City officials have approved plans for a new subdivision south of Abbey Place but also tabled an annexation request from the same company.
The Columbus Plan Commission voted Wednesday to approve a preliminary plat by Arbor Homes that includes 273 lots. The plat is for a new residential subdivision, “Sutter Place,” which will be located on 91.54 acres of property at 3530 and 3535 N. County Road 200 West. This is just south of Arbor’s existing Abbey Place homes.
The commission also considered a request from Arbor Homes to annex 30.85 acres of property located at 2455 Lowell Road in Columbus Township. However, commission members decided to continue the matter until their next meeting — which will be Nov. 9 — so that city officials have more time to review details related to water service.
For Sutter Place, Arbor Homes plans to build a mix of both its typical homes and a new product known as “Genesis,” which is intended to be more affordable for first-time homebuyers. Genesis homes are designed in clusters centered on shared motor courts.
According to a staff report from the planning department, the Sutter Place plat includes 181 “standard” lots and 92 Genesis lots. The Genesis lots will be arranged in five 8-unit pods, eight 6-unit pods and one 4-unit pod.
As part of its preliminary plat approval, the commission granted seven modifications requested by Arbor Homes, which pertained to the number of lots on an access easement, width of an access easement, temporary dead-end length, curb radius reduction and buffering.
The approval also included a few technical revisions that were recommended by planning staff.
The commission voted later that night to table Arbor Home’s annexation request for 2455 Lowell Road in order to give more time for the Columbus Fire Department and Columbus City Utilities to review Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp.’s capacity to provide adequate water service and water pressure to the site.
When it comes to annexation requests, the plan commission has four options: forward the request to Columbus City Council with a favorable recommendation, forward it with an unfavorable recommendation, forward it with no recommendation, or continue the review until the commission’s next meeting. Columbus City Council makes all final decisions on annexation applications.
The planning department’s staff report stated that the annexation is sought to facilitate the eventual development of a single family residential subdivision.
“Arbor Homes’ intent is to expand the Abbey Place subdivision to this property with approximately 42 single-family detached homes on individual lots,” the developers wrote in its application.
In commenting on the annexation, the Columbus Department of Works (DPW) wrote that it is currently “pushing the limit” with sanitation department collections. The new annexation, along with previous additions from Abbey Place, means that the department will need to look at adding a couple of new employees and an additional sanitation route.
“Funding for toters would also need to be increased as 42 homes would require an estimated $10,000 thousand dollars to purchase trash and recycle toters,” DPW officials added. “If annexation is approved, we will continue to service residents with quality service but it may require overtime to complete the proposed area.”
The department submitted similar comments on the Sutter Place development in the past.
