HOA ends fight as new home plan moves forward

Changes to allow a new home plan to move forward north of the Dayton Mall have been approved by trustees on the fourth try after a group opposing the 32-acre development changed its stance.

Trustees’ favorable vote on the preliminary plan for the 82-home Rivendell development east of Ohio 741 came Tuesday night following a nearby homeowners association saying it would end a fight against the plan expected to increase traffic in the upscale neighborhood.

The Vienna Estates Homeowners Association – along with a number of residents around the Vienna Park neighborhood - has been against Rivendell in recent years for “multiple reasons, notably traffic increases and safety, the number of homes, the quality of materials,” HOA board Vice President Tony Groshek said.

But citing compromise and realism, Groshek told trustees – who have rejected three other Rivendell proposals that his board had changed its thinking on the plan by Ryan Homes and Zengel Construction Co., which built Vienna Park.

“In the ideal, we would have liked to have seen a development of custom-brick home by Zengel Construction with direct access to 741,” Groshek said. “That’s not going to happen. We know that.”

Trustees approved a regulation amendment for Rivendell, a plan originally approved in 2007 near the Miamisburg corporation line.

Township approval of final development plans are required before construction – targeted to start in March 2021 – can start, said Kyle Hinkelman, deputy director of community development.

Groshek said “a number of things have transpired over four years” for the HOA to end its opposition. They include Zengel’s sale of several acres to the township for $1 to extend Vienna Parkway to Ohio 741, reducing the number of homes for Rivendell and increasing the amount of brick and stone required to construct the homes.

“We know that these 32 acres of land are valuable too valuable to be left undeveloped,” Groshek said.

The plan calls for Rivendell to be accessible from Rosecliff Place from the north and Fox Run Road from the east.

Bellsburg Drive resident Joyce Zech said she continues to be concerned about traffic near her home and that Fox Run Road is too narrow to be an entranceway.

Township Board of Trustees President John Morris helped orchestrate the Zengel land deal that led to approval of Vienna Parkway’s 650-foot extension to Ohio 741, where traffic signal is planned.

The road extension was initially projected to cost the township $2 million, but bids may come back closer to $1 million, Morris said.

Eight acres of the former Zengel land was sold by the township for $1.8 million in a deal that will result in Trilogy Health Services building an assisted living facility near the new Ohio 741 intersection, Morris said.

“The additional funds will be used for infrastructure and investments in and around the neighborhood the traffic calming, the traffic studies,” he said. “So this is a financial win for the township and it’s not costing anything to build that road.”