City officials took a step to annex and rezone property in Harrison Township so an applicant can expand a lot.
Columbus City Council members passed the first reading of two ordinances to annex about 11 acres near Tipton Lakes Boulevard and rezone it from Agriculture: Preferred (AP) to Residential: Single-Family 2 (RS2).
The vote to approve both ordinances was 8-0. Ordinances must be passed on two readings to be approved. Council Member Jerone Wood, D-District 3, was absent.
The applicant, Aaron Strickland, owns the home at 6882 Tipton Lakes Boulevard to the south of the subject property, which is already within the city limits and zoned RS2.
“(The Strickland’s) have indicated their desire to purchase this portion of the wooden property to the north in order to combine it with their 3.92-acre lot resulting in a larger home property for themselves,” city/county planning director Jeff Bergman wrote in a memo to city council members.
The Columbus Plan Commission forwarded a favorable recommendation to the city council on the annexation and rezoning during a meeting on Sept. 11.
As is the case with all annexation requests, state law requires that the subject property be at least 12.5% contiguous with the current city limits. The 11 acres are 49.9% contiguous, Melissa Begley, assistant planning director, told the council.
The planning department also reached out to see if there would be any issue providing city services to the area, which there were not.
In terms of policies the city has adopted regarding annexation, Begley pointed to three in particular that planning found were germane to the Strickland request:
- Neighborhoods which are socially, culturally, and economically tied to the city should be a part of the city.
- The pattern of city boundaries should promote efficient provision of services by the city, the county and other agencies.
- Contiguous lands needed for orderly growth and implementation of the City’s Comprehensive Plan should be a part of the city.
During the plan commission meeting in September, Begley said members of the public were concerned about an adjacent right-of-way.
“I think there was concerns about whether or not that would connect, and it will not,” according to Begley. “… I think it was a combination of things but I don’t think they realized exactly where the new lot line would be in comparison to (the stub street). And I think they may have been concerned a little bit about where the utilities were going to be, or if they were going to be running through there (and) potentially access as well.
Council Member Elaine Hilber, D-district 2, said she lives in the vicinity of the property in question and received a letter from planning notifying her of the request. She double-checked to see if it would be OK for her to vote.
Attorney Alan Whitted said there’s no reason why she wouldn’t be able to given she disclosed that she received the letter and has no “peculiar interest” in how annexation and rezoning turn out.
The plan commission’s favorable recommendation includes a condition that the administrative subdivision plat combining the two properties be completed and recorded, meaning the rezoning wouldn’t be finalized until then if approved on next reading.
