Category Archives: General Information

To help us oppose the zoning request discussed in the previous blog post please contact your City Council Member as soon as possible indicating your opposition to the zoning change for 2725 North High St., the old White Castle location built on Glen Echo Ravine and Run.

The rezoning application is being heard by both the Clintonville Area Commission and the University Area Commission as the property in question crosses the boundary between the districts – it is literally on top of the Ravine and Run. The CAC and UAC will send their recommendation to the Development Commission which makes a final recommendation to City Council Members who will decide on the request for a zoning change.

If you are taking time to write to the Clintonville commissioners, copy all the councilmembers too; its never to soon to write them.

Contact your council member – indeed all of them – through their aids:

Andrew J. Ginther
Legislative Aide: Kenneth Paul
Email: kcpaul@columbus.gov (614) 645-2931

A. Troy Miller
Legislative Aide: Jeanette Hawkins
Email: jdhawkins@columbus.gov (614) 645-2013

Hearcel F. Craig
Legislative Aide: Sherry Martin
Email: simartin@columbus.gov (614) 645-8538

Zachary M. Klein
Legislative Aide: Gretchen James
mail: gdjames@columbus.gov (614) 645-5346

Michelle M. Mills
Interm Legislative Aide: Annie Marsico
Email: aemarsico@columbus.gov (614) 645-5344

Eileen Y. Paley  
Legislative Aide: Nancy Sully
Email: npsully@columbus.gov (614) 645-2010

Priscilla R. Tyson
Legislative Aide: Carl Williams
Email: cgwilliams@columbus.gov (614) 645-2933

A primary reason for the existence of LOUA and its volunteer efforts is the proximity of two forested ravines. These persistent geological features were formed thousands of years ago and are both beautiful and functional and home to many species of plants and animals. As of last evening, one of these areas, Glen Echo Ravine faces a new threat. The Clintonville Area Commission Zoning and Variance committee approved an application by the Goo Goo Car Wash company to occupy the parcel of land owned by the White Castle Corporation, located at the intersection of Arcadia and High Street at the entrance to Clintonville.

This lot is currently free of any structures and sits on a commercial strip of landfill that once was a part of Glen Echo Ravine. The parcel is currently commercially zoned (C-4), but not zoned for a business such as a car wash.  Members of our steering committee are opposed to a car wash occupying this site for a number of reasons. First of all, this C-5 business runs counter to the Clintonville Neighborhood Plan, which explicitly calls for preservation and restoration of the ravines. Too many impervious surfaces currently abut Glen Echo Ravine, and a car wash with lots of impervious pavement will continue to contribute large amounts of storm water runoff at a critical point of Glen Echo Ravine. A car wash would be especially harmful, as the runoff would likely contains hydrocarbons (known carcinogens) and other forms of pollution.

This is in direct contrast to the current plans of The City of Columbus to reduce storm water runoff and pollutants by increasing green space and infiltration. LOUA has another vision for this property sitting atop Glen Echo. We would someday like to see Glen Echo Ravine a prominent feature on High Street, as it once was when a simple bridge ran over it. This would ultimately involve removing the landfill in order to restore the stream currently routed underground through a culvert. Once the channel is cleared of debris, the slopes could be planted with native trees.

We have begun the process of seeking grant funding and private donations in order to accomplish these tasks. The completed project is intended to attract visitors and beautify the primary commercial corridor in Clintonville. This park will be also be an access point for a planned walking trail that would connect Glen Echo Park with the bike trail on the Olentangy River which is called for in the Neighborhood Plan for Clintonville. Such a trail would give our children a place to explore, get exercise, and learn about nature. A restored, uninterrupted, and forested corridor would also facilitate the movement of wildlife from the riverine forests bordering the Olentangy River to Glen Echo Park.

The Clintonville Area Commission is meeting on Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 7pm in the Whetstone Library meeting room. If you are opposed to the car wash, please contact your Clintonville Area commissioner and let them know your feelings before then.

