Apartment plan irks county, township

DUSTIN ENSINGER

Staff Writer

A group of Orange Town­ship res­i­dents opposed to a planned devel­op­ment in their neigh­bor­hood has the back­ing of sev­eral Delaware County elected officials.

The Delaware County com­mis­sion­ers and Orange Town­ship trustees each have unan­i­mously passed res­o­lu­tions sup­port­ing the Oak Creek Town­ship Home­own­ers Association’s efforts to stop the pro­posed devel­op­ment just off South Old State Road. Delaware County Engi­neer Chris Bauser­man has also authored a let­ter out­line his con­cerns about the plan.

The Schot­ten­stein Real Estate Group is in the process of try­ing to rezone 14.5 acres, which has been annexed by the City of Colum­bus just north of Polaris Park­way, for the devel­op­ment of 208 apart­ment units. Cur­rent zon­ing restric­tions allow only 90 units.

A mes­sage left with the Schot­ten­stein Real Estate Group seek­ing com­ment was not returned by press time.

Both the county com­mis­sion­ers and town­ship trustees said the den­sity is too high for the area.

The pro­posed zon­ing change “doesn’t reflect the exist­ing pat­tern of the area,” the com­mis­sion­ers wrote in sep­a­rate but nearly iden­ti­cal let­ters sent to the Colum­bus Devel­op­ment Commission.

Expec­ta­tions of increased den­sity and traf­fic led the Orange Town­ship trustees to oppose the devel­op­ment because of the “cor­re­spond­ing impact it will have upon pub­lic safety and wel­fare,” accord­ing to a res­o­lu­tion unan­i­mously passed ear­lier this month.

Bauser­man weighed in by inform­ing the Colum­bus Devel­op­ment Com­mis­sion the pro­posed devel­op­ment is not com­pat­i­ble with a planned widen­ing of South Old State Road. In addi­tion, Bauser­man said his office has yet to receive a traf­fic study related to the project.

He asked the com­mis­sion to delay approval of the devel­op­ment. A hear­ing on the mat­ter sched­uled for Thurs­day was canceled.

The can­cel­la­tion was good news for Glo­ria Gaskey, pres­i­dent of the Oak Creek Home­own­ers Asso­ci­a­tion. Her orga­ni­za­tion opposes the devel­op­ment based on the impact it will have on the Olen­tangy Local School Dis­trict, traf­fic and sewer capacity.

“The area res­i­dents are not against devel­op­ing the land,” she said in an email. “We only feel that it should con­form to the cur­rent Far North Plan of the City of Colum­bus and com­ple­ment the exist­ing residences.”

While her orga­ni­za­tion hopes to apply enough pres­sure to force the devel­oper to alter the plans, Gaskey acknowl­edges it will be an uphill battle.

“Ulti­mately we are at the mercy of the City of Colum­bus,” she said. “It remains to be seen if the city of Colum­bus will hear the Orange Town­ship and Delaware County res­i­dents’ and offi­cials’ objec­tions and the con­cerns and objec­tions of the Colum­bus res­i­dents that are affected.”

Posted by Dustin Ensinger on Mar 15 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.