The Grove City Planning Commission voted to recommend City Council approve the preliminary development plan for Broadway Live, a mixed-use proposal at Broadway and Columbus Street that would include a 16,400-square-foot food hall, an outdoor plaza and 137 apartments on a 5.79-acre site.

City staff described the application as the first, conceptual step in a planned-unit-development process intended to assess overall site layout, compatibility with the town-center character and the range of future technical reviews that will accompany rezoning and final development plans. Staff recommended approval of the preliminary plan while noting that details including architecture, materials, utilities, stormwater management, traffic impacts and signage will be addressed in future rezoning and development applications.

Ethan Temianca, an applicant representative, told the commission the latest design reduces the apartment count and building heights from earlier submissions, increases publicly available parking and reconfigures retail and plaza space to improve walkability. Temianca said roughly 200 of the 314 proposed parking spaces would be open to the public free of charge and characterized the exchange portion as space suitable for small retailers. He said the development team expects to refine screen sizes, building materials, traffic circulation and other details in subsequent submittals and that they hope to start site work "by this time next year or early spring," contingent on necessary approvals.

Public comment included resident Crystal Angle, who said she was concerned about noise from a food-hall model, potential increased flooding and the loss of historic buildings and small downtown retailers. She warned that previous food-court-style venues have struggled in Franklin County and urged sensitivity to the historic downtown character. Anne Marie McDonald of Jackson Fire told the commission the department will require review of fire flow, additional hydrants and revised access because the proposed five-story building and site layout may create distances in excess of 300 feet that could hinder emergency response; she noted fire-code requirements for remote fire department connections (FDCs) and access and asked to work with the applicant on technical solutions.

Commissioners asked about traffic impacts, pedestrian connections through subarea D, the location and scale of outdoor screens, building materials along Columbus Street given the historic-preservation overlay and stormwater/floodway constraints on subarea D. Staff reiterated that a traffic study, utility and stormwater engineering, and specific zoning text will be required with rezoning and final plans. After discussion, the commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the preliminary development plan to City Council; final approvals and technical compliance will be decided in subsequent reviews.