July 28, 2011
Simbro to scale back CAC activities By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
When Clintonville Area Commission chairman John DeFourny announced at the July meeting that he and Nick Cipiti would be swapping leadership roles of two key committees, he left a little something out. Sandy Simbro, a fixture with the area
commission in one capacity or another for many decades, is voluntarily stepping down as co-chair of zoning and variance. She’s not taking her practically encyclopedic knowledge of city regulations and procedures to the sidelines any time soon, but instead will be looking to pass on her knowledge to others, especially District 5 representative and new zoning and variance chairman Cipiti.
“Isn’t it time?” Simbro said last week. “They say we should all be training our replacement, so I’m going, ‘As long as I’m the chairperson it’s very hard for other people to step up.’ “When you’ve done something for as long as I have, it’s second nature to me.” “It’s not a demotion,” DeFourny said, adding that Simbro has served as the sole chair of zoning and variance last
year, even though the CAC’s website states he and Simbro are the co-chairs. “Nick Cipiti is the chairperson and he has a good support group with that committee,” DeFourny said. “Sandy and I are still there and we’re involved with the mechanics of the meetings and stuff. Him moving to this committee gives him a new dynamic, gives the committee a new dynamic. It frees up Sandy in some points.
“All this, of course, was discussed with Sandy well in advance.” “It was actually John responding to a conversation I had initiated,” Simbro said. “In no way was this a vote of no confidence. This was just, ‘Hey, I need to let other people know how to do this.’” “When I talked with her, she has just See SIMBRO, page A2
Leland Avenue
Residents to seek permit parking By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
Northland Heating & Cooling owner William C. Tinsky has been battling with the Ohio Department of Transportation about the sound wall between his business and I-71 for the past year and a half. He paid for clear glass to be placed beside his business, but contends his sign can be seen from only a short stretch of the interstate. He also has noticed water drainage problems since the wall was put up.
Business owner trying to make some noise about sound wall By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Northland Heating and Cooling founder William J. Tinsky used to come home from his job as a chrome buffer for General Motors and, instead of resting from his labors, would do what he could to support his four children. He worked with a man who had a heating and cooling business while studying the trade in order to obtain a license of his own. Eventually, Tinsky got his license, bought a truck and, in 1966, began operating a heating and cooling business out of the garage of the family home in Forest Park. “Thus the name, Northland Heating,” said William C. Tinsky, the founder’s son and now president of the firm. About 35 years ago, William J. purchased property on Moon Road, just across Interstate 71 from Clintonville, and had a headquarters built for his growing enterprise. This included an iconic sign, identifying it as “Protech Services Northland Heating and Cooling,” with a clock that, for decades, was clearly visible to motorists on I-71. “People use that clock daily,” William C. said last week. Not so much any more. “This is a freaking nightmare,” Tinsky said. On July 7, 2006, according to Ohio Department of Transportation District 6 communications manager Nancy Burton, “property owners received notification” of a proposed project that would extend a noise wall along I-71 in front of Northland Heat-
ing and Cooling. The following March 1, again according to Burton, “notification letters” regarding public meetings on March 14 and 21 were sent out about the extension of the sound wall. Tinsky claims he never got any of them. “We’re pretty good about business and opening mail and reading it,” he said. “I don’t have any knowledge of that,” Burton said. Bill Tinsky’s “freaking nightmare” had begun. Now, drivers on I-71 can catch glimpses of the Northland Heating and Cooling sign through two clear panels in the noise wall, but the busy yard of the business is totally obscured. Tinsky said he had to pay $48,500 in order to get the clear panels installed and he’s being asked to pay an additional $25,000 to go halves on extending the number of transparent panels in the wall by an additional three feet, as is the case at Calvary Temple Lighthouse to the north. “In an effort to resolve this misunderstanding in what the noise wall was going to look like in front of Pro-
tech Northland and to provide additional visibility to the property, the Department of Transportation is willing to add additional clear panels in front of Protech Northland within the same limits of the 180-foot length,” project engineer Andrew J. Opsitnik wrote in an April 26 letter to Tinsky. “The department is willing to split the additional cost, 50-percent each party, with Protech Northland to make this change.” “I’m not going to keep having an open checkbook,” Tinsky said. Instead of ODOT spending $25,000 for its portion of more clear panels in the noise wall, Tinsky said he asked for a maximum of $12,000 to increase the height of the sign. “That was discussed with Mr. Tinsky and it was decided to go with the clear panels,” Burton said. She didn’t say who made that decision, but Tinsky says it certainly wasn’t him. In a July 5 letter to ODOT District 6, Tinsky’s attorney, Brent L. Baisden, wrote: “First, Mr. Tinsky was assured that his freeway sign would be completely visible from the freeway. It is not. Approximately two feet of the bot-
You have a hole in your house.
