Columbus City Council voted unanimously Monday night to strip power from historic districts and their commissions after the city lost a legal battle with the German Village Society over accessible sidewalk curb ramps.
City council voted to change city code for a permit called a "certificate of appropriateness" used most often in the historic districts for German Village, Italian Village, Victorian Village, the Brewery District and more than a dozen others. The city tried to install ADA-compliant curb ramps in German Village without obtaining one of these permits.
The city was put in a bind after a Franklin County judge ruled in favor of the German Village Society and barred the city from doing any more construction work on historic district sidewalks without getting a certificate of appropriateness.
The certificate is typically used for the commission to regulate exterior changes by homeowners to their properties in the historic districts and other neighborhoods that require special review for improvements.
Columbus City Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla contends Judge Kimberly Cocroft was wrong in her reading of city code. But, instead of appealing the ruling to prove this point, the city is instead changing the law.
"The presumption of the code was that the city would always have access to our right of way," Barroso de Padilla said.
The German Village Society also dropped its lawsuit and the judicial order stopping the work in an effort to plead with the city not to adopt this code change.
The leaders of the German Village Society and the German Village Commission spoke up against the proposed code change. Others spoke on the issue at a public hearing earlier this month.
The group argues it isn't against the curb ramps or accessibility, but rather wants the city to use materials for the ramps that are consistent with the neighborhoods historic character, i.e. bricks.
The ramps are made of concrete and plastic and the city has removed bricks and damaged sandstone curbs that date back to the neighborhood's creation by German immigrants in the 19th century.
Barroso de Padilla said she appreciated the sentiment that German Village should be preserved. She also said the city's responsibility to improve the right of way overrules that sentiment.
"The right of way is a physical manifestation of our commitment as public servants to connect different corners of our community and knit us more closely together. And I believe that this legislation helps to continue to make it true," Barroso de Padilla said.
Councilmember Rob Dorans put his views more bluntly.
"No single neighborhood is a museum. Neighborhoods evolve," Dorans said.
Before the council's vote, the ordinance read that "no person shall construct, reconstruct, alter, change the exterior color of or demolish any listed property or architectural feature thereof or any structure or architectural feature now or hereafter in a district or make site improvements thereon without first applying for a certificate of appropriateness therefor and obtaining either such certificate of appropriateness or a clearance."
Under this language, a Franklin County judge issued an injunction preventing the city from doing any more work on the curb ramps in German Village unless one of the certificates is obtained. The city still argues the judge's reading of the law is incorrect.
Now the city code will add a new subsection reading: "Nothing in this Title shall be construed as requiring the City, its officials, agents, contractors, or any person acting under the direction or authorization of the Director or City to obtain a certificate of appropriateness when performing construction, reconstruction, demolition, or alteration of any kind in any right-of-way."
German Village Society President Anthony Meyer asked city council to delay voting on the measure and said his group dropping the lawsuit was an act of good faith to work with the city. He criticized the legislation.
"Passing flawed legislation under the assumption that we will fix it later is not the most durable and responsible path. That exposes the city and the historic neighborhoods to unnecessary risk and uncertainty," Meyer said.
German Village Commission Chair Anthony Hartke said the German Village Commission derives its mission from the federal Historic Preservation Act. He said when improving a neighborhood like German Village, the city should look at the historic character by preserving and demolishing only when necessary.
"I believe that the right materials, the right approach, right collaboration, the proper planning is crucial," Hartke said.
He acknowledged it would be more expensive to install these ramps in other neighborhoods due to the cost of materials and planning for each unique corner.
