Hanging from a second-story balcony on a tavern at the edge of Hilliard’s Station Park is a banner that reads, “SaveHilliard.com.”
Hilliard Councilman Les Carrier said that’s where the movement calling for the city to rethink its recently released “Hilliard by Design,” community plan first kicked off about a month ago.
“Do we need to go vertical everywhere like everybody else is doing?” Carrier asked. “You know, you look at where you're sitting right now. This is a very special area of our town. It's the epicenter.”
“Hilliard by Design” is an update to the city’s comprehensive community plan required by city law. It was developed by 27 residents and stakeholders starting in 2021.
“It's setting out a series of visions for the future for how residents want the community to develop and redevelop,” said City Assistant Manager Dan Ralley, who was one of the staff members who facilitated the creation of the plan.
It sets forth “big ideas,” including “focus growth inward” through development and redevelopment and “expanded housing options.”
“Which is a pretty dramatic change for Hilliard,” Ralley said.
The plan recommends zoning changes that would allow the building of more apartments up to four stories tall and mixed developments with housing, stores and offices. The changes are suggested for some parts of Old Hilliard and the Cemetery Road corridor.
Carrier and the Save Hilliard movement expressed concerns about aesthetics, traffic, crowded schools and increased taxes to pay for it all.
“It's that death by a thousand paper cuts, right?” Carrier said. He said he doesn’t believe that Hilliard can accommodate all the growth outlined in the plan, and that residents don’t want that density.
But Ralley pointed to the need to create missing middle housing, such as condos or townhouses, for empty nesters, young professionals and people who don’t want to maintain a yard, but do want to live close to amenities.
“It's the sort of thing that we think is important, not just from a residential standpoint in offering a range of housing types, but it's important to attracting and retaining office users and businesses in our community,” Ralley said.
Unavoidable growth
And growth is coming, one way or another. Experts say central Ohio will need to build around 14,000 new housing units every year to keep up with anticipated population growth. The region is expected to grow by some 750,000 people by 2050.
Hilliard is not the first community – nor will it be the last – to debate what role it should play in housing all of those newcomers.
The Columbus metropolitan region needs to roughly double its housing construction to keep up, said United Way of Central Ohio Vice President Michael Wilkos.
“All housing is not equal, clearly,” Wilkos said.
He said thanks to federal intervention after World War II, America has long preferred single-family homes – which have been historically inequitable – and has deemed the suburban home a marker of middle-class status.
Now, central Ohio’s possible sprawl threatens hundreds of acres of farmland. Wilkos estimates some 700 acres of farmland could be lost if communities continue to expand outward.
“And I really want to see that farmland preserved,” Wilkos said. “One way to do that is for us to build higher density housing in walkable environments.”
Wilkos said when people hear “density” they seem to think it translates into something unsightly or something that won’t be well maintained.
“But the reality is some of our densest, most walkable neighborhoods are some of the most enjoyable in the entire metropolitan region,” Wilkos said, pointing to German Village, Victorian Village, Short North and his own neighborhood of Weinland Park, where single family homes sit alongside duplexes, row houses, shops and restaurants.
Wilkos said that today’s zoning often prohibits the diversity of housing the region needs to accommodate changing demographics and various income levels.
“When we particularly look at the suburban construct, you start to need to really ask some really philosophical questions,” Wilkos said. "Do we want teachers, childcare professionals and firefighters to be able to afford to live in the communities where they work?" Wilkes said in many suburban neighborhoods, they can’t.
Thoughtful design
Jennifer Noll with Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission said growth is a good thing for the region – but acknowledged that in cases like Hilliard, it can be hard.
“I think the response when we see these sort of changes is, 'I like my community. I love my community the way it is. I don't want to see a change',” Noll said.
MORPC encourages communities to think about where growth makes the most sense – like underused parking lots and areas along large thoroughfares, where transportation can be accommodated, Noll said. She noted that established neighborhoods, where construction is complete and people like the character, are often not the best candidates for development.
“I think with thoughtful planning and good design, we should expect that the character of our community can be preserved while we're also being able to welcome new residents into our neighborhoods,” Noll said.
But as the region braces for expansion, the debate will go on about how to grow – and when – and where.
