Small-bay industrial and flex, Grove City, Ohio

A model project in a flex-approving suburb

This is a model project. It shows how the Grove City, Ohio, codified ordinances shape a preliminary site plan for small-bay industrial or flex, and it describes no built or approved project. The program is 50,000 to 120,000 SF of small-bay industrial or flex on 5 to 10 acres. Grove City is used because its Planning Commission has acted on several flex development plans since 2023, and the staff reports are public ^{[2, 3, 6]}. The code edition in force is the Grove City Codified Ordinances, 2026 S-15 ^[1].

Three rules decide the plan here. Warehousing, contractors and wholesale are permitted by right in IND-1 ^[1]. Every site plan goes through a Development Plan that the Planning Commission recommends and City Council approves ^{[2, 3]}. Any outdoor storage needs a Special Use Permit, decided by Council after a Planning Commission recommendation ^[1]. Everything else on the sheet, from the bay depth to the truck court, follows from the program and the building code.

The product sits in the tightest part of the industrial market. Small-bay space under 100,000 SF ran about 4.1 percent vacancy nationally against over 10 percent for big-box, and small-bay rents carried roughly a 31 percent premium, at $12 to $15 per SF ^[7]. Those are national figures. For the surrounding Columbus market, WareCRE reported the nation's highest overall vacancy, near 13.5 percent, reflecting oversupply digestion ^[8]. The asset-class view is on the flex space site plan and industrial site plan pages; the blog post on why flex space is mispriced covers the market argument. The statewide layer is on the Ohio site plan page, and the other model projects are in the case studies.

At a glance

Approval path

Every approval in order, with the body, the code section, the fee and the timeline where the published record states them. Where it does not, the cell says so.

The Development Plan. Grove City runs the final development plan through a monthly Planning Commission cycle, with the staff report issued the Friday before the hearing, and the supplemental-materials letters set the submittal format: one full-scale 24 x 36 set of all plan sheets ^{[10, 11]}. The Commission recommends and Council approves ^{[2, 3]}. Where a lot split is needed, the Commission takes final action and the split then goes to Franklin County ^[12].

The Ohio EPA permit. OHC000006 is effective April 23, 2023 and expires April 22, 2028. Coverage is required for disturbance of 1 acre or more, or part of a larger common plan ^[5]. The notice of intent is filed "at least 45 days prior for sites within the Big Darby Creek and portions of the Olentangy River watersheds" and "at least 21 days elsewhere" ^[14]. Coverage is "not effective until an approval letter granting coverage from the director of Ohio EPA is received," so grading is scheduled after the letter arrives ^[5]. Ohio EPA's Stormwater Program page (updated Aug. 4, 2025) sets the processing fee at $200 for 1 to 5.99 acres plus $20 for each whole acre above that: $220 for 6 to 6.99 acres, $300 for 10 to 10.99 acres, and a $500 maximum at 20 acres and up ^[13].

Building plan approval. The Ohio Board of Building Standards certifies municipal, township and county building departments, and "any department, personnel, or person may enforce only the type of building code for which certified" (ORC 3781.10) ^[15]. Certified departments may accept third-party plan examination and inspection reports, but issuing certificates of plan approval and occupancy "remains the exclusive authority of the certified personnel" (ORC 3781.10(15)) ^[15]. The code they enforce is the 2024 Ohio Building Code, effective March 1, 2024 and based on the 2021 International Codes ^[16]. Ohio's seal statute, ORC 3791.04, waives the seal for residential buildings and for work that "does not involve technical design analysis"; its test is the building type, with no dollar or area threshold ^[17]. A flex building is not residential, so its plans go to the architect or engineer of record for the sealed set, built on the preliminary plan.

Design standards

Every numeric standard in the city text that shapes the layout, with its citation.

The provisions that bind the layout, in the code's own words:

Parking lot lighting must deliver "0.5 footcandles minimum maintained, measured at grade." Grove City, GCC 1137.06(n) ^[4]

All off-street parking and loading areas, including spaces and driveways, are paved and "adequately drained in conformance with Grove City Engineering" standards. Grove City, Title III ^[18]

Construction stormwater coverage is "not effective until an approval letter granting coverage from the director of Ohio EPA is received." Ohio EPA, OHC000006 ^[5]

Where the city text is silent, the model plan uses building code and industry references and labels them on the site data table. Ohio's building code is the 2024 Ohio Building Code, based on the 2021 International Codes ^[16]; the architect of record confirms each reference row below against it, and the fire code edition is not stated in the record.

Determination: the program after the code

The published record does not state a resized program for this model. It states the rules that bend it, and each one moves a line on the plan.

