Board clears lot-split variance at former Bob Evans site on Smiths Mill Road

The Board of Zoning Appeals approved Variance 44-2024 for a lot split at 8111 Smiths Mill Road, a site described by staff as the former Bob Evans headquarters now owned by 31 Gifts within the Franklin County Business Park.

City staff said the proposal would create a southern parcel containing existing buildings and a northern undeveloped parcel. Staff recommended approval conditioned on a permanent access easement recorded in favor of the southern parcel before the lot split and on prohibiting additional curb cuts along Smiths Mill Road. The staff finding was that the easement preserves vehicular access and maintains the campus-style design of the site.

Aaron Underhill, the owner’s zoning attorney, said the property owner has marketing and occupancy challenges in the current market and has a prospective buyer interested only in the southern parcel; Underhill told the board the owner accepts staff’s recommended conditions. He described the site as a roughly 15.5-acre parcel in the New Albany business park and said the easement preserves flexibility while being acceptable to future buyers.

A board member moved to approve the variance based on the staff findings, a second was recorded and the board approved the motion (motion passed with four votes). The staff condition that the access easement be recorded was explicitly discussed as part of the approval.