Giant CRH property wins first annexation approval

The Columbus Plan Commission has advanced a plan for the city to annex a sprawling property on the west side of the city, owned by Columbus Regional Health.

The property, formerly known as Garden City Farms, is south of Jonathan Moore Pike and stretches from Interstate 65 almost to Jonesville Road. Last month the city government approved a comprehensive plan for the area, to be known as the City View District. That plan envisions a new home for CRH, residential neighborhoods, commercial centers, and a research & development campus.

Dennis Tibbets, a Jonesville Road resident, told the plan commission that he was concerned about turning the farmland into a development and the problems it could cause for flooding and for the city’s goal to preserve agricultural property uses. He also questioned the community’s need for industrial property for development, if such a large property could be developed.

The Plan Commission voted to move the project forward, recommending approval of the annexation to Columbus City Council.