Two new housing developments are coming to Genoa Township after multi-year legal battles over rezoning the properties.
Columbus-based Epcon Communities is building “The Courtyards on Big Walnut” subdivision with 90 luxury ranch homes, according to a site map. The 62-acre site at 6829 Big Walnut Road is generally north of Big Walnut Road and west of State Route 3, and is located within Olentangy Local Schools. The development is set to open in spring 2026, but prices for the homes are not listed on Epcon’s website.
The Genoa Township Trustees originally denied the rezoning in August 2022, and Epcon affiliate EC New Vision Ohio filed a civil suit in February 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus. The lawsuit alleged that denying the rezoning was unlawful.
According to a January 2025 court filing, both sides agreed to settle the dispute by allowing the development to move forward under certain conditions.
Those conditions include Epcon agreeing to build an emergency entrance connecting to Fleur Road and a recreation path on township property connecting Fleur Road to the township’s Fleur Woods Park north of the Epcon neighborhood. The developer will also give the township $100,000 to build a rural, nonpaved hiking path in the park, according to a copy of the settlement provided by the township.
Epcon specializes in low-maintenance neighborhoods with single-level homes. The Courtyards on Big Walnut will feature an array of amenities, including a clubhouse, fitness center, pool, community garden, firepit and pickleball courts, the development’s website shows.
Epcon Communities has built similar subdivisions throughout central Ohio, including The Courtyards at Haines Creek that’s currently under construction in New Albany.
Patio homes under construction near Hoover Reservoir
Just over a mile away from the new Epcon neighborhood, central Ohio luxury home builder Romanelli and Hughes is building 56 patio homes in a subdivision called The Ravines at Hoover.
The nearly 43-acre property at 4741 Tussic Street Road is east of Tussic Street Road, south of Oxbow Road, west of North Shore Drive, north of Big Walnut Road and within Big Walnut Local Schools. The site is less than half a mile from the west banks of Hoover Reservoir.
The home prices in The Ravines at Hoover start at $900,000, according to the development’s website.
Genoa trustees in April 2018 approved rezoning the Tussic Street Road property, but residents sought a referendum to overturn the decision. In November 2018, the referendum was approved by voters, which denied the rezoning.
The applicant who sought the rezoning filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus in December 2018 alleging that the referendum was unlawful. The two parties agreed to settle and let the Ravines subdivision move forward, according to a November 2019 ruling.
Delaware County and eastern Columbus suburbs reporter Maria DeVito can be reached at mdevito@dispatch.com and @mariadevito13.dispatch.com on Bluesky and @MariaDeVito13 on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two Genoa Township housing developments moving forward after lengthy legal battles
Reporting by Maria DeVito, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
