MONDAY, MAY 23, 2022, 4 TO 6 PM
Little Turtle Way between Longrifle Road and Blue Jacket Road

This is your invitation to witness firsthand the site of the iconic mounded, grand boulevard being leveled! Come early to see the excavation on the 2 mounds underway now. 

Little Turtle residents will rally in the Little Turtle community Monday, May 23, 4 to 6PM, to show their unity to Columbus and to the Columbus City Council members of its great displeasure with the demise of the community’s grand boulevard, a 50-year piece of Columbus history, and now the roadway’s resultant traffic congestion. The boulevard mounds are being leveled and the mature trees removed.

On behalf of the residents, we are inviting you to come out to see and document the boulevard’s destruction, as a piece of Columbus history is being erased, as well as the end of Little Turtle’s moniker as a “hidden gem.” You, as well as the taxpayers of Columbus, need to see how $6 million of our tax dollars are being spent on a roadway not wanted or needed by the residents and the disgraceful demise of beautiful greenspace and mature trees. We will not go quietly into the night.

 Truly the beginning of the end, Little Turtle Way’s iconic grand, mounded boulevard which was dedicated 50 years ago in 1972, is currently being destroyed right before the residents’ eyes, despite the legal actions by the Little Turtle Civic Association representing the majority of Little Turtle residents. These legal actions were detailed by many media outlets in Columbus, favorable to the residents’ wishes to block or modify the roadway for the past two years.  Working through the court system, the only tool the residents had, the Franklin County Common Pleas Court and the Franklin County Court of Appeals denied the residents’ lawsuits against the City of Columbus for violating the Ohio Sunshine Law and public corruption, contrary to the evidence given in the court.

 Background

The residents contended grave safety concerns and traffic congestion should the City’s roadway plan go through. The City of Columbus’ roadway plan condenses 4 divided lanes to 2 and calls for a small roundabout to be constructed at Little Turtle Way and Longrifle Road. The majority of Little Turtle’s residents only have one access point in and out of the community which will be through the small roundabout. If residents are unable to get in and out, emergency equipment cannot access in and out in a timely manner, when seconds can mean life and death. And this plan replaces the boulevard’s greenspace with gray space, as well as the removal of many mature trees, which has already taken place. These mounds acted as a natural rain basin, natural filtration of air pollution, a natural sound barrier to SR161 and habitat to wildlife.

The Little Turtle Civic Association repeatedly submitted its Plan B to the City, asking the City to maintain the existing 4 lanes and to construct a larger roundabout between the northbound and southbound lanes.  The LTCA also repeatedly asked for a new traffic study since the City was using an outdated traffic study prior to Firewater’s (the Little Turtle Golf Club owner/developer) new condos and apartments being built and which are continually being constructed. More traffic to come! Thus, the community is a growing traffic community in addition to a housing explosion in nearby communities, all using Longrifle and Little Turtle Way to access SR161. The Little Turtle residents adamantly stated that the City’s plan made no common sense. When the City vacates the 2 northbound lanes of Little Turtle Way, this provides Firewater direct access to the mounded greenspace for development. Interesting that the original owner of the golf course had placed a deed restriction on the space in question that no construction of any type beyond landscaping could be made; unfortunately, this restriction expired after 15 years but the neighbors took this intent to heart and wished to maintain the greenspace. The majority of residents chose to live at Little Turtle due to its greenspace with its park-like look and “welcoming home” feel and then stayed for decades.

Little Turtle Civic Association, Inc. “Save the Turtle”
PO Box 832
Westerville, OH  43086
neighbor@littleturtleway.com
Contact:  Darlene Slater, President – 614-208-7624