May 12, 2011
Agreements would create 109 jobs By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Dublin is working to retain a growing hometown restaurant headquarters. City council members this week heard the first reading of an economic development agreement that could keep City Barbeque’s headquarters in Dublin.
The current headquarters on Riverside Drive aren’t big enough to handle the growth of City Barbeque that was founded in 1999 by Dublin resident Rick Malir. The company currently has 15 corporate-owned locations, with two set to open this year and an expansion plan of three additional sites each year. “City Barbeque is out of room in its
leased space on Riverside Drive,” economic development administrator Colleen Gilger said. The company has identified a site on Emerald Parkway to build its new 5,000square-foot facility, she said. The proposed economic development agreement includes a $7,500 location grant and five-year, 20-percent per-
formance incentive on income-tax withholdings, capped at $45,000 for retaining 17 jobs and creating 10 by the end of 2015. The city anticipates paying City Barbeque slightly less than $50,000 in the agreement but will collect an estimated $161,500 in income-tax withholdings over the term of the agreement,
Gilger said. “Does this mean they’ll have a store in Dublin?” council member Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher asked. “We’re working on it,” Gilger said. The first reading on an economic development agreement with Netsmart See AGREEMENTS, page A6
Enforcement, HELPING OTHERS tickets coming to historic district By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Anyone caught exceeding the time limit on Historic Dublin parking could receive a ticket this week. Enforcement of parking limits in the historic district has been increased from two days a week to five following a recent parking study, with four more staff members taking on ticketing duties. According to Jeff Tyler, Dublin’s director of building standards, enforcement began May 9 in spots recently changed from a two-hour time limit to three hours. “We plan on having time-limited enforcement five days a week,” he told council on May 9. Enforcement started with warnings while staff members were being trained, Tyler said, but training would take only a “few days” and then tickets would be issued. On behalf of some other Historic Dublin businesses, Woodhouse Day Spa owner Alan Reuter urged strong enforcement.
“We met with Shamrock Towing today, and they can tow and issue tickets with the city’s permission,” he said, adding that the option would come at a low or no cost. “Without enforcement nothing can happen. We can spend money and spend money and spend money, but without enforcement, there is nothing.” Council members said one of the primary problems with parking lies with Historic Dublin workers and valet parking. Employees in the historic district park in timed spots and move their vehicles to another spot when the time expires, Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher said. Valet staff members often use parking spots in close proximity to the business. Taylor said employee and valet parking could be moved to the seldom-used Indian Run lot. The city also is considering parking deals with the library and Dublin Community Church for employees and valet. Taylor suggested using the InSee TICKETS, page A8
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Lilly Shepherd, 8, of Dublin trims the bushes outside Anita Orebaugh’s house as part of Dublin’s 12th annual Community Service Day on May 7. Leadership Dublin organized the event, which included cleanups at the homes of local senior citizens and at parks, churches and schools.
Bridge Street corridor
Form-based code proposed for area Dublin schools look at timing of next levy By JENNIFER NOBLIT
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Dublin is taking a new approach to code in the Bridge Street corridor. The city is considering formbased code to provide quality, predictability and economic competitiveness in its vision for redevelopment of the Bridge Street corridor. During an open house last week, city staff members worked to inform landowners and residents about the new form-based code they plan to use. “There are several reasons we’re using form-based code,” said Steve Langworthy, Dublin’s director of long-range planning and land use. “No. 1 is the advice we got from a number of national consultants that came to speak to us.” When crafting the vision plan for the Bridge Street corridor that extends along state Route 161, from Sawmill Road to the U.S. Route 33-Interstate 270 inter-
By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Eleven districts laid out in corridor By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Dublin officials gave residents a view of the new code proposed for the Bridge Street corridor last week. A redevelopment plan for the corridor that runs along state Route 161, from Sawmill Road to the See FORM-BASED, page A2 U.S. Route 33-Interstate 270 in-
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terchange, has been in the works since 2009, and an open house last week gave the public an opportunity to see the proposed formbased code. The area is divided into 11 different districts that are “all unique to the Bridge Street corridor,” said Steve Langworthy, director of long-range planning and land use. Form-based code is being used
to give developers predictability and a faster approval schedule (see related story on A1), although the Bridge Street vision plan is expected to take 20 to 30 years to realize. “This is going to take a long time to implement,” Langworthy said. “This is not going to happen
See SCHOOL LEVY, page A8 See ELEVEN, page A9
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Dublin City Schools’ next levy will be on a November ballot, but whether it will be November 2011 or November 2012 remains uncertain. The Dublin Board of Education came to a consensus during its May 9 meeting that the March 2012 presidential primary wouldn’t be a good time to ask voters for a levy, but members were undecided about whether November of this year or next would be the best choice. Superintendent David Axner and treasurer Stephen Osborne came with the initial recommendation to put off the levy until 2012. The district’s most recent ballot attempt was in November 2008, when voters passed a combined 7.9-mill operating levy and $50-million bond package with 54 percent of the vote. At the time, the district promised to make that money last through fiscal year 2012. “It is our recommendation that we push any levy election back to 2012,” Axner said May 9. Axner and Osborne said they fear that the referendum on Senate Bill 5 might be on the November 2011 ballot and would draw levy opponents to the polls.
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