Explanation
BACKGROUND: All of downtown Columbus falls within one zoning district, which allows most land uses in conjunction with design review. The Downtown District was established in 1997 with the adoption of City Code Chapter 3359 and has not had a substantial update since that time. Over the past year, city staff worked with the Downtown Commission to develop a major revision to the district and create design guidelines for use with the code. The revised code is streamlined and reordered. It minimizes the use of specific standards in order to allow for greater flexibility. Administrative sections have been updated. The code is supported by draft design guidelines covering a range of topics, such as building height and setbacks, parking facilities, outdoor dining, and graphics. The guidelines are intended to encourage creative design while reinforcing key development principles.
The draft proposal underwent a two-month public review process, concluding at the end of May. Downtown property owners and other stakeholders were notified of the proposal and invited to attend an April 23 public meeting. A project webpage was used to post information about the project, including meeting information and documents. City staff also met with several stakeholder groups to discuss the effort. Updates to the code and guidelines were developed based on comments received during the public comment period. On June 11, 2013 the Downtown Commission met and voted unanimously to recommend adoption by City Council of the code updates and design guidelines with amendments to the guidelines. The Columbus Development Commission met on June 13 and also voted unanimously to recommend Council adoption of both documents and associated amendments.
DOWNTOWN COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Approval.
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Approval
FISCAL IMPACT: No funding is required for this legislation.
Title
To enact a new Chapter 3359 of the Columbus City Codes dealing with the Dow...
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