Heath City Council again voted to postpone a decision on a housing development that Granville leaders and residents worry would severely impact capacity and finances at their school district.
M/I Homes, a Columbus developer, is proposing to build at least 500 homes on about 300 acres near Seminary and Canyon roads in west Heath. The developer is seeking a zoning change to a planned unit development district so it could build the project, called “Heath Hills.”
City council members unanimously voted to postpone a vote on the ordinance during a June 15 meeting and will next consider it at their Aug. 3 meeting.
Some Heath and Granville residents continued to share concerns about the development’s impact to traffic and Granville schools at the June 15 meeting. Dozens of people attended the meeting, and several shared their opposition to the development during public comment.
During the June 15 meeting, Heath City Council President Tim Kelley said the development is estimated for around 500 homes after the developer initially set it for 550. Heath Mayor Mark Johns said city council members and staff plan to discuss the finances of the project during an executive session in the coming weeks.
“I appreciate [city] council passing the motion to postpone the vote on the zoning for the Heath Hills project until we have an opportunity in that executive session to digest the information that we plan to present,” Johns said.
The city council previously postponed a vote on the ordinance during a May 18 meeting, citing a desire to learn more about the project and its impact. In April, the Heath Planning Commission voted 3-1 to recommend that city council approve the zoning change.
Representatives from Granville schools, the city of Heath and M/I Homes met in recent weeks to discuss the project. Stalling the vote allows them more opportunity to talk about it further before the city council makes its decision.
The development would be within Heath city limits but also inside Granville school district boundaries. Children living within the newly built subdivision would attend Granville schools, potentially overcrowding existing schools, Superintendent Jeff Brown has said at previous Heath City Council meetings.
The school district might need to build an entirely new facility, maybe near the development, to address those capacity issues, Brown has also said. Some Granville residents at previous meetings said they oppose the development, also sharing concerns about its impact on their area and schools.
“The houses are supposed to be between $500,000 and $750,000 on small lots. It’s not something that I would buy or move into, and I wonder if that is something that, aesthetically, Heath residents are OK with,” Granville resident Craig Connelly said during the June 15 meeting. “The services, the fire, police, water, sewer, health – all of these things come into play when you drop a huge subdivision on limited acreage. I think that’s the biggest problem – the density.”
Brown previously estimated the development could add nearly 850 students to the district, an increase of about 33%. He said the district’s schools are at or nearing capacity. It’s unclear how quickly crews would build the project – some Heath officials believe the impact to Granville schools’ capacity might not be immediate.
M/I Homes project leaders have previously said the homes would be priced between $550,000 and $800,000, with the development also having green spaces, clubhouse and more than a dozen acres for a possible school site.
Another concern from Brown and residents is the project’s density, which stands at three units per acre. They prefer a plan of one house per acre, but M/I Homes has previously said its three unit per acre proposal is its limit.
Some Heath residents are worried the project would negatively impact traffic in the area, and the company said it would invest millions into improving the roads around there.
Advocate reporter Josué Perez can be reached at jhperez@newarkadvocate.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Heath again postpones decision on Heath Hills housing development
Reporting by Josué Perez, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
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By Josué Perez, Newark Advocate | USA TODAY Network
