DDC Management has purchased a 115-acre farm in Miami County, and proposed to build 293-single family homes on the tract of land. If approved, the new community would be located at 8805 E. New Carlisle Road, which is at the edge of Miami County and adjacent to the Clark County border. The cost of the homes will start at about $250,000. All of the land would be annexed from Miami County, according to the proposal.
The development will be a multi-phase and multi-year project, Bridge said. DDC Management could not be reached for comments.
Before the New Carlisle City council takes any action on the plan, the developer must go through the annexation process in Miami County.
“Right now, this is a project Miami County’s doing. It has no formal impact on us just yet,” Bridge said at Tuesday night’s council meeting. “They (the developer) hasn’t even started the annexation process with Miami County yet... It’s going to have to go through a lot of processes here at the city level before it’s even able to go forward.”
According to Miami County Administrator Charlotte Colley, DDC Management has contacted the Miami County Engineer’s office to inquire about the possibility of annexing land for the project, but an annexation proposal has not made its way to the Miami County commission as of Tuesday.
The next steps, Bridge said, would be to take that to council within 20 days to pass a resolution that states the services the city can provide.
“They (the developer) still have to go through the Miami County process, then it goes to New Carlisle. This conceptual plan that we saw very well could change,” he said. “We have safeguards in our own codes that say if you do this, it has to go through our planning board. Our planning board will have to have that final say in whatever site plan they develop and bring into the city.”
Bridge stressed that this is only an annexation discussion right now and no filing has been made.
“We know it’s going to happen because the developer bought the land. We know he’s going to petition for annexation. We just don’t know when,” he said. “(The developer) intents to break ground in 2023 with the intention of building the lots in 2024, but that’s going to take five to eight years to even realize its own potential.”
During the meeting, Bridge added that not only are they working on this development, but they are also working on at least two more residential developments in the city.
“Everyone’s asking why New Carlisle? Why not?” he said. " We’re not going to grow as a city if we don’t grow our tax base.”
Ultimately, Bridge said, it will be the councils decision if they pass the annexation agreements if the planning board passes the site plans.
“I think everyone has an interest and I could be wrong about growing the city and realizing its full potential, but we’re not going to get business in this town until we increase rooftops, until we have disposable income,” he said. “They (the developers) have come to us, so we’re doing something right here to have this sort of growth is great to have in the matter of a short amount of time is awesome.”
Residents in both Clark and Miami counties spoke at Tuesday night’s council meeting to express their concerns about the proposed project.
Jason Layton, who lives a half a mile west of the site on New Carlisle Road, said he is “100% opposed.”
“When that buyer wants to stroll in and erect the neighborhood, they will be met with resistance. We will fight against the annexation and for our way of life,” he said during the council meeting.
Layton pointed out a few key points residents have regarding the new site: childhood occupancy of the new neighborhood schools, the traffic impact and the environmental impact on Silver Lake.
The property of Silver Lake is owned by Jeff Morford and his 35+ member family. He said the property is approximately 100-acres with 17-acres of lake.
“It’s one of less than 120 naturally formed lakes in Ohio... It’s been there for 10,000 years,” Morford said. “The innocent environment will be in jeopardy.”
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