Findlay City Council Lets Mask Slip, Shows True Opinion Of Public Discourse

BY JEFF SKINNER 

FINDLAY - On Tuesday, Findlay city council held a work session regarding the potential sale of two pieces of property totaling 26.17 acres located in the West Park neighborhood. Residents showed up in force to voice their opposition to the sale, which had somehow already been pegged for residential development, despite the parcel’s foundation being inhospitable for development due to significant bedrock. During the meeting members of the community were shut down by council over their comments showing what many argue was a ‘mask slip’, revealing a true disparity between those in power and those who must endure their ruling.

According to Mayor Christina Muryn’s presentation at the meeting, City of Findlay currently owns two parcels located on Carlin street in the West Park neighborhood. These properties are currently farm leased generating about $4,000 annually and were purchased in 2008 for $150,000 with the idea the public works department would put a shop on the property. The property is not recommended for the public works department given the lack of a central location which is critical for public works teams execution of their daily activities.

Historically, multiple construction projects have been attempted in the area, including what is known as ‘Baker’s Acres’, a housing development which was originally started with a larger area in mind. Construction was halted on this project due to issues surrounding the thick bedrock, which was making construction of infrastructure, such as sewer lines, cost prohibitive to continue. Dynamite was used to try and blast through bedrock, which created significant structural concerns for the older homes that surround the West Park area.

In 2023, Habitat for Humanity sought to build residential homes on the property, however massive public outcry against the endeavor thwarted the development for two years. The root of the outcry came from the issue of drainage surrounding the area and the potential for damage to residents' homes through dynamite blasting. Due to bedrock and soil content, the parcels rely on this area to provide drainage and flood mitigation. According to residents, development in this area would pose significant risk to the homes and livelihoods of those in West Park.

Despite multiple attempts over the last two years to have members of the West Lake neighborhood purchase the property, such as local farmers hoping to keep the area greenspace, Mayor Muryn opened the work session without acknowledgement of these efforts and a clearly defined strategy to sell the parcels to develop “diverse” housing in the neighborhood. 

“So really for today, all I'm asking for, the recommendations today, are support of moving forward with defining the terms of what it would look like to put it up for sale and then support of submitting,” Muryn said. “I recommend going ahead and submitting the rezone on the parcel.”

Instead of a robust debate among elected officials with supposed diverse opinions on how best to utilize the parcel, conversation was couched entirely between how best to sell the property and develop it for either standard homes or congregate housing or even ‘micro-homes’. When councilmember Holly Frische brought concerns about flood mitigation, Muryn responded by stating the city would build ‘detention ponds’ to address those issues, implying greater use of dynamite in the area that had already proven unsuccessful with the shutdown of the Baker’s Acres second half construction project. 

While debate raged on how to best facilitate the sale of the property, residents were permitted a brief period of comment to offer alternative suggestions, which spurred greater frustration among the council, which clearly showed disdain for any dissent from the preordained plan. 

One resident brought up the aforementioned Baker’s Acres failure to complete their development due to the thick bedrock and referenced current council member Brian Bauman, who previously owned property in the area and has first hand knowledge of the issue, yet still supported the continued development despite historical failures. Other members of the public additionally took umbrage with the plan, which would create multiple stipulations within an apparent auction or sale, making it not truly an open auction as advertised.

“I guess that If you're putting deed restrictions on this, it's really not a true, open, and honest auction,” One resident said. “There's a lot of rich farmers that would love to just continue to farm it. It would not destroy our neighborhood. As you are sitting here, oh, we're going to put houses down there. Has anybody come across the back? Which two streets in West Park are you going to widen, put curbs on, put storm sewers down, put sidewalks on to make thoroughfare streets? We don't have thoroughfare streets in our neighborhood.”

The audacity of residents to question the overarching agenda to create 'diverse' housing, potentially at the expense of their own, led to council member Jeff Wobser shouting down members of the public who came to voice their concerns to people they felt were supposed to represent their interests. Wobser said he was ‘sorry he ever permitted people to speak’ on a matter that would impact their livelihoods. Clearly preferring people to just be silent and let wealthier officials dictate their lives.

Wobser showed further contempt when a member of the public dared to ask if the city would cover any costs or liability should the use of dynamite impact any aspect of their properties, such as damaging foundations. Wobser, who seemed to have no issue immediately voting on a matter that could destroy resident’s homes, scoffed at the idea he would be expected to provide a definitive answer to a mere citizen asking for government accountability should that home actually be damaged.

Ironically, just a few moments earlier, Wobser shut down councilmember Frische, who once again echoed the concerns of residents with regards to the historical failure of construction projects in that area and the potential for exploding costs, telling her to ‘trust the process.”

“It will all come out in the process, just trust the process,” Wobser said. 

Unfortunately, residents were not wanting to trust a process they already know has strong potential to impact their lives, lead to rising construction costs and potentially damage their homes. Residents in the area lean predominantly older, residing in historically constructed homes of about 1000 sq. ft. built in the 1950s. Should their homes be destroyed, it is unlikely residents would be able to rebuild or repair the damage. 

Based on the council’s response, the resident’s concerns are not shared among those in positions of power, who value the agenda of blasting away heritage residents livelihoods to make way for ‘Diverse Housing Options’. The plan was approved to proceed to council for an official vote, which Muryn desires to have completed expediently. Many believe this is most likely due to having a buyer already selected.