The City View District Plan shows an early rendering for a new Columbus Regional Hospital facility.
The City View District Plan shows an early rendering for a new Columbus Regional Hospital facility.
The city and Columbus Regional Health are moving forward with plans to annex 674 acres west of downtown along State Road 11 and a little south of State Road 46. CRH is laying the groundwork for an ambitious, forward-looking reshaping of healthcare delivery in our community and much more.
Last week, the Columbus Plan Commission recommended the city council annex this property where CRH years from now hopes to build a new hospital along with housing, retail, parks and more. Annexation is the first step in a long journey before any development can occur, and we believe there is no question that the council should bring this property into the city limits.
It’s only by virtue of prior use — agriculture — that this property so temptingly close to downtown was never annexed before. This is a highly desirable and rarely sizable property ripe for responsible development. CRH has shown a laudatory intent to proceed in an open and public manner, and we believe they are acting in their best interests as well as the community’s.
We say that in large part because CRH has been a model of transparency regarding its plans. In fact, anyone can view CRH’s vision, dubbed the City View District Plan, on the city’s website at columbus.in.gov/planning/comprehensive-plans. We’ve praised these plans in this space previously — not just for their transformative promise, but also as a model of public-private cooperation. We encourage everyone to take a look at these plans, which, it bears repeating, will require numerous future approvals in public forums as these plans move forward. CRH officials have said development may be a decade away.
“Annexation is the first step in the process for the development of this property which, over time, will be subject to numerous significant infrastructure decisions, rezoning, and subdivision,” The Republic’s Jana Wiersema reported from public filings. “The applicant is not proposing any zoning changes or development of the property at this time.”
Anyone interested in future development in the city, health care or Columbus’ regional economy should take the time to get familiar with this proposal. There is no substitute for looking over the publicly available documents for yourself, but here is the overview from Wiersema:
“In addition to an approximately 100-acre CRH campus on the northeast side of the site, the City View District Plan includes a variety of residential neighborhoods, commercial centers and a research and development campus. These areas would be connected to each other and nature via ‘open spaces, green corridors, and amenities that extend throughout the property,’ officials said.”
For now, though, the only question coming before the Columbus City Council later this year is this: Should this land be part of the city of Columbus? We say yes, absolutely.
