July 14, 2011
Zupnick to seek city council seat By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Jan W. Zupnick, 61, has become the fourth person to formally announce his candidacy for a seat on Bexley City Council. Zupnick joins incumbent Mark Masser and challengers Steve Keyes and Tim Madison on the November ballot. Four seats on city council will be decided in the November election. While Masser has announced he will seek reelection, council member Jed Morison says he will not. Council president Jeff
McClelland and member Ben Kessler have yet to declare their intentions. The filing deadline with the Franklin County Board of Elections for the NovemJan ber ballot is 5 p.m. Zupnick Aug. 10. Zupnick is president of the Entrepreneurship Institute, a national, nonprofit, private corporation that provides learning, problem-solving and networking opportunities to small and mid-sized com-
panies. Zupnick has been married to his wife, Linda Zupnick, for 45 years. They have two sons, Daniel and Andrew, and four grandchildren. The Zupnicks have lived in Bexley for 33 years. He graduated from Plainedge High School on Long Island, N.Y., earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Hofstra University and earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics and community resource development from Michigan State University. “I have always been actively involved and participative in city/public service
wherever we live,” Zupnick said. “We believe in service to community and service beyond self.” Zupnick has served as a member of the Bexley Charter Review Commission, the Southwest Bexley Master Plan Committee and the Bexley Zoning Commission. He is currently a member of the Planning (Main Street) Commission. He also served as chairman of the search committee for Bexley development director and is a member of a number of Bexley Public Schools’ task forces, including those relating to financial accountability. He was co-chair of the com-
munications committee for the recently passed Bexley school levy. Zupnick said he is “politically affiliated with whoever can best serve, although most would say I’m financially conservative and socially not so much.” He said the decision to run was an easy one. “I decided to run for city council because I care about Bexley,” he said. “It faces some difficult short-term deficit problems that must be resolved now. It also must deal with longer-term fiscal See ZUPNICK, page A2
Foer chosen as club’s ‘selected author’ for 2012 Internationally celebrated writer will visit city in April
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Later this month, Bexley City Council will hear an appeal of a Board of Zoning Appeals decision dealing with this property at 2325 Bryden Road. The owners want to demolish the home and build a new $400,000 home in its place.
City council to hear BZA appeal By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Bexley City Council members anticipate a big turnout for their July 27 meeting, when they will hear an appeal of a controversial Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA ) decision. John Behal of Behal Sampson Deitz is seeking approval of a plan to demolish an existing single-family structure and garage at 2325 Bryden Road, along with architectural review for a new single-family home to be built on the site. The property is owned by Sarah and Moshe Frank. After discussing the plan at three meetings this spring, BZA members denied the Franks’ application by a 5-2 vote. Bill Jones, Tom Lewis, Steve Kuss, Sheila Straub, and Joe Kuspan voted against the application while Don Brosius and Peter Bardwell supported it. After hearing the appeal, city council
members may choose to let the BZA decision stand or override it with a simple majority vote, according to law director Lou Chodosh. He said that while council members will hear arguments July 27, they may take additional time to reach their decision. The Franks contend that the existing home is “dilapidated” and that remodeling it instead of replacing it would create a “substantial economic hardship.” While some neighbors welcome the demolition and construction of a new home on the site, others think the home could be saved. BZA members are appointed by the mayor and are responsible for reviewing all major changes and additions to homes as well as new builds in Bexley, according to Kathy Rose, Bexley Building Department manager and zoning officer. “The city strives to maintain our housing stock through our property maintenance code and/or by allowing the appli-
cants a process to apply for improvements, additions and requests to demolish,” Rose said. “All of these proposed changes are carefully critiqued by not only the design consultant, but also by our board members in order to make sure that the quality of the neighborhood is maintained and further issue a certificate of appropriateness.” Rose added that the board is “neither anti or pro demo; however, they do have the authority … to allow for demolition and further ensure that replacement structures are appropriate in design and scale for a neighborhood, with final approval subject to a majority vote of board members.” Rose said city code specifically addresses the demolition issue. “Bexley Code Section 1223.01 gives reason for the process we have in place for architectural review when a demoli-
A closer look The contest was established as a spinoff of the America in Bloom (AIB) Contest, a national awards program that recognizes communities that emphasize and promote urban beautification.
