Decision for units is put off

Neighbors in the area of the proposed development spoke against it.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A decision on a zone change that would allow the building of a controversial development unit is postponed.
Township trustees closed a public hearing Monday and have 20 days under zoning regulations to review the designs. They also plan to go out and walk the property proposed for development, about five acres on Kirk Road, before they make their decision on whether to allow the property to be rezoned from R-1 residential to planned unit development.
Angelilli Builders of Poland is planning 21 duplexes and villas on the land at 3816 Kirk Road, owned by Diane Kelly.
Three conditions
The township zoning commission approved the plan Oct. 6 on the condition that the developer increase the number of common-area parking spaces from nine to 16, widen the main driveway and reduce the number of units, originally proposed as 22, to 19.
Brian Angelilli told trustees Monday that the builder met the other two conditions, but could not lower the number of units in the plan to 19 without affecting the asking price of the homes. He said the developers will ask around $130,000 for them.
The developer was able to increase the number of parking spaces without lowering the number of units to 19; Zoning Inspector Michael Kurilla said he believes the zoning panel may have presumed that the space for more parking was going to come from that reduction.
Trustee David Ditzler said he believes there may also be a density issue over the number of homes per acre. Project engineer Joe Gonda said the zoning panel never raised the issue of density, and that the Angelilli plan isn't as dense as other PUDs in the township.
Ditzler said the township wants to correct in future developments problems with crowding it sees in older PUDs. He also said he wants to see a drainage problem in the area eliminated. Properties on nearby Redgate Lane flood in heavy rain because of fill dirt on the land that changed its contour.
Gonda and Angelilli said the plan addresses the drainage problem.
Unhappy with idea
But neighbors in the area spoke against the plan Monday. There was also opposition at the Oct. 6 hearing and last year, when a different developer tried to pass plans for a PUD on the property.
"I think we're too crowded as it is over there," said Dave Grim, a North Redgate Lane resident. "What will this do to the whole community?"
Lori Beckett, 2929 Redgate, said she tried to buy the property twice to keep it from being developed. "I moved in there because of the woods," she said. "I like the tranquility. We all do. Just think about that."
Ditzler said he wants to visit the property to see "the lay of the land and how 21 units will affect it. He said he wants to see how close it is to homes on Vollmer Drive. The plan calls for a 40-foot buffer area.
Trustee Lisa Oles said she wants to see the proposed location of a stormwater retention pond.
Trustees held their regular meeting after the zoning hearing.
At the meeting, Greg Greenwood of Greenwood Chevrolet on Mahoning Avenue presented a car to the township police for use in its Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. Interim Police Chief Bryan Kloss said D.A.R.E. officer Jeff Toth has been using the car for five years, and the dealership donated it this year to the township.
Township administrator Michael Dockry said a stormwater pipe project on Inglewood, Argonne and Kleber roads should be finished soon. Dockry said the project, which began after Labor Day, is designed to stop flooding in houses on Kleber.