Gahanna planning staff reports more than 450 participants in second round of Our Gahanna outreach

Planning Director Buongiorno told the Committee of the Whole on June 9 that the city’s Our Gahanna strategic-plan effort has completed a second round of community engagement and is drafting recommendations ahead of a third round of outreach.

The update matters because it frames priorities the city will carry into draft plan recommendations that will be reviewed by a steering committee and shared with the public in late August.

“We just wrapped up our second round of community engagement,” Buongiorno said, and staff have been “processing who we’ve heard from and what we’ve heard” as they develop economic-development strategy goals and draft recommendations. Buongiorno reported about “over 450 participants” who completed exit questionnaires and more than 250 online survey responses. She described six in-person events used in round two, including a Taco Tuesday family event, small-business coffee, a young-professional happy hour, a high-school Key Club meeting, a senior lunch, and a presence at an economic-development meeting.

Buongiorno summarized the engagement themes city staff are using to shape plan chapters. For “elevating unique places,” respondents emphasized business vitality in Creekside, improved parking and maintenance, more events, and housing and mixed-use development. For parks and public spaces the recurring themes were greater connectivity, more trails and sidewalks, maintenance, flexible green spaces and safety. Neighborhood comments emphasized walkability, lighting, neighborhood cohesion and traffic calming.

On economic development, attendees prioritized retail and restaurants, mixed-use development and manufacturing or skilled-trade jobs. In “serving our community,” participants proposed facility and recreation improvements (examples mentioned included an outdoor amphitheater and a Creekside playground), public services (leaf collection, street sweeping, snow removal), more transit options, and traffic‑calming. Buongiorno said housing affordability—particularly for young professionals and seniors—also surfaced as a consistent theme. For identity and placemaking, residents favored creek activation, plazas and other street-activation amenities.

Buongiorno said the project team is drafting recommendations and will present a first draft to a joint steering committee and departmental directors next week. She asked councilmembers to participate in the third round of engagement, which includes an open house on Aug. 26 and a “roadshow” of display boards the city will move around community locations and publish online for public comment.

Councilmembers asked for more detail on the visual-preference station and the database of “big ideas” Buongiorno collected. Miss Padova requested that staff provide the images and the tallies for the visual-preference exercise so council can see how items ranked. Buongiorno said staff will provide the raw ideas and suggested placing very specific suggestions into an appendix or searchable idea database to accompany the plan. Miss Padova and Miss Barris also asked that the appendix or database be made available so councilmembers and staff can revisit ideas for potential low‑cost or short‑term actions.

Buongiorno and councilmembers discussed underrepresented demographics. Buongiorno said the second round closed gaps for 25‑ to 34‑year‑olds but remained somewhat low for people aged 15–24, Black/African American respondents and Hispanic/Latino respondents; staff plan to work with the steering committee and the proposed roadshow to reach groups where they already gather. Buongiorno noted the online survey remains a strong tool: roughly 250 participants in round two and several hundred in round one.

The presentation concluded with staff encouraging public review of the Aug. 26 open house materials and online boards during round three. The steering committee will review the draft recommendations before the round‑three public outreach.