plays, heritage preservation, environmental awareness, tidiness, landscaped areas, urban forestry, and turf and groundcover areas. Two gardens each from north, central, and south Bexley were
awarded, with one overall winner selected from the six. North Bexley winners were Kara and Scott Razek at 245 N. Drexel Avenue and Joyce and Alan Hersh at 140 N. Cassady Ave. Central Bexley winners were Kathi and Barry Wolinetz at 2785 Powell Ave. and Sheila and Ed Straub at 76 S. Standwood Ave. South Bexley winners were Donni and Bill Woods at 967 College Ave. and Lesa and John Gruesen at 1013 S. Cassingham St. All gardens nominated are selfmaintained and were judged on diversity of trees and plant material, cleanliness, vibrancy and or-
received similar accolades when released in 2009. It was an instant New York Times and international bestseller. “Each year, we try to bring in new and exciting literary voices to our community,” said Bexley Community Book Club chair Linda Kass. “The range of Jonathan Safran Foer’s works and his unique approach to crafting a novel make him a compelling addition to our program. We are thrilled to have him as our fifth selected author.” BCBC is a community-based vehicle for promoting lifelong learning and reading. Launched in 2007 by the Bexley Education Foundation, it was conceived as a yearlong community read examining a number of works by a selected author. BCBC leaders aimed to involve the community in reading by hosting a series of book-related events, culminating in the author’s visit to Bexley. Previous selected authors have been journalist and novelist Pete Hamill; short story writer and Stanford professor Tobias Wolff; novelist Ann Patchett; and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Proceeds of Bexley Community Book Club, derived from sponsorships, ticket sales and book sales, are used by the Bexley Education Foundation to support projects and programs in the Bexley City School District. BCBC community partners include The Ohio State University Creative Writing Program, Bexley Public Library and WBNS-10TV, among others.
See APPEAL, page A2
AIB beautification committee recognizes Bexley’s best gardens Bexley’s America in Bloom Committee announced award winners for the Bexley Beautification Contest at the Bexley Fourth of July celebration. The contest highlighted the best residential gardens in the area. The contest was established as a spinoff of the America in Bloom (AIB) Contest, a national awards program that recognizes communities that emphasize and promote urban beautification. Bexley entered the national contest and AIB judges visited the city in July to review and score the community in several areas, including community involvement, floral dis-
The Bexley Community Book Club has announced that author Jonathan Safran Foer has been chosen as the group’s 2012 selected author. Foer, who has been called one of the most influential writers of the last decade, will appear in Bexley on April 18, 2012, where he will spend the day working with students, attending a VIP dinner with patrons, and presenting a public lecture. A number of events in the months leading up to Jonathan Foer’s arrival Safran Foer are in the works and will be announced in September. Foer is the author of the international bestseller, “Everything Is Illuminated,” which was published when he was 25. Hailed as the “debut of the decade,” it was named Book of the Year by The Los Angeles Times and won numerous awards. It was made into a 2005 movie directed by Liev Schreiber and starring Elijah Wood. His second novel, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” published in 2005, was a national and international bestseller. Published in 2005, it was also a winner of multiple awards. A movie version will be released in 2012. Foer’s nonfiction book, “Eating Animals,” an exploration of the folkloric, practical and moral implications in consuming meat,
ganization. “All of the gardens were lovely but the Razeks were chosen as the overall winners,” said Mary Greenman,AIB committee member. “Their garden was an especially marvelous blend of form, function, and beauty — incorporating a sizable edible garden within the overall design which also included a wide variety of perennials, shrubs, trees, and ground cover.” Bexley’s America in Bloom Committee is comprised of citizens and representatives from various civic and social organizations that support Bexley.
Radio Café to close temporarily for reno By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Drexel Theatre’s Radio Café, 2254 E. Main St., will close Monday, July 18, for renovation as part of an overall re-evaluation of how the space should best be used, according to Richard Stoff, chairman of the Friends of the Drexel Inc. “Our community and the movie industry have undergone significant changes during the 15 years that the Radio Café has been in operation,” Stoff said. “In addition to some basic TLC, we want to reevaluate the space to make sure we’re serving the needs of our patrons, and providing a quality experience for them, as effectively and efficiently as possible.” While the Café is closed, concessions will still be available for purchase in the theatre. Some items will move to the theatre concession stand. Beer and wine selections will expand and a coffee service will also be available. Movie showings will continue as scheduled. A reopening date for the Radio Café has not yet been determined.