December 12, 2024
By Rachel Scofield

On December 10, the Pickerington Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission recommended that the city rezone property near the southeast corner of Pickerington and Refugee Roads to allow for the construction of a Meijer store.

“In order for Meijer to proceed, it needs C3 zoning that allows big-box retail,” said Pickerington Development Director Dave Gulden. “When the parcel came into the city about ten years ago, it came with split commercial zoning. In other words, a portion of the property was zoned commercial C2; the remainder was zoned commercial C3.”

The developer intends to position Meijer on the southern side of the roughly 25-acre parcel so that the highly visible area next to Refugee Road can be developed into retail outlets such as restaurants and a gas station. However, the southern portion of the parcel has a C2 designation, which does not allow for big-box stores.

The project will bring “new commerce to the corner of Refugee Road and Pickerington Road to serve the growing residential population in our community,” Gulden said. “Our other main commercial corridor (Hill Road) is fully occupied, and new areas such as this are in a position to add new retail services. A store like Meijer is also a large sales tax generator, which will help all of Fairfield County.”

Cicely Bennett, whose home is northeast of the parcel, told the commission that with its proximity to Pickerington High School North, the property should be developed with the students in mind.

“We don’t have a community center,” Bennett said. “We need something that will benefit the kids, especially being across the street from a major high school. They need something that can support them.”

Councilmember Bob McCracken responded, “We can’t tell a property owner what they can put on their property, we can only hold them to the zoning. If someone wants to build a shopping center right now on that property, they could do that. Our job is just to decide on the zoning itself. We don’t have the ability to change that zoning without a request from the property owner, so it really limits what we can do.

I know it is always emotional when change comes. It’s really hard. I weigh it as would we rather have a shopping center there, or would we rather have a big-box store there?”

Commissioner Doug Blake agreed that a grocery store would better suit the community than another strip mall or potentially worse options.

“The thousand-pound gorilla here is that (the parcel) could go to apartments,” Blake said. “There is nothing we could do about it. We can make them build it to a design standard that we have in the city, but the way it’s zoned today, that could be multifamily housing that we could not turn down legally. We have to look at what is the best possible use for this piece of property that is going to impact the least amount of people.”

Eric Hammonds, who lives with his wife Jill and son Asher on Refugee Road, said that the local infrastructure cannot support another grocery store.

“You’re talking about bringing in a lot of cars on a daily basis,” Hammonds said. “I know the intersection there just got replaced. That’s a big improvement, but that’s just the intersection. The roads going to and from it are not in the type of shape to handle that much traffic.”

Violet Township resident Randy Rose agreed.

“I know we let the Kroger in, and I think that was a decent addition, but adding a Meijer?” Rose said. “With the lack of infrastructure, we have in this part of the city, I don’t think that’s going to work. We are looking out for the kids, and I think this development is going to have a negative impact on the area property values.”

Commission member Randy Hughes said that Meijer has completed a traffic study, the results of which will be discussed at a later development stage.

“I understand the traffic issues,” Hughes said. “Funding for roads often happens after you need it. First, you have the pain, then someone comes up with the solution.”

Jill Hammonds expressed concerns that the extra traffic would endanger pedestrians.

“You already have a lot of foot traffic with really no sidewalks,” Hammonds said. “I feel like adding a Meijer would put kids at a higher risk for injury.”

Blake said that in his 20-year history with the Pickerington P&Z Commission, he has required all developers to include sidewalks in their plans.

“I don’t care whether it’s commercial or a subdivision, the city of Pickerington requires sidewalks on any piece of developed property—the township does not,” Blake said. “Whatever would happen here, we are going to require sidewalks.”

Eric Hammonds also expressed concerns about further changing the nature of the community.

“Pickerington has a long tradition of family farms, and that’s one of the reasons that drew us to this area in the first place,” Hammonds said. “I feel this would be opening a large can of worms. If there is a Meijer that is allowed to be there, then I can see gas stations and other things moving into this area as well. It would put me in a situation where I would most likely no longer want to live near this. I don’t want to look out my back door and see a large parking lot with traffic and who knows what else comes along with it.”

Hughes responded that development will be coming to the unincorporated portions of that area as well.

“You’re assuming that this is all going to be empty land in the future; I can assure you it won’t be,” Hughes said. “All that property that looks nice to view and that we all appreciate is not going to be in the future. There is too much money sitting there, and it will get developed.

With the parcel that is in the city, we can control how it’s developed and make sure that it meets our standards—having sidewalks and things like that. I support it because it’s going to unify the zoning, it’s going to add controls to ensure that it is developed appropriately, it’s going to provide jobs, and we aren’t going to have houses or apartments. The benefits far outweigh the negatives. I understand that it’s hard for those who are close by, but I think we are doing the best we can here.”

The proposed zoning change will be added to the agenda of the January 16 Service Committee meeting of the Pickerington City Council at 7:30 pm at City Hall. If the Service Committee members agree to send the proposal to the full council.

The city annexed the proposed Meijer location along with several neighboring parcels on July 21, 2015.

As the Pickerington Commissioners alluded, development is also planned for the unincorporated parcels surrounding but not including the Meijer property. The Violet Township Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public information meeting on December 17 regarding a proposed “Overlay District”. That meeting will begin at 6:30 pm in the Violet Township Wigwam Theater (10190 Blacklick-Eastern Road Northwest).

Holly Mattei from Crossroads Community Planning which serves as a consultant on this project explained that “the purpose of the December 17th meeting is to introduce the concept of an overlay district to the public.   We do not have an overlay in place yet. This meeting is a kickoff for this project.  After the meeting, we will have the PowerPoint and a FAQ document available that will be posted to the township’s website and made available to the public.”

Property owners in an overlay district can choose to add a second layer of zoning allowing their parcels to be developed into more options.

A township is a governmental division of a county. Everyone in Ohio lives in a township. All portions of the city of Pickerington within Fairfield County are part of Violet Township. When community leaders discuss “the Township,” they are referring to the unincorporated parcels of Violet that have not yet been annexed by municipalities such as Pickerington or Canal Winchester.

Having a “Pickerington” mailing address is not an indication that your property is located within the city limits, but rather which post office delivers your mail.