HARRISON TOWNSHIP − The Licking County Planning Commission denied preliminary plans for a 51-lot housing subdivision on the former Indian Hills Golf Course property south of Ohio 16 in Harrison Township.
The Planning Commission staff previously recommended approving the plans from Front Porch Investments, of Pataskala, for a 51-acre development called The Reserve at Turtle Pond. The subdivision would include three new roads and 10.9 acres of open space.
Cherokee Trail residents, however, convinced commission members the township road could not handle the additional traffic, and the commission voted 6-4 against approval at Monday night's meeting.
The subdivision would be located immediately south of Ohio 16 and west of Cherokee Trail, about midway between Outville Road SW and Gale Road SW. Subdivision traffic would empty out onto Cherokee Trail to reach Ohio 16.
Alex Castoe, a Cherokee Trail resident, said current residents should not suffer to allow for new developments.
“This makes zero sense to me,” Castoe said. “This should not be on us for them not doing their homework before they bought the property.
“This is not a safe thing to do. It’s hurting my property value. You have to take our safety into consideration; to force that much of a burden on everybody living there.”
The Ohio Department of Transportation approved a 220-foot right turn lane onto Cherokee Trail from Ohio 16. Southwest Licking Water and Sewer District would serve the development.
Tracy Kelley, who lives on Cherokee Trail, said there are 110 houses in the neighborhood and one entrance. There are no curbs or sidewalks and big ditches.
“It’s not a safe street before the proposed development,” Kelley said. “Our neighborhood is a through street.”
The commission could revisit the decision if one of the six favorable voters seeks a reconsideration of the request. It is not known if Front Porch Investments will revise its plans and make another attempt.
County Commissioner Tim Bubb, who also serves on the Planning Commission, said the condition of Cherokee Trail is a concern, but there’s no easy solution.
“It’s a small, narrow road that probably doesn’t have a heavy base,” Bubb said. “That’s how roads were built. You’re right; it’s going to feel the pressure and will deteriorate. There’s no question.
“The road is off a state highway. It’d be expensive to make it wider and could be a $1 million-plus project. You’d have to rebuild the road from scratch.”
Bubb, who voted to approve the development, said Front Porch Investments satisfied all the planning requirements.
“A lot of our decisions are difficult,” Bubb said. “In good faith, they’ve met every regulatory requirement. I’m sure they’re frustrated. My guess is they’ll be back in some form.”
Front Porch Investments purchased the 51 acres of former golf course property in August 2021 for $750,000 and submitted its preliminary development plan application in July 2022.
The lot sizes would range from 0.35 acres to 1.5 acres. There are no plans to demolish the former golf course clubhouse and two maintenance buildings.
Bubb said the dilemma of new housing subdivision emptying onto old township roads will continue to be a problem all over the county.
“There are issues, but there are issues with a lot of township roads," Bubb said. "You can’t fix them all at once. This issue, it will come up again. What do you do about that? Who pays for those improvements. Every case is different and there’s no easy answer.”
County Commissioner Rick Black, also a commission member, voted against the development but agreed it was a difficult issue the commission is likely to face again and again.
“It met all the criteria for the planning commission, but the access to it was not good, and our guidelines just don’t address that,” Black said. “The development is fine, but the roads leading to it are not up to standard.”
Black said if the developer is willing to pay for improvements to Cherokee Trail, he may take a different view of the development.
Dave Lang, a commission member and former Franklin Township trustee of 42 years, also voted against the development.
"I rarely go against the staff recommendation," Lang said. "It just didn't feel good to me. The problem I was having was the access. It'd be better if they could have come off (Ohio) 16, but there were issues with that.
"Maybe it's not a good site to develop. It's better to get to a development without going through another existing development."
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
740-973-4539
Twitter: @kmallett1958
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