Visions for Worthington: How Each Candidate Sees Our City’s Future
2025 City Council Candidate Q & A
As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering informed civic engagement, Building Worthington’s Future reached out to all candidates running for Worthington City Council with three key questions. These questions focus on topics that we believe are especially important in Worthington’s current climate, issues that directly impact our community’s growth, inclusivity, and long-term vitality.
Our goal is to provide a platform for candidates to share their views in their own words, helping residents make educated decisions at the ballot box. Each candidate received the same three questions and was given the opportunity to respond. We have not edited or altered any responses in any way. What you’ll read below reflects each candidate’s authentic voice and perspective.
At Building Worthington’s Future, we strive to keep our community informed about the factors shaping Worthington’s future. We believe that transparency, dialogue, and understanding are the foundation of good governance, and that starts with giving candidates and residents alike the opportunity to be heard.
Question One: Worthington relies heavily on income tax revenue to fund city services, with limited commercial growth and increasing residential property taxes placing pressure on residents. How do you propose ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of our city while maintaining or improving city services?
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Worthington’s long-term financial sustainability depends on growing our commercial tax base while maintaining the strong neighborhoods that make our city special. Because we are land locked, we need to think creatively about how we use our existing space. That includes encouraging mixed-use development and investing in corridors like Huntley Road and Wilson Bridge Road that can support modern Class A office space, as well as more restaurants, gathering spots, and “third places” that make Worthington a lively place to spend time. These kinds of projects help attract new businesses and jobs while easing the tax burden on residents.
When you support a local business, you are not just supporting local families like mine, you are supporting every single family in our community. Ultimately, the income tax that our local businesses pay provides the city with additional funding for city services, meaning you are helping to strengthen our entire city. At the same time, housing and economic development go hand in hand. By adding a wider range of housing options, from townhomes to senior-friendly and workforce housing, we can help more people live and work here, support local businesses, and strengthen our schools.
We should also continue pursuing regional partnerships and competitive grants to fund infrastructure and sustainability projects that make Worthington an even more connected, livable community. Projects like the Worthington Mile are essential for moving the city forward and connecting residents with local third places to build community. I believe Worthington’s budget should reflect our shared values by investing in people, equity, and opportunity. With smart planning, inclusive redevelopment, and a commitment to sustainability, we can build a city where every generation has the chance to thrive.
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Over the last 10 years or longer, Worthington has gained the reputation among the business and development communities as being difficult to deal with, and we need to change that reputation. It has cost us with businesses leaving, and lost opportunities. We should reach out to the business community and convey the message that Worthington is welcoming to new businesses, with a new Council that is receptive to responsible growth and wants to collaborate with developers to satisfy both the City’s need for quality growth that enhances Worthington’s commercial tax base, and the developers’ need to make a reasonable profit. But we also need to take concrete steps to simplify and streamline the development approval process, without lowering our standards. Working with City staff, together with input from the business community, I would propose an in-depth review of the City’s approval process, to determine those areas where we can simplify the process and decrease red tape, without lowering our standards. In addition, we need to make sure that the City’s requirements for development are clear, objective and unambiguous, and don’t evolve during the approval process. The City staff should be encouraged to be as collaborative as possible with new businesses and developers on the front end of a proposal, to convey those requirements and the City’s expectations. As the question points out, the long-term financial sustainability of Worthington depends on the stabilization and improvement of our commercial tax base, in order to provide both the income tax revenues and property tax revenues necessary to provide services and fund the City’s Capital Improvements Program, as well as to fund our schools. With much of Worthington’s infrastructure dating back to the 1960’a and 1970’s, there is an urgency to funding the City’s Capital Improvements Program so we have the resources necessary to address Worthington’s capital needs.
Housing and economic development are inextricably linked, and we need to increase our housing inventory in general, with an emphasis on affordability, and the diversity of housing types. We can use economic tools on the residential side of the equation, including tax incentives, to encourage commercial development that increases the City’s income tax revenues. And to thrive, businesses need the population base, and density where appropriate, that can support those businesses. We can use those economic tools to encourage the residential development needed to attract new, younger families to Worthington and to provide seniors who want to downsize but remain in our community the options for them to be able to accomplish that. Attention to the housing shortage that impacts the entire Central Ohio region, including Worthington, will help support the economic development necessary to ensure Worthington’s long-term economic viability.
