'People say Columbus has lost all its historic charm.' Zone In would wipe away more of it.

Michael Feist is a longtime historian and preservationist who enjoys documenting little-known, lost and undiscovered elements of Columbus’ past.

I'm an urbanist. I love walkable, dense cities with pleasant streets and charming buildings. I took COTA for years from a low-rent apartment and I can recognize a first-hand need for new zoning that benefits a car-free and affordable lifestyle.

This isn't meant to bash Zone In, the city's new proposal to overhaul zoning in major corridors throughout Columbus. I'm instead hoping to open a conversation into how a portion of this new proposal could backfire against us. I would like to ask you to write to [email protected] or send feedback to prevent a significant mistake from taking place.

People say Columbus has lost all its historic charm.

While we don’t have the immense historic character of Providence, Rhode Island or San Francisco, I believe we still have valuable character to preserve.

Columbus' history is endangered

This city has always tried to grow and modernize by remove crumbling, old buildings past what was deemed worth of repair. Yet, there are thousands of great historic homes, churches, schools, fire stations and more, all easily forgotten among newer structures. We're in danger of losing them, and with it – what remains of our city's personality, historic heritage and charm.

The new Zone In proposal, as it is currently written, grants the strongest wishes of Columbus developers: a simple and speedy process to demolish and rebuild. This significantly endangers these historic buildings.

Preservationists, including myself, have struggled to halt demolition plans already in motion of worthy, historic buildings. We often learn about these projects too late. We have hesitated to oppose demolition if it will in turn weaken our relationships with developers, architects and other groups.

Delays in releasing information to the public and in listing these buildings on historic registers have spurred a loss of momentum or doomed a building outright.

The guardrails will be removed

The city has perhaps 100 to 300 demolition applications each year.

There's no alert system that could notify me about them, so many journalists and redevelopment-mindedgroups, such as Columbus Underground, UrbanOhio and Columbus Landmarks, rely on area commission meetings to learn about new projects.

Our view: Zoning is not sexy until developers eye your neighborhood. Columbus must get it right now.

Yet, under the new Zone In proposal, most new projects won't need to go before these area commissions. They won't need to individually earn community support, and so we won't learn that a historic building is at risk of being torn down.

Most of the houses at risk are in historic corridors right outside of other historic districts and design review areas. Those areas are what Zone In primarily targets.

All of High Street in Clintonville could be demolished quickly and easily under the proposed zoning laws. The same goes for Olde Towne East’s commercial center, historic Mount Vernon Avenue, High and Parsons in South Columbus, Broad Street in the Hilltop and all the way west to Route 315.

Columbus's zoning is archaic. Zone In critical part of housing solution.

These parcels would already be zoned for taller buildings with larger footprints, and thus developers would find the most profits in a completely new building.

Columbus needs a more robust way to respond to potential demolitions.

The city must institute a real system to notify preservationists and interested parties, and the process has to allow for enough time to adequately respond. Right now, the clock can still run out if action is not quickly taken on a demolition proposal.

If we're handing so much to developers in this new Zone In process, making their lives much easier, let's also hand us something – let us work to preserve Historic Columbus without a 60-day un-stoppable, under-the-radar demolition process. Please share your thoughts with the Zone In committee today.

Michael Feist is a longtime historian and preservationist who enjoys documenting little-known, lost and undiscovered elements of Columbus’ past. He won Columbus Landmarks’ Ed Lentz Prize in 2022 for extensive online documentation of city history and continues to strive to be at the digital forefront in presenting Columbus history.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zone In a threat to Columbus historical sites