Development stumbles with annex request
Clark County denies effort; more specific information needed.
The Board of Clark County Commissioners has denied a property annexation request from a housing development company.
The proposal, requested by property development company DDC Management LLC, asked that 100.5 acres of land in Springfield Twp. be annexed to the city of Springfield, according to the petition presented to the commission on Wednesday. The land is located at 2243 S. Burnett Road and East Leffel Lane.
The commissioners voted to deny the petition based on a recommendation from Clark County Engineer Johnathan Burr, Clark County spokesperson Michael Cooper said.
In a letter to the commission, Burr said the “map and description submitted with the petition” for annexation are “not accurate or satisfactory,” for several reasons.
“The two tracts proposed for annexation aren’t contiguous,” Burr said. “The two tracts are not adjoined and don’t share a common border. The northerly tract extends to the north right of way of Leffel Lane and the south tract starts at the southerly right of way line, creating a gap.”
The proposed annexation would also “split” two parcels, Burr said.
“The proposed annexation boundary includes a portion of each parcel located south of Leffel Lane. The parcels on the south side of Leffel Lane are included in the annexation boundary currently extend across I-70 to the south. The current proposal is to only annex the portion of the parcels north of I-70 and west of Burnett, therefore the annexation boundary would ‘split’ the parcels,” Burr said.
In addition to splitting the two parcels, the proposal omitted a section of Leffel Lane, Burr said.
“There would be a gap in the city corporation line,” Burr said. “The annexation maps submitted with the petition are also stamped as ‘preliminary.’ The map lists the incorrect acreage. The maps and legal descriptions are not signed or sealed by the surveyor.”
Burr advised the commission and DDC Management LLC that the “petition, maps and legal descriptions should be revised to correct these issues and resubmitted.”
The Springfield News-Sun reached out to DDC Management LLC about why the company was requesting the land be annexed to the city and whether the annexation denial will affect development but did not receive a response.
However, on the company’s website under the projects tab, a Springfield project is listed as new with limited information available. The acreage listed for the project is 101.5, roughly the same as the proposed annexation.
The project listed as Springfield is expected to produce 250 homes, the website says.
DDC Management LLC has developed multiple properties in Springfield, Dayton, Fairborn, Huber Heights and Riverside. The company also developed a number of home projects in Florida the Carolinas.
Construction on phase one of the four-phase Springfield development, named Bridgewater, began in late 2019. Phase two of the development was completed in November 2020. At that time, about 130 homes had been completed and were “selling quickly,” a company official said.
There is no set date for when the Bridgewater project will be completed, but when the development is finished, it will consist of 230 homes on 53 acres of land.