Cool Link- Issue 1 Results in Franklin County

Issue 1 Results

Issue 1 was a contentious, controversial proposal to make it harder for Ohioans to make changes to the state constitution. After a short campaign season, it would go on to defeat by just over 14 points- 57.01% to 42.99%. I provided a state county map with the results on the new Special Issues page. But what were the Issue 1 results in Franklin County and its precincts, specifically?

Today’s Cool Link provides the answer with a precinct map of the county. The map shows the results of Issue 1 for every single precinct, ward or city in Franklin County.

Based on the map, here were the overall margins for all the places in the county. Negative numbers are No wins, and positive numbers are Yes wins.
1. Bexley: -74.35
2. Grandview Heights: -71.19
3. Riverlea: -70.04
4. Marble Cliff: -69.02
5. Urbancrest: -64.16
6. Minerva Park: -63.1
7. Worthington: -61.94
8. Columbus: -61.8
9. Clinton Township: -58.32
10. Upper Arlington: -51.55
11. Sharon Township: -50.76
12. Mifflin Township: -46.54
13. Perry Township: -45.32
14. Whitehall: -43.97
15. Gahanna: -42.54
16. New Albany: -42.43
17. Hilliard: -41.09
18. Blendon Township: -39.79
19. Truro Township: -37.93
20. Reynoldsburg: -36.32
21. Jefferson Township: -36.29
22. Westerville: -36.0
23. Dublin: -35.71
24. Norwich Township: -27.9
25. Valleyview: -26.32
26. Canal Winchester: -18.14
27. Madison Township: -17.75
28. Groveport: -16.1
29. Obetz: -14.03
30. Grove City: -13.66
31. Prairie Township: -11.44
32. Plain Township: -9.12
33. Washington Township: -7.5
34. Franklin Township: -6.7
35. Brown Township: -2.58
36. Pleasant Township: +9.2
37. Jackson Township: +13.71
38. Hamilton Township: +15.04
As we can see, almost no part of the county voted Yes except for a few rural townships on the far south side. Not a single suburb voted yes, including in more conservative suburbs like Grove City and Canal Winchester. This suggests there was a lot of bipartisan opposition within the county.



Cool Link Zoning Change Focus Map

Zoning Change Focus Map

Columbus city officials have been working on updating zoning codes for more than a year. In many cases, the codes haven’t been updated since the 1960s or earlier, when priorities were significantly different than they are now. Developers wanting to build more density in neighborhoods and even along high-traffic corridors are often forced to go through lengthy and expensive variance requests. This raises costs for projects- and ultimately rents- and prevents the necessary density to address the long-standing housing shortage. The zoning change code map link below shows the initial areas that could see updates.

The focus areas of the update- at least in the first phase, are detailed on the following map:
Zoning Code Change Focus Areas

The first phase largely looks at the city’s main corridors. Later phases will look at updates in all neighborhoods. Although no specific changes have been confirmed as of yet, it’s possible that the city may do away with single-family exclusionary zoning. What this means is that, outside of historic areas, neighborhoods won’t be limited to single-family housing restrictions. Higher density projects, including doubles and multi-family projects, would be allowed in places where they are not essentially off-limits. Other changes may include reducing or eliminating parking minimums and significantly raising height restrictions.