Shady Grove plan clears council

FINDLAY — Findlay City Council on Tuesday approved the annexation of the Shady Grove Golf Course and zoned it for high-density development, despite heavy public opposition. Council approved both measures with a 7-2 vote. Councilmen Rodney Phillips, R-6, and Danny DeLong, R-7, were opposed. Councilwoman Nichole Coleman, R-1, was absent. Council chambers were packed and quiet as members cast their votes. There was only a brief outburst with a resident shouting "disgusting" after the vote was tallied, with Council President David Murphy calling for order. The decision followed a public hearing on the annexation, where a representative of the developer and several residents addressed council. The approvals clear the way for Vision Companies of Columbus to pursue its plan for a 480-unit, high-amenity apartment development on the city's east side. With the land now annexed and zoned M-2 Multi-Family High Density, the developer can move into the city's review process, including engineering, traffic and stormwater evaluations, and any future site-plan submissions to the Findlay Planning Commission. Tuesday's council packet included an informational presentation submitted by Vision Companies. The presentation highlighted Vision's scale and track record: more than 30 years in Ohio, over 5,000 apartment units developed, and 100% Ohio-based operations. It also included endorsements from elected officials in Ashland, Union Township, Sidney and Lancaster, each describing Vision as a collaborative partner that delivers high-quality projects. A major portion of the packet focused on housing demand in Findlay, citing third-party data. Vision pointed to a 99% rental occupancy rate, a documented need for up to 688 new rental units, and 2,865 renter households with incomes consistent with the project's projected rents. The company also used HUD income limits to argue that its projected average rent of $1,550 fits within affordability standards for households earning the Hancock County Area Median Income of $65,800, which HUD considers able to afford up to $1,645 in rent. The packet included a detailed site-plan setback map, showing buffers from surrounding properties, preserved creek vegetation and open-space areas. It also included an engineering analysis from E.P. Ferris & Associates, Hillard, showing that most traffic would access the site from U.S. 224, with only five to nine additional cars expected on Township Road 237 during peak hours. On stormwater, the engineering report stated that the proposed detention basin would reduce runoff below existing golf-course conditions across all storm events, including a 95.9% reduction in the one-year storm and a 59.6% reduction in the 100-year storm. The report also said the project would send less sediment and trash into the creek than the current conditions. However, Phillips, a retired city firefighter, delivered the most extensive warning of the night against the high-density development, saying he would vote against the annexation and zoning based on three major concerns, beginning with public safety. He said he does not believe the city's police and fire departments are large enough to support a development of this scale, so far from the city's core. A structure fire, he said, "empties out every fire station that we have," leaving the entire west end "wide open" and residents "relatively unprotected, even momentarily," if a fire occurred in the 6th Ward. Phillips said pedestrian safety is already a problem in the area, particularly for children walking to the Lakeview Swim and Tennis Club. He noted that "there's only about 75 yards of sidewalk on either side of 237," beginning at Lakeview Parkway and ending at the city property line, after which "there's nothing." The roadway, he said, is not safe for pedestrians now, and adding more traffic "is not a very good plan for us" unless the issue is addressed. He said users of the Greenway Trail would also face increased risk because "there's not a signal there" and "not a proper way for the users of the trail to stop traffic," meaning trail users would have to be especially careful with any increase in vehicle volume. Phillips also questioned the scale of the proposal, calling it "a farcical idea to assume that we're going to put a 500-unit apartment complex there and things won't change." He said the question is whether the change would be for better or worse, and that he currently sees "a few more cons." He also urged council to consider the "filtering effect," a term he said economists use to describe how buildings age, become dated and become less attractive to high-end tenants. He cited Winthrop Terrace Apartments in the 6th Ward as an example, saying they are "nothing like they were when they were constructed in the late '60s." Phillips said the city is looking at "close to 900 apartments today" when considering Shady Grove and other pending proposals, and warned that prioritizing this type of development for immediate market relief raises questions about what will happen to the structures "over the next 15 or 20 years." He also noted that the city recently annexed up to 641 acres and is considering a modified or post-1994 CRA agreement that would give the city more control over development. He questioned whether the Shady Grove project is "a need or a want," and said that from his point of view, there are "just more cons than pros." No council members argued in favor of the annexation or zoning.