City planners outline Phase 2 of ‘ZoneIn’ zoning rewrite; aim to modernize code, add economic districts

City planning staff briefed the Development Commission on the ZoneIn project and said Phase 2 will expand rezoning work to roughly 40% of Columbus, covering about 53,000 parcels.

"We have a code that essentially doesn't work for us," Louis Table, ZoneIn project manager, told commissioners. He said Phase 1 — adopted in 2024 — covered 4.2% of the city and produced six mixed‑use districts after more than a year of public outreach.

Table said the goals for the comprehensive update remain the same: modernize the zoning code, support environmentally and economically sustainable growth, encourage thoughtful investment, guide main‑street design, and make the code clearer and more accessible. Unlike Phase 1, which focused largely on housing opportunity, Phase 2 will add an economic and housing opportunity emphasis and examine manufacturing, commercial and institutional districts.

The project team described three broad land‑use buckets for Phase 2: higher‑ and lower‑scale mixed use; industrial/warehouse; and business and institutional campus — areas intended to accommodate hospitals, university and research campuses, and tech hubs. Table said staff will use an interim citywide land‑use map to create policy foundations for specific zoning districts, and the map will be refined into mixed‑use categories (for example, Mixed Use 1, 2 and 3) before council consideration.

"Phase 1 was only 4.2% of the city. So we still have a huge portion of the city to rezone, and that's what we're working on right now," Table said.

Staff recapped public engagement to date: multiple regionally held workshops and walking tours, dozens of pop‑up events, and an online survey. The team reported more than 60 engagement events including four workshops, two walking tours, 26 pop‑ups and a survey that yielded about 3,200 responses; those responses included map‑based feedback staff said they are now using to refine the focus area map.

Timeline and next steps presented to the commission included: policy recommendations and a refined focus map to come later in 2025, a request for Development Commission recommendation in November and Council consideration of the policy map and C2P2 amendments in December. Draft zoning districts for additional areas would be developed through 2026 with neighborhood phases to follow in 2027.

Staff urged commissioners to view the work as policy first — creating a consistent, citywide land‑use map and then translating that policy into zoning districts. Table told the commission the approach aims to reduce reliance on variances and make the code function without ad hoc approvals.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about how area plans and neighborhood commissions will be incorporated and how incentives such as affordability bonuses used in Phase 1 would be treated in Phase 2. Table said some affordability bonuses apply in select districts and that staff intends to coordinate the zoning rewrite with other city initiatives already before council, including a separate proposal on accessory dwelling units led by another council member.

The commission did not take a formal vote on ZoneIn during the presentation; staff said they would return later in the year seeking a formal recommendation.

The presentation materials and staff comments noted C2P2 (the Columbus citywide planning policies) as the policy vehicle staff will amend to support the Phase 2 map and subsequent district drafting.