Orange Township OKs 79 standalone condominiums
A proposed condominium project at the corner of North and Shanahan roads has completed its months-long approval process in Orange Township.
The township trustees Nov. 21 approved a rezoning sought by the developers.
The plan calls for 79 standalone condominiums, with prices starting at $350,000 each on the 24-acre site to be called Aurora Farms.
Attorney Jack Reynolds of Smith & Hale, Columbus – representing developer HM Latitude LLC, of Dublin, and landowner NFMS Properties LLC, of Westlake, Ohio. – on Nov. 2 told trustees the plan was scaled back to make it more acceptable to the township and neighbors who live in nearby single-family developments.
In addition, he said, mounding and landscaping were added to limit the development's visibility, in response to neighbors' objections.
Each condo will have at least 1,500 square feet of living space with a two-car garage, Reynolds said, and the project is designed to attract empty-nesters, elder people no longer living with their children.
The condos also will have two to three bedrooms, with prices ranging from $350,000 to $500,000, he said.
"We'd like to think it's a single-family community," he told trustees.
The plan calls for building fronts made entirely of stone, brick, cultured stone or wood, with no high gloss or high chroma colors, township records show.
Ten nearby residents spoke at the Nov. 2 meeting, chiefly citing objections to the project's density and an expected increase in traffic.
Reynolds said the township staff helped notify all nearby residents of a July meeting with the developer to discuss neighbors' concerns, and four neighbors attended.
Trustee Ben Grumbles said that in past years, when the real-estate market was in an upswing, multiple developers told the township they had no interest in building larger, traditional single-family homes on the Aurora Farms site.
"You put a good proposal before us, in my opinion," Grumbles told Reynolds.
Grumbles characterized the removal of duplexes a great gesture in concession to nearby residences, and one that can maintain the cohesiveness of the area with single-family homes.
He complimented the units' floor plans and said residences like those in Aurora Farms are both attractive and appealing.
Trustees voted to grant the rezoning request, from single-family planned residential to single-family planned residential district, to allow condos at the site.
After the meeting, township development and zoning director Robin Duffee told ThisWeek News the zoning will take effect 30 days after the meeting, and the project requires no additional approval by trustees.
A video of the Nov. 21 meeting can be found at youtube.com/watch?v=ixhK48p1u1E.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Orange Township OKs 79 standalone condominiums
