Mike Wolanin | The Republic City of Columbus Planning Director Jeff Bergman and Debbie Schroer talk during an open house over Columbus Regional Health’s (CRH) and the city’s draft plan for the CRH property on the westside of Columbus, Indiana at NexusPark, Thursday, May 31, 2023.
The city of Columbus is one step closer to annexing nearly 700 acres of property owned by Columbus Regional Health.
Columbus City Council members voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance for the annexation. Ordinances must be passed on two readings for full approval.
According to City/County Planning Director Jeff Bergman, the plan is for the council to consider the annexation ordinance and a fiscal plan resolution at its Dec. 5 meeting. If both are approved, there will then be a 30-day waiting period before the change goes into effect.
The property is about 688 acres, Bergman said. The site stretches east-to-west from Interstate 65 almost to State Road 11/Jonesville Road, and is south of the westside Walmart and north of the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
City council members voted in September to adopt a long-term concept plan for the area — known as the City View District Plan — as an element of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The Columbus Plan Commission then voted in October to send a favorable recommendation to council regarding annexation.
In addition to an approximately 100-acre CRH campus on the northeast side of the site, the City View District Plan includes a variety of residential neighborhoods, commercial centers and a research and development campus. These areas would be connected to each other and nature via “open spaces, green corridors, and amenities that extend throughout the property,” officials said.
“Columbus Regional Health has indicated their long-term intent to both identify the +/-100-acres of this property they wish to retain for a future medical facility and to offer the remaining property for development,” planning department staff stated in a report on the annexation request. “Annexation is the first step in the process for the development of this property which, over time, will be subject to numerous significant infrastructure decisions, rezoning, and subdivision. The applicant is not proposing any zoning changes or development of the property at this time.”
Bergman said that, as part of reviewing the annexation request, planning staff polled other city departments about the possibility of providing services to the site — both in its current agricultural state and in the long term as it develops based on the concept plan.
He said that, in the short term, annexing the site doesn’t put a lot of additional demands on city services, but there will be some “choices to be made and perhaps needs on that property long-term as pieces of it get rezoned and developed.”
For instance, Columbus Fire Department officials told planning staff that in the long term, there will likely be a need for additional equipment and personnel. They also wrote that the city may want to consider adding another firehouse and ambulance.
Councilwoman Elaine Hilber said it will be important for the city to plan for such expenses in advance. However, other council members noted that the site will likely be developed in phases over several years, allowing the city to likewise phase in potential expenses.
Where to learn more
To access the City View District Plan, visit columbus.in.gov/planning/comprehensive-plans/.
