Upper Arlington’s boundaries are growing ever so slightly by 12.5 acres, as the city takes over part of Henderson Road from Columbus in a boundary adjustment.
While Columbus is known for absorbing land around central Ohio into the state’s capital, Upper Arlington is landlocked and mostly surrounded by Columbus. This is the first annexation in a few years for Upper Arlington, which most recently absorbed a small part of Lane Avenue a few years ago, Assistant City Manager Jackie Thiel said.
Henderson Road is part of the northern boundary between Upper Arlington and Columbus. Upper Arlington has been looking into the future of Henderson Road for a few years, City Manager Steve Schoeny said.
“It’s an area that is important to both of us, but it’s much more of a focus for us than it is for the city of Columbus. They’ve got a lot of priorities to look at — this is one of our top priorities,” Schoeny said.
The cities are still working together, but the annexation will allow Upper Arlington to have more control over the future of the area.
Henderson Road is four lanes wide, with some large parking lots for strip malls as well as some apartments on both sides.
A community survey with over 900 participants found some several common themes: prioritizing safety for everyone including non motorists, there’s currently a lack of consistency, new projects should seem unique to Upper Arlington and that coordination with Columbus will be key to the viability of the project.
The results of a study, shared with council in October, identified the potential for a mixed-use district with a “neighborhood first” design featuring walkable streets, a multitude of housing options and commercial buildings integrated into the streetscape.
The final report from the study will be available sometime in January, Schoeny said.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Upper Arlington boundaries are growing and Columbus’ are shrinking
