The new Columbus Greyhound bus station on Wilson Road opened in June to less than thrilled customers, but a month later, it could be closing.
Last Friday, the terminal received several notices from the Columbus Department of Building and Zoning Services and Code Enforcement that the property had several violations that needed to be fixed or it would need to move out.
The notices included violations about a lack of parking spaces, ADA-compliant parking spaces, damaged sections of the property, approved placement and use of a portable building used for bathrooms and not including a vehicle pick-up and drop-off location.
The terminal, which was formerly a gas station on Columbus' West Side, has until August 18 to fix these alleged violations or move.
The deputy director of Columbus' Department of Building and Zoning Services, Anthony Celebrezze III, also told WOSU that some paperwork submitted was a bit inaccurate.
"When they submitted to do some alterations or renovations to the main building, they portrayed this as being a bus ticket sales office, and maybe a dozen and a half people there, couple of buses a day," he said.
Celebrezze also said that any path forward for the station to stay at the Wilson Road location would need some new paperwork.
"We're seeing potential for at least one if not two variances that he may need to get in order to operate there and conduct a traffic study," Celebrezze said.
The "he" mentioned by Celebrezze is Tom Goebel, the president of Baron Buses. Goebel is the one who has his name attached to the paperwork, despite the building prominently displaying only the Greyhound logo. The terminal serves both Greyhound and Baron buses, as well as several others.
The Greyhound logo and "Bus Terminal" painted on the building is the source of another violation in the Columbus City Code, Columbus Building Code and Ohio Building Code. Concerning other violations about damage and ground signs in the parking lot, these violations have 30 days to be rectified.
The terminal has receivied heavy criticism for the past month. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said despite the city's best efforts, he believes that the terminal is incompatible with the area.
"I hope the bus companies come to the realization that it is not in their best interests to continue to operate, but if they don’t, the city intends to use every available tool to shut them down," he said.
Celebrezze also had some criticisms of the station.
"There's really nowhere right now for people to wait, so you got people milling around outside, you got all these buses moving around and we got parking of buses on the side streets," he said. "There's not a very good area for pick-up and drop-off, and then on top of that, there is no easy way to get across the street with crosswalks and a stoplight."
Celebrezze told NBC4 there was a meeting scheduled with Goebel this week, but when asked about that meeting by WOSU, he said that it was now canceled and that Goebel had obtained legal counsel.
The terminal also is now not allowing press to conduct interviews on the property.
Greyhound operated a terminal in downtown Columbus for decades. However, the station was closed after Columbus sued in 2021, due to several hundred emergency calls to the location.
