New Philadelphia looks to sell, lease city-owned land on south side; plan draws opposition
NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ New Philadelphia is looking to sell or lease portions of a 4.66-acre city-owned tract on the south side of New Philadelphia that was once the site of the Ohio & Erie Canal.
The narrow piece of ground parallels Commercial Avenue on both the east and west sides of South Broadway but does not border on the street. It is located behind businesses and residences on Commercial Avenue. While some of the land is vacant, other portions have been used by businesses on Commercial Avenue SE for free for decades for employee parking and semi-truck deliveries.
"There are businesses that are interested in acquiring that property to locate new businesses, expand their businesses, those types of things," Mayor Joel Day said. "We need more of that kind of property in New Philadelphia because of the interest in wanting to do business in our city."
Business owners oppose plan to sell land
On March 11, council voted to rezone the land from residential to commercial as the first step in the process. The move, however, didn't come without opposition from business owners on Commercial Avenue SE who have been using the property, which fronts on Canal Avenue SE behind their stores. They spoke out against the move during a public hearing on Feb. 26 and again at the March 11 meeting.
They said they were concerned the land could be sold, making it difficult for their businesses to continue to operate.
"What am I supposed to do with my semi-trucks that come in two to three days?" asked Jill White, owner of Martinelli Pools & Spas, 237 Commercial Ave SE, at the public hearing. "Am I supposed to tie up Commercial Avenue for 45 minutes to unload our trucks? And that's just me. That doesn't include East of Chicago Pizza. That doesn't include South Philly Pizza. Then you have the houses further down from my shop that don't even have parking that comes in off of Commercial. It all comes in off of Canal Street."
Anthony Walker, whose wife owns South Philly Pizza, 225 Commercial Ave. SE, said he had the same concerns. The company has five parking places for customers, but it has six to seven employees who park on the city-owned land. "If that sells, we have nowhere to park for employees. On a busy night, there could be seven employees and five parking places for customers."
Both Walker and White said they had been told by the city in the past that they could not buy the land behind their stores.
Some parcels will be sold
Day said New Philadelphia will probably put up for public auction the portion of the land west of South Broadway behind Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, 119 Commercial Ave. SW, as well as a parcel behind the former Lockport Village Hall on Commercial Avenue SE.
"The rest of them, we'll have to see if we want to go ahead and parcel those up now or that's something we want to do later. The people who are using that land will probably have to lease it from the city," the mayor said.
No immediate action is planned on that, he added.
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Businesses oppose New Philadelphia's plans to sell or lease property
