ATHENS, Ohio — Strong opposition from southside homeowners and business owners to a proposed 50-unit affordable housing project — which would require a zoning change to multi-family residential — dominated Monday’s Athens City Council committees meeting.
The affordable housing project proposed by Spire Development Inc., of Columbus, took up more than an hour of Monday’s meeting.
People living and working in the proposed project area – located on just over 8 acres near the intersection of south Richland Avenue and Old Pomeroy Road/Old Route 33 – presented a petition with 19 signatures asking the city to halt the project and send it back to the planning commission.
The planning commission discussed Spire’s application for rezoning at its Nov. 6 and Nov. 20 meetings. At the Nov. 20 meeting, Sean McMickle, of Spire Development, said the project was tentatively named “Pomeroy Landing.”
Spire is well aware of the need for affordable housing in Athens, McMickle said, and is currently developing a related project, Blackburn Landing, near Blackburn Road and U.S. 50 west. Federal tax credit programs are used to build such projects, which provide housing to qualifying tenants who earn no more than 60% of the median income for the area.
The petition noted that under the city code of ordinances, requests for zoning changes submitted to the planning commission must come from the owner or lessee of the property. Spire Development is neither, the petition states, as a purchase agreement in place has not yet made Spire the owner.
According to the Athens County Auditor website, the property is held as a trust with JoAnn D. Kennedy of Middleburg Heights, Ohio, serving as trustee. Sean McMickle, Spire vice president of development, said at the meeting that Spire is acting as the agent of the property owner.
Several of those who spoke complained that they were never notified of the proposed development and did not have an opportunity to bring their concerns to the planning commission.
“While everyone would agree that the planning commission’s meetings have been open to the public, no reasonable person would say that there was substantive public input,” said Aaron Leatherwood, of 100 Coventry Lane. The meetings at which the development was discussed had just three attendees, he said, and affected homeowners and businesses were not involved.
“It’s just disappointing that we would land here as a city,” Leatherwood said. “I don’t know what the city’s process is or what it should be, but it’s not achieving where it should reasonably be.”
Jerry Miller, of 14 Canterbury Drive, said that keeping affected residents in the dark does not develop trust.
“Finding out that this is happening on Facebook is not the way to learn,” Miller said. “Surprise isn’t persuasion. Surprise is not community building.”
Eric Lucas, whose family owns Carpet One Floor & Moore at 7 Pomeroy Road, said his family was never contacted by Spire Development — but he saw stakes going up near his parking area.
“I heard it through the grapevine,” Lucas said of the project.
Lucas said his family has owned their building for more than 48 years and has been flooded up to 42 inches deep of water by runoff from the Coventry Lane area. Berms and sandbags have not stopped the flooding, he said.
“I have lost $50,000 worth of product,” he said.
Other property owners said they were worried about increased flooding from the construction.
Frank Fugate of Columbus, who owns an apartment rental business at 536 Richland Avenue, said he would be concerned with increased sedimentation and runoff during and after construction.
The project will affect a creek that runs near the proposed property, Fugate said. In the 50 years his family has owned the property, Fugate said the water level in the creek has dropped significantly, attributing the fall to construction in the area over time. Even more sedimentation will accumulate from such a large housing project, he predicted.
“I can’t really take any more sedimentation at all in this creek,” he said. “That’s my real concern.”
Fugate said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study is examining waterway issues in the “South Y” Richland area and that the city should wait for it to be completed before approving the housing project.
Mayor Steve Patterson confirmed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying sources of flooding and mitigation measures, including the Coates Run watershed.
Commenters also raised concerns about speeding traffic on Old Pomeroy Road toward Richland Avenue and highway interchanges, and claimed that the project will decrease their property values.
McMickle said that Spire has not found that to be the case. In a 2022 report, the Urban Institute cited multiple studies showing that affordable housing projects actually increase nearby property values.
McMickle said the company has reached out to homeowners near the proposed project to see if they might be interested in selling their property, allowing Spire to possibly add more housing units and parking in the future. The company plans to invest about $275,000 per unit in the project so it will enhance the area around it, he said. And it will do so by not adding much to the traffic flow in the area.
Those speaking in favor of the project included Rob Delach, a member of the Athens Bicycle Club. He said affordable housing in Athens is badly needed and noted there are business amenities in the South Y area of Richland Avenue to accommodate more housing. However, another audience member noted that closures of local businesses have left the south side without a grocery store.
The council, acting as a whole, voted to send the project back to the planning commission for further review.
The Athens Planning Commission meets the first and third Wednesdays of each month, at noon in Athens City Council Chambers, 8 E. Washington St.
