Council to weigh in on future of Subarea E parcel

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A rezoning request nearly two months in the making will be put to a vote during Urbana City Council’s 6 p.m. meeting today in municipal court chambers.

On Oct. 9, Hplex Solutions, a Lewis Center-based medical developer, submitted to the city an application seeking to rezone an 11.5-acre parcel on the far east of Urbana. The measure received the Urbana Planning Commission’s blessing.

Council will hear the third and final reading today of an ordinance to finalize the rezoning request by changing the allowed uses for Subarea E of the Urbana Commons Planned Unit Development (Walmart) from residential/open space to office/medical campus. The parcel, currently owned by RG Properties and used as farmland, lies at the northwest corner of the East U.S. Route 36/North Dugan Road intersection.

Memorial Health, an independent health system based in Marysville, has announced its intentions – pending council’s approval on the rezoning request – to partner with Hplex Solutions for the development of a multi-million-dollar medical facility on the 11.5-acre lot. Memorial Health already has a presence in the city through its Memorial Primary Care | Urbana practice at 900 Scioto St.

Also on the agenda is the third and final reading of a related ordinance calling for the adoption of the official zoning text for office/medical campus uses for Subarea E of the Urbana Commons PUD.

Compiled by city staff, Planning Commission members and Hplex Solutions representatives, the zoning text outlines the uses, guidelines and requirements for the development of the parcel. Items highlighted in the text include parking, setbacks, site access, signage and architecture.

In other business:

•The city administration will seek council’s approval to authorize The Howell Building Company to construct a permanent restroom facility at Melvin Miller Park at a cost of $62,045.

If approved, almost half the total project cost – $28,093 – would be funded through an Ohio Department of Natural Resources Natureworks Grant, leaving the city with a net cost of $33,952.

•Council’s authorization will be sought on a purchase order to Stantec Consulting Services Inc. in the amount of $9,894 for needed plan revisions, specifications and bidding documents for the construction of a proposed T-hangar and corporate hangar at Grimes Field.

A Federal Aviation Administration grant would be used to fund 90 percent of the cost, leaving the city with a bill for $989.40.

•Council will be asked to waive the three-readings rule and pass on first reading a resolution declaring necessity and intent to appropriate an interest in real property for the East U.S. Route 36 Roadway Reconstruction Project.

Medical facility planned east of Walmart

By Joshua Keeran

[email protected]

Joshua Keeran may be reached at 937-652-1331 (ext. 1774) or on Twitter @UDCKeeran.

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