Contact information for area commissioners can be obtained at the following link: http://www.clintonvilleareacommission.org/index.php/meet-our-commissioners.html

My office at Ohio State is in what used to be Enarson Hall, now known as Hale Hall, on 12th Avenue. They have been working on the space where the old Hale Hall was located (right across the street), making the lot where the building stood into inviting green space.

Today, the first nine trees went in the ground. Not sure what kind of trees they are (the area is still fenced off to allow the grass time to root), but they are nice-sized. They used a backhoe and a tow motor to get the trees planted very quickly. I just kept thinking to myself how many trees we could have planted in LOUA if we had that kind of equipment! Here’s a picture of the trees going in.

I was reading in Sierra Magazine about the damage that pets can do to birds. I’ve blogged several times about cats and how bad they are for birds, killing between 1.4 and 3.7 million birds a year, not to mention all of the other small mammals they catch. But what I didn’t know is that dogs are as bad. They chase birds, tear up nesting sites, and exhaust them during migrations. Dogs have been responsible for killing half of a kiwi colony in New Zealand, and five dogs killed off Italy’s largest flamingo colony in one day. Even leashed dogs can reduce the number of bird species by 35 percent in parks and wooded areas.

That’s something I never knew. We just need to be mindful of our feathered friends when we are out with our four-footed ones!

Finally, this Friday, several members of LOUA are going to be out and about looking at the last of the trees planted, checking to see that all is well with them. This rainy weather has been hard on trick-or-treaters, but it’s been great for our trees!

Until next time!

Sorry for not posting much lately. Both Pete and I have been sick with something or other. We’ve managed to muddle through work, coming home, sleeping until supper, eating, then resting some more. Pete planted trees on Saturday while I did not: he then spent most of Sunday under the covers with Seamus snuggled up close. Whatever we had made us both cough. It was a bit like yawning; Pete would cough, which somehow made me cough. We both feel like we’ve turned the corner to better health.

So this past Saturday, we planted the last of the trees for the season, about 100 more trees. (I use the term “we” very loosely, as I stayed home in bed.) Every street I walk or drive down in the Arboretum shows evidence of LOUA’s efforts, efforts that couldn’t happen without all of our volunteers – those that plant the trees, those that clean up after we’ve planted the trees, and those that allowed the trees to be planted, and those that care for the trees after they’ve gone into the ground. Honestly, we couldn’t do this alone, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

We also have the second sign for the kiosk. We originally had just one made, but we decided that we needed a sign on each side. Hopefully, that will be up soon, weather permitting. Thanks to Gerry Campbell for creating the sign for us.

Finally, Mike McLaughlin got an email from someone who is currently studying in the Botanic Gardens in Dublin Ireland.  He’s writing a paper on urban arboretums and found our site (He say it is great!). He is going to set up a urban arboretum in his village in Dublin where there are great trees some 300 years old. He just wanted some help in getting his own urban arboretum up and growing. I volunteered to travel to Ireland to give more advice personally! (Being half Irish, I’m eminently qualified!)

Who would have ever imagined?

Until next time!

Well, we’ve got another weekend of tree planting under our belts. This one was a little bit more challenging than usual. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you the process that is involved in getting trees planted, but here goes:

1. First, we have to figure out which addresses will be getting trees.
2. Then a letter is sent out to the homeowners, letting them know they will be getting a tree.
3. Once we know that we can plant the tree, it has to be delivered.
4. After that, everything that needs to go into getting the tree planted has to happen, which means mixing soil with fertilizer, collecting tarps for the soil, and empty buckets for waste soil to be dumped into.
5. Waste soil has to be collected and dumped once all the trees are planted.

Basically, if we don’t have the buckets to mix the soil in for the trees, we can’t plant. So a HUGE thank you to Annette at Oakland Nursery, who came to our rescue when the pots we had collected to mix soil in were taken. We would have been in trouble if Oakland hadn’t offered their pots for us to use.

