City Deliberates on Comprehensive Plan

“Homeowner vacancy in Oberlin is 0.3 percent, when 5–10 percent is normal,” Date said. “Rental vacancy rate is 8.8 percent. So when people say, ‘There are no houses here for me to buy,’ they really mean it.”

Developing unused land is one option being considered to expand access to affordable housing.

Continued from page 1 carefully thought through as well … If you’re going to develop on the far end of town, how are individuals going to access the downtown, the College, the retail, the shopping, everything that goes along with it? Folks had mentioned to us about parking being an issue downtown. If you start to develop more housing on the outskirts and there’s no good, safe connections back into downtown, then you’re kind of doubling up on your potential issue with respect to parking. So everything kind of needs to be looked at in terms of, how does it affect one another?”

“The City has quite a few vacant lots that it owns that could be developed with housing,” Porter said. “We’re working with a developer on a proposal to build eight single-family homes that would be affordable. [It] would ensure affordability for at least 15 years.”

The location selected for use is an essential consideration in future developments.

“If you were to look on a map, there’s a lot of potential — all the former farmland, just open areas all around,” Project Manager at OHM Advisors Arthur Schmidt IV said. “The development of infill housing, where appropriate, makes sense in Oberlin … Looking inward needs to happen, and then outward needs to be very

Transportation was another core issue identified in Oberlin.

In 2020, Oberlin received the Paradox Prize from the Fund for Our Economic Future, an organization which funds projects that advance the development of Northeast Ohio, and used these funds to establish the Oberlin Connector Transit Service.

“The City and several nonprofit organizations in town had pooled their money together back in 2010, when the county cut almost all public transportation service for the county, so people here locally pooled their money together to provide that transportation service for two days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” Porter said. “So we applied to the Paradox Prize to expand transportation to five days a week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and then 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., so we could hopefully hit some secondand third-shift people as well.”

The Oberlin Connector had been used 3,408 times from its creation to October 2021.

“In 2022, we did 4,800-andsome trips,” Porter said. “We’re probably reaching max capacity during our busiest hours now because it’s pretty much one vehicle dedicated to Oberlin.”

While the Oberlin Connector is an available public transportation option, the attendees of the event said that they did not travel via public transportation and expressed interest in future development in the sphere of transportation.

The results of the survey and open house will be presented to the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee at the next public meeting in March.

South Africa Continues to Face Its Worst-Ever Electricity Crisis

Since the beginning of 2022, the power utility company Eskom has been unable to meet the demand for electricity across South Africa. Throughout 2022, nationwide power outages spanned 3,775 hours over 205 days. These outages have continued into 2023. Further, heat waves are affecting water supply issues, resulting in shortages across the country.

New Earthquakes Affect Syria, Panic Results in Injuries

Two new earthquakes hit across Syria and Turkey on Monday,

WORLD killing at least six and injuring hundreds. “Many were hurt because of stampedes, panicking, and even jumping off buildings,” Oubadah Alwan, a spokesperson for rescue group Syria Civil Defence, told Al Jazeera

Approaching One Year

Since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Putin Suspends Nuclear Treaty

With today marking the oneyear anniversary of the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, developments continue to unfold. On Tuesday of this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to Western nations by suspending a nuclear arms control treaty.

“The elites of the West do not hide their purpose. But they also cannot fail to realize that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield,” Putin told members of the Russian political and military elite per Reuters.

India Forms Panel to Assess Wheat Crop Success Amid Rising Temperatures

On Monday, government officials in India announced the institution of a panel to determine how the rising temperatures would affect the national wheat crop. As the world’s secondlargest wheat-producing nation, the panel expressed concern as to India’s ability to produce wheat at projected levels amid rising temperatures and a lack of rain throughout the winter.

Security Notebook

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023

Campus Safety officers responded to a report of vandalism at Philips gym in the pool area.

An officer responded to a report from South Hall to transport an injured student to the Mercy Health - Allen Hospital emergency room.

Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023

Officers responded to a report of a large group of students gathered at the Conservatory who were possibly consuming alcohol.

Officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the second floor of Dascomb Hall.

Officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Barrows Hall kitchen.

Officers, the Oberlin Fire Department, and paramedics responded to assist a student ill from alcohol consumption at Asia House.

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023

Officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a pull station activation on the first floor of East Hall.

Officers responded to a report of vandalism on the third-floor kitchen area of Barrows Hall.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023

Officers and a maintenance technician responded to a trouble alarm at the Union Street Housing Units.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023

Officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to assist a student in the elevator at Mudd Center.