Commission to consider rezoning land for industrial use

Members of the Columbus Plan Commission will make a recommendation this week whether more than 100 acres of land in the city should be rezoned for future industrial use.

Two rezoning requests will be considered by the commission on Wednesday — one from BBG Realty Partners, which wants to rezone 32.7 acres of land along State Road 58, and one from Steve Booher, who is asking to rezone 77.17 acres of land along Deaver Road.

If approved, BBG Realty’s request would rezone the acreage at the northeast corner of 300 West and State Road 58 to “Industrial: Heavy and Commercial: Regional.”

The property, which is next to Woodside Industrial Park, is now zoned “Industrial: Light,” but the city’s comprehensive plan notes that a commercial designation is the most desirable zoning for the property to service the nearby industrial park and the traffic coming off of Interstate 65, according to the rezoning application filed with the planning department.

But the application also states that the land owners want to keep the industrial zoning designation to allow for potential industrial growth in the future, if that need were to arise.

Rezoning the land to commercial and industrial will maintain or increase the property value in the Woodside and Walesboro areas, the application states.

The request from Booher also seeks an industrial zoning designation for two parcels of land along Deaver Road, both currently zoned for agricultural use.

Booher said the Columbus Economic Development Board is in need of more shovel-ready land for industrial development, and that the 77 combined acres of land at the corner of Deaver and I-65 is already identified in the city’s master plan as an area for potential future industrial development.

As a result, Booher wrote in his application to the city that the economic development board approached him about annexing the two plots of land to the city and rezoning them for industrial use.

There is currently no plan in place for a specific use for the Deaver Road acreage, Booher said. Instead, the rezoning is meant to be a first step to prepare for future industrial development.

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Columbus Plan Commission meeting

  • When: 4 p.m. Wednesday
  • Where: Columbus City Hall council chambers, 123 Washington St.
  • What: Meeting of the Columbus Plan Commission, including votes on two rezoning requests for future industrial development

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  • Steve Booher is requesting an annexation and rezoning for 77.17 acres of property at the southwest corner of Deaver Road and I-65 in Wayne Township. The property is currently zone Agriculture: Preferred, but Booher is requesting that it be rezoned to Industrial: Heavy. The property is included in the city’s master plan for future industrial development.
  • BBG Realty Partners are requesting a rezoning for 32.7 acres of land at the northeast corner of 300 West and State Road 58, which is currently zoned Industrial: Light. The city’s comprehensive plan shows that a Commercial: Regional designation would be the best zoning for future development of the land, but the owners are requesting that it also be zoned Industrial: Heavy to allow for potential future industrial development.

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