Product: Atlas of Existing and Future Place Types; Microscale Analysis; Form-Based Zones for Corridors + Neighborhoods; Updated Zoning Map
Size

Columbus, OH, Citywide
Community Engagement

Robust education and listening sessions with the Advisory Committee, City Staff, and community members.

Master Plans/Specific Plans Citywide/Regional Plans

Columbus Citywide Zoning Code Update

Columbus, OH

For the first time in 70 years, the City of Columbus, Ohio selected a multi-disciplinary team to complete a comprehensive update of the City’s zoning code to align with their housing and transportation goals.

Unanimously adopted in July 2024, the innovative and ambitious new code makes way for 88,000 new housing units along the City’s key transit corridors, a 93% gain from the previous code. This was accomplished by 6 new mixed-use districts which allow residential development “by right”, incorporate objective design standards, and eliminate minimum parking requirements, all drastically reducing entitlement and construction costs, and making housing and mixed-use development, more equitable, easier to build with more predictable results. The City is committed to accommodate population growth and concentrate development in high opportunity areas while maintaining equilibrium in traditional, stable neighborhoods. The LWC-led team included top planning and design firms in the Country; Opticos Design, Inc., Cascadia Partners, Siegman and Associates, Warhol and Wallstreet, MKSK, and Peter J. Park, LLC.

Following a 2021 code assessment by Lisa Wise Consulting and Opticos, Phase One focused on the City’s mixed-use corridors. Phase Two addressed residential zoning for the City’s neighborhoods. Opticos developed a framework of place types, which included a detailed analysis of existing physical conditions, consideration of the underlying zoning and pattern of variances, and a study of policy direction from over 30 area plans to establish six new mixed-use zoning districts that consider varying desired degrees of change. The palette of zones leverages the development capacity along transit routes and neighborhood main streets with predictable standards to support equitable economic vibrancy, enable affordable housing options, and streamline administrative procedures.

“Zone In” aims to:

Modernize the Columbus zoning code to reflect the community’s current and future needs, values and aspirations.
Support growth that prioritizes environmental and economic sustainability through improved transit, additional housing opportunities and the creation of job centers.
Encourage thoughtful investment in neighborhoods that have experienced racial and economic segregation and help undo the harm caused by past urban development policies.
Guide the design and development of main streets, neighborhoods and activity centers to support community goals while celebrating the unique character of our neighborhoods and creating a sense of place for residents.
Ensure the Columbus zoning code is fair, understandable and accessible.

A Place Type Approach to Zoning

Testing Standards for Compatibility and Feasibility

Zone standards were tested on both small and large sites to understand the impact of the proposed Building Form standards. Existing built examples throughout the City were carefully studied to calibrate Frontage types and Massing and Articulation standards. Balancing flexibility and design control was the main focus of the iterative process with City Staff and key stakeholders.

Defining Place Types

Columbus does not have a comprehensive future land use map to direct future zoning, therefore, Opticos used a Place Type approach that cataloged existing lot sizes through GIS, studied existing building form, and compiled the future land use direction from over 30 area plans as well as recent transit planning efforts. Opticos used this analysis to define and map a spectrum of auto-oriented to urban places that informed the zoning designations.