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Public commenters press council on South Commons referendum, road closure impacts and local economic development
Summary
Residents and community advocates used public comment at the April 22 meeting to raise concerns about the impact of a road closure on small businesses, to call for decisive economic development on the South Side and to urge council to place decisions about South Commons/Golden Hills on a public ballot.
Several members of the public addressed the City Council during the public‑comment portion of the April 22 meeting, focusing on three recurring themes: the business impacts of a local road closure, concerns about South Commons/Golden Hills and calls for greater economic development on Columbus’s South Side.
Morris Road business impacts - Ronald Carter, who identified himself as a property and business owner on Morris Road (564 Morris Road), said the project that closes parts of the roadway has cut his business traffic by roughly "95%" and that customers are turning around in his driveway. He asked the council to send staff and the engineer to inspect the site and to consider mitigation; councilors said staff would visit the site and meet with him.
South Commons, Golden Hills and a ballot request - Katherine Tanner urged the council to halt any request for proposals or development steps until voters have a chance to decide whether restrictions on the South Commons land should remain. Tanner said the deed establishing restrictions dates from 1910 and that it includes language that, in her reading, requires a special election and two‑thirds voter approval before conveying the land for private development. She asked the council to restore original deed restrictions and not to proceed with an RFP until voters have been allowed to act. - Marvin Broadwater Sr. (South Columbus resident) and other speakers urged council to prioritize economic-development projects that produce jobs on the South Side, arguing that capital projects should focus on long-term, job‑creating investments rather than only parks and facilities.
Process and oversight questions - Public speakers and some councilors asked questions about transparency and whether certain actions had been handled via resolutions or staff processes that should have come to council or to voters. One speaker asked the council to seek an Attorney General review on a grants question unrelated to the South Commons item; that request was directed at council.
Why this matters: Multiple public commenters asked the council to reconsider the pace and method of decision-making for high-profile land on the South Side and to prioritize economic development that produces jobs. Councilors committed to follow-up visits for the Morris Road business owner and to continued discussion of the procedural and legal questions raised about South Commons.
