All right, good evening, everyone.

Um I want to thank everyone.

We have a uh almost full house here at Council, which is always something that I like to see because uh we're all here because we love this city.

We are all here because we love the places where we live, we love the places that we visit, we love all of the good things that make Columbus uh the place that we choose to call home.

So I want to thank everyone uh for making uh the time today to be here with us to be in council chambers.

Uh I'm going to go ahead and call this hearing to order.

Um excuse me.

Today we will be discussing uh proposed updates to the Columbus City Code regarding the right of way and certificate of appropriateness process.

Specifically, we will hear about a clarification stating that the City of Columbus does not need to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from commissions with historic architectural or design review authority when performing work within the public right of way.

This update is intended to streamline city operations while maintaining our commitment to preserving Columbus Historic Neighborhoods.

Columbus historic districts are a vital part of our city's identity.

They tell the story of our neighborhoods and our communities' history.

I want to be clear that this proposed clarification does not diminish the city's respect for these neighborhoods or our dedication to thoughtful preservation.

We remain committed to design practices, engagement, and collaboration with community partners to ensure improvements reflect the character and context of our historic communities.

Our responsibility is twofold.

One, to preserve the neighborhoods that make Columbus unique, and to ensure residents can rely on safe, accessible, and well maintained public infrastructure.

This update allows us to do both.

A public right of way is a legal right for the public to travel over land, streets, sidewalks, alleys, and the underground corridors that carry utilities like water, power, and fiber.

Even when private property borders or lies beneath these areas, the city maintains authority to operate, repair, and upgrade them.

These are public spaces that residents rely on every day for mobility, safety, and access to essential services.

Clarifying the code ensures the city can respond quickly, ensuring during emergencies like water main breaks, down traffic lights or hazardous conditions without procedural delays.

This update aligns Columbus with common municipal practice.

Cities must have the ability to maintain the public right of way to meet safety obligations and operational needs.

This change does not alter our commitment to protecting the character of historic districts using context sensitive design, engaging residents and neighborhood groups, and partnering with preservation advocates.

Today's hearing is an opportunity to listen.

We look forward to hearing from residents about this proposed clarification.

Our goal is to ensure Columbus maintains a strong balance between preserving the legacy of our historic neighborhoods and upholding the city's duty to provide safe, accessible and efficient public infrastructure for everyone.

Part of the Columbus Forward Package is indeed historic preservation.

And my colleague, uh Council President uh Council I just gave you a uh yes, uh update.

Um President Pro Tem, Councilmember Rob Dorns is leading the piece of legislation with the support of this council.

I would like to give the floor to you, President Pro Tem, uh, to talk a little bit about uh historic preservation.

Sure.

Thank you, Chair, and I appreciate uh everyone's attendance here.

And certainly I've heard from uh a number of residents um electronically and uh calls and emails over the past several weeks about this particular topic today.

Um, you know, while we're the public infrastructure isn't always the sexiest thing.

I know uh folks have deep, deep interest in this piece of legislation and certainly this proposal.

Um I think a lot of the folks that are here, I I'm like you.

I think every house and apartment I have lived in in Columbus has been over a hundred years old.

So um, yeah, I'm one of those folks that you know you're always terrified when you're doing that home repair project of what you're gonna find that hundred-year-old pipe and you know that kind of thing, in which, but it's been something that I have loved about this city in which I have uh lived over 10 years in one of our historic districts.

Um again, one of the things I think is so incredibly valuable about uh Columbus is its vibrant history.

And I think German Village and other historic districts within Columbus is a great example of a history that has been certainly uh respected and preserved over the years.

And as my council colleague mentioned, one of the uh initiatives from the Columbus War package, which is a package of legislation led by this council uh proactively to think about the growth and and uh quality of life of our residents, is focused on modernizing our historical preservation practices.

And we know that in a growing city that that is something that is utmost of importance when we think about um, you know, I chaired the zoning committee, and when we went through the first round of uh of zone in when we modernize our zoning code for the first time in 70 years, uh we had a lot of questions about what that meant for changes in neighborhoods.

And I think that was a very valid question that was posed uh during that time, which led to me towards you know, this interest in um bringing forth legislation here in the coming weeks that will set aside money for council to bring folks on to assess what our current historical preservation policies are, where the gaps might be, where modernization may make sense, uh, really to think about how do we do so uh in a respectful way as we move into the future.

Um, you know, when I lived in Italian village for 10 years, um my mus my neighborhood was not a museum.

You know, it's a historic district, but it's not a museum.

It changed and evolved every single year I live there with new residents, new buildings, changes.

When we think about the evolution of our historic districts across Columbus, none of them are the same that they were 10, 20, 30, 100 years ago.

So when I think about many of those places developing, you know, prior to there being access to cars, prior to there to being, you know, air conditioners on folks' houses, all the kinds of modern amenities that we take for granted today at some point was a change to that neighborhood.

And many of those changes I would argue have made life a lot better for folks that live in those areas and have contributed towards making them more livable in our city more livable.

Um so we can expect changes to happen in Columbus, but the question is what kind of policies do we have in place that provide transparency and accountability to make sure that as those changes happen that folks have expectations around how those are going to be managed and how are those can be done respectfully to those um within those communities and have folks within those communities understand what those processes are going to be and what they're not going to be.

And I think you know, this is a discussion here today that sort of runs alongside that question of what does historical preservation look like in a city that is rapidly growing, that we have 50 new people calling Columbus home every single day.

It's important for us to get that right because we know and I know a lot of the folks that are here today, their interest in this topic is because communities not only here in Ohio but across the country got that wrong when we think about the legacy of urban renewal and what that did to so many historic uh neighborhoods across our city and what that meant for uh you know bulldozing the entire sections of neighborhoods that had you know generations of historic fabric, not only in the buildings but in the people that called them home.

Um so one thing that we know that we we need to do better.

Uh we know that um we have a patchwork right now, and we have you know well over a dozen different historic districts and how that functions both internally with different departments at the city of Columbus, how that functions with folks that are looking to you know bring new businesses or new housing to our city, how that uh occurs in a way that again is complimentary and respectful moving forward.

Um, but we uh are interested here at council and really taking a big step back and saying, you know, what is working, what is not working, what can we do better, um, and what are lessons learned from not only our own history but other people's history, uh, but also what are other folks are doing right now on this topic as well.

So I'm interested to hear more about the proposal that Department of Public Service has brought uh on this particular topic.

Um, but also, and you know, the chair and I have had this discussion previously.

I don't expect this to be the last discussion to have, uh, whether or not that is around uh modernizing the historical preservation policies or particularly in the right of way.

Um any piece of legislation that's considered by this body, I would expect to be the jumping off point for future discussions with residents uh across every historic district and across our city.