Toledo City Council to vote on facilitating development of former North Towne Square Mall

​​By Tim Schneider, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce

​At its rescheduled regular meeting at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17, Toledo City Council is expected to vote on three ordinances that would facilitate the sale and development of the former North Towne Square Mall site currently owned by the city. Ordinance 66-21 would amend an agreement that contains a purchase option with the original mall owners to allow the city to sell an 11.2 acre portion of the site and address the release of access easements that have been a barrier to development. Ordinance 67-21 would approve the sale of the 11.2 acre portion to Development 2002, which owns the adjacent property that houses Super Fitness, for $10 an acre. Ordinance 68-21 would establish a tax increment financing area for the remaining 58 acre portion of the site that would allow a future property owner to make service payments in lieu of property taxes to fund nearby roadway improvements.

Also at the meeting, Council is expected to vote on the following:
 

• Ordinance 60-21 which would establish a moratorium on the review and issuance of building and zoning permits in the city for “small box discount stores”, also known as dollar stores, until June 1, 2021. A previous ordinance establishing a similar moratorium on dollar stores along Dorr Street between Collingwood Boulevard and Parkside Boulevard expired on December 31, 2020. A proposal is currently in council’s Zoning & Planning Committee that would require new dollar stores to obtain a special use permit, and be spaced one mile from existing dollar stores. The new moratorium ordinance is meant to allow time for review and public hearings on the proposed requirements. 
• Ordinance 73-21 which would approve a two-year contract with a one-year renewal option with the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education to provide recruiting and hiring services for internship positions within City of Toledo departments. According to the city, the contract will support the city’s plans to expand internship opportunities at the city for both college and high school students. 
• Ordinance 74-21 which would approve $1,524,800 for a five-year contract with OpenGov, Inc. for a new budget planning and reporting platform. According to the city, the platform is a cloud-based system that streamlines budget development processes and provides enhanced reporting features to enable data-driven budget decisions. The system also has the ability to create dashboards for displaying budget information for the public to view.

 
Ordinance 42-21, which would establish a new Department of Parks, Recreation, Youth Services and Educational Engagement, is expected to be held until council’s March 2 meeting. The new department would have responsibility for the operation of city parks and recreational facilities currently under the Division of Parks, Recreation and Forestry within the Department of Public Service. The ordinance would also establish three divisions within the new department and direct them to develop various community programs, and appropriate an additional $2.5 million for services and operations.
 
The public may watch the council meeting online by visiting https://toledo.legistar.com and scrolling down to the February 17 meeting and clicking on “in progress”.

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​​Tim Schneider
​
​As Manager for Local Government Advocacy, Tim Schneider advocates for local policies and laws that safeguard and foster a pro-business environment in the Toledo Region. Tim has more than 10 years of legislative and public policy experience with the local, state and federal levels of government.