Explanation
Rezoning Application Z24-040
APPLICANT: Chris Vallette; 72 Mill Street; Gahanna, OH 43230.
PROPOSED USE: Commercial development.
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Approval (4-0) on May 8, 2025.
FAR SOUTH COLUMBUS AREA COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Approval.
CITY DEPARTMENTS' RECOMMENDATION: Approval. The 5.78± acre site consists of one parcel developed with a commercial structure and a vacant school building in the CPD, Commercial Planned Development District (Z08-035). The existing CPD district allows for a motorcycle sales, service and training facility, with a site plan commitment that envisioned the former school building being used for the business. This CPD request modifies the previously approved site plan and text, and allows commercial and institutional uses, with supplemental development standards addressing building and parking setbacks, required parking, screening, street trees, and a new site plan. The changes are necessary because it is not feasible to reuse the former school building, and new buildings are proposed on the site. Additionally, code modifications to building setbacks and parking requirements are included in the text. The request is consistent with the Scioto Southland Area Plan’s (2007) recommendation for “Commercial” land uses at this location. Further, the site plan demonstrates compatibility with Columbus Citywide Planning Policies (C2P2) Design Guideline (2018) by placing parking in the interior of the site, providing street trees, and adequately screening the site from adjacent residential uses.
Title
To rezone 156 DERING AVE. (43207), being 5.78± acres located at the northwest corner of Dering Avenue and South 5th Avenue, From: CPD, Commercial Planned Development District, To: CPD, Commercial Planned Development District (Rezoning #Z24-040).
Body
WHEREAS, application #Z24-040 is on file with the Department of Building and Zoning Services requesting rezoning of 5.78± acres from CPD, Commercial Planned Development District, to CPD, Commercial Planned Development District; and
WHEREAS, the Development Commission recommends approval of said zoning change; and
WHEREAS, the Far South Columbus Area Commission recommends approval of said zoning change; and
WHEREAS, the City Departments recommend approval of said zoning change because the requested CPD, Commercial Planned Development District is consistent with both the Scioto Southland Area Plan’s land use recommendation for “Commercial” uses at this location, and with C2P2 Design Guidelines for the inclusion of street trees, adequate screening from residential uses, and site design that places parking in the interior of the site; now, therefore:
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Official Zoning Map of the City of Columbus, as adopted by Ordinance No. 0179 -03, passed February 24, 2003, and as subsequently amended, is hereby revised by changing the zoning of the property as follows:
156 DERING AVE. (43207), being 5.78± acres located at the northwest corner of Dering Avenue and South 5th Avenue, and being more particularly described as follows:
Being situated in the State of Ohio, County of Franklin, and City of Columbus, a part of Lot 5 of Nathaniel J. Marion's Subdivision, as the same is numbered and delineated upon the recorded plat thereof, record in Plat Book 1, Page 331, Franklin County Recorder's Office, and being all of the 1.686 Acre tract (Deed Book 970, Page 132), all of a 2.00 Acre tract (Deed Book 890, Page 161), all of a1.41 Acre tract (Deed Book 656, Page 172), all of a 1.00 Acre tract (Deed Book 359, Page 569), and a 7,500 square feet parcel (deed Volume 970, Page 137), being more particularly bounded as follows;
Beginning at a spike set on the south line of said Lot 5, spike bears South 85 degrees 30 minutes West, 15.0 feet from the southeast comer of said Lot 5;
Thence from said point of beginning, and along the south line of said Lot 5, South 85 degrees 30 minutes West, 457.49 feet to a spike representing the southwest comer of said Lot 5, and the southeast comer of the Johnson Enterprises I.861 Acre tract, Parcel #2 (Deed Book 3670, Page 236);
Thence, North 4 degrees 51 minutes 46 seconds West, along the westerly line of said Lot 5 and along the easterly line of said 1.861 Acre tract, and the easterly line of the Johnson Enterprises 0.569 Acre, Tract #1, (Official Record Volume 5836 G-10), passing an iron pin on line at I5.0 feet and passing an iron pin on line at 523.15 feet, a total distance of 548.15 feet to a spike set at the northwest comer of said Lot 5;
Thence, North 85 degrees 25 minutes 02 seconds East, along the center of Fomoff Lane, and along the north line of said Lot 5, 472.44 feet to a spike set in the northeast comer of said Lot 5, said spike being the intersection of the centerline of Fornoff Lane and the northerly prolongation of the west line of South Fifth Street (25 feet wide) as said Lane and Street are delineated upon the Malinda and Charles Obetz Subdivision of record in Plat Book 5, Page 424, said Recorder's office;
Thence, along the west line (25.0 feet in width) of South Fifth Street and the east line of said Lot 5, South 5 degrees 54 minutes 42 seconds East, 349.00 feet to an iron pin set at the southeast comer of said 2.0 Acre tract;
Thence, across said Lot 5 and along the southerly line of said 2.0 Acre tract, South 85 degrees 30 minutes West 16.00 feet to an iron pin at the northeasterly comer of said 1.0 Acre tract;
Thence, South 5 degrees 54 minutes 42 seconds East, along a line drawn parallel to, and 15 feet measured at right angles, from the west line of said Lot 5 and along the easterly line of said 1.0 Acre tract, 200.00 feet to the true point of beginning CONTAINNG 5.943 ACRES.
