”I think the revitalization is bringing in new people to visit the town, to shop, and visit businesses. Whether (they’re) looking at the development and they stop in to eat, drink or visit other shops in town, or even if they don’t buy a home, they still made the trek in town."
The two new housing developments — Monroe Meadows at Addison-New Carlisle Road and the Reserves at Honey Creek, on the east side of Ohio 235 — both have started the building phase, Kitko said.
Monroe Meadows currently has five houses started, with three having shells, as well an estimated 10 permits on each development. The two developments could take about 8-10 years to completely finish, with the possibility of up to 660 homes.
That could significantly change the population of New Carlisle, which currently sits at about 5,500.
In the middle of town in New Carlisle, Dollar Tree opened at 120 S. Main St. last week, while Taco Bell at 408 N. Main St. and McDonald’s at 500 N. Main St. both opened toward the end of last year.
“In the past few years residents and businesses would need to commute two or more miles to visit a McDonald’s, Taco Bell or a Dollar Tree,” said city Planning Director Bryan Moore. “Having those businesses within the city provides easy access and less commute. Plus, it keeps the tax dollars local.”
“The small-town feel is not getting lost because of more housing developments and new businesses,” Moore said. “It gets lost when we stop being neighbors and just live next door to each other.”
New Carlisle had not seen much new business or housing moving into the city in years. City officials developed a plan over the past few years to bring in the new housing developments and businesses, which allows the tax burden to be spread amongst more people and not raise it on those already there.
“The execution of this plan is crucial to the sustainability and growth of the city without increasing tax dollars for current residents and businesses,” Moore said.
Kitko added the city “lives and breathes” off of its local income tax. City voters will decide in the May 6 election whether to renew 0.5% of the city income tax for another five years to pay for police services.
“There are some places where if you never grow at least a little bit, you have to keep raising taxes on the people who live there. You try to spread that income out over more people than just the same ones that have been living here,” he said.
With ongoing city revitalization, and once people move into the developments, Kitko said he thinks it will spur other industrial and commercial businesses to come to the city because they’ll need people to work. He said also being a small community close to Dayton, off the highway and not far from Columbus, it “still gives you a little bit of a rural feel,” while still being able to live in a development.
“For a while New Carlisle was an aging community, where the age of your citizens were retirees and things like that, where we’re starting to see a little bit of a transition now getting some other families in here,” he said.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Moore said in the near future, New Carlisle plans to rewrite its Comprehensive Land Use Plan and update the Zoning Code regulations “that will continue to modernize the city’s growth but also maintain the small-town feel that is important to the residents.“
The Comprehensive Land Use Plan is a document that governs how the city grows and how properties in town are treated, Kitko said.
As for any more known businesses moving into the city, Moore said the planning and zoning department recently obtained permits for Modern Day Flooring, which will build a 3,200 square-foot business on the Main Street corridor, and Bath Masters recently submitted permits for signage in their building on West Jefferson Street.
Kitko, who is also the city’s public service director, added they are upgrading the city’s infrastructure and just did a water upgrade project in the old section of town to replace all the old water mains and removed the lead service out of the system.
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