Perhaps the most important thing that the new Council needs to do is to change its mindset. We need to look for new economic development opportunities and capitalize on them, instead of looking for excuses to delay and derail those opportunities. Without that mindset, we will continue to lose ground to our peer communities.
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The heart of your question, as I read it, is how do we maintain a vibrant economy in Worthington, long-term, that will yield the income taxes we need to support outstanding services? My thinking begins with basic principles. First, whatever economic development plans and programs, and overall strategy, that the City advocates for and supports, ought to be endorsed and embraced by the broad public. Grounding a development strategy on public support is not only the right thing to do within the context of a democratic/representative form of government, but it is also essential for both practical and political reasons, i.e., ensuring predictability and efficiency of process.
Second, as a small, though exceptional and influential, inner-ring suburb, we need to be clever about how we position ourselves in the broader, bigger marketplace. Rather than responding to, or trying to replicate, or to be something we are not, we ought to base our long-term strategy on differentiation. What does Worthington do better than anyone else in the region? What is our brand? What can’t be replicated easily (or at all) by competitive communities? In other words, let’s not, for instance, try to out-Dublin Dublin, but rather let’s be the best Worthington that we can be. In short, we should innovate, not imitate.
With these core principles in mind, some specifics follow. The aesthetic and charm of the Historic District ought to be jealously safeguarded. This does not mean it should be stodgy, but rather the evolution of the area ought to always be done with great care so as to not kill the golden goose. As we know, the Historic District is important not so much for the income tax it yields, but for the branding it provides and for the multi-faceted, experiential amenity it provides to residents and visitors alike.
Further, large scale economic development (office/housing/retail, mixed-use) ought to be encouraged and, where economically sensible, incentivized in areas of town where density and a different architectural aesthetic would be appropriate, e.g., the Wilson Bridge Rd. corridor (northern side, west and east) and the NE Corridors (eco-tech). There’s a gardening expression, “Right plant, right place.” The same holds true for development in a fixed-boundary, historic community like Worthington. As an example, I encouraged and voted for approving a 10-12 story commercial building at 270 and High St. (NW corner), but I would likely be very skeptical about building structures in the historic downtown higher than the three story Worthington Inn. As our community and its neighborhoods are diverse, so too should be our development plans.
Also, we ought to, as your question suggests, think long-term. This means avoiding building and development trends that could, over time, degrade our brand. Remember, The Continent, over there on Busch Blvd., was an early mixed-use development that was all the rage in its heyday. Not so much today. So whatever we build, it ought to be high quality, adaptive in use, and, with rare exceptions, harmonious in scale and form with the overall layout and aesthetic of Worthington. This does not mean being close-minded to new things, or new ideas—quite the contrary—but rather sorting out the substance from the fluff, and then adopting ideas in creative ways that will give us the greatest probability of creating long-term value. For example, housing can be built in ways that are innovative and are harmonious with Worthington as it is (e.g., ADUs and cottage courts), without needlessly disrupting or diminishing the value that we and our forebears have built here for decades or centuries. We ought to avoid projects that are driven by interests that are not rooted in a long-term commitment to the well-being of our community.
The city government can and does support economic development through a variety of programs and mechanisms, and it is likely that further incentive programs will be adopted in the near future, e.g., residential CRAs. I would also support a more activist approach, with clear criteria so as to minimize the chances of overreach, for the City to acquire property for the realization of specific economic development goals. For example, the old Jiffy Lube property, which is very accessible by bike/ped for large portions of our population, could have been purchased at a distressed price by the City, rezoned to encourage an eatery, a bakery, a deli, etc., to create a vibrant little public gathering place, instead of the now largely inactive bank. That was a missed opportunity. This type of action would require a deliberate, well-conceived public policy and would require thorough vetting with the public, but it is one I would likely support.
