Columbus zoning overhaul kickoff to be left in the dark by solar eclipse
Some residents wonder why the city will officially launch a major zoning overhaul years in the making just minutes after a historic eclipse. ColumbColumbColumbus, Ohio, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther is set to officially unveil the city's proposed new zoning code about 15 minutes after a historic solar eclipse on April 8, causing significant traffic headaches for central Ohio. The timing of the announcement, which has been years in the works, has raised questions about the timing of this announcement ahead of a major eclipse event that is expected to be watched by millions and cause significant traffic disruptions. Some residents have suggested that Ginther should postpone the event by a week to avoid competing with "the Woodstock of the 2000s." However, City Council President Pro Tem Rob Dorans confirmed that the council is also planning a press conference on Thursday to announce the zoning proposal. The changes are designed to increase density and reduce building costs along major city transportation corridors affecting some 13,000 parcels. The new code could offer denser neighborhoods, less parking, higher buildings, and reduce costs for developers to spur more in-demand housing along major transit routes.
Published : a month ago by Bill Bush, Columbus Dispatch in Science
A teacher and students watch the solar eclipse in 2017 at the Columbus Metropolitan Library Whetstone Branch. Ohio will be home to a much larger eclipse event on April 8.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther sent out an invitation to select guests last week that he is hosting a Downtown event to officially unveil the city's proposed new zoning code - starting about 15 minutes after a historic solar eclipse sweeps through Ohio.
The timing of the announcement on a plan that has been years in the works had some residents scratching their heads, since officials have been warning for months that the eclipse is expected to be watched by millions and cause major traffic headaches afterwards.
"For somebody to not have thought this through, they really should be slapped on the hand," said Xenia Palus, 67, who said she has an interest in the height and design of building projects in her area. She suggested Ginther postpone the kickoff by a week to avoid competing against "the Woodstock of the 2000s, right?"
The Dispatch asked the city Development Department and the mayor's office on Friday why eclipse day was chosen, with its expected heavy traffic problems for central Ohio, but no one responded. The Dispatch reached out again on Monday morning, but had received no response by press time.
"You gotta love the timing of this event," Joe Motil, a frequent Ginther and City Council critic who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last November, said in an email Monday. "The full solar eclipse will be around 3:17 p.m. on the day of this (Ginther) event, which begins at 3:30 p.m. So, are they really expecting a large crowd to hurry themselves Downtown while the eclipse is still in effect?"
But City Council President Pro Tem Rob Dorans, who chairs the Building and Zoning Committee and has been ushering the zoning changes through the council, said Monday morning that the Council is also planning a press conference Thursday to announce the zoning proposal, while the "formal introduction" won't happen until Ginther's eclipse-day event.
A map tied to all the zoning changes will be released this Thursday online, Dorans said. While it's not "ideal" that the official launch will coincide with the eclipse, people will have months to study the changes before any new zoning codes are approved by the City Council, he said.
The presentation for eclipse day, April 8, is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the City Hall campus - coinciding with what the state of Ohio is warning also will be the kickoff a major traffic headaches, as millions of people simultaneously start their cars and head home from the Eclipse zone just north and west of Columbus. As of Monday afternoon, city officials had not said whether the 3:30 event would still be held.
A total solar eclipse in 2017 that swept through neighboring states to the west and south of Ohio caused gridlock and sporadic gasoline shortages as car engines idled for hours on highways, practically moving nowhere.
Ginther's presentation and City Council action to follow that evening will also kick off a 60-day public comment period before an expected Council vote on the changes, which are designed to initially increase density and cut building costs along major city transportation corridors affecting some 13,000 parcels.
Ginther's "partner assembly" will relocate to the City Council Chambers at 5 p.m. to initiate public review of the code proposal, according to the mayor's invitation to partners. The Dispatch asked, but the city hasn't yet said, whether the mayor's kickoff gathering is open to the general public.
Why is Columbus exploring new zoning codes?
Generally, officials have said a new code could offer denser neighborhoods, less parking, higher buildings, and reduced costs for developers to help spur more in-demand housing along major transit routes. They could lessen the need for controversial "variances," which currently require review and approval, a process that includes city area commission recommendations.
The roots of the overhaul date back to early 2019, when a public-private partnership that included the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the Central Ohio Transit Authority, the Columbus Foundation, the Columbus Partnership, the Urban Land Institute Columbus and the cities of Bexley, Columbus, Dublin, Grandview Heights, Groveport, Reynoldsburg, Westerville and Whitehall, formed "Insight 2050."
"If we do dense development, we can reduce costs," Hardin said of the study's findings in 2019, which found that the zoning changes could help up to 60% of new regional development locate along select transportation corridors.
As the city announced early 2021 it would launch a zoning overhaul, a question remained: How to craft a code to accommodate dense urban neighborhoods as well as those suburban-style neighborhoods built in growing areas of Columbus after World War II?
The city has initially sidestepped that question by avoiding initially proposing any changes to suburban-type neighborhoods in the city of Columbus. Those areas don't necessarily need major changes to the current land-use zoning, because they are newer, with larger lots that can handle the current restrictions on setbacks and parking requirements, a consultant, Lisa Wise, said during a virtual hearing in the fall of 2021.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will solar eclipse traffic keep public from Ginther zoning launch?