Columbus tweaks proposed zoning code in anticipation of final vote

The Columbus City Council is making some last-minute tweaks to its new zoning code before a scheduled vote on the code next week.

Changes include more parking guidelines and clearer protections for historic buildings.

The revisions, described in The Dispatch on Friday and outlined at a news conference Monday, are expected to be the final changes in a two-year process, called "Zone In," to overhaul the city's more than 70-year-old zoning code.

"We are in the homestretch of this monumental endeavor," Mayor Andrew Ginther said Monday. "Adopting this new code means we can slow the rise in rents and home prices."

In an effort to encourage more home construction, the proposed new code allows denser housing construction along several urban corridors in Columbus that are primarily Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) bus transit routes. In the highest-density strips, including parts of High and Broad streets, buildings up to 16 stories will be allowed provided four stories are dedicated to affordable housing. In other stretches, such as Morse and Bethel roads, lesser heights would be allowed.

City officials said the changes are in response to nearly 1,600 comments submitted on the code, along with multiple hearings and meetings at a special Zone In meeting space Downtown.

"We wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to be heard," said Council President Shannon Hardin.

The proposed changes:

• Require parking impact studies of every development proposal that has fewer than one parking spot for each residence. The city will still not require on-site parking, but depending on the findings, the studies may require developers to make parking arrangements such as permit parking on adjacent streets or lots, or additional bike or scooter parking. An exception will remain for affordable housing, which will have no parking requirements in an effort to keep down costs.
• Clarify that protections will remain for buildings in historic districts and buildings individually protected. The original zoning proposal did not remove such protections, but some local preservationists feared the new rules could weaken protections for historic properties.
• Increase setbacks by 5 feet between mixed-use buildings and adjacent homes, and require street trees for larger developments, part of increased "aesthetic and design standards to ensure a proper fit within established neighborhoods" with buildings in mixed-use zoning districts.
• Add landscape buffering requirements.

No parcels or designations were changed in the proposed new zoning map with one exception that was a clerical error, said Council President Pro Tem Rob Dorans.

Ginther and other city officials say the new zoning requirements will encourage the construction of up to 88,000 new apartments and homes, about half of the estimated 200,000 needed throughout central Ohio over the next 15 years to keep up with rising demand from projected population increases.

"Columbus will lead the way, but our suburban and exurban neighbors must join us," Ginther said.

To help make the city's case, new Columbus homeowner Anna Teye-Kasongo spoke at Monday's news conference. Teye-Kasongo, who is the director of Community Partnerships for the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, bought a home in November with her husband on the Northeast Side.

"Having parking we don't need takes away from housing we do need," she said.

The new zoning code and council's amendments were introduced for first reading at council's regular meeting Monday evening. Four people, three in favor and one against, testified about the proposed new code.

Monica Téllez-Fowler, president/CEO of COTA, said the zoning changes could work in tandem with plans for the LinkUs bus rapid transit improvements and the proposed new sales tax hike going to voters Nov. 5 that is needed to fund the local share of the cost.

"Dense development generates more transit users," Téllez-Fowler said.

The new regulations are the first, and smallest step in a plan to review the entire city's zoning code. In this step, 12,300 parcels would be rezoned, a fraction of the city's 303,000 properties.

Following a final public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Council chambers at City Hall, the Council is expected to vote on the new zoning code at its meeting Monday, July 29.

Dispatch reporter Anna Lynn Winfrey contributed to this report.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus tweaks proposed zoning code in anticipation of final vote