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    City Zoning Reform Efforts to Focus on Mixed-Use Districts First

    Don’t expect the city’s zoning code to be overhauled in one fell swoop. The plan is to tackle the undertaking one step at a time, and the first element of the code to be examined will be mixed-use districts.

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    The focus will be on crafting new rules for development located along the city’s major corridors – High Street, Broad Street, Main Street, Morse Road, Sawmill Road, and others – places that may have developed in vastly different ways but that have certain elements in common, like access to transit and the potential to absorb lots of new housing.

    A series of public meetings and other engagement opportunities will be held over the next year, with a goal of unveiling a new draft code for mixed-use districts throughout the city in early 2024.

    “By starting here we can build more housing, bring jobs closer to where people live [and address] key topics like parking and land use policies,” said Mark Dravillas, the city’s Planning Administrator, in a recent presentation to the University Impact Review Board.

    “No decisions have been made about how code will be changed,” he added. “The goal to be responsive, data-driven, and to prepare for our projected population boom.”

    The city of Columbus first hired a consultant to look into its zoning code about two years ago, and an assessment of the code produced by that consultant was released a little over a year ago.

    That report detailed the the widening gulf between the type of development the city says it wants to see, and the type of development that is actually allowed by the zoning code.

    The 1950s-era code has been amended in a piece-meal fashion through the years, and is very difficult for the average citizen to navigate. It also applies standards for new development that are often more appropriate for a suburban development pattern than an urban one, according to the assessment. The end result is an approval process that can stretch on for years – particularly for urban infill projects – as zoning lawyers shepherd proposals through lengthy negotiations in order to achieve a result that neighborhood groups (and ultimately City Council) will support.

    Kevin Wheeler, the city’s Assistant Director for Growth Policy, has been leading the zoning reform effort. He is hopeful that new rules for development along the city’s major corridors will make that process much simpler, while still giving local residents a say in what type of development is allowed in their neighborhoods.

    “We want to establish a working relationship with the community, so that they understand what we’re doing and there’s a level of trust that we’re working with them thoughtfully,” he said. “Given the magnitude of the [zoning code reform] work, there was a desire to focus on areas where there is the most opportunity to impact the city in a positive way, to accommodate more housing options and jobs.”

    “As a part of the mixed-use areas, we’re going to be talking about affordable housing, parking requirements, things like that,” he added. “And we will be, as we’re doing this, laying the ground work for going beyond corridors to work with the residential districts and business districts.”

    That means that some zoning changes that have received a lot of attention when they’ve been implemented in other cities – like the elimination of single family zoning in Minneapolis, or the legalization of accessory dwelling units in California – will not be tackled right away in Columbus. The focus on corridors is also meant to align with the work of the LinkUs initiative, which calls for building new Bus Rapid Transit corridors and greatly expanding the region’s transportation options.

    <<Read More: Design Concepts Presented for LinkUs Transit Stations>>

    In December, the city unveiled a new name for the zoning reform effort – Zone in Columbus – and held the first of a series of public meetings to discuss it. Those “community conversations” are taking place at recreation centers throughout the city and coincide with a traveling exhibit called “Undesign the Redline,” which examines the history of redlining and other forms of structural racism in Columbus and other American cities.

    YWCA Columbus sponsored the redline exhibit and helped to bring in experts to add elements of local history to the national story, which is told through text and photos.

    “The exhibit unpacks the history of redlining and other urban planning policies that have helped create the wealth gap in America as we know it today,” said Jennifer Fening, Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Development. “Zoning won’t undo all of this, but how do we use zoning as a first step to start to create the conditions for investment in our communities?”

    Dates for the Undesign the Redline exhibit and discussions, courtesy of city of Columbus.

    The city is working with two main consultants on zoning reform; California-based Lisa Wise Consulting, which produced last year’s assessment, and locally-based RAMA Consulting, which is leading the community outreach efforts. An advisory committee was also recently established, holding its first meeting in November.

    Lots of other cities have updated their zoning codes in recent years. When asked what cities Columbus is looking to for inspiration, Wheeler said that there are plenty of places that have made progress on the issue, but also no shortage of cautionary tales.

    “Charlotte has recently gone through a pretty extensive series of updates…Denver had done it some time ago, and we have followed the story of Austin and what their struggles have been,” he said. “Recently, one of our staff members was able to be part of a team associated with LinkUs that got to visit Minneapolis; so all these cities and more are cities that we’ve been following, but at this point I can’t say that there’s one specific place where we think, ‘well, that’s really it,’ but we [want] to benefit from the experiences of other cities.”

    “We want to encourage folks to engage with us as we do this work…we’re formulating a code from the ground up [and] right now we’re starting at a place that nobody is really happy with,” Wheeler said. “It’s really critical that we are able to connect with the community, particularly constituencies that are often under-represented in conversations like this.”

    For more information on the city’s zoning update, see columbus.gov.

    Additional Reading:

    New Group Formed to Take On NIMBYs

    $200 Million Bond Package Part of City’s New Housing Strategy

    The exhibit on display at the Michael B. Coleman Government Center – Photo by Brent Warren.
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    Brent Warren
    Brent Warrenhttps://columbusunderground.com/author/brent-warren
    Brent Warren is a staff reporter for Columbus Underground covering urban development, transportation, city planning, neighborhoods, and other related topics. He grew up in Grandview Heights, lives in the University District and studied City and Regional Planning at OSU.
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