A proposal to build a check-cashing outlet on a prominent corner in Eastmoor has neighbors concerned. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Primax Properties has submitted plans to the City of Columbus to build a 2,500 square foot PLS Financial Services location at the southwest corner of East Broad Street and South James Road.

Michelle Santuomo, president of the Central Eastmoor Civic Association, said that the proposal has met with near-universal disapproval from the surrounding neighborhood, and an online petition against it has racked up over a thousand signatures in just two days.

“We’re a really diverse community, but of all the people I’ve spoken to, not a single one has said ‘no, this will be good,'” she said. “This is the most valuable corner in our neighborhood… it’s primed for redevelopment, and if they build a check cashing store on this vacant lot, that could be the end of an opportunity for it to be developed properly.”

The proposed PLS would be built at 3265 E. Broad St., which sits next to several other underutilized parcels that Santuomo says could be assembled and developed as a single, impactful project.

A 2006 city planning document – Main and Broad Corridor Revitalization – called for “appropriately intensive redevelopment” of the Broad and James intersection, which it described as “the heart of Eastmoor.” Suggestions from the plan based on input solicited from public meetings include a multi-story, mixed-use development.

The organized effort to oppose the PLS proposal also cites the impact it would have on traffic – the intersection was rated by the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Association as the second-most dangerous in the city – and reports of robberies at other PLS locations.

The proposal will be heard by the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) on January 23. If the board votes to approve the necessary zoning variances – which include an increase in parking over the maximum allowed and a reduction in how far the building and parking are set back from the road – the developer would be free to pursue the project.

Santuomo said that she expects a number of neighbors to show up to the meeting to argue against approving the variances. She also is hopeful that the whole ordeal serves as a catalyst for the establishment of the Berwick Eastmoor Area Commission (a petition was filed with the city in December, but City Council action is necessary to officially establish an area commission, which traditionally function as a neighborhood’s voice on zoning and development issues).

“As a civic association president, I signed up to plan block parties and plant flowers, not fight the BZA,” Santuomo said.

A representative of Primax Properties did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

UPDATE (1/25/18 10:43am): The BZA voted down the proposed zoning variances at its meeting on the 23rd. That leaves the applicant with three options if it wants to continue to pursue the project, according to the city: reconfigure the proposal so that no variances are required, go back a second time to the BZA after making significant changes, or appeal the decision to the Court of Common Pleas.