The lack of affordable housing is a problem across many of Columbus' suburbs.

In Dublin, officials commissioned a housing study for its forthcoming Envision Dublin Community Plan, for which a consultant in 2022 interviewed everyone from homebuilders to school officials to real estate agents to employers about needs with the affluent city's housing stock, where one 8,000-square-foot home sold for $4.5 million in 2022.

The responses exemplify many of the concerns felt across the region regarding the expansion of affordable housing in their neighborhoods.

More: As Columbus booms, its suburbs limit affordable housing options

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When asked about the affordability of homes in Dublin:

• One builder said the general belief in Dublin is that it may be perfectly fine for Columbus to absorb all the suburb's workforce housing.

• Another response: "Not sure if there’s a collective desire in Dublin to make the housing stock attainable for all incomes. Hoping that will change in the future."

• And: "Mandating affordable housing in the style of Columbus (set aside requirement of 10%) is not going to work, numbers wise."

• A real estate agent replied that even before current housing supply issues, Dublin was expensive. "Now there’s absolutely no new construction that average households can afford."

• One neighborhood association representative said workforce housing should be accommodated throughout Dublin, and not in just a few locations within the city.

In a statement, Dublin Planning Director Jennifer Rauch said among the strategies the city will pursue is creating housing variety to support the needs of Dublin's employment base.

Glennon Sweeney, the senior research associate at Ohio State’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, doesn't see much hope in the suburb being accessible to all.

“I don’t think Dublin will ever give you a chance,” said Sweeney, who called Dublin the most exclusionary community in central Ohio. “Dublin and New Albany, they’re not opposed to diversity as long as it’s not economic diversity.”

Rauch disagreed with that assessment.

"Dublin is a city where all are welcomed, safe, valued, engaged and included regardless of socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, color, sexual orientation, gender, disability, age, military or religious status," she said in a statement. "We welcome and expect diversity, and we strive to provide an environment in which all can thrive."

According to an Ohio Housing Finance Agency map, the only development in Dublin to receive low-income housing tax credits to help finance a project is National Church Residences Avondale rental community for seniors off Avery Road at Dublin's southern tip.

William Murdock, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, participated in a recent panel about the study.

"That housing study they did made it clear the gaps they have," Murdock said. Among the gaps: housing for young adults beginning their careers and more affordable senior housing.

"It's a first step to having these difficult conversations on housing," he said.

Rauch said Dublin was one of the first suburbs to complete its own housing study in an effort to help find regional solutions.

"The Dublin Area Housing Strategy outlined a series of themes that include enhancing the sense of community, ensuring economic competitiveness, planning for future growth and expanding options for seniors," she said.

The Dublin housing study said the city has 10,000 service sector workers, including administrative support staff, hotel and restaurant workers and retail workers.

The study said the city will need another 4,850 housing units — single-family homes, apartments and condominiums — to keep up with growth over the next 20 years. It acknowledges that some residents "fear that denser growth will compromise school quality" and suggests educating people on adding "gentle" dense housing such as duplexes, triplexes and townhouses.

Historically, people have chosen suburbs because they are exclusionary, Sweeney said. And because of that, there’s a bit of entitlement. “They consider it their right to control land use," she said.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dublin study exemplifies suburban opposition to affordable housing