City officials agreed to annex and rezone property in Harrison Township so an applicant can expand a home lot.
Columbus City Council members have passed the second reading of two ordinances to annex about 11 acres near Tipton Lakes Boulevard and rezone it from Agriculture: Preferred (AP) to Residential: Single-Family 2 (RS2).
The council also passed a resolution adopting a fiscal plan for the annexation, which indicated there wouldn’t be an issue providing city services and there would be no additional cost to do so as a result of the annexation.
The applicant, Aaron Strickland, owns the home at 6882 Tipton Lakes Boulevard to the south of the subject property, which is already within the city limits and zoned RS2.
“(The Stricklands) have indicated their desire to purchase this portion of the wooden property to the north in order to combine it with their 3.92-acre lot resulting in a larger home property for themselves,” city/county planning director Jeff Bergman wrote in a memo to city council members on Oct. 2.
To subdivide the lot and combine it, the annexation and rezoning is required, Bergman told council members. The Stricklands have not indicated that they intend to further develop the resulting, larger property, Bergman added.
The Columbus Plan Commission forwarded a favorable recommendation to the city council on the annexation and rezoning during their meeting on Sept. 11.
The plan commission’s favorable recommendation includes a condition that the administrative subdivision plat combining the two properties be completed and recorded, meaning the rezoning wouldn’t be finalized until then.
As is the case with all annexation requests, state law requires that the subject property be at least 12.5% contiguous with the current city limits. The 11 acres are 49.9% contiguous, according to planning.
In terms of policies the city has adopted regarding annexation, Begley pointed to three in particular that planning found were germane to the Strickland request:
- Neighborhoods which are socially, culturally, and economically tied to the city should be a part of the city.
- The pattern of city boundaries should promote efficient provision of services by the city, the county and other agencies.
- Contiguous lands needed for orderly growth and implementation of the City’s Comprehensive Plan should be a part of the city.
When asked by Council President Frank Miller, R-District 5, what concerns, if any, neighbors had expressed about the annexation, Bergman said it was mostly a worry that the property would be further developed.
“There were several neighbors that lived there just to the east, and they had mainly questions about what was intended on that property, specific to whether or not that was going to be a subdivision and if so, how that may or may not disrupt their properties,” Bergman said.
During the first reading of the rezoning and annexation ordinances on Oct. 15, Council Member Elaine Hilber, D-District 2, said she lives in the vicinity of the property in question and received a letter from planning notifying her of the request. She double-checked at the time to see if it would be OK for her to vote.
Attorney Alan Whitted said there was no reason why she wouldn’t be able to given she disclosed that she received the letter and has no pecuniary interest in how annexation and rezoning turn out.
