Some Clintonville residents and business owners are concerned about potential redevelopment prospects for the vacant Cord Camera building on High Street.

At the end of September, Cord relocated to the Graceland Shopping Center, leaving the 10,933-square-foot building at 4784 N. High St. vacant once again.

It is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the neighborhood: a large building with Spanish-style architecture that, in its almost 80 years of existence, has been home to such uses as a restaurant, a photography studio and an Oriental rug shop. There's an adjacent parcel dedicated to parking.

Clintonville Area Commission District 8 representative John DeFourny said that he and his constituents are concerned the building might be replaced with something inappropriate for the neighborhood.

"My biggest fear is some four-story, tenement-style apartment with commercial use and inadequate parking that will come in and dominate parking within several blocks," DeFourny said.

A similar combined-used structure has been proposed for the intersection of North High Street and East California Avenue. Nearby residents appeared at the October CAC meeting to protest the variances sought by the developer and to say such a structure, with commercial uses on the ground floor and apartments above, would not fit their neighborhood. The CAC turned down the proposal this month, although the developer's request will still go before the city's board of zoning appeals before eventually being heard by Columbus City Council.

The same local opposition would hold true for an apartment-commercial structure at North High Street and East Royal Forest Boulevard, DeFourny said.

"It's commercial encroachment into the residential neighborhood," he said.

Such developments might work in the Short North, he said, but they don't work in Clintonville in spite of a new commercial overly that encourages such land uses.

"We've always been the alternative to the Short North," DeFourny said. "It's an historic suburban setting to have the ability to park your car in front of your house or your friends or guests.

"The community has been sold very bad goods."

The parcel's C-4 zoning classification allows many uses, except those that are automobile-oriented such as a car wash, drive-through or gas station. But that leaves open the door for fast-food restaurants and check-cashing facilities. A developer also could knock down the structure and replace it with a 45-foot-tall building, the maximum permitted by code. A developer would have to seek a variance for anything taller, according to the city of Columbus.

The property was transferred Nov. 10 to GNWLAAC Real Estate Holding LLC of Richmond, Va. Officials with the company could not be reached for comment.

Leslie Anne Diamond, who lives behind the site on East Royal Forest Boulevard, said she would like the owners to preserve the building, which she feels has historical significance in the neighborhood.

She said she's not certain what she'd like to see, but is open to ideas.

"I'm all for change, change is progress," Diamond said. "But you hope it's a clean change, something good for the neighborhood. I'd hate to have something seedy come into the neighborhood."

DeFourny, a real estate agent whose office is a stone's throw from the parcel, said he's in favor of a "white tablecloth Italian or French restaurant."

Yet, Dr. Susan Daab Krzykowski, of the Beechwold Medical Center next door, would rather see a low-impact use, such as offices. It's a quiet neighborhood and residents are wary about the potential of increased traffic, noise and related issues associated with a more high-impact use, she said.

"The people who thrive in this community are the ones who make friends with the neighborhood," said Krzykowski, who lives in the neighborhood.