Dublin City Council gave its approval to Crawford Hoying Development Partners’ latest Bridge Park plans Tuesday night, authorizing a series of waivers to development guidelines governing the Bridge Street District.

At a packed special meeting at Dublin City Hall, council members heard three hours of testimony from Crawford Hoying representatives and opposition from several residents, including a former Planning & Zoning Commission member and some passed over to replace those who had resigned from the commission in a dispute with council over control of the Bridge Street District oversight process. Council approved a basic development plan and a basic site plan for the initial 30.9-acre portion of Bridge Park, which is targeted to be built along the relocated Riverside Drive north of Route 161/Bridge Street. The first phase includes eight mixed-use buildings with 371 residential units and 260,000 square feet of commercial development for offices, retail and restaurants. Opponents wanted council to hold Crawford Hoying to the standards hammered out for Bridge Street over the long planning process setting up the district. But council member Tim Lecklider captured the mood of the panel when he said in the grand scheme of things, he didn’t think the five waivers were that significant, covering things such as the amount of frontage of the properties.mCouncil was giving feedback to the developer instead of Planning & Zoning because it involved a development agreement with Crawford Hoying, although P&Z will review the final development and site plans. That order of review was at the crux of the dispute that led four members of the Planning & Zoning Commission to resign last month after council passed new legislation giving it the initial look at such plans. Council members had grown frustrated with the pace and tone of P&Z’s review.

Doug Buchanan directs daily online/digital news coverage for Columbus Business First.