In closing, Worthington enjoys many foundational strengths, including its superb location, its schools, its large areas of commercial/industrial zoned property, its educated and engaged public, its many civic institutions, its distinctive built environment, its history, and its natural beauty. Our economic future ought to build upon these deeply rooted assets, focusing on remaining positively differentiated from competitive cities, adapting to large forces and trends, but never at the cost of losing sight of who we are and want to be as a community. That would be bad business.
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Ensuring financial sustainability and maintaining high-quality city services is very important to me. I support commercial growth that is both measured and specifically designed for the types of tenants that will occupy the space. These uses must increase our city’s revenue rather than become a net loss. For example, I support mixed-use developments, but not just as a matter of course or with off-the-shelf, generic plans. I do not want our City left holding the bag because we approved a project that was really just a residential project disguised as mixed-use.
Many poorly done mixed-use projects fail to secure the right commercial tenants, leading to an uncertain mix of low-yield uses and limited income tax generation. We deserve to know whether projects will bring long-term anchor tenants with stable, high-quality jobs, or low-revenue, sparsely staffed retailers do not support our budget goals. I also believe Worthington should plan for smaller-scale Class A office spaces (under 20,000 square feet) to attract employers seeking premium workspace within a community setting. Thoughtful, well-structured commercial growth will help us expand our tax base responsibly while maintaining the quality services our residents expect.
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This is such a critical issue facing Worthington. Our residents need to understand that over 70% of our city’s annual revenue comes from income taxes. These are taxes paid by people who work in Worthington or those who live in Worthington but work somewhere else that has a lower income tax rate (and pay the remainder here). These revenues are more than 70% of our budget – the budget that the city uses to provide the high-quality services and invest in the capital improvements that we all appreciate, depend upon, and have come to expect. As we all know, costs are going up, and that includes our city’s expenses. Luckily our city revenues have increased enough to keep up, in part because of the additional people working at home (adding their income tax). But that is starting to shift again and, more importantly, Worthington continues to lose employers – Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield in 2018 that represented 400 employees and $1.3M each year (in 2018 dollars) and moved to Polaris (their building is still largely empty), Whalen CPAs moved from their Worthington offices to Dublin Bridge Park this year, and now Worthington Steel who are splitting from Worthington Enterprises and moving to Easton next year representing about the same number of employees and income taxes as Anthem. With just these three companies leaving, Worthington is losing almost $3 Million dollars from our previous budget… every year. That money could do a lot of things, like bond a pool, build a park, add bike trails, add new programs and events, invest in Downtown, etc. etc.
What does this loss mean? It is shifting the revenue from those working in Worthington to those living in Worthington and makes us more reliant on property taxes. We need to reverse this.
Why are companies moving? 1) Because Worthington’s office stock is old, dated and needs replaced. 2) Because their employees are looking for more dynamic places with restaurants, entertainment, parks and recreation, and housing that is close by and multi-generational. 3) Because Worthington hasn’t supported those interested in investing and developing places like this within our community. With that in mind, guess what we hear from our residents? The same thing. They want more to do in Worthington that is walkable and bikeable so they don’t have to go to Bridge Park, Polaris, or Easton, etc. They want the missing middle housing so they and their young adult children can stay in Worthington across all life stages… young professionals, families, empty nesters, retirees. Don’t take my word for it, read the Appendix to the Vision Worthington plan. In our survey with 1,050 community respondents 8 of the 9 demographic groups ranked multi-family housing as a top three issue and a majority of respondents “felt multi-family housing was lacking” in Worthington of the type I have described above. Listening to that input is resident-centered and responsive. We need to figure out how to create these types of walkable, mixed-use developments in a manner that is appropriate to Worthington’s character. We can’t let buildings or land sit largely empty along our major corridors like High Street and Wilson Bridge Road facing I-270.
I also need to mention the role hotels play in a community. Hotels provide accommodations for guests visiting our residents from out of town, they provide places for business to put up their associates and hold meetings, and hotels invite visitors to explore and spend money in our city. In fact, one of Worthington Industries’ complaints was that Worthington no longer has a nice hotel to put up their guests. Often forgotten, however, is the important fiscal role hotels provide for a city. Cities can collect bed taxes from visitors staying at hotels. Cities use this revenue stream to fund all sorts of things. For example, Grandview Heights used their bed tax to pay for their new outdoor community pool, rather than raising property taxes. Unfortunately, opposition has halted several hotel proposals in our city over the past eight years and today Worthington only has the EconoLodge at High Street and Wilson Bridge Road.
