Columbus Plan Commission members have sent a favorable recommendation to the Columbus City Council to rezone just under five acres of property at the intersection of 17th Street and Cottage Avenue to a residential designation.
Many of the properties in the affected area had been developed or used for residential purposes over time, despite their zoning.
The zoning as is, planning staff said, could create potential conflicts with zoning regulations and limit the ability of property owners to make improvements consistent with a residential neighborhood.
The 2.58 acres are proposed to be rezoned from Industrial: General (I2) to Residential: Established (RE), 1.01 acres from I2 to Residential: Single-Family (RS4), 0.75 acres from Commercial Neighborhood (CN) to RE, and 0.31 acres from Commercial Community (CC) to RS4.
“This request supports the Comprehensive Plan’s intent to align zoning classifications with actual and intended uses of property, reducing nonconformities and improving neighborhood cohesion,” planning’s Audrey Lewis said in a memo to plan commission members.
The Columbus City Council makes all final decisions about rezoning. Planning Director Jeff Bergman said the matter is tentatively scheduled for the council meeting on Aug. 5.
Bergman said there are several locations throughout the city that he described as “legacy commercial/industrial zones.”
“These are locations that, potentially as far back as the 1950s or 1960s, were perceived to have some industrial or commercial potential,” Bergman said to plan commission members. “Those sitting in these chairs then made the choice to proactively zone some of these areas for those future commercial or industrial uses.”
Some of the lots are along railway lines that no longer exist or near industrial areas “that were potentially booming at the time,” the planning director said. “But since, the economics of industry have moved on and those locations never developed for that purpose.”
In the lead-up to the meeting, planning staff sent letters to affected property owners that explained the proposed rezoning and sought their input, but there were no responses, according to city documents.
This is an overview of the proposed rezonings:
- 7 lots (at the northwest corner of 17th and Cottage) from I2 to RS4
- 2 lots (at the northeast corner of 17th and Cottage) from CC to RS4
- 14 lots (south of 17th Street along Cottage Avenue and the east side of Orinoco Avenue) from I2 to RE
- 6 lots (along the west side of Orinoco Avenue) from CN to RE
