Columbus City Council members have finalized the rezoning of property where a former drive-in used to be, so an adjacent business can use it for outdoor storage.
The council voted unanimously 9-0 on Tuesday night to rezone the 1.23 acre former site of Musillami’s Drive-In at 855 Jonesville Road in Columbus Township so Indiana Precast can use it for outdoor storage of precast concrete products.
The granted request was to rezone the site from Commercial: Community (CC) to match the Industrial: Heavy (I3) zoning designation of Indiana Precast at 895 Jonesville Road, just adjacent to the subject property.
Musillami’s —known for their pizza burgers— had gone out of business in 2021 after 64 years, and the structure was demolished in February.
Indiana Precast specializes in drainage solutions. Many of their concrete products, which include risers, inverts, cones, wing walls and box culverts, could be seen on land that almost surrounded the restaurant before it was demolished.
Planning Director Jeff Bergman said during the first reading of the ordinance establishing the rezoning that Indiana Precast had already been using the former drive-in site as storage as of late, and that the request was part of an effort to catch up with the required zoning and permitting.
The property was bought by Indiana Precast for $250,000 in early January, property records state.
The zoning ordinance requires that Indiana Precast will have to follow through on certain fencing and landscaping provisions because the storage area is next to Jonesville Road, according to the staff report.
The next step, Bergman said, is for Indiana Precast to complete an administrative subdivision to combine the two properties. After that, the business will need to submit a zoning compliance certificate application to the planning department for review of the site plan for the expansion.
