Waverly Terrace residents get rezoning to preserve historic neighborhood

More than 30 years ago, it became Columbus’ second historic district.

Now, some residents in the Waverly Terrace subdivision are having their properties rezoned in an effort to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood.

Columbus Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rezone properties belonging to 28 homeowners from multi-family and commercial zoning to single-family residential.

“The purpose of this rezoning request is to bring existing single family homes into zoning compliance,” according to information from the city. The conditional approval was recommended “based on the fact that the request is consistent with the future land use map of the 2028 Comprehensive Plan and it is compatible with existing land uses.”

Waverly Terrace was the first planned subdivision in Columbus.

“It is located on 45 acres on what was considered the ‘outskirts’ of Columbus in the early 1900s,” according to information on the Historic Columbus website. The district is bounded by Hamilton Road on the west, 30th Street on the north, Peabody Avenue on the east, and 27th Street on the south.

The architectural styles of the area include crafts-bungalow, Spanish mission, late Victorian, neoclassical and Georgian Revival, utilizing materials of wood, stucco and brick.

Planning Director Rick Jones said members of the Waverly Terrace Historic Association requested that the Planning Department attend one of their meetings in early 2016. They asked city planners to consider a mass rezoning for the area.

Planners sent three letters to residents within the designated area and asked for their participation. They moved forward after gathering signatures and verbal approval from 28 residents. The rezoning is limited to those participants for now.

While trying to recruit other neighbors, association leaders said the rezoning would “increase property values in Waverly Terrace by preserving the integrity of the neighborhood as it was originally intended.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Waverly Terrace residents get rezoning to preserve historic neighborhood."