DELAWARE — A group of Ohio State University planning students has developed a conceptual plan for South Sandusky Street that might help guide the corridor’s future.
The proposal, created by 12 city and regional planning students as part of a junior capstone project, comes ahead of a formal city-led planning effort expected to begin later this year.
The ideas may never be implemented, but they reflect the students’ vision for the corridor — shaped by creative thinking and then tested against real-world constraints by city officials during a mock planning commission on Wednesday.
Delaware was selected for the capstone project after city officials applied late last year and were accepted by the program.
Over three months, the students toured the area, identified priorities and developed a long-term vision for South Sandusky Street.
The mock commission included Parks and Recreation Director Ted Miller, Planning and Zoning Administrator Anna Kelsey, Mayor Carolyn Riggle, City Engineer Johnathan Owen, Economic Development Director Nic Langford and Planning Director Sandra Pereira.
“This is the first time in my 21 years I’ve ever had a mock planning commission meeting for the students,” said professor Kyle Ezell. “The alums know how important it is for them to have that sort of professional experience. We really appreciate that.”
At the end of the presentation, audience members and the mock commission questioned the feasibility of the ideas, citing parking and space concerns as well as existing city plans that would interfere with some of the ideas.
City officials emphasized that the students’ proposal does not represent formal action by the city, but benefits the students by giving them real-world experience in planning — and benefits the planning department by hearing an outside perspective about what the space could become.
“This conceptual plan included a variety of big ideas that will give city staff a starting point for the city’s future plan for the same corridor, which will be kicked off later this year,” Planning and Zoning Administrator Anna Kelsey said.
Proposal developed with community input
The students shaped their proposal around three goals:
- Retaining and extending South Sandusky’s Main Street character
- Creating a strong transition into downtown Delaware
- Advancing Delaware’s presence as a competitive city
Those goals were informed by general planning trends, the students’ takeaways from touring Delaware and input from residents via a community survey led by student Jackson Sager.
The community survey received 238 responses, and showed residents prioritized local retail, grocery and dining; parks, green space and riverfront development; and connectivity.
With those goals in mind, the students suggested six main focus area projects, which include:
- Improving efficiency and safety near U.S. Route 23
- Extending North Sandusky Street’s character to South Sandusky
- Transforming the Delaware Shopping Center into a mixed-use space
- Developing city-owned Greenfield into a mixed-use neighborhood
- Continuing plans for multi-use recreational paths
- Expanding existing cemetery improvement plans
U.S. 23 efficiency and gateway to the city
Student Aubri Hoop proposed a new transition into Delaware from northbound U.S. 23 and southbound on South Sandusky Street.
The transition would include an exit ramp from U.S. 23 north onto U.S. Route 42 using existing infrastructure and creating a double roundabout on the U.S. 42, South Sandusky Street and U.S. 23 intersection.
“The northbound ramp would eliminate that left turn from 23 onto South Sandusky Street,” Hoop said. “I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of rear-end crashes and angle crashes there, so that would help with that.
“And the double roundabout would just improve efficiency and move people around through the city faster.”
She also suggested using existing green space near the intersection to erect something that represents a welcome into the city.
Extending North Sandusky Street’s character South
Student Daniel Houghton worked on envisioning the South Sandusky Street corridor.
He suggested adding lane buffers, such as a few feet of grass, along the street starting at the southern end after the proposed roundabouts. That area would also boast a Camp Delaware monument.
As the street continues north, he recommended reducing the lanes from five to three to add on-street parking and bike lanes throughout the entire corridor.
The road has five lanes beginning at the South Sandusky Street and East William Street intersection until it reduces to three lanes near Oak Grove Cemetery.
Student Adam Barlow suggested reducing parking in the commercial businesses to instead establish a continuous wall of buildings down the corridor, as seen on the North Sandusky Street buildings.
The first floors of those building would be commercial space, and the second and potentially third stories would be residential living.
Parking would be “tucked away” and accessible via a rear alleyway, he said.
Transforming the Delaware Shopping Center
The shopping center transformation was heavily influenced by community input, student Mara Bray said.
She and her team proposed redeveloping the shopping center — which houses Ohio Thrift — and its largely underused parking lot into a mix of green space, townhomes and mixed-use development.
“We envisioned creating a walkable area that accommodates diverse housing needs as well as local food access,” student Hannah Sabagh said.
The front portion of the site, currently a large parking lot, would be redesigned to include a smaller parking area, green space and townhomes.
The rear of the site, where the shopping center now sits, would be redeveloped into a mixed-use area that includes a grocery store.
“By transforming this, we think it would be a really good place for people to enjoy the park, or students to come by, or residents to come and get groceries because we could never have too many great grocery stores, especially downtown,” student Nash Trattner said.
Eastern Greenfield development
The city owns a roughly 50-acre parcel that sits along the Olentangy River between Curve Road, Kingsbury Road and Armstrong Road.
Although not directly along South Sandusky Street, student Danielle Crittenden proposed turning the area into a space that supports 700 units of diverse housing, including duplexes, townhomes and apartments.
The space would be a mixed-use neighborhood similar to the shopping center, so there would be spaces for commercial buildings and a green space, too.
“There are a couple of residential homes, and we just left those alone, didn’t touch them, as well as existing tree density, which we added some pedestrian paths to allow people to engage with the nature that exists [without] tearing down trees or anything,” she said.
The group proposed street parking on most streets to support the residential space.
Oak Grove Cemetery
The students build on existing improvement plans for Oak Grove Cemetery, which include road paving and new additions such as a pond.
Student Vaughn Cheney said their idea for the cemetery is to add new entrances, repave existing pathways for walking and driving, and add placemaking features.
He proposed an archway near the center of the cemetery and developing a new trail in the wooded, northwest area of the cemetery that lacks any development.
The group also recommended expanding the plan for a pond to add benches and local flora.
Shared-use trail
The students also proposed a shared-use trail aimed at improving bike and pedestrian connectivity throughout the area.
“Our overall goal with this is to improve bike and pedestrian connectivity by building on existing infrastructure to link different parts of the focus area,” student Drew Gross said.
The proposed path would follow the Olentangy River, connect to the Greenfield development, then travel below a highway underpass to eventually reconnect to South Sandusky Street near Oak Grove Cemetery.
From there, the route could continue through the cemetery and connect to Liberty Road, where the team also suggested adding a protected bike lane.