Building partnerships and focusing on accomplishing Worthington-appropriate walkable, mixed-use development will create the types of destinations and living that BOTH our residents desire and that our businesses and their employees’ desire. It will also grow Worthington’s income tax base (without increasing the rate) and add commercial property tax valuation, thus reducing the burden on our residents so they do not have to pay for our services with increased property taxes. This is a win-win. This is how I propose to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our city while maintaining and improving city services and providing the amenities our citizens want.
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We need to focus on economic development, on meeting the changing needs of current residents, and welcoming new residents through thoughtful growth to help Worthington build a resilient local economy. Worthington has lost several important employers in recent years (including Anthem, Worthington Steel, and Whalen CPA), and with the loss of hundreds of jobs, the City has lost revenue which helps pay for our city services. Though the reasons businesses have opted to leave Worthington are each unique and complex, we have heard repeatedly that businesses are looking for class “A" office spaces, of which there are very few in Worthington. We need to support the development of the office spaces that businesses are looking for. This includes dynamic mixed-use development that offers housing, commercial, and entertainment opportunities.
We also need to address challenges related to housing in our region and City. A recent survey conducted by MORPC indicated that two of the top five concerns of businesses in our region related to the lack of housing and the affordability of housing, and this reflects what I have heard from local businesses. Given that Worthington is land locked and has only about 2% of land open for development , increasing the supply of housing means adding density and requires creativity. Amending the City’s zoning code can help signal to developers that our community recognizes the need to increase housing supply and this will in turn help our businesses attract and maintain employees as well as increase the market for business located here.
Though we are facing challenges, we also need to recognize that Worthington is a community with many strengths. We have a great accessible location, many parks, and a charming historic core. We can work to expand on the best of our city as we move towards the future, respecting the past while embracing the changes that can make our city more vibrant, resilient and welcoming.
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Every day, Worthington residents are learning more about the changes taking place. First, at the state legislative level, efforts are underway to reduce our property taxes. Second, our schools will need additional revenue streams in the coming years. Third, Worthington has recently lost three businesses.
As I share my message, I believe we must start by taking care of our existing businesses. Our city leaders should find ways to actively connect with them. Our local businesses endure a lot, and they truly care about our community and its residents. When I attend the Merchants meetings, I see strong leadership and hear creative ideas from business owners. What I also hear is, “We’ve shared our ideas with the city, and now we’re waiting for the city to respond.” Strengthening collaboration between businesses and the city—especially with clear timelines—can make a real difference.
As I drive north on High Street through Worthington Mile, I see business property owners with open spaces and parking areas. With the right incentives, they could sell or lease these parcels for new retail space, similar to what occurred at Highland and High Street. In addition, our city has financial reserves that, with voter and Council approval, could be strategically invested in properties such as those on West Wilson Bridge Road or other open sites.
Further input from the Comprehensive Plan, zoning efforts, and—most importantly—our community’s voice will help shape the financial future of Worthington.
Question Two: The High Street corridor north and south of Olde Worthington is a vital part of Worthington’s future. Do you support zoning updates that allow for greater density to support diverse housing, business activity, and economic stability?
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Yes. I support thoughtful zoning updates along the High Street corridor that allow for greater density and a more diverse mix of housing and businesses. As a land-locked community, Worthington needs to make the most of the space we have by encouraging smart, people-centered redevelopment. Building up rather than out is not only more sustainable, it also makes better use of existing infrastructure and helps reduce our environmental footprint. With careful planning and community input, we can create mixed-use spaces that combine housing, retail, and offices, places where people can live, work, and gather. More residents and businesses along High Street would also support expanded public transit and bikeability/walkability, which connects all parts of Worthington and encourages residents to get out and about to build community, whether it is at a local café or playing pickleball at the Olentangy River Parklands. By pairing zoning reform with good design standards, green infrastructure, and housing for all life stages, we can make the High Street corridor more vibrant, inclusive, and environmentally responsible, empowering all generations to live, connect, and thrive here in Worthington.
