Explanation
BACKGROUND:
The goal of a Community Reinvestment Area is neighborhood revitalization and stabilization.
This Ordinance will amend Ordinance No. 3448-2023 and modify the Columbus Housing Community Reinvestment Area (the “CHCRA”), and provide for real property tax exemptions within the area in accordance with Sections 3735.65 to 3735.70 of the Ohio Revised Code (the “ORC”). The real property tax exemptions provided herein will be available only for parcels that are residentially zoned, or parcels where residential use is permitted by variance, and only for properties that are actually used for residential purposes.
The Ordinance will provide for exemptions from increases in real property taxation resulting from the construction of new housing, the conversion of buildings from commercial use to residential use, and the renovation of existing single and multi-family housing units, within the established boundaries.
FISCAL IMPACT: No funding is required for this legislation
Title
To amend Ordinance No. 3448-2023; to modify the Columbus Housing Community Reinvestment Area (CHCRA); to authorize real property tax exemptions as authorized by Chapter 3735 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC); to provide that the City’s existing Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council shall serve as the Housing Council for the CHCRA; and to designate the City’s Director of Development (or their designee) as the Housing Officer for the CHCRA. ($0.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus has established a goal of fostering private sector investment to build mixed income neighborhoods dispersed throughout the City; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Columbus desires to pursue reasonable and legitimate incentive measures to assist and encourage development in specific areas of the City of Columbus that have not enjoyed the benefit of reinvestment from remodeling or new construction; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 1698-78, passed on August 3, 1978, authorized the Department of Development to carry out a Community Reinvestment Program, pursuant to Sections 3735.65 to 3735.70 of the Ohio Revised Code, and approved certain administrative procedures for the program; and
WHEREAS, all current CRA Agreements or projects that have an executed agreement or memorandum approved by City Council, entered into by the City and Project Sponsors, prior to the effective date of this Ordinance, will continue subject to the terms and conditions of their respective CRA Agreements, executed agreements, or memorandums; and
WHEREAS, a housing survey (Exhibit A) and a map of the proposed CRA (Exhibit B), as required by ORC Section 3735.66, have been prepared and are attached to this Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, City Council created the CHCRA by adopting Ordinance No. 3448-2023, on December 11, 2023, as amended by Ordinance No. 1393-2024 adopted on June 3, 2024; and
WHEREAS, specific terms and requirements for the CHCRA will adhere to the requirements of Chapter 4565, including all requirements specific to the Area Designation assigned to the census tract; and
WHEREAS, the remodeling of existing structures for residential use and construction of new residential structures in the CHCRA constitutes a public purpose for which real property exemptions may be granted, and would serve to encourage economic stability, maintain real property values, and generate new employment opportunities;
WHEREAS, City Council wishes to amend Ordinance No. 3448-2023 to modify the boundaries of the CHCRA;
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That Section 3 of Ord. 3448-2023 is hereby amended as follows:
Section 3. That pursuant to ORC Section 3735.66, the CHCRA boundary is hereby established in the area as described in this Section:
(a) General Boundary of CHCRA. All parcels within the City of Columbus corporate boundary shall be within the CHCRA boundary, except as provided for this Section.
(b) CRAs Absorbed into Boundary of CHCRA. The following CRAs, as defined by Exhibit C, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, and as previously approved by City Council are hereby dissolved and absorbed into the CHCRA: 161; AC Humko; Brewers Yard; Brookwood; Cassady/I- 670; Cleveland Avenue; Crosswoods; Far East; Far South; Far West Broad; Fifth by Northwest; Franklinton / Area G; Front Street/West Street; Gibbard Avenue; Grandview Crossing; High and Second; Hilltop / Area D; Hubbard and High; Jeffrey Square; Kenny and Henderson; Linden / Area A; Livingston and James; Milo Grogan; Nazarene; Near East; North Central; Northeast; Northland; Oak Street; Petzinger Road; Quarry; Riverside; South of Main / Area E; Southeast; Southside / Area C; Weinland Park / Area F; West Scioto; Wilson Road (Residential) (“Absorbed CRAs”);
(c) CRAs Excluded from Boundary of CHCRA. The following currently existing CRAs, as defined by Exhibit D, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, shall be excluded from the boundary of the CHCRA:
1) Airport Drive
2) Brewers District
3) Downtown
4) Easton Square Place
5) Hickory Ridge
6) Jeffrey Residential
7) Leonard/Taylor
8) Norton-Crosswind, except for parcel 570-154751-00 and the public right-of-way on said parcel’s north side
9) Old State Road
10) Rickenbacker, except for where the territory of the Far South CRA overlaps the Rickenbacker CRA and except for the territory of the Rickenbacker CRA east of Parsons Avenue and south of Williams Road
11) Roberts Road
12) Short North
13) Southside Investment District, except for parcels 010-035183-00, and 010-007536-00, the public right-of-way on South Wall Street bounded by West Morrill Avenue to the north and West Hinman Avenue to the south, and for where the territory of the Far South CRA overlaps the Southside Investment District;
14) Stelzer-Stygler
15) Wilson Road (Commercial)
16) Worthington Galena
17) Worthington Industries
(d) The following currently existing tax increment financing areas (“TIFs”), as defined by Exhibit E, which is hereby
incorporated herein by reference, shall be excluded from the boundary of the CHCRA:
1) 3rd Ave. and Olentangy River Road TIF except for where the territory of the Fifth by Northwest CRA overlaps the 3rd Ave. and Olentangy River Road TIF;
2) Easton TIF;
3) Innovation District TIF;
4) New Easton TIF;
5) Polaris TIF;
6) Polaris II TIF;
7) Polaris III TIF;
8) Riverside Methodist Hospital OhioHealth TIF, except for parcels 010-305900-00, 010-305899-00, and 010-305901-00;
9) University TIF;
10) Sugar Farm 40(B) TIF
11) Sugar Farm Incentive District
12) Renner South Investment District
(e) The following currently existing areas shall by excluded from the boundary of the CHCRA:
1) Any parcel partially or wholly within the planning area of the Big Darby Accord, pursuant to the Big Darby Accord Watershed Master Plan as adopted by Ordinance 1330-2006, except for which planning areas of the Big Darby Accord the CHCRA already overlays this area as of Ordinance 1393-2024.
