AUSTINTOWN Developer proposes big subdivision

The project will include a clubhouse and pool.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Nearly 100 wooded acres zoned for agriculture will be transformed into a housing and condominium development if a plan to be presented to the Austintown Zoning Commission is approved.
Plans for Heron's Landing, on the north side of New Road between Cider Mill Crossing and Eastwind Place, call for 145 single-family homes, 28 detached condominiums, and an additional 100 condos built in clusters of two and three. The development, proposed by Mill Creek Companies, also will include a clubhouse and pool.
"It would come out as one of the largest subdivisions in the township if it is developed to the numbers that are being presented," Michael Kurilla, the township's zoning administrator, said Tuesday.
How it would look: To enter the development, motorists will turn off New Road onto a wide road with a landscaped divider.
The detached condominiums will be off private roads to the left; the other condominiums, in clusters of twos and threes, will be off private roads to the right.
Beyond the condominiums, the entrance road will come upon the clubhouse and split to form a wide circle. Much of the central area, about six acres, had been designated a wetlands and will remain undeveloped.
Bike trails may eventually be built through the area, said Richard Salata, president of Mill Creek Companies.
No through roads cut across the development. Under the submitted plans, Tulane Avenue will remain a dead-end where it runs into the development's east side.
Plans call for the single-family homes to be built on the main circle. They will cost between $140,000 and $200,000, Salata said.
Detached condominiums will sell in the same price range, while the other condominiums will sell for between $120,000 and $150,000, he said.
Meeting: The zoning commission will discuss creating a planned unit development on the 31 acres earmarked for condominiums and rezoning the balance of the area for residential construction at 7 p.m. Thursday. Both changes also must be approved by the township trustees.
Salata said he hoped to start construction in May. The development is projected to fill up in five or six years, depending on how lots sell, he said.