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I hesitate to be too specific and get out in front of the Comprehensive Plan process that is currently underway. However, I do support zoning updates that allow greater density in some areas where appropriate. As mentioned in my answer to Question 1, greater density is necessary to support the businesses in Worthington, both our existing businesses and new businesses starting in, or relocating to, Worthington. No one wants to damage the character and charm of Worthington. But we must embrace the change that is coming and mold it to make sure that we maintain that character and charm. As I have been talking to Worthington residents, I have heard certain recurring themes over and over. Young families who would love to live in Worthington don’t have affordable options that would let them move to Worthington, put down roots as we did, and grow into the community. Older residents who want to downsize but stay in Worthington don’t have any senior-friendly housing options available and have to move to places like Upper Arlington or Dublin. Almost by definition, in order to provide necessary housing options for young families and our senior residents, zoning and density need to be addressed. Without that, housing types like patio homes, village-style developments, rowhouses, quads, duplexes and accessory dwelling units are not possible. And without addressing the housing shortage, any attempt to further economic growth and sustainability will be stunted.
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Yes, I do, within the framework outlined above. Further, in addition to zoning considerations, we can create some of the above ground infrastructure for commercial development and community activity in the High St. corridor north of 161 by developing a coherent landscaping aesthetic for the entire length of the street up to 270, and a bike/ped path along the west side of the street, embedded in and complementing the landscaping (which, hopefully, will include long-lived species that will create a boulevard feel and, not incidentally, will be relatively hardy in a climate-changing world).
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I support zoning updates that encourage diverse housing, business activity, and economic stability. These goals are essential to Worthington’s long-term success. However, I don’t believe we should make significant zoning changes without knowing exactly which users or developments will follow. The City should retain the ability to revisit or reverse zoning if a project does not come to fruition.
I believe higher density along High Street presents an opportunity to activate the “Worthington Mile”, creating vibrant, walkable spaces that draw residents and visitors alike. We should explore public, private, and joint efforts to develop areas that can host community events, farmers markets, and local music in a safer, more efficient way. By activating the heart of our city through careful planning, we can attract quality investment and support our existing businesses in the historic downtown rather than compete with them
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Yes, I will support it, BUT with four important qualifiers. First, the zoning must be designed to create walkable, compact mixed-use development with an emphasis on placemaking, meaning creating inviting and engaging public spaces as part of the project. Second, these updates must be focused on the sections of our major transportation corridors that are underutilized and outdated. In the case of High Street, this means preserving historic downtown but considering ways to reimagine development north of Worthington-Galena to I-270 and south of Kenyon Brook to Columbus. Third, these areas must be included within Worthington’s Architectural Review District to ensure that the site design and architecture are vigorously evaluated by our review board and interested residents. Fourth, the standards must reflect the community Worthington wants to be in the 21st century. We only have opportunities to do these redevelopment projects once-in-a-generation, so we must get them right.
But zoning is only a step. To be successful we need to find partnerships. We need to focus on character and fit. It is going to require public-private partnerships where the city works with our landowners, businesses, tenants, and developers that share our vision. Our residents need to be part of the solution too. We must all roll up our sleeves to accomplish this.
I would also like to add that I think there are opportunities to improve the High Street corridor and make it a more welcoming and safer street with investments such as the Worthington Mile concept, which BWF first suggested. I supported the Worthington Mile on City Council, and the city has asked for grant funding. The Worthington Mile creates a tree-planted median (like Bexley’s Main Street) and a signature tree-lined shared use path for strolling, jogging, biking, and rolling that would connect Downtown Worthington with the Shops at Worthington Place. This concept could also be considered along our other major corridors.
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In Worthington, we are currently working on the update of our comprehensive plan through the Worthington Together process, which is working to engage our community in the conversation and development of our updated plan. The comprehensive plan will then need to be followed by updating the zoning code to support the vision from the Comprehensive Plan.
