Columbus City Council holds second public hearing on proposed ADU zoning changes

Columbus City Council on Oct. 25 held a second public hearing on draft zoning changes to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) across residential and apartment residential districts, with city staff outlining proposed code language, utility and permitting costs, and neighborhood impacts while residents and housing advocates urged passage.

Council Member Otto Beatty, sponsor of the draft, opened the hearing and said the proposal is intended to add housing supply and options for families. Erin Prosser, deputy director of the Department of Development, told the council the ADU policy fits within the city's broader housing strategy — supply, design and subsidy — and said ADUs are one of several tools to preserve and build affordable housing options near jobs, schools and services. "The ADU policy really fits with how do we deliver that affordability by design and giving that diversity of unit types," Prosser said.

Shannon Pine, zoning chief in the Department of Building and Zoning Services, described the draft definitions and limits: ADUs would be a secondary residential dwelling on the same lot as a principal dwelling or in an apartment building, must include permanent facilities for living, sleeping, cooking and sanitation, and must have a separate means of ingress and egress. The draft would allow ADUs in all residential and apartment-residential districts (chapters 33.32 and 33.33 of Title 33) and in several mixed‑use districts already permitting ADUs. Key dimensional limits in the draft: an ADU may not exceed 65% of the floor area of the principal dwelling or 1,000 square feet (whichever is greater, but never larger than the principal building), and would be limited to 25 feet in height except where an existing structure already exceeds that height. Lot coverage would be capped at 65 percent on parcels with an ADU, and no additional parking would be required by the proposed code.

John Lee, deputy director at Columbus Water and Power, walked through five common utility scenarios and summarized fee implications. He said shared water and sewer service where an ADU taps into existing services is the lowest‑cost option (permit costs only in some cases), while separate taps or new builds can trigger water and sewer capacity fees that can range in his examples from roughly $1,345 to $5,074 depending on line size and capacity, with total estimated scenarios in the presentation ranging from a few hundred dollars up to about $9,700. "Fewer meters equal fewer bills for you, and shared services tends to cost less upfront," Lee said.

City staff reviewed how current zoning has required variances for many ADU projects. Pine said the department analyzed 44 ADU projects from 2019–2023 that met the department's review criteria: all 44 were detached, with an average size of about 722 square feet and average height of about 22 feet; 80% were units above garages and 20% single‑story detached units. Because many single‑unit residential districts currently allow only one dwelling unit per lot, Pine said applicants routinely need use variances, rear‑yard and side‑yard variances, lot width and lot area per dwelling unit variances. She estimated the variance process takes a minimum of about three months and often six to nine months in practice; the city fee cited for a variance was $350 per dwelling unit added.

Public commenters included homeowners, housing advocates, real estate and development representatives, and residents with personal caregiving experiences. Laurel Beatty Blunt described converting an attached garage into an ADU for her mother as enabling in‑home care and family support: "Having an ADU really just allows me to return the favor," she said. Carly Booth, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, and Vincent Coleman of Columbus Realtors both urged passage, saying ADUs expand housing choices and can support affordability, while Karina Johnson of the RISE Together Innovation Institute and Convergence Columbus representatives asked council to pair zoning changes with equitable financing and technical assistance so lower‑wealth neighborhoods can access ADU benefits.

Several speakers and staff also urged caution on implementation details. Commenters from neighborhoods with very narrow lots — including Franklinton and other older areas — raised concerns about alley width, maneuverability, privacy impacts from two‑story backyard structures and whether ADUs would chiefly appear in higher‑income neighborhoods unless paired with targeted supports. Pine acknowledged those neighborhood constraints and noted that some narrow‑lot projects will still need variances for side‑yards or alley maneuverability.

Council Member Beatty closed by reminding the public this was the second of three hearings. The draft and supporting documents remain open for public comment through Oct. 25 on his council webpage, and he scheduled a third and final public hearing for Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Council Chambers. No formal vote or ordinance adoption occurred at the hearing.

The proposal and questions for follow‑up include: whether and how the city will provide financing or technical assistance to expand ADU development equitably; whether certain neighborhood‑scale limits (for example, alley maneuverability rules or minimum lot widths) should be adjusted in the code or left subject to variance; and how Columbus Water and Power and the Department of Building and Zoning Services will operationalize the shared‑service and meter options to reduce upfront costs for homeowners.