XENIA — Xenia City Council on Tuesday approved a major change in the Wright Cycle Estates planned unit development that brought myriad concerns from residents.
In a 6-1 vote with Thomas Scrivens casting the only no vote, the change will increase by 10 the number of planned single-family homes.
Council had decided to table its decision on the change from Nov. 10 to Tuesday and WCE’s newest developer — Bernard Niederman — along with some long-time residents were all in attendance.
After WCE residents Gregg Richardson and Connie Nelis spoke about the plat’s appearance and both entrance maintainability concerns, Niederman — who came from Brooklyn, New York to attend — approached council to state that he had been maintaining the appearance of the common areas through a hired worker.
“We did the landscaping and the mowing. I’m looking to build quality homes,” said Niederman, who wants to build 15 homes in the back section of WCE.
There are also five new homes being built by J. Michael Joly, who is a homeowner in section 13 and has built 15 homes in WCE over time. He said he had a good relationship with prior developers and believes the changes that have come to WCE are “market driven.”
The latest change to the plat will be the development of a 33 lot area. The PUD, established in 1995, originally envisioned a walkable-mixed use community consisting of a range of housing types and uses.
The PUD is bounded by U.S. 42 to the east, Hedges Road to the south, the Little Miami Scenic Trail to the west, and undeveloped land (known as the former Beason Farm) to the north. But according to residents, the vision for Wright Cycle Estates has evolved with market trends.
Council approved a major PUD change in March which converted commercially zoned parcels on Wright Cycle Boulevard to single-family home lots and re-configuring other planned residential lots south of Tandem Drive’s current terminus.
That PUD change resulted in a net increase of six residential lots and an elimination of 10 commercially zoned acres. According to council minutes, the planning and zoning commission then approved a final plat for Section 14 of WCE in August. However, the developer withdrew his plat from consideration before it advanced to city council due to high construction cost estimates.
Council and staff approved this PUD change; the increase in density is minor and is well within the range recommended by the city’s X-Plan.
Proposed narrowing of lots will add only one home to the previously approved blockface on Tandem Drive that abuts Lakeview Drive homes. The PUD’s change’s increase of 10 units estimated to provide an additional $7,500-$8,500 in additional income tax revenue based on 2019 aggregate data from the existing single-family sections of WCE, adjusted for varying degrees of inflation.