But what are the issues that we need to face as a community as we work on the comprehensive plan? We need to understand that we need to update our zoning code to meet our community’s current needs. We are zoned primarily as single family housing, which fails to meet the changing needs of our community across our lifetimes. We have very limited housing options for young people who are just starting out and we havewe Our current zoning code is mostly from the 1970’s, and is quite frankly, outdated. As a landlocked community with only about 2% of our land open for development, we need to update our zoning to allow for higher density where appropriate along the High Street corridor, while continuing to protect our historic core. We could welcome mixed use developments, creating places where people could live, work, and play, which is a much more sustainable model.
But the High St. corridor is only part of the broader picture we need to examine. We also need to address our other commercial corridors where there is the potential for introducing mixed use development, appropriate higher densities, and where we have the potential to revitalize our public spaces and streetscapes to make more vibrant, connected, asset-rich environments that help to better link our entire city through better bike and pedestrian access.
Reconsidering our zoning can also provide options to add gentle density to our existing neighborhoods through the inclusion of accessory dwelling units, duplexes, fourplexes and other missing middle housing types that can blend into the character of our existing neighborhoods while providing new housing diversity at different price points.
It is also critical that Worthington develop policies to work to protect existing natural housing affordability, to protect the limited economic diversity that exists in our community. As a community we can also consider using incentives to developers to support community goals, like providing greater affordability in housing to make sure that we can provide housing for our local workforce.
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As the Comprehensive Plan continues to evolve, we need to find creative alternatives that help our current businesses thrive—especially with the challenges of limited parking. The other day, I wanted to stop for a bite to eat at a local restaurant but couldn’t find parking nearby. I’ve heard similar frustrations from others who choose to travel north or south of Worthington where parking is more convenient.
Zoning updates are essential for our future growth and sustainability. I wouldn’t wait—I would seek a Council vote to move forward in this vital area to support our current residents and businesses. All of our local businesses need our support, and we must strike the right balance to meet the needs of residents as well.
When it comes to diverse housing, some lots in the area could accommodate a secondary home, which would be ideal for many homeowners. For example, I have my 86-year-old
mother, and having a secondary home on my property would allow her to live nearby and be cared for while still maintaining her independence.
Question Three: As the City of Columbus adopts its Zone-In program to encourage modern, mixed-use growth, how should Worthington respond to ensure we remain competitive, connected, and sustainable?
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As Columbus implements its Zone-In program to encourage modern, mixed-use growth, Worthington has an opportunity to proactively plan for our own future while preserving the character that makes our city unique. We should take a collaborative and forward-thinking approach by identifying key corridors and underutilized sites for mixed-use redevelopment that includes housing for all life stages, retail, office space, and community gathering places. Investing in Class A office space, walkable streets, and “third places” like cafés, parks, and community hubs can strengthen our local economy while supporting sustainability. Expanding public transit and enhancing pedestrian and bike connectivity will link neighborhoods, reduce traffic, and encourage residents to engage with local businesses and recreational spaces. By pairing smart zoning updates with strong design standards, green infrastructure, and community input, Worthington can remain competitive, connected, and environmentally responsible while empowering all generations to thrive.
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Columbus’ adoption of its Zone-In program could be truly transformative, and we need to monitor how that unfolds, with attention to what works, and what doesn’t’. Where possible, we need to collaborate with Columbus and other communities to improve our mass transit options. Traffic congestions is always a concern, and improved mass transit could help to reduce traffic, as well as reduce our carbon footprint. As discussed in my prior answers, we need to implement policies and guidelines, including zoning updates, that encourage mixed-use growth and diversity in housing types where possible and appropriate. And those guidelines need to be clear, objective and unambiguous to the business and developer communities. Connectivity and walkability need to be a consideration with any growth opportunities that are implemented, with walking and bike paths being a priority. Ideally, any new growth areas would be connected by paths to Old Worthington.
In order to be competitive with our peer communities, we must address our lack of Class A office space. Until Worthington’s inventory of Class A office space is significantly increased, we will be working at a competitive disadvantage.
