NEW MIDDLETOWN Development faces a fight

Some residents said a planned access road is too close to their properties.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Residents who fear a government-subsidized housing development will lower their property values told village council they are considering hiring a lawyer to help them fight the project.
New Middletown Homes expects to break ground within the next few months for 12 homes on 9 acres at the end of Sandy Court.
The developers are Allan and Carol Forsythe of the National Housing Association, a private nonprofit organization in Columbus. They have received a grant for the project from the Ohio Department of Development, which would help residents who qualify for a $90,000 loan to buy a $120,000 home.
The group of about 10 residents from the Carousel Corners housing development are especially unhappy with the location of a possible access road into the development off Sandy Court. They said they may hire a lawyer to protect their interests and block the development.
The complaints
Carousel Corners is in Springfield Township and is adjacent to the proposed New Middletown housing development. There is no setback requirement for the access road. This means that some Carousel Corners residents could end up with a street right up against their back yards.
The residents say this would pose a hazard for children and hurt their property values.
Mayor Robert Carson said the developers have indicated a willingness to cooperate with the village and may agree to build the access road off Meadowbrook Drive instead.
Council listened to criticisms of the proposed development, but several members became irritated when the residents kept insisting that federally subsidized housing will attract people who would not maintain their properties.
Several residents said they have moved out of Youngstown neighborhoods that became blighted and violent after subsidized housing, and they do not want to raise their children near anything similar.
One man said he expects development in Carousel Corners -- which is about 40 percent complete -- to stop if the houses are built because buyers will not want to invest in a $200,000 home so close to subsidized housing.
But Carson pointed out that buyers of the 12 proposed single-unit homes will have to qualify for a $90,000 loan, which means they would have higher income than the average New Middletown resident.
Other council members said they expect local people to buy most of the homes.
But the residents were unconvinced. One man said he would rather see senior citizen apartments there than subsidized housing.
Even without resolution
Carson and council members, who several months ago unanimously passed a resolution supporting the new development, said the developers did not need the resolution to proceed and that council never had any power to stop it.
Because the plan meets all village standards and is not requesting a variance, no further approvals are needed.
The mayor added that he expects the development to be an asset to the village.
State Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st, who attended the meeting at the residents' request, spoke briefly on their behalf. While acknowledging that the village can do nothing to stop the development, he offered his services to mediate the dispute.