CENTERBURG — Residents of Centerburg Meadows and neighbors of 70 acres owned by Quillin Properties Ltd., known as Creekside at Centerburg Meadows, spent more than 90 minutes discussing proposed changes to the planned development during a public hearing Monday night.
Mac and Tracey Quillin explained they changed the original plan based on the current economic standing and the real estate market. The original plan for sub area B included 46 single-family homes. The revised plan divides that section into areas B and E. B will now offer 13 single-family homes and E will consist of two eight-unit town homes and two 16-unit apartments. All units in E will be rental units. These changes will also add more green space to the development, including more room between Ohio 314 and the apartments.
The Quillins said they plan to build the project in phases and only as units are in demand. The apartments, however, are scheduled to go up first, although no timelines were given.
“We just want to do one small part at a time and move at a reasonable pace,” Tracey said.
Residents of Centerburg Meadows were concerned their development would be neglected when ground was broken and progress made at Creekside. Centerburg Meadows has 32 vacant lots; nine are ready for immediate builds, while the remaining 23 are nearly ready.
“We would love to build [at the Meadows] but there is no demand for single-family housing right now,” Mac said. “We are not giving up on this development.”
There were also questions regarding the Master Association proposed by Village Solicitor Kyle Stroh. The Master Association would replace the property owners’ association proposed for Creekside. Because of the addition of rental properties, Stroh thought it would be in the best interest of everyone involved to create an association that encompassed all residents of the development, not just homeowners.
Mac said the property owners’ association for Centerburg Meadows and the Master Association would be two separate entities.
The Quillins said the 70 acres of land are being farmed and will remain agricultural until sub areas are developed.
The proposed changes have gone through several revisions with Centerburg’s planning commission, which recommended council approve the changes.
Julie Fleshman, owner of a neighboring property, expressed concerns with the proposed changes, including the Centerburg area being saturated with rental units. She questioned what would become of them when the housing market rebounds and all those people renting start buying properties. Having these units turn into eyesores would not be acceptable to her, or the community, she said. She asked council to continue the hearing in order to speak to a certified planner before voting on the changes.
Other concerns addressed during the hearing included the capacity of the water and wastewater plants. Because Centerburg is already in the process of building a new wastewater treatment plant, capacity issues would be addressed before any building permits would be issued. When the plant is complete and operational, in about five years, there will be no capacity issues, Centerburg officials said.
Councilmember Jerry Hess expressed his disapproval of any changes to the original plan, especially the addition of multi-family units.
“We wanted to avoid multi-family housing,” Hess said. “This creates a concern for what we believe is in the best interest of the village. Economic changes do not make it OK to agree with the changes.”
Following the hearing, council had three options. It could approve the changes, approve the changes with provisions or deny the changes. After no response was given to Mayor George Shaw’s request for a motion, council recessed for 10 minutes.
Upon returning, council member Aimee Humphrey moved to accept the change with the provisions that the Quillins agree to a construction bond, complete the infrastructure to the Meadows development and understand the village will not issue any building permits if infrastructure is not in place, regardless of who owns the land.
Susan Oswalt seconded the motion. Humphrey, Diana Stockmaster and Oswalt voted for approval; Jerry Hess voted against the motion and Jack Tucker abstained.
