An ordinance amending Chapter 11 (zoning code) of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Powell was approved by City Council on Tuesday.
The changes — noted in a city staff report as being “minor” — were recommended by the Zoning Code Update Committee, which was formed in 2016 following the passage of the city’s 2015 comprehensive plan. Comprised of elected officials, city staff, planning and zoning officials, and community members, the committee met 21 times before finalizing its recommendations for necessary updates to the zoning code.
During a November Powell Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in which members voted in favor of recommending the zoning code updates to council for approval, Assistant Director of Development Rocky Kambo said, “The comprehensive plan provides kind of the vision or overall idea where you want your city going, and the zoning code provides kind of the rules and regulations to try to make the vision a reality. Once you have your comprehensive plan completed, the next step is to go into your codes to ensure those codes are consistent with your comprehensive plan.”
The approved changes to the zoning code were made in three main sections: Title 1 (subdivision and development regulations), Title 3 (zoning administration), and Title 5 (zoning districts and regulations).
A city staff report states the changes not only provide new and updated definitions, but they also help to streamline application requirements, clarify requirements for mobile businesses, and require conduit for fiber in new developments.
Mayor goes all in to #SaveTheCrew
With nearly a dozen avid Columbus Crew Soccer Club supporters in attendance and several council members donning #SaveTheCrew scarves, Mayor Brian Lorenz continued his push to help keep the team in the capital city by presenting the Crew supporters on hand with a mayoral proclamation.
In the proclamation, Lorenz calls the Crew “an important cornerstone organization within central Ohio” and “many Powell residents are huge supporters of this professional soccer team.”
Taking into account the local popularity of the Crew combined with the economic impact the team has on central Ohio, Lorenz states that by the virtue of the authority vested in him as mayor, he encourages “all Powell residents to stand united with other fans and work together to save the Crew by writing their elected officials, the commissioner of the MLS, Don Garber, and the owner of the Crew, Anthony Precourt.
In October, Precourt announced his plans to relocate the Crew — one of Major League Soccer’s original teams — from Columbus to Austin, Texas, in time for the start of the 2019 season if a new downtown soccer stadium isn’t finalized by then.
Other business
Council passed an ordinance adding the Verizon Wireless retail store located adjacent to Bunker Lane near the southeast intersection of Sawmill Parkway and Seldom Seen Road to the Seldom Seen TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District.
City Manager Steve Lutz said based on a conservative estimate, the addition of the Verizon property “should generate approximately $20,000 into this (TIF) district which can be utilized for a variety of purposes, including future phases of the Seldom Seen Park.”
