For the third time in four months, the Bellefontaine City Council will consider expanding the city’s perimeter as the final reading and vote on the annexation ordinance of the Detrick property will be on the council’s agenda at its regular meeting this evening, Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
The Detrick property, measuring 143.138 acres in total, lies just southwest of the city, south of west Lake Avenue/County Road 11, and west of south Troy Road/Township Road 218. Should the ordinance pass and the parcels be annexed into the city, proposals have been made to consider the construction of a housing development on the property.
But as there have been no development plans submitted to either the Planning Commission or the council, it remains unclear exactly what types of housing units are expected to be built on the site, should it be annexed.
If the ordinance passes at Tuesday’s meeting, the Detrick property will come into Bellefontaine zoned as an R-1, One Family Residence District. This R-1 zoning designation can be changed by the council at a later date, depending on what types of units the developers propose to build on the property.
The first reading of the ordinance passed by a 7-0 vote, but council members John Aler, MacKenzie Fitzpatrick, and Jordan Reser all voted “no” on the second reading of the ordinance at the Sept. 8 meeting. After the meeting, Fitzpatrick cited “missing pieces in the developments already going on” in the city and the lack of a traffic study in the area as reasons for her “no” vote.
A simple majority vote of council is needed to approve the ordinance. At the request of City Law Director Josh Stolly, an emergency clause was removed from the ordinance prior to the second reading, meaning that if the measure passes at Tuesday’s meeting, it will not take effect for 30 days.
Tuesday’s annexation vote by the council will be the third one of its kind in since June of this year. It voted 5-2 to accept the 200+ acre Duff and Sons property on the north side of the city in June – an ordinance that was vetoed by Mayor David Crissman — as well as approving the annexation of the LeVan poverty, 46.376 acres on the southeast section of the city, which passed by a 7-0 vote at the Aug. 12 meeting.
