Explanation
BACKGROUND: In 2005 the Northland Alliance, the Morse Road SID Exploratory Committee, and the City of Columbus Development Department initiated an effort with property owners on Morse Road from Indianola Avenue to Cleveland Avenue to create a Special Improvement District (SID). On October 12, 2005, the City Council Jobs and Economic Development Committee was briefed on the plans and progress of the Morse Road SID. The property owners, using the single petition method, have successfully attained the signatures of owners representing at least 60% of the front feet contained in the District. The attached petition (and its accompanying services plan, district boundaries description, parcel list, and map) requests City Council to create a ten year Morse Road SID whose primary purpose is to provide public space services to maintain and keep clean the area of the Morse Road enhancement project being undertaken in the same area by the City of Columbus. This legislation is one of the first actions required by Chapter 1710 of the Ohio Revised Code.
City Council must accept the petitions and the Articles of Incorporation of the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc., an Ohio not-for-profit corporation organized pursuant to Chapter 1710 of the Revised Code.
City Council is also being asked to approve the inclusion of City owned property as part of the Special Improvement District.
Emergency action is required to allow the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc. to continue the establishment of a Special Improvement District in a timely manner.
FISCAL IMPACT: No funding is required for this legislation.
Title
To approve the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc., Petition and Articles of Incorporation and the inclusion of the properties owned by the City of Columbus in said district; and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, Chapter 1710 of the Revised Code, effective September 29, 1994 provides for the creation of Special Improvement Districts (SIDS), by non-profit corporations governed by trustees elected by the property owners for the provision of special services in a designated district; and
WHEREAS, the property owners located on Morse Road from Indianola Avenue to Cleveland Avenue have initiated a petition to create the SID and have filed the petition with the Columbus City Council along with the Articles of Incorporation of the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc. an Ohio non-profit corporation, created pursuant to Chapter 1710.02 of the Revised Code; and
WHEREAS, Section 1710.02 (E) further excludes the property owned by the municipal corporation unless the municipal corporation specifically authorizes its property to be included in the district; and
WHEREAS, the Clerk of Columbus City Council finds that the property owners per the signed Petition, if authorized by this Council represents 60% of the front footage of the property located in the SID, all as provided by Section 1710.02 of the Revised Code; and
WHEREAS, it is the determination of the Columbus City Council that the SID is a valuable tool for continuing to further economic development and a means of continuing to revitalize the Morse Road area; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the City of Columbus in that it is immediately necessary to approve the Petition and the Articles of Incorporation for the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc., all for the immediate preservation of the public health, property, safety and welfare; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That the Petition for the creation of the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc. and the Articles of Incorporation of the Morse Road Special Improvement District of Columbus, Inc., now on file with the Clerk of the Columbus City Council, and incorporated herein as Attachment A, are hereby approved.
Section 2. That the properties of the city of Columbus abutting upon the streets described in the petition are hereby authorized to be included in the district.
Section 3. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after its passage if the Mayor neither approves