Excepting Therefrom:
Beginning at a spike set on the south line of said Lot 5, which spike bears South 85 degrees 30 minutes West, 15.0 feet from the southeast comer of said Lot 5;
Thence, from said point of beginning, and along the south line of said Lot 5, South 85 degrees 30 minutes West, 467.49 feet to a spike representing the southwest comer of said Lot 5 and the southeast comer of the Johnson Enterprises 1.861 Acre tract, Parcel #2 (Deed Book 3670, Page 236);
Thence, North 4 degrees 51 minutes 46 seconds West, along the westerly line of said Lot 5 and along the easterly line of said 1.861 Acre tract, 15.000 feet to a found iron pin;
Thence, North 85 degrees 30 minutes East, along a line parallel with and 15 feet northerly of the south line of said Lot 5,467.21 feet to a set iron pipe;
Thence, South 5 degrees 54 minutes 42 seconds East, 15.00 feet to the place of beginning containing 0.161 ACRES.
To Rezone From: CPD, Commercial Planned Development District,
To: CPD, Commercial Planned Development District.
SECTION 2. That a Height District of thirty-five (35) feet is hereby established on the CPD, Commercial Planned Development District on this property.
SECTION 3. That the Director of the Department of Building and Zoning Services be, and is hereby authorized and directed to make the said change on the said official zoning map and shall register a copy of the approved CPD, Commercial Planned Development District and Application among the records of the Department of Building and Zoning Services as required by Section 3311.12 of the Columbus City Codes; said site plan being titled, “INTEGRITY CYCLE,” dated June 2, 2025, and text titled, “CPD TEXT,” dated April 25, 2025, both signed by Chris Vallette, the Applicant, and the text reading as follows:
CPD TEXT
EXISTING ZONING: CPD, Commercial Planned Development District
PROPOSED ZONING: CPD, Commercial Planned Development District
PROPERTY ADDRESS: 156 Dering Ave.
ACREAGE: +/- 5.8 Acres
PARCELs: 010-116096
APPLICANT: Chris Vallette c/o DSA Architects. 72 Mill Street Gahanna Ohio 43230
OWNER: Frank Ferri 829 Macon Alley; Columbus Ohio 43206
DATE OF TEXT: April 25, 2025
APPLICATION NUMBER: Z24-040
I. INTRODUCTION: The subject property at 156 Dering Ave. is approximately 5.8 acres and is located on the Northwest corner of Dering Ave. and South Fifth St. The Site is currently zoned CPD which was passed under Ordinance #1046-2011, Z08-035.
The agreed upon CPD included several items with a new site design with a 6,900 sq. ft. 8-bay service building, a 2,400 sq. ft. Pavilion, outdoor display sales areas, and a motorcycle training area.
Due to cost restraints the owner was not able to move forward with the agreed upon plans. He wishes to modify the agreed upon CPD granted in 2011.
This property also contains an old two-story 10,120 sq. ft. school that was previously used as service and storage. Due to existing conditions of the old building and building code, Integrity Cycles is no longer able to occupy this building. They would seal up the building and abandon it. There will remain access to the building for inspections by the fire department only.
The Site is situated within the boundary of the Far South Columbus Area Commission. The Site is not a registered historic site or district. The overall site has operated for years for motorcycle sales and service.
The Applicant proposes a modification of the approved CPD from 2011 and abandons the existing two-story school building.
Site to now include five new office/retail buildings that total 36,700 square feet. The new development will also include:
A total of 200 parking spaces.
1,350 square feet for outdoor sales of trailers.
3,025 square feet for outdoor RV sales.
1,550 square feet for outdoor sales of motorcycles.
II. PERMITTED USES: Uses of Section 3361.02, with a CPD, no buildings nor premises shall be used, and no buildings shall be erected which are arranged, intended, or designed to be used for other than a use permitted in the I-institutional, C-1, C-2, C-3, or C-4 commercial districts.
III. DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: Unless otherwise indicated on the Site Plan or within this written development text, the applicable development standards shall be those standards contained in Chapter 3361 of the Columbus City Code.
