Explanation
BACKGROUND:
The City of Columbus, the City of New Albany, and Board of Trustees of Plain Township (the “Parties”) originally entered into an Annexation Agreement (the “Agreement”) (Ord. 2262-2006) on February 26th, 2008. This agreement was established to coordinate land use planning, utility services, and development objectives. The Parties amended the Agreement in 2009 (Ord. 0845-2009), to clarify Agreement Territory and ensure boundary conformance procedures to exclude the Township from any land or lands which were annexed to the City within the City Growth Zone West. The Parties amended the Agreement in 2012 (Ord. 0410-2012) to modify the Rocky Fork-Blacklick Accord process for appointing Accord Panel members such that each party will individually appoint three members. The City of Columbus and the City of New Albany entered into a Water Service Agreement and a Sanitary Sewer Service Agreement on September 30, 2022 (Ord. 1985-2022), which was subsequently amended by Ord. 2885-2024. An additional amendment was passed on July 21st, 2025 (Ord. 1820-2025) to the Annexation Agreement between the Parties to replace the Service Area Boundary Map and the Map of the Agreement Territory.
In 2026, the City of New Albany requested an Amendment to the Agreement to adjust the boundaries to the Franklin County portion of the growth areas. The City of Columbus Department of Development has reviewed the requested list and supports the adjustment for the identified parcels. This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to execute an Amendment to the Annexation Agreement, utilizing Exhibit A (Service Area Boundary Map), Exhibit B (Map of the Agreement Territory), and Exhibit C (Parcel List) to define the updated growth boundaries. A companion piece of legislation, Ord. 1557-2026, seeks to authorize the Director of the Department of Public Utilities to modify the existing Water Service Agreement and Sanitary Sewer Agreement to be commensurate with the boundary changes proposed by this ordinance.
FISCAL IMPACT: None. ($0.00)
Emergency designation: An emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Development in that it is immediately necessary to amend the Annexation Agreement between the Parties to facilitate infrastructure planning and development coordination all for the immediate preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety, and welfare.
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Development to enter into an Amendment to the Annexation Agreement between the City of Columbus, Plain Township, and the City of New Albany;; to adjust growth boundaries for specific parcels in Franklin County as defined by Exhibits A, B, and C; and to declare an emergency. ($0.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus, the City of New Albany (formerly the Village of New Albany), and Plain Township entered into an Annexation Agreement on February 26, 2008, to coordinate land use planning and the provision of utilities; and
WHEREAS, the Parties amended the Agreement in 2009, to further define sub-areas and boundary conformance procedures; and
WHEREAS, the Parties amended the Agreement in 2012 to modify the Rocky Fork-Blacklick Accord process for appointing Accord Panel members such that each party will individually appoint three members; and
WHEREAS, the Parties amended the Agreement in 2025 to replace the Service Area Boundary Map and the Map of the Agreement Territory; and
WHEREAS, the City of New Albany has requested a boundary adjustment and an Amendment to the Agreement to incorporate specific expansion areas located in Franklin County; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus is in agreement with the adjustment for the parcels identified in the Service Area Boundary Map (Exhibit A), the Map of the Agreement Territory (Exhibit B), and the Parcel List (Exhibit C); and
WHEREAS, Section 10.8 of the original Agreement requires that any amendments be approved by the legislative authorities of all Parties via appropriate legislation; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Development in that it is immediately necessary to amend the Annexation Agreement between the Parties to facilitate infrastructure planning and development coordination all for the immediate preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety, and welfare; and NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Director of the Department of Development is hereby authorized to execute an Amendment to the Annexation Agreement with the Board of Trustees of Plain Township and the City of New Albany.
SECTION 2. That the growth boundaries within the Agreement Territory shall be adjusted to reflect the transfer of those parcels listed in Exhibit C, as geographically depicted in Exhibit A and Exhibit B, which exhibits are incorporated herein by reference, to transfer those parcels from the City of Columbus Expansion Area to the New Albany Expansion Area.
SECTION 3. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after its passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.