The City of Dublin

Dublin, OH –The City of Dublin Planning & Zoning Commission voted tonight giving their nod of approval and recommendation to Dublin City Council to move forward with the Bridge Street Corridor proposed development code (7-0) and area rezoning (6-1). P&Z member Amy Kramb voted no on the area rezoning.

The Planning& Zoning Commission has spent the past several months reviewing and providing feedback and input to Dublin’s Planning staff on the draft development code and area rezoning. The Bridge Street Corridor plan,which calls for the redevelopment of 1,000 acres located at the core of Dublin, is roughly defined by Sawmill Road, State Route 161 and the arc of Interstate 270.

The Bridge Street Corridor plan will transform Dublin’s center into a mix of high density uses – an urban, walkable community that will include new options in housing, entertainment, retail and areas ripe for economic development. The plan responds to the shifting demographics and changing lifestyle demands of Gen Y and Baby Boomers, and will attract and retain the next generation of employees and businesses to Dublin.

Dublin City Council is scheduled to vote on the Bridge Street Corridor code and rezoning at their February 27th meeting.

For more information on the Bridge Street Corridor go to www.DublinOhioUSA.gov/bridgestreet.

Five Part Story | Columbus Underground

The City of Dublin is an affluent Columbus suburb typically known for it’s good schools, easy access to jobs, and low density housing and retail developments that have rapidly sprawled outward over the past forty years. Overall, a fairly average suburban community in appearance, crowned with a quaint historic Downtown intersection that is home to a small selection of local shops and restaurants.

Read the entire story

MORPC’s latest video features scenes from the workshop, Wake Up: Changing Trends in the Real Estate Market. MORPC hosted the free workshop for communities October 6, 2011 at the Upper Arlington Municipal Services Center.

The workshop looked at how central Ohio communities will develop and re-develop for a growing senior population, while continuing to focus on attracting and retaining young people. A number of real estate professionals and zoning, building and elected officials in attendance met to discuss the challenges and benefits of creating neighborhoods where people want to live, work and play throughout their lifetime.

Article in the Columbus Dispatch… City planners know importance of appealing to aging residents

The presentations below demonstrate how the main sections of the Bridge Street Corridor Development Code work together to result in high quality pedestrian-oriented development. The first presentation shows how the development standards for street types, lot and block requirements, building type, and open space requirements apply to a development site, and the second presentation demonstrates how the building requirements achieve distinctive architecture. The applicable Code sections are provided so you can follow along.

Building Type Requirements Demonstration

Download an Introduction to selected Bridge Street Corridor development requirements (zip)

Please contact Rachel Ray, AICP, Planner at rray@dublin.oh.us or 614-410-4656 with questions.

The purpose of the water distribution system study completed by EMH&T was to determine if the existing water distribution system – including main water lines and water tower capacity – is sufficient to service the future redevelopment of the Bridge Street Corridor. The model looked at the existing water distribution system and factored in the general land uses and densities proposed with the Bridge Street Corridor Vision Plan to understand whether the existing system can support the long-term redevelopment of the corridor, and if not, what improvements would be necessary.

Because the City of Dublin has made strategic improvements to the water system throughout the years with road improvements and other important development areas including the Historic District, the existing system is able to provide adequate water service and fire flow to support the build-out conditions of the Bridge Street Corridor. Any areas that have been identified as unable to provide the desired levels of service (while maintaining the minimum standards) are expected to be improved as future development occurs.

The main study conclusions are summarized below, and the full report is available here.

1. The water distribution system analysis did not identify any immediate operating issues requiring water infrastructure improvements; even after a complete build-out of the Bridge Street Corridor, peak water pressures would still be within acceptable limits.

2. Adequate fire flow (3,000 gallons per minute for commercial/mixed use development) is available to continue serving the public fire protection system.

3. A few areas were identified that would result in fire flows below the desired capacity (3,000 gallons per minute), but would still be projected to exceed the minimum fire flow standards (2,500 gallons per minute). The water distribution system in this limited area, located around Kilgour Place north of Post Road, is expected to be improved with future development of this area, with additional water mains that would result in the desired fire flow levels.

4. Total estimated water demand for the Bridge Street Corridor at build out is 2.11 million gallons per day (existing water usage is 0.6 million gallons per day).

5. Like street connectivity, it is important that the existing 12-inch water mains throughout the Bridge Street Corridor remain connected throughout any redevelopment to provide adequate water distribution and fire flow to all parts of the corridor, with additional connections being made in the limited areas identified by the analysis.

Preliminary findings from this study were presented by Shane Spencer, PE, of EMH&T at Joint Work Session #2 on May 24, 2011. Watch the video here.