A. Density, Lot and/ or Setback Commitments:
1. Building setback from Dering Avenue, South Fifth Street, and Fornof Road shall be a minimum of 25’-0” except for the two existing buildings which setbacks are shown on the plan.
2. Parking setback from Dering Avenue., South Fifth Street, and Fornof Road shall be a minimum of 15’-0.
3. Building and parking setback from the west property line shall be a minimum of ten feet.
B. Access, Loading, Parking, and/or Other Traffic Related Commitments:
1. The zoning code has different parking requirements for automobile sales, display and services, but does not list any parking ratios for a motorcycle business. Since an automobile and motorcycle dealership function along similar lines the applicant has used the automobile parking ratios for this site.
2. With abandonment of the 2-story school, the applicant wishes to reduce the required parking to zero for that building. Although the school building is vacant, it must still be included in the parking calculations. Schools/educational uses are parked at either a rate of 1 space per 1,000 square feet, or 1 space per 60 square feet of assembly area, whichever is greater, per 3312.49.
16,690 sq. ft. School Area is 16690 / 1000 = 16.69
3,550 sq. ft. Gymnasium assembly area 3550 / 60 = 59.1
59.1 > 16.69 A reduction of 59.1 parking spaces is requested.
3. With an allowed reduction of 60 parking spaces for the school building the required parking spaces for the service and sales building would be 160 spaces. The current parking shown on the site plan is 200 spaces.
C. Buffering, Landscaping, Open Space and/ or screening Commitments:
1. The buildings positioned on the site provide headlight screening for a majority of the site. There will be 6’ split face concrete block walls that provides 100% opacity for the site.
2. One new tree per every 30 linear feet of street frontage will be provided at the South / West corner along Dering Avenue as shown on the site plan.
3. One new tree per every 30 linear feet of street frontage will be provided at along Fornof Road as shown on the site plan.
D. Building, Design and/or Interior-Exterior Treatment Commitments:
N/A
E. Dumpsters, Lighting, Outdoor Areas and/or Other Environmental Commitments:
N/A
F. Graphic and Signage Commitments:
Graphics on the Site will comply with the Graphics Code, Article 15, Title 33 of the Columbus City Code as it applies to the C-3 Commercial District. Variances to the sign requirements shall be submitted to the Columbus Graphics Commission or master graphic plan for the Site may be submitted to the Columbus Graphics Commission for consideration.
G. CPD Criteria:
1. The subject property at 156 Dering Ave. is approximately 5.8 acres and is located on the North/ West corner of Dering Ave. and South Fifth St. The Site is currently zoned CPD which was passed under Ordinance #1046-2011, Z08-035.
2. The agreed upon CPD passed several items with a new site design that included a 6,900 sq. ft. eight bay service building, a 2,400 sq. ft. Pavilion, outdoor display sales areas and a motorcycle training area. Due to cost restraints the owner was not able to move forward with the agreed upon plans. He wishes to modify the agreed upon CPD granted in 2011.
3. This property also contains an old two-story 10,120 sq. ft. school that was previously used as service and storage. Due to existing conditions of the old building and building code Integrity Cycles is no longer able to occupy this building. They wish to use the building for signage only. They would seal up the building and abandon it. There will remain access to the building for inspections by the fire department only.
4. The Site is situated within the boundary of the Far South Columbus Area Commission. The Site is not a registered historic site or district. The overall site has operated for years for motorcycle sales and service.
5. The Applicant proposes a modification of the approved CPD from 2011 and abandon the existing two-story school building.
H. Modification of Code Standards:
1. 3361.10 - CPD district setback lines.
a. This section shall be modified to reduce the minimum building setback from 25 feet to 16 feet along South 5th Street to allow for the exiting service / sales building shown on the site plan as “Building #1”.
b. This section shall be modified to reduce the minimum building setback from 25 feet to 19 feet along Dering Avenue to allow for the existing school building and existing utility building shown on the site plan as “Exist. School”.
2. 3312.49(C) - Required parking - With abandonment of the 2-story school, the applicant wishes to reduce the required parking to zero for that building, which reduces the total required parking spaces for all uses on site from 220 spaces to 200 spaces.
I. Miscellaneous Commitments:
The subject site shall be in accordance with the attached Site Plan titled “INTEGRITY CYCLE,” dated 6/2/25. The Site Plan may be slightly adjusted to reflect engineering, topographical or other site data developed at the time that development and engineering plans are completed. Any slight adjustment to the Site Plan shall be reviewed and may be approved by the Director of the Department of Building and Zoning Services, or a designee, upon submission of the appropriate data regarding the proposed adjustment. The existing school building may be demolished and replaced with a new building, additional parking or display area, or landscaping. Any new building or parking shall be in compliance with the setbacks in Section III.A. above, and all other applicable provisions of the CPD text and Zoning Code.
SECTION 4. That this ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.