Canal Winchester council advances ordinance to change facility rentals to weekend time blocks

Canal Winchester officials on Sept. 2 advanced an ordinance that will change how the city rents community facilities, moving weekend rentals to two evenly split flat-rate blocks and keeping weekday evening rentals hourly.

The change, presented by Parks staff member Miss McPherson, is intended to reduce scheduling conflicts and fewer on-call public works call-ins while giving renters clearer, longer blocks of time. “We want to create a quality experience for everyone,” McPherson said, describing problems with short, fragmented hourly rentals that require staff to be called in many times on busy weekends.

The proposal keeps existing hourly rates but charges a flat fee for each weekend block (hourly rate multiplied by the block length). Staff showed a peak-month comparison that, under the new block system, weekend call-ins would have fallen from 73 to 34 over a three‑month sample period. McPherson said Friday–Sunday would be split into two blocks (hours vary by facility) while Monday–Thursday evenings remain hourly.

The presentation prompted several policy questions from council members about resident access and pricing. Council Member Shea moved to amend the ordinance to add a 30-day exclusive early-reservation period for Canal Winchester residents; that motion was seconded by Council Member Amos and discussed but ultimately withdrawn in favor of moving the ordinance forward and drafting resident-priority language for consideration at the second reading. Council Member McLaughlin and others asked staff to return with verbiage and rate comparisons; staff noted that the ordinance as proposed does not change rates and that any rate changes could be handled separately or by amendment at later readings.

Council debated resident benefits and nonresident pricing. Staff reported the city’s most expensive nonresident community-center rate is $80 per hour and cited Columbus’s $90 per hour fee as a comparator during discussion. Several council members said they want to ensure residents receive some priority or benefit; staff agreed to work with council members on draft language to present at the next meeting.

Council also discussed operational details: building closing times (buildings generally close at 10 p.m., parking-lot lighting until about 10:30 p.m.), auto-locking restroom doors, and how on-call public works scheduling operates. Staff said on-call assignments are scheduled monthly and that call-in labor can be taken as overtime or comp time per employee choice.

A formal motion to move ordinance 25-022 to full council for first reading was made by Council Member Moore and seconded by Council Member Buskirk. After discussion and a brief, withdrawn amendment attempt, council voted in favor to move the ordinance to the full council meeting for first reading.

Council directed staff to draft specific language on a resident early-reservation window and to return with any recommended rate changes or clarifying ordinance text for subsequent readings.

The ordinance will appear on the council meeting agenda for first reading; staff and council members agreed to collaborate on resident-priority language before the second reading.