View the 10-minute video on “Rethinking Streets for Successful Communities.” This video features commentary from leaders in their fields, including: former Dublin City Manager Terry Foegler of OSU, Jack Lucks of Continental Real Estate, Yaromir Steiner of Steiner + Associates, Ken Danter of The Danter Company, Keith Myers of MSI Design, and Carol Coletta of Coletta & Associates (formerly CEOs for Cities). The experts reference Dublin’s Bridge Street Corridor as an example of a community core vision plan that addresses the shifting demographics and future real estate needs by designing streets, buildings and use in relation to one another – not separately. That is the foundation of form-based code.

“Communities that set high standards compete to the top. With this plan (Bridge Street Corridor) and with form-based code, Dublin is setting itself apart,” said Ed McMahon, senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute, a land-use nonprofit based in Washington D.C. in an article that appeared in the Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Columbus Dispatch: “Plans would give Dublin’s core a new feel”

Read the entire article

The second Joint Work Session of Dublin City Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, the Architectural Review Board and the Board of Zoning Appeals was held on Tuesday, May 24th. Members in attendance heard presentations and updates from local and national consultants on the transportation modeling, water analysis, sewer analysis, stormwater management planning for the Bridge Street Corridor, and updates on the draft form-based code. Presentations are available for viewing on (link when uploaded).

One of the key outcomes resulting from the analyses is that the City of Dublin’s water and sewer capacity is adequate for the redevelopment of the Bridge Street Corridor project. According to the studies presented by Shane Spencer and Dr. Taymour El-Hosseiny, both from EMH&T, the City of Dublin will not need to make major investments in water and sewer infrastructure to support redevelopment in the Bridge Street Corridor.

Discussion followed the presentations and some key questions from Council, commission and board members focused on:

How will the code be used not only by development community – but by the City itself?

Once the Code is in place, Land Use & Long Range Planning will create a guide for the development community and other interested individuals to explain in a step by step method how to use the Code. City staff members will be well versed in the Code and will receive extensive training conducted by the consultants who crafted the Code. Planning has a team of skilled planners in place ready to assist individuals in navigating the Code and finding out how individual properties may be affected.

How does the draft form-based code compare to what other cities are doing?

One glance at the Bridge Street Corridor Code will tell you that this is different from what most cities are using as a zoning technique. While the concept of form based codes has been around for a decade or more, most applications of the code are similar to Dublin’s; affecting specific areas of a community where a specific character is desired to be preserved, as in historic areas, or created, as in new mixed-use districts.

Recently, however, there has been a trend to adopt form based codes that cover the entire community. For example, the City of Miami, Florida recently adopted a form-based zoning code for the entire city that is based on encouraging architectural continuity by regulating the shape of buildings and allowing for a mix of uses – unlike traditional zoning codes which focuses on separation of uses. Miami’s new code is known as Miami 21. Read more about Miami’s code adoption and what planning and architectural experts are seeing as an emerging trend.

What are your thoughts?

The Bridge Street Corridor project entered the first phase of implementation with the unveiling of the new draft code to key stakeholders, Dublin City officials and the public at the April 14th joint session and May 2nd public open house. The form-based code, which is very different than the City of Dublin’s current code, is a work in progress and will continue to change and evolve during the public review period. We will continue to engage the public in a transparent process by encouraging comments, feedback and participation at meetings.

There has been a lot of buzz about the Bridge Street Corridor in Central Ohio and nationally. The Bridge Street Corridor vision plan addresses the shifting trends in demographics, population and the housing choices desired by aging baby boomers and their children, the millennial generation.

A recent article in the Washington Monthly, by real estate experts Patrick C. Doherty and Christopher B. Leinberger, says the demand for homes in walkable communities has the potential to reshape the American landscape and rejuvenate its economy as profoundly as the wave of suburbanization did after World War II. These two groups – 77 million boomers plus 76 million millennials – comprise nearly 50 percent of the American population. Dublin City Council recognizes the importance of the Bridge Street Corridor project in enhancing Dublin’s economic vitality and sustainability – giving Dublin a competitive advantage as a place to live, work and invest.

At the May 24th Joint Session of City Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, Architectural Review Board and the Board of Zoning Appeals consultants presented updates on transportation modeling, storm water management, water and sewer analyses and discussed the draft form-based code that will establish the infrastructure for the Bridge Street Corridor.

Based on the preliminary analysis, no major sewer or water infrastructure investments are anticipated for the Bridge Street Corridor vision plan.

Please check back frequently for updates. Questions or comments – contact Rachel Ray at (614) 410-4600 or rray@dublin.oh.us.