Top headlines of the week, July 18 2025
Here are some stories you may have missed this week in central Ohio.
- Hilliard City Council approved new zoning regulations to promote development along the I-270 corridor, excluding a building recently purchased by the Noor Islamic Cultural Center.
- The city rejected Noor’s proposal to convert the building into a school and community center, citing potential for higher-income job creation.
- Noor is suing Hilliard for discrimination after the rejection, and the city says the parcel was excluded from the new zoning due to the ongoing litigation.
New zoning regulations Hilliard has adopted to encourage more development along the I-270 corridor omit a controversial former office building that a nearby mosque purchased in early 2024.
The Noor Islamic Cultural Center, through an affiliated entity, purchased a 220,000 square foot building out of bankruptcy on nearly 15 acres off Britton Parkway with the goal of transforming part of the former home offices of BMW Financial Services into a school and community center.
But the city rejected their attempts to reshape the property, mostly citing concerns that the office space could be used for more high-income generating jobs.
Hilliard spokesperson Andrea Litchfield confirmed with The Dispatch that city staff removed the nearly 15-acre parcel that Noor purchased in early 2024 from the new zoning regulations because of pending active litigation. Noor has taken legal action at the local level and sued for discrimination in federal court after the city council rejected changes to the local planned unit development concept plan.
Litchfield added that the city communicated with Noor leaders about including the parcel within the zoning district, but did not hear back.
An attorney representing Noor and a member of the board of directors did not respond to a request from The Dispatch for comment.
What is the new zoning district?
The city has been working on these plans since at least 2023, according to a memo shared with the city council.
The majority of parcels in the I-270 district are zoned as flex employment, but part of the district also includes suburban neighborhoods around the library off Davidson Road.
The I-270 district includes a new concept of secondary permitted uses. For example, in the flex-employment area, residential could be built as long as at least 10,000 square feet per acre of the development is an office, minor utility or restaurant.
City council passed the new zoning district by a 6-1 vote on July 14. Council member Les Carrier was the lone dissenting vote.
Planning for these zoning changes has been ongoing since at least 2021, when the city council authorized an update to the city’s comprehensive plan.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the western suburbs for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.
