Powell City Council voted Aug. 5, to extend the Village Green Master Plan's Phase 2 timeline, giving design firm Pizzuti Solutions until December to respond to 381 resident comments collected during four open houses this spring.
The extension costs the city nothing, City Manager Andrew White told council. But it signals that public pushback on two competing redevelopment concepts for the 12-acre downtown site at 47 Hall St. was significant enough to slow the process, Delaware Source reported.
More than 220 residents attended open houses between April and May, generating feedback that clustered around a few themes: preserve the green space, keep the amphitheater and splash pad, address traffic and maintain Powell's small-town character. Residents showed a strong preference for the "Village Square" concept over the "Market Street" concept, according to a city Instagram post summarizing the feedback on July 30.
Both concepts proposed retail, residential and mixed-use space, a market hall, a grocery store and a multi-level parking garage replacing the existing surface lot. Both would rearrange a parcel that currently houses council chambers, the Powell Police Department, the amphitheater, splash pad and green space.
Residents packed the meeting
Several residents told council they felt the city hadn't adequately publicized the concepts or the opportunities to weigh in.
Tracey Mayberry, a Powell resident who told council she's been in the area long enough to know traffic is the top complaint, said everything in the proposed plans "cries out to me, 'We're about to make it exponentially worse.'" She urged members to abandon the study entirely, calling it a waste of funds when other community needs exist.
Sean Donnelly, another Powell resident, said Powell Fest and the amphitheater are "100% essential to this community" and cannot be relocated to a field on the edge of town.
Melissa Scott, board president of Olentangy Community Theater, took a different angle, telling council a year-round performing arts venue would bring more visitors to downtown restaurants and businesses. Mayor Heather Karr noted the 30-year-old amphitheater lacks adequate electrical supply and sound systems.
No construction anytime soon
Construction remains years away.
Planning Director Logan Stang sought to cool expectations on both sides. "Even at the end of phase three, there is no development itself that would be approved, so that would just be the fiscal analysis alongside a plan," Stang said. Several additional steps would follow before any construction could begin.
White reinforced that point. At the May 6 Development Committee meeting, he told members that the conveyance of public land to a private entity requires "an enormous time frame of public debate and discussion, which is not scheduled." He said at the time he did not anticipate a development decision before late 2027 or 2028.
Pizzuti Solutions is serving as a consultant, not a selected developer. Any actual development would still require a separate developer, builder, Planning and Zoning Commission review and council approval.
White also confirmed that staff have already begun planning Powell Fest 2027 at the Village Green, as usual.
What's next
Pizzuti Solutions representative Sophia Lanza told council she expects to host another community presentation this fall and bring a revised concept to council in December 2026. If council approves a concept then, the project would move into Phase 3, focused on financing and cost analysis.
