This past year, the City of Upper Arlington announced the Envision Henderson project, a plan to renovate the northern gateway to the city.
Henderson Road (currently)
The Henderson Road corridor, which runs from Stonehaven Drive and Chevy Chase Court to Reed Road, is known for its accessibility to thriving businesses and neighborhoods. Thousands of people use this street daily for travel, work and leisure, and with Columbus’s population projected to reach more than three million by 2050, those numbers will likely increase.
Currently, the south side of Henderson is Upper Arlington while the north side of the street is City of Columbus. The Columbus side is part of a zoning code update initiative for the City of Columbus that focuses on key corridors throughout the city and seeks to modernize zoning along the corridors to promote more dense, vibrant, mixed-use growth and development and support alternative modes of transit. The plan prioritizes encouraging housing growth, facilitating transit alternatives, connecting people with job opportunities, and providing equitable access to vibrant neighborhoods to enhance the quality of life for all residents.
The zone allows for buildings up to five stories, and up to seven stories if a project meets the threshold for an affordability bonus by providing a certain percentage of affordable housing units. The zoning framework also provides minimum and maximum setbacks, open space requirements and ground floor façade coverage minimums.
Through this project, Upper Arlington will be gaining full control of the Henderson Road Right-of-Way through the roughly one-mile planning area. The transfer in ownership will allow the city to direct needed fixes along the corridor, improving safety and aesthetics. The transfer of ownership is like a property sale and begins with a full survey of the 12-acre land area. The planning team completed the survey in May 2024, and this will be used to prepare a deed.
With the project in its ‘idea phase,’ negotiations for funding, policy and site concepts around Henderson Road and the northern edge of Upper Arlington are developing. At the western edge of the planning area, the Live + Work Neighborhood concept proposes a new community that blends traditional office parks with residential neighborhoods, creating a green, walkable district.
Steven Schoeny, city manager of Upper Arlington, proposed Envision Henderson as well as other projects in Upper Arlington, including the Lane Avenue Planning Study and the Kingsdale Mixed-Use Project. Schoeny is working with MKSK, a local urban planning firm.
The city held multiple in-person meetings this spring and summer, as well as two virtual meetings to gather residents’ feedback. Some of these suggested changes are in collaboration with other initiatives within Franklin County, such as connecting urban spaces to local nature trails and preparing for possible traffic changes due to the LinkUS bus expansion.
Other proposed initiatives are much bigger, including swapping busier intersections with roundabouts and incorporating an abundance of greenery to give the area a completely different look.
While the addition of roundabouts was initially pitched for aesthetic reasons, Schoeny found that adding a roundabout would be the safest solution for traffic and pedestrians. Some citizens are nervous about these inclusions, particularly the roundabouts, but many responded positively to the changes.
“I think everybody gets a little bit worried when you start talking about roundabouts, but over the last 10-15 years, as folks have gotten more used to seeing them… people understand and they’re more comfortable driving them,” says Schoeny.
As for the greenery, many in the community favor adding trees and other plants to beautify the area but Schoeny believes the main draw to these features is the potential safety benefits.
Henderson Boulevard Concept
“A lot of what was in (our designs) was really focused on making the streets safer for everyone,” he says. “That includes folks who are not in their cars, who are choosing to walk, bike, take an electric scooter, whatever the case may be, and provide the appropriate level of separation so that folks are safer and feel safer…”
Regardless, the area’s aesthetics is still at the forefront. Unlike a prior project focused on Lane Avenue that emphasized housing and dining, Schoeny and his team directed their attention to making Henderson Road a place for small businesses to thrive.
“I think the things that we have learned from the Lane Avenue experience are (that) people and businesses respond well to a well-designed street. If you do the right things with the street… people respond really well to it…” he says.
He believes these proposed changes will be important in promoting ‘active retail’ and not ‘big boxes.’ The plans are meant to attract new, unique businesses to the Henderson Road corridor.
These initiatives are designed to benefit the city’s economy and attract new community members into the area while making it full of resources necessary for living and working in Upper Arlington including new housing opportunities, restaurants, workspaces and commerce.
“So, if you’re going to have an office, you better have an office that has a lot of things around it,” Schoeny says. “You have to have that amenity-rich office in order for your office project to be successful… That’s where the question really comes up – How are we going to react to that? And how do we recognize that everything today has to be mixed-use, and incorporate elements of housing, office, retail and food and beverage into those spaces?”
According to the city website, the planning team compiled feedback from the second round of community conversations and began drafting a plan this fall. The draft will be shared with the public during a community open house, where participants will be asked to prioritize recommendations and help city leaders determine where to begin. The team plans to conclude the visioning project this winter and start implementation planning in the spring of 2025.
Discussions about the future of this area are ongoing. To ask questions or share your thoughts regarding the Envision Henderson project, you can email the city directly at planning@uaoh.net.
Visit the City of Upper Arlington website, www.upperarlingtonoh.gov, for updated information as it becomes available.
Elliot Fryman is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