1. The tenant list sets the approval path. IND-1 permits the listed SIC groups by right; an unlisted use goes to the Planning Commission, which recommends to Council ^[1]. A multi-tenant flex building is drawn and approved against the listed uses.
2. Tenant yards add a second approval. Outdoor sales, storage and display need a Special Use Permit: a $100 fee, Planning Commission findings within 60 days, a Council ordinance with conditions on screening, setbacks, access, paving, hours and dust or glare, and a 6 month lapse rule ^[1]. A program without outdoor storage avoids that step; a program with it shows the yard, its screen and its paving on the plan from the start.
3. The building size crosses a fire access line. Under the model fire code, buildings over 62,000 SF gross need two separate fire apparatus access roads ^[23]. The 50,000 to 120,000 SF range sits on both sides of that figure, so the second access road is a yield decision, not a detail.
4. The top of the range exceeds the tabular area. For Group S-1 in Type II-B or III-B construction, IBC Table 506.2 gives 70,000 SF sprinklered single-story ^[21]. Section 507 removes the area limit for a one-story, fully sprinklered building with 60 ft yards on all sides, or 40 ft on up to 75 percent of the perimeter behind a 3-hour wall ^[22]. The yards are drawn on the preliminary plan; the code analysis belongs to the architect of record.
5. Lighting is a measured standard. The 0.5 footcandle minimum, cutoff fixtures and light directed away from neighbors ^{[4, 18]} are demonstrated by a photometric plan, which the engineer of record or lighting designer prepares on the preliminary layout.
6. Phasing is accepted practice. The January 2024 development plan was recommended with a future building shown on the plan, to be built later ^[2], so a phase line on a single development plan is a recognized pattern.

Site data and yield

The site data table on the preliminary plan carries the lines below. Where the city text states no number, the benchmark is labelled as one. Bay count and bay size are not stated in the published record; they are counted from the layout once the building depth, the truck court and the parking field are fixed.

The comparable plans show the range the Planning Commission has seen: a 12,000 SF building on 2.24 acres, two 6,000 SF buildings, and 270,000 SF in two buildings on 27.41 acres ^{[2, 3, 6]}. The layout logic for small-bay product, with grade-level doors, a few dock-high positions and shared drive aisles, is set out on the warehouse site plan page and in the post on designing flexible industrial parks.

Comparable approvals and denials

The comparable record is three development plans for flex and small industrial buildings heard by the Grove City Planning Commission between December 2023 and March 2024 ^{[2, 3, 6]}. No denial is in the record, and final Council actions are not stated.

All three plans were recommended to Council, two of them with stipulations, and staff reviewed building elevations and materials directly. The Frazier staff finding names the demand this model serves, smaller-scale flex users.

Cost and phasing

Building cost per SF for small-bay flex in Ohio is not stated in the published record. The costs it does state are city and state fees, and the nearest construction benchmark is national.

Phasing. The January 2024 development plan showed a future building to be built later and was recommended with stipulations ^[2]. A model of 50,000 to 120,000 SF can therefore carry its later buildings on the first Development Plan, with the phase line, the expansion land and the second fire access road drawn from the start.

Power and traffic. Power procurement now often sets an industrial schedule: Wood Mackenzie's Q2 2025 survey put standard power transformers at 128 weeks for delivery ^[30], and service-size rules of thumb run 200 to 400 amp for light industrial and 400 to 600 amp for warehousing, all three-phase ^[27]. Traffic review turns on the ITE land-use code: standard warehousing (Code 150) generates 0.19 peak-hour trips per 1,000 SF against 1.37 for high-cube fulfillment (Code 155) ^[31].

Submittal anatomy

What each stage asks for, split between what the preliminary site plan carries and what the engineer and architect of record add. The preliminary plan holds the layout and the counts. It does not design grading, drainage, water, sewer or electrical systems; the client's engineer of record does, and the sealed set is built on the preliminary plan. Which Grove City stages require a seal is not stated in the record.

The difference between this plan and the sealed set is set out in preliminary versus final site plans, and who draws each part in who prepares a site plan.

Conditions and handoff

Conditions in the record. Frazier Business Center was recommended to Council with stipulations, and the January 2024 development plan carried staff stipulations and comments on specific elevations ^{[2, 3]}; the stipulation text is not stated. For outdoor storage, Council may condition screening, setbacks, access, paving, hours and dust or glare controls, and the permit lapses if the use is not commenced within 6 months or stops for 6 months ^[1]. Wetlands, slope and overlay constraints are not stated in the record. For comparison elsewhere in Ohio, Mentor requires outdoor storage in its M-1, M-2 and MIP districts to be fully screened from off-site views, enclosed on all sides not bounded by a building and secured by a gate (Codified Ordinances 1161.04(h)) ^[32], the same family of conditions Grove City's Council may attach to an outdoor storage SUP ^[1].

What lenders and partners check. An industrial site plan is read for truck circulation proven with WB-67 turning paths, the vehicle with a 45 ft minimum design turning radius ^[26]; dock and trailer counts matched to the tenant; clear height; expansion land and phase lines; and documented power capacity. The post on what capital partners underwrite on an industrial site plan goes through that list.

Handoff. The preliminary plan goes to the engineer of record with the building footprints, the truck courts, the parking plan, the fire access loop and the phase lines fixed. The engineer builds the SWP3, the drainage, the paving and the utility design to Grove City Engineering standards; the architect of record carries the building into the Ohio Building Code submittal. Grove City staff reads elevations and materials closely ^[2], which is what flex and industrial renderings show. The companion model in Arizona is the industrial outdoor storage yard in Pinal County, where the yard, not the building, is the product.

By Viola Sauer, Principal, Innowave Studio