Another huge thank you goes to Laura and the amazing, wonderful OSU students she collects for us each planting weekend. These students we had, along with our community helpers, made planting the trees a snap. We can’t thank all of our volunteers enough as these trees won’t plant themselves!

And thank you, Sam, for once again lending us your trusty truck to deliver trees, pick up dirt, and generally make anything we need happen. You are a great help to LOUA!

In talking to Laura, she thought that in three years, we have planted nearly 600 trees. I’ve really noticed this past week, in walking down the streets, the fruits of all of our labors. Beautiful trees that are starting to take off and make a difference. And every weekend we plant trees, my favorite part is hearing all of the thanks we get from the homeowners. With so many trees in the ground, your love and care for each of them makes all the difference in LOUA’s trees surviving and thriving.

That being said, we’ve got one more weekend to finish it all off. So I hope to see you this Saturday,10/18/13, 9am, at the LOUA kiosk.

Here’s some photos from yesterday…my favorite is this first one; just what we LOVE to see after we’ve planted a tree: the homeowner giving it water!

We have one more planting this year (at least I think it’s only one more planting!) and we are done! I’ll post pictures from Saturday’s tree fest – once I get Pete to upload the photos from his phone. I was so busy planting that I forgot to take any photos! We had an amazing crew from Ohio State helping us out. Those students rock!

LOUA Tree Planting
Saturday, October 12, 2013
9am
Meet at the LOUA kiosk

LOUA has a new program aimed to get even more trees into the Arboretum. It’s the Arboretum Certified Home program, and ThisWeek Booster has a great story about our new program. The information about becoming an Arboretum Certified Home is below and can also be accessed by clicking here. It has all the information that you will need to send in your application and become an Arboretum Certified Home! If you have any problems opening the attached pdf, let me know.

Criteria

• Property must be located within LOUA’s boundaries
• Property must meet the primary criteria located on back and have an additional tree for each 1,000 sq. ft. of yard.
• Corner lot side yard must meet curb lawn criteria

Rewards

• Small yard sign from LOUA with certification wording (see illustration above)
• Acknowledgement on LOUA website
• A tree marker for your native trees
• One year complimentary membership in LOUA

Cost

Nominal application fee will cover LOUA’s cost for your yard sign and tree marker(s).

Process

1. Homeowner mails/e-mails application to LOUA address on flier linked above
2. LOUA visits your home to evaluate your property
3. If your application is approved, LOUA collects the fee and submits an order for your yard sign and tree marker(s)
4. If your application is not approved, LOUA will provide details about how to meet the criteria

Exception

LOUA Board has the right to approve an application that does not meet the criteria because of special circumstances that prevent the homeowner from planting a tree. Barriers include but are not limited to: utility lines, drain pipes, sidewalks, fire hydrants, city signs, and storm sewers.

Disqualifier

Non-native invasive on property.

Well, the second annual Clintonville Pawpaw Festival is under our belts. The rain that started the day put a damper on the festival for some of the vendors. But boy, once the sun came out, so did the people!

We had some beautiful, toe-tapping  music by Baja Clintonville Broadcasters (and sorry for lack of photo – it was raining, and I was fearful of my iPhone…)

Rambling House, who made a fantastic pawpaw soda…

and Tony Russell of the Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association, who brought pawpaw pulp, were sold out nearly two hours before our festival ended.

John Lloyd (johnlloyd@wideopenwest.com) brought some lovely wood pieces (we bought two!)…

and Pat Belisle showed his amazing sculptures (we bought one!).

Mike Siculan brought his strange and wonderful puppets and was a big hit with all the kids.

Of course, Scioto Gardens was there with all of their beautiful native plants (we bought some – of course!)

All of the vendors were very pleased with the way the day went. And so were we – several new members and donations came our way!

We are so excited to begin planning for next year’s festival!

Until next time!