress from the library parking lot as well as the neighboring properties that border on this alley.

* Woolperts has suggested widening, paving and straightening the alley, and making it one way from Limestone to Davis.
* We are considering speed bumps and making part of the alley--probably the Davis side, only accessible by bikes and pedestrians, and making the Limestone exit one-way going out. However, there are suggestions of blocking the alley off in exactly the opposite way (i.e., blocking the Limestone side to traffic, and making the Davis side the exit). I'm happy to hear your thoughts.

Additionally, we'll be looking at the comprehensive plan goals, and then planning for our next meeting in January, where it's hoped that we'll be receiving and reviewing the final development plan for the Friend's Care (Barr) property at 321 Xenia Ave.

Peace,

Lori

*Oh, and being able to use 'atavistic' in the first sentence of an email = equally thrilling to morning snowfall. [OED: atavism: "resemblance to grand-parents or more remote ancestors rather than to parents..." Work it into your morning conversation today...]

1 comment:

jafabrit said...

First snowfall and I feel like a silly little kid again :) Norwegian and Northeast English heritage lol!

Have a great weekend.