About Neighborhoods for Responsible Development

We are the residents of Schumacher Place, German Village and Merion Village. We cherish our historic neighborhoods. We know the value they bring to Columbus. We are also aware our city is rapidly growing and experiencing a housing shortage.

Urban growth is inevitable but must be managed in a way that it does not disrespect, disregard, or disrupt the neighborhood and the people who created it through their long-term care, commitment and investment.  

Our goal as citizens is not to stand in the way of development, but to champion smart and responsible development in our neighborhoods. 

Recently, commercial developers proposed a hotel and two very large apartment complexes in our area. Now, The Pizzuti Company is seeking City Council approval to build an enormous apartment complex on the former Giant Eagle site at 280 E. Whittier Street. 

This project is entirely inappropriate for the location as currently designed. Primary among the many issues, it is grossly out of scale. At a height of almost 62 feet, it will tower over all of the homes and commercial buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods. 

This proposed megablock development would introduce a building mass entirely wrong for this neighborhood. It would do irreparable harm to the character of our community. 

Neighborhoods for Responsible Development seeks changes to the planned Pizzuti development that will both ease the city's housing shortage and respect the historic neighborhoods that surround it.

The Pizzuti project has been a wakeup call for us to come together to stand against the current plans for this development. Our message needs to be heard and appreciated by City Council. To that end, we've secured expert guidance in zoning law, building standards, greenspace, parking and traffic. 

Our most pressing need right now is to raise funds to pay for legal fees and professional review of studies required for our effort. (See the donate link at bottom of the page.)

There's a great danger that if this  project isn't modified into something more appropriate for this location, it will set a precedent. for other developers to ignore the voices of residents, city laws and guidelines.