After weeks of pushback and vocal concerns from neighboring communities, Heath City Council voted unanimously to postpone a decision on a 550-home development that could create financial burdens for the Granville Exempted Village School District.
The proposed development from M/I Homes would put 550 homes on a 300-acre plot near Seminary and Canyon roads on land Heath annexed from Union Township. Though the development lies entirely within Heath city limits, the subdivision would be built inside the Granville school district’s boundaries, and Granville residents have voiced concerns about how decisions that will impact them are being made without them.
The next step, Heath Mayor Mark Johns said during the council meeting on May 18, will be to convene a working group, bringing together representatives from Granville schools, the city of Heath, M/I Homes and private community leaders to discuss the development.
“I welcome the opportunity to continue to engage with the Granville school district and M/I Homes on this development,” Johns said during the meeting. “I certainly make no promises that the effort that we will undertake through this public-private group will bear any additional adjustments to the development than those that have been and are currently on the table, but I’m an optimist by nature.”
The proposal will come back before Heath City Council on June 15. Johns hopes that will give the working group plenty of time to hash out concerns before the vote but said there may be a need to delay the vote to July.
“It’s highly doubtful that there would be any adjustments that would completely satisfy everybody,” Johns said. “But if there are any adjustments… and if at that time on June 15, those types of ideas and efforts are still underway, I’m probably going to come back to you and recommend that you postpone again until the meeting on July 6.”
In the weeks leading up to the meeting, Granville residents voiced concerns about how decisions that will impact them are being made without them.
Current estimates say the development could bring about 840 students to the district – a 33% increase in the school’s population, Granville superintendent Jeff Brown said. Current school buildings are at or near capacity, meaning the district would be responsible for building and staffing a new school – likely within the development on land donated by M/I Homes.
Brown said he was pleased about the postponement.
“We understand that there is going to be growth,” he said following the meeting. “I think we’re casting a wider net with these conversations and can have a deeper discussion related to density and the funding associated with” the anticipated student population growth.
Questions about the development remain, even for members of the Heath City Council.
“In order to even consider this legislation, I would want a detailed cost-benefit analysis … as well as an outline of impact on the communities involved,” said at-large council member Deb Cole. “This is going to be a huge expenditure for Heath. … There will be a lot of upfront costs, and most of the expected revenue will not come immediately.”
Those upfront costs include bringing utilities like water and sewer to the area. Once the infrastructure is in place, additional costs could come in the form of emergency services like fire and police.
“I want council to have some hard numbers as to what it’s going to cost the citizens of Heath,” Heath resident Jeff Moore said during public comment. “What’s it going to cost me as a property owner? Fire, police, getting services to the addition? Can you get some hard numbers? … I’ve lived here 51 years, and I don’t want to pay for it. I can’t get things done around my house.”
Cole said she wants to see proof that there’s a need for additional housing in the area.
The city of Heath already has a significant amount of housing under construction, with nearly 2,000 apartments, townhomes and single-family residences in the works as part of the “Central Park” development. That project, which will create a central downtown area for the city, will include 36 single-family homes, 28 townhomes, 120 multifamily ranch units and 424 multifamily and assisted living units, according to the Newark Advocate.
Cole isn’t the only council member with questions.
“I want to know the cost of extending water and sewer lines to the development. I don’t know what they are yet,” said council president Tim Kelley. “I would like to know a lot more of it before we decide on this. … When water and sewer is run out there, the roads are going to have to be updated at that time too. But what does that cost? Who’s paying for that?”
Kelley told the audience that many members of the council hadn’t realized there were so many concerns with the development prior to the May 11 public hearing.
That public hearing, he said “was the first time I actually heard a lot of your concerns. … The first time we knew that it wasn’t going the way we needed to go was last Monday night.”
Kelley said that was intentional: He said council members had been told to not attend the planning commission meetings or hearings, and he wanted a “fresh perspective” on what people had to say at the May 11 hearing.
Members of the audience shouted at Kelley while he explained why he had been unaware of the growing concerns around the development.
People of all ages filled the Heath City Council chambers on May 18, overflowing out from the council room into the hall. Several rows of chairs were filled with children enrolled in Granville schools. They donned sunshine-yellow t-shirts that featured the words “we matter.”
Their parents stood nearby wearing pins and waving signs that called on the council to be good neighbors, reduce housing density in Heath Hills and support “responsible” development.
“Adults don’t mind hurting other adults, but most adults don’t want to admit that they may hurt kids,” said Molly Ewart, who helped organize and distribute t-shirts.
Though the crowd was primarily composed of Granville residents, several Heath residents also attended to oppose the development.
“I understand there needs to be growth, but putting that huge of a development … I don’t see the need,” said Heath resident Sarah Harmon. “They say they want to address the housing shortage, but I think our low-income families need to be helped first before we put in homes that aren’t necessarily affordable.”
Josh Barkan, M/I Homes Columbus Division vice president, previously said the homes would be priced between $550,000 and $800,000. During the May 18 meeting, Barkan said he appreciated the council’s decision to postpone a vote.
“From the beginning, M/I has been committed to working with the city of Heath, the Granville schools and the surrounding area to make this a great project that’s beneficial for all,” he said during public comment. “If another conversation or two will help that, we’re committed to that and we appreciate it.”
As Barkan left the podium at the front of the council chambers, a chorus of “boos” followed him. Barkan left the meeting quickly and declined to comment about the delay on his way out the main entrance of the building.
Victoria Ziemski, a Hebron resident who works in Heath, criticized Heath over the city’s development projects. Though she came to the meeting with concerns about construction on a Microsoft datacenter, she said the city was causing problems for all of their neighboring communities.
“You guys are not good neighbors in more ways than one,” she said. “And I want you to really consider going forward, not just with M/I homes and the school, what you’re doing to the communities around you with every decision that you make.”
Jim Roberts, an at-large member on Heath City Council, said that he has heard opposition to the development, particularly from Granville residents, but didn’t appreciate the spreading of misinformation about the project or threats to boycott Heath businesses.
“If you were sitting in our seat, how would you respond to the threats, to the hooting and hollering?” Roberts asked the crowd.
While the Granville and Heath residents who spoke at the meeting largely had a negative view of the M/I Homes development, Roberts said that he had seen some support in Heath for MI Homes.
“I’m interested in trying to figure this out and find a way to make it work, but I also suspect there’s probably not a solution that many of the people in here will ever be satisfied with, and that’s a difficult thing as well,” Roberts said.
Julia Lerner and Ella Kitchens write for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville opposition pushes Heath council to delay vote on Heath Hills housing
Reporting by Julia Lerner and Ella Kitchens, TheReportingProject.org / Newark Advocate
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