Plain City Council recently took additional steps to pave the way for an “age-focused” development that will bring more than 450 new units to Lafayette Plain City Road.
At their most recent meeting, council members voted to annex 122.468 acres on Lafayette Plain City Road into the village from Darby Township.
Council also held a public hearing to rezone just over 112 acres of that land from Darby Township Agricultural District to Planned Residential District, although no members of the public spoke on the matter. Council also heard a first reading of an ordinance to rezone the land.
The land, which is located across the street from the Madison Meadows neighborhood, is slated to become the Maren Reserve residential development.
In February, Jonathan Wilcox, with Wilcox Communities, said the company specialized in developing condos for empty nesters and retirees but has since seen greater demand from that population for single-story apartments.
As such, Maren Reserve will have three subareas with different housing types.
The first area includes 226 single-story apartment units; the second will have 80 patio homes and the third will have 145 traditional single-family homes. Village Administrator Haley Lupton has previously said only the apartments will be rental units, while the other two subareas will be owner-occupied.
While speaking at prior council meetings, Wilcox emphasized that the development is “age-focused,” not “age-restricted.”
The units do not have an actual restriction as to what percentage of renters must be over a certain age, Wilcox said the company aims to attract a certain demographic through creating a specific product.
Wilcox Communities only builds two-bedroom apartment homes in an effort to deter larger families from renting their properties. The apartments generally rent for nearly $2,000 a month, which Wilcox said younger families do not see as a strong enough value for a two-bedroom apartment.
Council will hear a second reading and vote on the rezoning ordinance during its next meeting.
From there, Village Administrator Haley Lupton said a final development plan for Maren Reserve will be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Committee before it appears before council for a vote.
In other business:
– Mayor Jody Carney thanked Plain City Police Department Chief Dale McKee for his work to organize a funeral for the infant whose body was found deceased in the village on June 15.
“Without his tenacity, we would not have had this funeral service,” Carney said, adding that McKee “planned the entire thing.”
Council member Frank Reed also highlighted how community members and businesses came together to support one another following the death of “Madison Baby Doe,” emphasizing that many aspects of the funeral – from the headstone to the burial plot – were donated.
– Council heard from residents who spoke about discussions regarding potential changes to the village’s noise ordinance.
Resident Ron Winn urged council not to add a decibel level restriction to the village’s code. He said wind, weather and other ambient noise will affect readings and make it difficult to ensure consistency.
“You’re not going to solve the problem with sound level readings,” Winn told council.
Resident Eric Medici, though, told council his business in the Uptown is frequently affected by loud noise levels and he worries that they will worsen if the noise ordinance is not adjusted.
The current ordinance relies on the “reasonable person standard” and does not include measured sound levels. Council has debated altering the code over the past year.