New Project introduced at Planning and Zoning meeting

At the June meeting of the Planning and Zoning Committee, there was extensive discussion of the history and current plans for the “Jodiro Project,” a mix of 550 homes, townhomes, and apartments across the street from Ohio Christian University (OCU). Jodiro has been under discussion for several years.

At the same meeting, Gary Smith of G2 Planning and Design in Columbus, introduced a new project by Highland Real Estate, to be located just east of the Circleville City School buildings, and to the north and west of the Jodiro project. This “Highland Project” is in the pre-application stage.

At an earlier point in the negotiations with the Circleville City School Board, Highland expressed an interest in developing the entire tract of land owned by the school system. But the school board decided to move forward with just 54 acres, approximately 20% — 30% of the large tract. The layout will include an access road that will come off of the roundabout near the high school and allow access to the remaining and undeveloped tract of land.

A builder has been identified, but not finalized. There will be a mix of residential and commercial properties. The residential properties will be a mix of 92 units paired in duplexes and about 80 single family homes for a total of approximately 170 units. The duplexes will be built in two different styles — a ranch (patio styles) style and a two-story style.

Smith stated that their goal was to provide different kinds of housing in a location where children in the neighborhood can walk to school. The final layout will include retention ponds that will be permanent ponds. The homeowner association, not the City, will be responsible for maintaining the ponds.

The Highland developers do not yet have the plans for the commercial units ironed out. They envision something similar to Circleville’s existing general business district with no huge stores. There will not be access from US-22. There will be rear access from that road that also allows access to the undeveloped remaining tract of land.

Smith expects that there will be some kind of traffic study required given the commercial properties close proximity to US-22. Smith stated that the project will require annexation and rezoning.

“We are close to finalizing the plan and submitting it to the City. This will require annexation, and we would ultimately like to time the completion of the annexation and the rezoning processes so that they can ultimately be approved together.”

Mayor Michelle Blanton expressed a concern, saying, “There is currently no sidewalk that gets back to the path from the YMCA to OCU. Can there be a sidewalk from the Highland property that will extend back to that path?”

Since the process is in an early stage, Smith stated that there will be an opportunity to extend a sidewalk to that YMCA-OCU path.

Like the Jodiro Project, Highland will also be a Planned Unit Development (PUD). A PUD is a community of homes that can include a variety of residences, including single-family homes, condominiums, duplexes, and/or townhomes. A PUD includes ownership of a “lot,” with common areas owned by a homeowner’s association (HOA). There are no condominiums planned for inclusion in the Highlands Project.