CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — The Circleville Planning and Zoning Commission is set to take up the rezoning request for the Scioto Preserve subdivision at its Nov. 4 meeting, now that a referendum petition aimed at blocking the project has been denied for lacking enough valid signatures, according to the city’s November newsletter.
The rezoning item, which would shift roughly 230 acres near North Court Street and Bell Station Road from agricultural to planned-unit-development use, had been tabled while the referendum was pending. With the petition rejected, the commission can now untable the request and move forward with its review, the newsletter said.
City Council annexed the Scioto Preserve property on Sept. 1. Opponents then filed a referendum petition seeking to put the annexation to a public vote, but the petition was denied because it fell short of the 1,385 valid signatures required to qualify.
As proposed, the Scioto Preserve development would bring 252 multi-family units and 1,031 single-family lots, according to the newsletter. It is one of several large residential projects moving through the city’s pipeline: roughly 800 housing units are already under construction citywide and another 597 have been approved, with Scioto Preserve among more than 1,200 additional units still pending approval.
City Council will also hold a public hearing before its regular Nov. 3 meeting on proposed amendments to several chapters of the zoning code, which officials said are intended to clarify language and close gaps rather than make substantive policy changes.
Elsewhere in the newsletter, the city highlighted two recently completed park projects. A wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round, donated by the Pickaway County Community Foundation in partnership with the Brooks Yates Opportunities Board, has been installed at Mary Virginia Crites Hannan Park, though the surrounding playground remains closed for repairs. New pickleball courts at Barthelmas Park, built with support from the Pickaway County Pickleball Association, opened in time to host the Pumpkin Pickler pickleball tournament Oct. 10. The city said it is continuing to pursue additional funding for a planned pool at Barthelmas Park and has so far secured about 22% of a $2 million state capital budget grant toward that project.
The city also announced a temporary street closure for a Thanksgiving road race: the eastbound lane of West Mound Street between South Court Street and the alley next to St. Joseph’s Church, 129 W. Mound St., will close from 7 to 11 a.m. Nov. 26 for the 5K Turkey Trot.
City offices will be closed Nov. 11 for Veterans Day and Nov. 26-27 for Thanksgiving. Curbside leaf pickup begins Nov. 9 and continues through Dec. 31; residents may also drop off leaves at the city Service Garage, 150 Highland Ave.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the City of Circleville.
