Luis Taba, the city’s Zone In project manager, asked the Downtown Commission to recommend that City Council adopt a downtown land‑use classification of Mixed Use 3 as part of the Columbus Growth Strategy, a citywide policy map and design guideline package intended to replace fragmented area plans.

Taba told the commission the existing framework is spread across 40 area plans and some policies date from 1993, producing 200 land‑use categories that can produce uneven outcomes. He said Phase 1 of Zone In (2021–2024) covered roughly 4% of the city, focused on corridors, and created six mixed‑use districts; Phase 2 will require a citywide policy basis before rezoning broader areas. Taba said the Growth Strategy combines a vision, three guiding principles, a citywide land‑use map and baseline design guidelines to supply that policy basis and to better align capital planning, infrastructure investment and future rezoning.

Commissioners asked how the Growth Strategy would interact with existing area plans. Taba said neighborhoods can retain current area plans and their design guidelines; the Growth Strategy’s guidelines act as a baseline and would take precedence only when they directly conflict with older plans. He emphasized the request before the commission was policy only — it would not change downtown zoning, the commission’s design review authority or downtown design guidelines.

After questions, a commissioner moved that the Downtown Commission recommend adoption of Mixed Use 3 for downtown. The commission approved the recommendation by voice vote. The recommendation now goes to City Council as a policy-level step that staff says is necessary to support the next phases of the Zone In code rewrite and future rezoning efforts.

Commissioners asked staff to continue community engagement and to return with implementation steps that clarify how the city will reconcile the new citywide map with neighborhood area plans. Taba noted the public outreach campaign for the Growth Strategy included roughly 3,200 online survey responses, 26 pop‑up events and more than 100 presentations to area commissions.

The commission’s action: a recommendation to City Council to adopt Mixed Use 3 downtown as the Growth Strategy’s land‑use classification. The City Council schedule provided by staff was a public hearing followed by two readings; staff said it would transmit legislation to council for first reading as it advances the package.