MOUNT VERNON — Centerburg village officials met with the Knox County Commissioners on Thursday to relay concerns regarding proposed development in Hilliar Township.
Centerburg Mayor Greg Sands and Village Council President Tom Stewart discussed the Mount Olive Farms and Courtyards at Table Rock subdivisions. They also touched on the issue of building codes.
Regarding Mount Olive Farms, Sands said flooding on Ron and Lou Ann Ricker’s property has worsened and not gone away. Noting the 12-inch pipe downstream is not adequate, he said the suggestion is to replace it with a 24-inch pipe.
“That would be extremely expensive. Two 12-inch pipes would match,” he said.
He foresees further problems if the subdivision is allowed to proceed.
“The surface water is going to be extensive from the roofs and smooth surfaces,” he said. “We’re telling you we want to be on the Rickers’ side and get it solved, but the county has to do its part.”
The Regional Planning Commission approved the subdivision providing the owners petition the county to maintain the stormwater infrastructure. A 12-inch pipe installed north to south along the rear lot lines of the parcels fronting on Ohio 314 will handle the stormwater runoff for the subdivision. Runoff will flow onto the Ricker property and into a 24-inch pipe under the bike path.
From there it would run into a ditch on village property and into pipes running across properties owned by Dr. and Mrs. William Emlich and 2 Olives.
Owners Todd and Sondra Swetland have not yet petitioned the county for ditch maintenance. The petition must be in force before any lots are sold.
Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said that stormwater calculations performed by Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District have shown there will be no increase in runoff from the subdivision vs the cropland currently in place.
Referring to the current flooding, she said, “I think this problem has to be solved so that we make sure this development has a stormwater system that will take care of it.”
Sands said that the village is willing to provide water and sewer services to Mount Olive Farms providing the subdivision annexes into the village. He said Swetland refused to annex because of the cost.
In 2018, Knox Soil and Water told the village one remedy to the Ricker flooding is for Ricker, the village, and/or other landowners to petition the county to maintain the stormwater flow. Noting that the Ricker property will always have some flooding because it’s in a low spot, Commissioner Thom Collier said the county is not opposed to a ditch petition.
“But we don’t want to force anyone to do it,” he told Sands and Stewart.
Regarding the Courtyards at Table Rock, Sands said the village has been more than willing to provide sewer service with annexation, but owner/developer Jeff Hackett does not want to annex into the village.
Sands said there has been some discussion about annexing the 30 to 50 acres on Wilson Road where the housing would be and leaving the CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Value) designation on the remaining golf course acreage.
He said that he and Centerburg Councilman Greg Myers were blindsided at the June 17 regional planning meeting with the news that Hackett was planning to provide his own sewer and water.
“We were taken aback that the development was put before Regional Planning Commission without notifying the village first,” he said.
Sands said there is concern that the existing plant does not have the capacity to provide sewer for the 59 homes the development plans. He also said Hilliar Township is unprepared for the type of growth a PUD (Planned Urban Development) will bring, noting that the township is working on creating that zoning classification.
RPC gave preliminary approval to the subdivision contingent on Hackett addressing a number of issues. Thursday, Sands reiterated some of those concerns from the village’s perspective, including water and sewer, lack of sidewalks, and street width and turning radii adequate for safety-service equipment.
On the subject of building codes, Sands said there have been some “small confrontations” with building projects in the village, and enforcement has fallen to the COJFD chief. He questioned whether there is any commercial building code coming down the road from the county.
Collier said a code already exists at the state level. Commissioner Bill Pursel said that in the past, residents have responded with an “overwhelming no” when the subject has been broached.
Bemiller noted that the county’s comprehensive plan calls for exploring a local building code.
“We prefer not to have one, but we also see the negative effects of not having one,” Sands said, adding that there’s peace of mind that comes with regular inspections.
Collier suggested that the village consider looking at Delaware and Licking counties and see how their codes would work as a trial in the village.
