Developers ready for more houses

By Fran Odyniec

Staff Writer

The Copperfield residential development in Plain City will soon be expanding.

Thirty homes are platted for Section 3, which covers 9.154 acres.

The next step is for the commission to send the plans or plats for Section 3 to the Plain City Village Council for final approval.

Mayor Sandra Adkins, a member of the commission, was pleased with the progress that has been made at Copperfield which borders U.S. Route 42 just south of Der Dutchman Restaurant.

“We haven’t had real residential growth for many years,” said Adkins. “We have been in a supply-and-demand situation and we can’t meet (the demand).”

The mayor believes that the continued activity at Copperfield will have a major impact on Plain City.

“It is very positive for our economy and how we look,” she continued. “Other developers see growth. Good size businesses look at roof tops. This will make a difference.”

“As soon as we get our approvals, we’ll deliver our check for water and sewer payment,” Jim Lipnos, president of Homewood Corporation told the commission of phase one of Section 3 which will include 12 homes.

Lipnos expects to make that payment by early November, pursuant to village council approval. Homewood will pay $130,308 in tap and sewer fees, which represents a 10 percent discount that the council had offered earlier this year as part of an incentive package to help jump start stalled residential development in Plain City.

According to Plain City Village Fiscal Officer Renee VanWinkle, the 10 percent discount remains in effect to the end of this year for the remaining 18 lots.

Lipnos said that the 30 homes in Section 3 will have base pricing ranging from $250,000 to $280,000. Prospective homebuyers will have 15 different models from which to choose.

“If the interest we’ve gotten so far is any indication,” he continued, “we’ll do (the remaining) 18.”

Regarding an anticipated timetable for those remaining 18 lots in phase two, Lipnos said that if six to eight of the 12 lots in phase two are sold by the spring of next year, “we’ll get in motion the next 18.”

He indicated that Homewood is “cautiously optimistic that the economy will turn around. We have an investment (in Copperfield) and we will follow through on that investment. It’s an investment for the future.”

Since all the proposed homes will have basements, commission member Michael George, chairing the meeting for Jack Alston who was ill, along with fellow member Darren Lee questioned the positioning of splash blocks at the base of a home’s downspouts.

Jamie Leeseberg, of ME Companies, consulting engineer for Homewood, explained that the Environmental Protection Agency requires that the groundwater discharge be channeled through downspouts and splash blocks so that the water would be directed into yards which then would help send recharge to the Big Darby Creek.

Both George and Lee were not comfortable with water discharge within three feet of a home’s foundation.

“I’ve seen too many homes with damp basements,” said George urging reconsideration of the downspout/splash block configuration.

“I can’t see why people would pay $280,000 and have the potential for damp basements,” said Lee.

As a possible alternative, Lee suggested that Homewood consider running perforated pipe 10 feet out from the house to the street.

Leeseberg commented that the downspout/splash block configuration is an Ohio EPA requirement for residential development in the Big Darby Creek corridor.

“To dump water near the basement of a house makes no sense,” George said.

However, Lipnos agreed that running a perforated pipe from the downspout “is a reasonable option.”

As part of the conditional approval, Lipnos agreed to include the pipe option to see if the Ohio EPA would approve it.

Homewood has also gotten Ohio EPA approval for the creation of three bio basins for storm water management, which is a requirement of the agency.

“These are rain gardens that will have a maximum depth of one-and-a-half feet,” said Leeseberg. “They will have a sand/mulch/top soil mix and will include native plants.”

According to Leeseberg, each basin will have a 12-inch stone base that will function to permit excess water to makes its way to the Big Darby.

The first bio basin will be a part of phase one with the other two bio basins will be included in phase two. Eventually all three will be interconnected.

Lipnos explained that the first bio basin, measuring 20 feet long, and five feet wide, will be larger than the other. The overall area for the first basin will extend out 10 feet on either side of the basin.

He also indicated that the bio basins would be owned and maintained by the community’s homeowners association pending Ohio EPA approval for the arrangement.

At the request of Plain City Police Chief Jim Hill, Homewood agreed to install three-way stop signs at the intersection of Dickens, Alcott, and Cooper in the development.