Attorneys for Britton Parkway Holdings, LLC, are appealing Hilliard City Council鈥檚 decision to not accept proposed changes to development plans for the former BMW Financial Services building.
Britton Parkway Holdings is an extension of Noor Islamic Cultural Center. The company bought the 226,000-square-foot office building at 5550 Britton Parkway in February with the intent to use at least part of the space for a community center and prayer space.
At a November meeting, Hilliard City Council unanimously denied zoning changes that would have allowed those and other uses for the building.
"When we asked why, [council members] said, well, because that's not revenue generating," said Dr. Ronney Abaza, chair of Noor Islamic Cultural Center's board.
Plans for 5550 Britton Parkway include restaurants, offices, a school and a daycare, in addition to the community space. Abaza said the building is zoned as a planned-use development, which allows for all of those uses under the city zoning code.
"Our beef with the city is that, you know, the uses that we have requested are all permitted uses within the the zoning code," Abaza said. "It's difficult to swallow when the city is telling a property owner that you can't use your building the way you want to use it because you're not generating enough tax revenue for the city."
Abaza said the city needs a compelling reason, like public safety, for example, to deny Noor's requested uses. He feels their vote was "not grounded well in the law."
So, Noor's attorneys filed an administrative appeal on Dec. 6 in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. The appeal names Hilliard City Council, the city of Hilliard and City Manager Michelle Crandall.
The appeal asks Judge Kimberly Cocroft to overturn Hilliard City Council's decision. Cocroft recently filed a discrimination lawsuit against her fellow county judges.
A Hilliard City spokesman said the city does not have a new statement on the appeal and referred to a Nov. 25 media statement.
鈥淭he current permitted use of the 5550 Britton Parkway property 鈥� office 鈥� is the same today as when Noor鈥檚 holding bought it. No rights have been taken from Noor,鈥� the statement reads.
The statement goes on to say that Hilliard 鈥渘egotiated diligently,鈥� with Noor for 10 months and 鈥渨orked hard to accommodate their evolving plans.鈥�
鈥淣oor has the opportunity to submit a new development plan for the site that aligns with the Community Plan. We remain committed to reaching a solution so the building鈥檚 potential can be maximized for the benefit of our entire community,鈥� the statement reads.
Abaza said waiting for a large, single office tenant like BMW Financial Services, which left the building in 2023, isn't tenable in today's market. He said giving the building multiple uses fits with Hilliard's Comprehensive Plan and that Noor's vision for the building would serve the entire community.
He said if the administrative appeal is not successful, Noor's attorneys will "exhaust every legal option," to get their desired building uses approved.
