Area residents are angry about the opening of a Lion's Den adult book and video store on Alum Creek Drive, and the large sign erected off of I-70. The building in the background is slated to become a shooting range and gun store, another development that has residents fired up.
A plan for a gun shop and shooting range on Alum Creek Drive has area residents questioning the wisdom of adding firearms to an already high-crime neighborhood.
An adult book and video store next door isn't getting great reviews, either.
On the firing line
Bexley resident Larry Gunsorek, president of Anchor Government Properties, wants to put the gun shop and shooting range in the former Sun TV building at 1030 Alum Creek Drive in Columbus, near Livingston Avenue. Most recently, the site housed offices for the state parole agency.
The proposal for the firing range was approved in November by the Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment, with a thumbs-up from the Livingston Avenue Area Commission.
That decision is being appealed by the Columbus Compact Corporation, a development arm of the city, on the grounds that the business could contribute to a rise in gun violence. The appeal hearing will be held Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. at 757 Carolyn Ave.
The site already is zoned for retail sales, so no approval was needed to open a gun shop in the building.
During testimony before the BZA, zoning officer David Reiss explained that, when it comes to retail stores, the law makes no distinction between selling guns and toothpaste.
Anchor Properties spokesman Todd Dillon told the BZA that the shooting range would require background checks and memberships for entrance, and such businesses are highly regulated. The retail outlet would offer security systems and uniforms, as well as guns, he said.
Brian Boatright, with the Livingston Avenue Area Commission, said his organization was convinced that the firing range would be safe and that they welcomed a large retail business, as opposed to a vacant building.
Jonathan Beard, director of the Columbus Compact, is not swayed by the promises of safety and security at the site.
"Despite any efforts of the gun store operator, guns from this store will be on the streets in short order, and will be used in violent crimes," Beard warned in a letter to Mayor Michael Coleman. "Gun stores are routinely subject to theft, burglarly, unlawful sales, and straw purchasers that, for drugs or money, deliver guns to criminals."
The Columbus Compact has also filed a lawsuit with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court claiming there was inadequate notice and opportunity for public input before the Livingston Avenue Area Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustments made their decisions, and that the BZA did not consider all of the facts.
Beard said several neighborhood groups under the umbrella of the area commission oppose the gun range decision. The Columbus Urban League and the NAACP have also voiced objections.
The Rev. Bob Ward, a Bexley resident and pastor of Free English Lutheran Church on the Near East Side, is among those against opening a gun shop in the neighborhood.
In a letter rallying opposition, Ward recalled an incident from last summer that illustrated to him that there are already too many guns on the street.
He was helping to mow vacant lots with a group of young volunteers when a gun battle broke out among men hanging around the corner. Ward grabbed the kids and ducked for cover, but the kids weren't afraid.
"This happens every day. We don't pay any attention to it," they told him.
Ward cites a study done at Ohio State University that shows a 25 percent increase in gun violence around urban gun stores. Nationwide, one-third of guns used in crimes can be traced back to a sale from a licensed firearms dealer within a three-year period, he added.
During the BZA hearing, retired Columbus poice officer Roger Runion suggested that about 90 percent of those using the firing range would be cops or firefighters, adding to the safety of the neighborhood.
Bruce Black, president of the Berwick Civic Association, said the people he has spoken with are split about 50/50 on the issue.
Some opponents are questioning the integrity of the applicant.
Gunsorek, who could not be reached for comment, pleaded guilty in November to hiring undocumented workers to do construction and renovations at several of his company's properties, according to a Columbus Dispatch report from Nov. 8. He could be sentenced to five years in prison and receive a fine of $250,000, the article said. One of his companies is accused of underpaying the workers.
Ward is mounting a letter-writing campaign to get the zoning decision on the gun range overturned. Mayor Coleman has asked his development director to look into the issue.
"I share the concerns of those residents who oppose the firearms facility and the new adult bookstore and their effect on the character of their neighborhood," the mayor wrote to Development Director Boyce Safford III, calling them "a community setback."
Roaring mad
The Lion's Den store and its large signs are raising a few eyebrows, as well.
Having a large sign advertising a porn shop at their freeway exit doesn't create the best atmosphere for Bexley, Capital University and east Columbus neighborhoods, Bexley Mayor John Brennan said.
Brennan called it "a slap in the face" that could hamper Bexley's efforts to redevelop its side of Livingston Avenue.
Brennan had his development director, Bruce Langner, contact Mayor Coleman's assistant, and Langner also is looking into sign regulations and Ohio Department of Transportation rules to see if the advertising can be reduced in size.
Berwick resident Gretchen Garner has been doing her homework, too.
"It's the corner store for sex offenders," Garner said of the shop at 1150 Alum Creek Drive.
In fact, there are 47 registered sex offenders living within a mile of the business, she learned.
And she pointed out that there is another porn shop less than half a mile away from the Lion's Den.
But at least it doesn't have large billboards beckoning customers speeding by on the interstates.
The city's graphics commission gave its approval for the 60-foot signs at the I-70 and I-270 exits in August. The applicant was listed as the All-Star Sign Company.
Zoning officer David Reiss explained to Garner that the commission makes its decisions based on the structure of the sign, not its content.
The initial application was for 75-foot illuminated signs, Garner said, but a compromise was reached to OK the 60-foot structures that were put in place.
Garner thinks that is still much too large. "Thirty-five feet would have been adequate."
Garner is continuing to work with the zoning department and neighborhood organizations to get the size of the signs reduced.
Many of her neighbors are upset about it, as well, but Garner is the one who has jumped into the fight."I feel like Erin Brokovich."
Guns and porn aren't what the eastside needs, she believes.
Larry Rubin, who has a $24 million investment in the Bexley Gateway project less than a mile from the area, wasn't happy to learn about his new neighbors to the south.
"It's not making it any easier" to revitalize the neighborhoods to have these types of businesses nearby, Rubin said. He also faulted the lack of communication between Columbus and the residents who are affected by these decisions.
Mayor Brennan said he would not be happy to see the gun shop open on Alum Creek Drive, pointing out that recently two young men were shot to death right across the street. But he didn't think Bexley could influence decisions made in Columbus.
"It isn't a great location, but our hands are tied," Brennan said.
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