tom of Northland’s freeway sign is presently blocked. ODOT has refused to compensate Northland for the expense of raising its freeway sign, which would cost approximately $8,000 to $12,000. “Second, Mr. Tinsky (was) also assured that the Plexiglass wall would look just like the section of Plexiglass in front of the Lighthouse church, just north of Northland along I-71. However, Northland’s panels are not as wide, causing the pillars to be closer and reducing visibility from the highway. “In addition, the solid concrete panels are much taller,” Baisden wrote. “Northland’s lower panels are approximately 7 feet tall, while the lower panels at the Lighthouse church are approximately 3 feet. ODOT has agreed to split the cost of dividing the lower panel to increase visibility, but this is not acceptable.” “I’ve been backed into a corner here,” Tinsky said. “ODOT, in its arrogance, said, ‘Mr. Tinsky, we’re ODOT. You’re part of the right of way. We’re going to do what we want.’ “I’m trying to be calm about this.” Northland Heating and Cooling specials used to be posted on the familiar sign. “You’ve hurt my advertising,” Tinsky said. “This is my livelihood. I don’t know what it’s going to do to people doing business with us, but, ‘That’s not my problem, Mr. Tinsky.’ You get a little frustrated trying to get through the chain of command to see who might be sympathetic. It’s just frustrating that nobody cares See BUSINESS, page A4
Residents of Leland Avenue, weary of parking woes caused by an inconsiderate few customers of a bar near the end of their street, held a community meeting recently, and those in attendance voted unanimously to seek permit parking restrictions. “We are embarking on the process,” Delawanda Residents’Association president John Bennett said last week. And quite a process it is. “It goes on for a while,” Bennett said. “It could take several months.” The first step involves circulating a petition among the 50 or so households along the two blocks of Leland Avenue that stretch west from North High Street to dead-end at Delawanda Avenue. City regulations for obtaining permit parking that would exclude those without such permission during established hours require that 60 percent of those households sign the petition. The process is being initiated due to ongoing problems with some customers of Bob’s Bar at 4961 N. High St. blocking driveways, littering and on occasion becoming belligerent, the residents’ association president previously indicated. “It’s about half the block that is directly affected now,” Bennett said. “The problem is if we only provided permit parking for that part of the block — which you can’t do, according to city regulations, so it’s moot — it would drive the problem parking into the area that is not covered by permit parking.” The type of permit parking being sought for Leland Avenue would prevent those without cityissued permits from parking there from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, according to Bennett, who himself lives in Leland Avenue but well back from North See LELAND AVENUE, page A4
Arboretum backers seek volunteers Partners of the Lower Olentangy Urban Arboretum are holding the next honeysuckle removal event in Glen Echo Ravine on Saturday, July 30. It will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine. This session is being led by Friends of the Ravines and will include a helping hand from the city of Columbus, according to spokesman Mike McLaughlin. Two employees from the recreation and parks department will be present to help cut honeysuckle as well as operate a chipper/shredder. Volunteers are needed to cut honeysuckle and haul it to the shredder truck while others will remove different types of invasive species. Crew leaders will be available for any questions and to provide direction. See VOLUNTEERS, page A4
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