Columbus Council OKS 1,098-unit subdivision
Columbus City Council unanimously voted Monday to rezone 369.2 acres of farmland to allow for 1,098 new singlefamily homes and apartments in the $300 million Sugar Farm subdivision near Hilliard – despite the objections of the Far West Side Area Commission.
The council also approved an ordinance that will result in rate increases for 1.2 million water and sewer customers around Franklin County.
Sugar Farm, being developed by Pulte Homes of Ohio LLC and Harmony Development Group, is in the city of Columbus and Hilliard City Schools. The city granted a zoning change from rural to “planned unit development” to clear the way for the project, which is located mostly on the east side of Alton Darby Creek Road, south of Roberts Road and Hilliard.
The project will include single-family homes, patio homes, apartments, and 81 acres of new city parks and relocation of Clover Groffrun, a tributary of the Big Darby Creek, which would be restored in coordination with the city Recreation and Parks Department.
“Yet another example of suburban
sprawl,” said Sharon Rastatter, chairwoman of the Far West Side Area Commission, which unanimously voted to oppose the development. Area commissions are official city neighborhood groups that make recommendations on development.
The commission and other opponents say the development is too dense, would further hamper Far West Side traffic, and could endanger the Big Darby Creek Watershed.
“The number one area (of concern) was around the environment,” said Councilwoman Priscilla Tyson, who chairs the zoning commission and supported the project. “I care about the Big Darby also. Council cares about it, and that's why we asked a lot of questions.”
Council also approved the creation of a “new community development authority” for the Sugar Farm development, which would effectively transfer some of the developers' upfront costs in meeting traffic improvements and other requirements to homeowners who purchase homes in the subdivision. Future homeowners will pay an annual “community development charge” on their property taxes, calculated as a multiple of their assessed value, for 30 years, the ordinance says.
Beginning Jan. 1, rate increases of 2% for water, 3% for sewer and 1% for stormwater will be applied to all customers served by the city water & sewer system, including many in the suburbs. The average impact on the typical Columbus residential customer's bill is about 2.5%, with customers outside of the city paying slightly more.
The average bill increase for customers who live in Columbus is just under $30 per year, taking into account all three component increases, the city says. That average customer uses about 120 centum cubic feet (ccf), also known an hcf or one hundred cubic feet of water. One ccf is equal to just over 748 gallons, meaning the average Columbus household uses just under 90,000 gallons a year.
The rate hike is expected to generate an additional $3.2 million a year for the city's water and sewer operations.
In other action Monday, the council approved using some of the city's federal COVID-19 assistance fundsto award a series of grants to help local attractions, including:
h $500,000 to the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, which operates the convention center and Nationwide Arena, to elp purchase walk-through body temperature scanners, air-filtration upgrades, ultraviolet disinfectant systems, and other COVID safeguards.
h $500,0000 to the North Market, whose revenue has been hit by the lack of conventions, to compensate its tenant merchants for 80% losses in sales caused by the loss of convention foot traffic, offset startup costs for new tenants with a focus on those owned by minorities, and provide new customer-payment technologies.
h $300,000 for COSI – on top of $500,000 awarded earlier this year – to provide distance learning in Columbus neighborhoods. COSI also received a $300,000 general subsidy from the city Recreation and Parks Department.
h $300,000 for the Columbus Association of the Performing Arts for “health and safety equipment and operating support to maintain essential staff.”
h $300,000 to Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for COVID-19 operational relief, bringing the facility's federal aid from the city to $1.05 million this year.
h $125,000 to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for health and safety equipment and operating support for educational programming.
Also Monday, the council approved the city's $1.4 billion capital improvement budget for 2020. The budget, typically released in the spring before being debated in a series of community meetings, was delayed this year by the COVID pandemic. It pays for scores of projects, most of them funded by utility payments.
City Budget Director Joe Lombardi said that the city was activating only $11.5 million in borrowing out of $50 million approved by voters last year to support affordable housing projects because of the squeeze on revenue caused by declining income-tax collections.
Affordable housing spending in future years “will boil down to resources and how we prioritize other projects,” he said. wbush@gannett.com @Reporterbush