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I outlined in my answer to the first question how we ought to take into account large trends and forces, which include population growth, a desire for public transportation, etc. All those things can and should be part of our thinking and acting. And let’s do that in a way where we are not simply reactive, but instead where we take the lead in showing how an inner-ring suburb, in close proximity to a major urban core, can complement and integrate with the wider world, while retaining the community character and environment that we ourselves choose and direct.
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We should look for innovative ways to incorporate mixed-use and diverse housing options throughout Worthington, not just along large commercial corridors. That might include duplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, patio homes, and other housing types that make more efficient use of land while offering options for residents at different life stages. This helps older residents downsize while freeing up family-ready homes for young families at more attainable prices.
We must also improve connectivity and alternative transportation options. Partnering with COTA and regional bus initiatives will help link Worthington more effectively to surrounding communities. Additionally, we should accelerate efforts to fill sidewalk gaps and improve bike safety along major routes. Too often, cyclists and pedestrians feel unsafe on our streets and sidewalks. By investing in walkability and bikeability, we can make Worthington a model for accessible, connected, and sustainable community design.
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The City of Columbus’ Zone-In zoning philosophy recognizes something that Worthington has talked about for a while, which is that more intense development should be along our major transportation corridors.
Columbus implemented this rezoning for several reasons, including: to embrace transit and the new LinkUS bus rapid transit to connect people to jobs and services; because these are already their primary commercial corridors and many older commercial uses are struggling; and because this is where the community was most comfortable adding multi-story development.
As in my responses above, we need to be deliberate and focused on where we add infill development – and it must be walkable, amenitized, compact, mixed-use and make Worthington more inviting to live, visit, dine, shop, work, and get around. This will help our city create the affordable mix of housing options our residents are asking for, the places businesses want to locate in, the amenities our residents and employees want, and the complete streets that allow mobility choices in how we get around our city. It is also the fiscally sustainable thing to do. If we do this, we will attract the businesses and employees that will grow Worthington’s revenue base rather than continuing to shift the tax burden toward our residents.
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Worthington has the opportunity to embrace more sustainable growth patterns by encouraging mixed-use growth. Mixed-use developments provide spaces where people can live, work, and play, creating environments that are more walkable and bikeable, reducing the need for a car for every trip. These mixed-use spaces are not a new idea, or a trend, but instead reflect a more natural development pattern than the strict exclusionary zoning of our recent history that has shaped most American suburbs and which encourage car dependency and sprawl. By allowing the appropriate blending of commercial and living spaces, we can create dynamic, vibrant spaces, and we can create asset rich environments that residents, visitors, and businesses enjoy. Office use patterns have changed since the COVID pandemic, and there is a desire for more asset rich environments, and mixed-use spaces help create those dynamic environments.
We also need to think about ways of making Worthington more connected through better public transportation, and improved bike and pedestrian access to connect all of our city
and to help provide options from dependency for every trip. Worthington is also a community rich in cultural assets, and we could build on that strength by including public art in our planning. Public art has the ability to tell communities’ stories, to add beauty, and it is also an effective economic development tool, helping drive foot traffic and increasing spending in local businesses. A study from the University of Cincinnati found that areas with murals increased foot traffic by about 30% compared to areas with similar amenities but no public art. Worthington could develop a public art plan, and public art can help add to the character of our streetscapes and public spaces and while increasing the vitality of our businesses.
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In reviewing what the City of Columbus is working on through its Zone-In program, Worthington should thoughtfully align our approach in ways that support both business and residential development. As our region grows, it’s important for suburbs like Worthington to adapt in ways that complement Columbus’s modern, mixed-use vision—while maintaining our own unique character and sense of community.
This means evaluating our zoning policies to ensure they encourage smart growth, create opportunities for local businesses, and support diverse housing options. By staying proactive, we can remain competitive, attract new investment, and strengthen connections with surrounding communities, all while preserving the charm and values that make Worthington special.
We appreciate the time each candidate took to share their thoughts and perspectives with us. Building Worthington’s Future is dedicated to promoting open, informed discussions around development, leadership, and the future of our city.
We encourage all Worthington residents to stay engaged, ask questions, and participate in the upcoming election. The future of Worthington depends on thoughtful leadership and on a community that stays curious, connected, and committed to building together.