(f) Inclusion of Specific Parcels and Areas Within the CHCRA Boundary. For the avoidance of doubt, the following areas are expressly included within the boundary of the CHCRA:
(i) Williams Road Right-of-Way. The CHCRA boundary includes the public right-of-way on Williams Road bounded by the intersection of Williams Road and South High Street on the west and the intersection of Williams Road and Alum Creek Drive on the east;
(ii) Performance Way Right-of-Way. The CHCRA boundary includes the public right-of-way on Performance Way bounded by the terminus of Performance Way on the west and the intersection of Performance Way and Alum Creek Drive on the east;
(iii) Frank Refugee Expressway Right-of-Way. The CHCRA boundary includes the public right- of-way on Frank Refugee Expressway bounded by the intersection of Frank Refugee Expressway and Lockbourne Road on the west and the intersection of Frank Refugee Expressway and Alum Creek Drive on the east;
(iv) Stygler Road Right-of-Way. The CHCRA boundary includes the public right-of-way on Stygler Road North bounded by the intersection of Stygler Road North and Morse Road on the north and the intersection of Stygler Road and Wendler Boulevard on the south;
(v) Currently Existing Far South CRA Overlap with Southside Investment District CRA. The CHCRA boundary includes the area of the currently existing Far South CRA that overlaps with the Southside Investment District CRA.
(vi) Currently Existing Far South CRA Overlap with Rickenbacker CRA. The CHCRA boundary includes the area of the currently existing Far South CRA that overlaps with the Rickenbacker CRA as well as the area of the Rickenbacker CRA east of Parsons Avenue and south of Williams Road.
(vii) Currently Existing Fifth by Northwest CRA Overlap with 3rd Ave. and Olentangy TIF. The CHCRA boundary includes the area of the currently existing Fifth by Northwest CRA that overlaps with the 3rd Ave. and Olentangy TIF.
(g) Effect of Combining Parcels. In the event that an owner of a parcel combines a parcel within the CHCRA with an adjoining parcel(s) outside the CHCRA, the resultant combined parcel shall be deemed to be within the CHCRA only if:
(1) the parcel that was within the CHCRA prior to the parcel combination constitutes at least fifty percent of the total parcel area of the combined parcel; (2) the parcels were combined into a parcel included in the CHCRA at the time of this ordinance; and (3) the parcel(s) that were combined with the parcel inside of the CHCRA are all contiguous with and adjacent to the parcel within the CHCRA.
(h) Ordinance Limited to Residential Parcels. Only properties that are residentially zoned pursuant to the Columbus City Codes or parcels for which a variance permitting residential use has been granted will be eligible for exemptions under the
CHCRA as established by this Ordinance. For purposes of ORC Sections 3735.65 to 3735.70, rental housing, including without limitation rental housing located in a structure containing multiple residential housing units, is classified as residential.
(i) Non-contiguous Areas. Any and all portions within the City of Columbus corporate boundary that are rendered non- contiguous per the above boundary descriptions and/or existing tax incentive district boundaries not impacted by this ordinance shall not be included within the boundary of the CHCRA.
Section 2. That existing Section 2 of Ord. 3448-2023 is hereby repealed.
Section 3. That Section 8 of Ord. 3448-2023 is hereby amended as follows:
Section 8. That Development Project applications that have all necessary building permits issued (as defined in Director’s Rules) on or following January 10, 2024 must use the Area Designation of the census tract that the Development Project’s parcel(s) are located in; provided, however, for Development Project applications that have all necessary building permits issued (as defined in Director’s Rules) prior to or on December 31, 2024, the Development Project shall be instead assigned the Area Designation of the Absorbed CRA that existed on the Development Project’s parcel(s) as of January 9, 2024 if the Area Designation that existed on the parcel(s) on January 9, 2024 had a lower Area Designation than the Area Designation that existed on the parcel(s) on or after January 10, 2024.
That the 2022 Policy Transition contained within the enacting or amending legislation of a CRA described in Exhibit C to this Ordinance shall continue in effect notwithstanding the dissolution and absorption of such CRA as described in Section 5 of this Ordinance. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph shall have retroactive application to the effective date of Ordinance No. 3448-2023, which is January 10, 2024.
The ranking of Area Designations, from highest to lowest in terms of affordability requirements, is as follows: Market Ready, Ready for Revitalization, and Ready for Opportunity.
Section 4. That existing Section 8 of Ord. 3448-2023 is hereby repealed.
Section 5. That Section 14 of Ord. 3448-2023 is hereby amended as follows:
Section 14. That to administer and implement the provisions of this Ordinance, the City’s Housing Administrator Director of Development (or their designee) is designated as the Housing Officer as described in Sections 3735.65 through 3735.70 of the ORC.
Section 6. That existing Section 14 of Ord. 3448-2023 is hereby repealed.
Section 7. That Exhibits A, B, C, D, and E to this ordinance hereby replace Exhibits A, B, C, D, and E in Ordinance No. 3448-2023.
Section 8. That all sections of Ordinance No. 3448-2023 not repealed or amended herein remain in full force and effect.
Section 9. That this Ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest date allowed by law.