Greene County – Company withdraws housing project proposal
WAYNESBURG – Franklin Township supervisors announced earlier this week that an Ohio development company’s proposal to build 50 low- to moderate-income houses in the area has been withdrawn.
Residents had voiced strong opposition to the plan.
The Woda Group LLC of Westerville submitted the proposal to the Franklin Township Planning Commission in January to build three- and four-bedroom houses on 17 acres of property on Powell Lane, which intersects with Park Avenue.
Craig Patterson, vice president of the Woda Group, previously explained that working families who would have applied for the houses would have been required to an annual income of between $22,780 and $40,000, depending on the size of the house and the number of people in the household. They would have been able to pay between $630 and $690 in monthly rent, including utilities, he added.
Patterson said applicants also would have been required to undergo checks on their criminal background, credit rating and landlord/tenant history. Woda would have reviewed the information annually, he added.
Patterson also stressed that the occupied houses would have been inspected each month to ensure that the units are being properly taken care of, which includes house, lawn and garbage management. There was supposed to be a site manager on the premises to assist the residents.
The homes were to be leased for 15 years, after which time residents would have had the opportunity to purchase their home with credits that they received each year that they resided in the home, he said. To help finance the project, the company would have applied for federal tax cuts under the Section 42 housing program, he added.
The company received preliminary approval for the proposal from the township planning commission on Jan. 18; the proposal then needed to be approved by the township supervisors.
Many township residents reportedly attended the monthly supervisors’ meeting on Jan. 24 to voice their opposition to Woda’s proposal and they also addressed their concerns during the Greene County commissioners’ numerous concerns, which included decreasing property values, increasing crime rates and potentially negative effects on the housing market.
On Monday, more than four-dozen people attended the supervisors’ meeting to voice their concerns again regarding the housing proposal; however, the supervisors informed the standing room-only crowd that the company decided to withdraw its application.
Linda Chambers, who serves as solicitor for the township, read a letter from Woda, which briefly stated that the company was withdrawing the application for subdivision approval. The supervisors said they officially received the letter Feb. 10.
Still, the withdrawal did not stop many of the residents attending the meeting from voicing their opposition.
The supervisors were presented with a letter from the residents, who formed a group called CROFT (Concerned Residents of Franklin Township), identifying several areas of concern regarding the project, which were discussed.
The group asked the supervisors for specific details about Woda’s withdrawal and inquired if the company was intending to resubmit the proposal.
Chambers said the supervisors only knew of what was in Woda’s letter, and stressed that company has the right to resubmit an application, but it would have to follow all of the required steps.
“If Woda wanted to resubmit a proposal, they would have to start the process all over again, from the very beginning,” she said.
One resident said he believed the project was “a done deal” and that it was “only a matter of time” before the proposal would be resubmitted and approved by the supervisors.
Supervisor Reed Kiger, however, stressed that although the proposal was “done” when Woda withdrew the application, he believes that supervisors will be more prepared for the company if they were to reapply.
“This has been a learning process for us, and we had a lot of questions ourselves,” he said. “We’ve learned a lot more about the project over the last few weeks and believe me, we will be prepared if they decide to reapply.”
The group also asked for more information in regards to the process of reviewing and allowing comment for similar projects that might seek approval in the future.
Residents have stated that they did not receive notice about Woda’s proposal until just a few days before it was brought before the supervisors in January.
The group also asked for a better understanding of the township’s development plan and strategy and suggested that the supervisors hold a public meeting for the residents’ benefit.
Residents also stressed that they believe the township’s current land development ordinance, which was drafted in 2000, is in need of revision. They said they also feel that there needs to be “greater controls and reviews” for large-scale rental projects similar to Woda’s proposal.
“We believe tighter controls are needed and more specific requirement for development to ensure the growth within a given community is consistent and in harmony with existing residents,” the CROFT letter states. “For development projects of the magnitude of the Woda proposal, a comprehensive community impact study should be required.”
The residents also said they have no issues with development within the township but they feel that “a primary objective of any planning committee should be to bring single-family, occupant/owned housing,” the letter states. “Further+ large lot sizes should be required to control housing density. Finally, consideration should be for the preservation of existing home values.”
One county resident, John Dorean, attended the meeting to show his support of Woda’s proposal. Dorean said he believed Woda’s project would be good for the county, and he encouraged the supervisors to “seriously consider” the company’s proposal.
“In the many years that I have lived in Greene County, my passion has been to see housing for all of God’s people,” he said. “There are so many people in this county who need housing. We have people living in broken-down trailers and substandard homes+ Home ownership is the best solution (to the county’s current housing woes), and I think (the Woda proposal) is, in the long-term, a good thing for the county.”
Kiger and Supervisor Corbly Orndorff thanked the residents for addressing their concerns and said the board of supervisors would look into reviewing all of the township’s ordinances and making any necessary revisions that would improve the township.
Township code enforcement officer Steve Coss said they would look into expanding the timeframe between when the planning commission reviews and approves any plan or proposal and when they are presented to the supervisors for approval.
Kiger added that they would have to be careful and ensure that any changes made would be in accordance with the law.
No one representing Woda was present at the meeting.
However, Patterson said in a later interview that the company continues to be “highly interested” in bringing development to the county, and that the project is a “tremendous opportunity” for working families that qualify.
“There is a great deal of research and date that shows a huge percentage of Greene County’s population would be eligible to live in – and potentially own – those homes,” Paterson said. “We like the county very much, and we like the proposed site. The county has a real need for housing, and we know that our projects work.”
Patterson said the company withdrew the proposal because they wanted to take more time to evaluate the situation.
“We know that a tremendous amount of questions had been raised about the project over the past few weeks, and there still seems to be some mounting concerns from residents, so we decided to take a step back and listen to what the people are saying,” he said. “It was admittedly a quick process, and we agreed that it would be better to give the proposal some time.”
Patterson said there is no set timeframe as to if or when Woda would resubmit an application.
“We are currently evaluating everything,” he said. “We are trying to be as responsive as we can with community leaders and we hope to set up meetings with them in the near future.”