The Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday night approved several requests made by a city council member regarding two different properties, including one that incorporates an artist-in-residency element.
The applicant, Izzy & Ollie LLC, is owned by city council member Chris Bartels, R-District 1. Bartels was joined by his counsel Jeff Rocker during the meeting and made a pair of conditional use requests and a development standards variance request on properties at 604 Lafayette Avenue and 711 Pearl Street.
“Both properties would be used as rentals, either long-term, short-term, artist-in-residency, or a mix of the three,” Bartels told The Republic in an email, noting he specializes in restoring historic homes “that were former chopped-up rentals, drug houses, sleep rooms or flop houses.”
The first request the board considered involved 604 Lafayette Avenue, where Bartels plans to build a new two-story detached structure with an artist-in-residency space on the first floor, plus an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on the second floor. A conditional use request was required due to an additional third unit on the property and was unanimously approved.
Bartels’ request regarding 604 Lafayette previously included a use variance request to allow an artist studio in the Residential: Established (RE) zoning district, which was rescinded.
“Unfortunately, due to current parking and code requirements, I had to withdraw that application at this time,” Bartels said in an email. “As most in the art community understand, this proposed project along with any future studio/gallery/workspace, cannot produce enough income to support the financial needs associated with a traditional commercial retail space.”
While the use variance request was withdrawn, Bartels said he is “still planning to have an age-in-place situation, or an artist-in-residency situation, with a working space as an art studio,” he told board members on Tuesday night. “And it’s my understanding that I didn’t have to have an application for that side of things.”
The artist-in-residency space would occupied by Patricia Rhoden Bartels, an impressionist painter who has permanent works featured in the Indiana State Museum, Fort Wayne Museum of Art and the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, to name a few.
“I would love to have this space for an artist in residence program and allow a workspace for others to collaborate,” Bartels wrote to The Republic on Thursday. “Yes, Patricia Rhoden Bartels would be the first to lead this path, much like she has done in the art world for over 50 years.”
More than 10 members of the public wrote in or spoke in support of the plans for 604 Layayette, calling it a welcome addition.
“Having a professional artist of such caliber working downtown would enhance the neighborhood,” Misty Weisensteiner, executive director, Columbus Area Visitors Center, wrote. “… Short-term rental properties generate innkeeper’s tax revenue for our county and enable our organization to market the community to visitors and provide grant funding to local organizations working to enhance quality-of-place in Columbus and Bartholomew County.”
Others said they were displeased with the potential of another rental in the area, saying that it takes away from housing stock and the feeling of the neighborhood. One neighbor on Lafayette Avenue said the proposal would exacerbate an already difficult parking situation in the area.
The board then considered requests for 711 Pearl Street and granted conditional use approval to allow a multi-family dwelling in the Residential: Established (RE) zoning district. They also approved a development standards variance to allow a 0-foot side setback on the property.
The home at 711 Pearl is currently a duplex and Bartels plans to build a detached garage with an apartment on the second floor, according to the planning staff report.
“This ADU is part of an existing single-family home property,” planning’s Andres Nieto told board members. “And I will note that’s what distinguishes this request from the other one. You can only have an accessory dwelling unit if the use on the property is single-family dwelling. If it’s a duplex, it becomes multi-family.”
During public comment on the matter, members of the public expressed similar concerns about having another rental in the area.
Amy Hirtzel, the owner of the property at 715 Pearl St. adjacent to the 0-foot side setback, wrote in to support of both requests at 604 Lafayette Avenue and 711 Pearl Street.
In response to some who spoke in public comment, Bartels disagreed with the notion that he is decreasing housing stock.
“This project is the very definition of increasing housing stock, and I have been one of the driving forces of the downtown restoration and keeping from chopping up homes into smaller apartments.”
