No excuses from the Township trustees to our North!
Developer wants to build on Lucent site
Gahanna schools wary of proposal to put 484 homes on 90-acre parcel
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Dan Eaton and Miriam Segaloff
THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Once one of the Gahanna-Jefferson schools?’ largest sources of tax money, a portion of the Lucent Technologies property could be redeveloped into homes that would add students ?— and costs.
M/I Homes purchased 90.5 acres of the Lucent property at 408 Taylor Station Rd. near E. Broad Street late last year and plans to convert much of the manufacturing site to 484 residences.
Although located in Columbus, the 241-acre Lucent site ?— which once provided up to $6 million per year in property taxes ?— is part of the Gahanna-Jefferson school district.
M/I Homes has submitted a rezoning application to Columbus that calls for the initial development of 381 houses and an area reserved for 103 town houses on the property it purchased.
Columbus also is considering zoning changes for the other 151 acres, including Lucent?’s factory, to allow medical offices and some commercial businesses.
Adding nearly 500 new homes and the children who would live in them is a burden district officials had not anticipated, Superintendent Gregg Morris said.
''We have not grown substantially in the past eight years,'' he said. ''We?’ve grown modestly and we?’re pretty much stable, number-wise, with the development that?’s taken place here.''
Morris said he does not yet know how many students M/I?’s proposal could add. He also said it is unclear how such a development might affect the district?’s first operating levy since 1998, which is likely to go before voters in either late 2005 or early 2006.
Officials from both Gahanna and Jefferson Township said they have kept a tight rein on development to protect the school district.
''Residential development in itself does not generate enough revenue to pay for the cost of educating the children from that development,'' Gahanna Mayor Becky Stinchcomb said. ''We?’re always wary of that when we?’re developing in Gahanna.''
Jefferson Township Administrator Ellen Walker said the township trustees also work to make sure there is no more development than the school district can absorb.
''They have not had to build new buildings like Hilliard and Olentangy and the other rapidly growing communities,'' she said. ''They have not had operating levy after operating levy.''
Morris said he is talking with officials from both M/I and Columbus to get more information on the proposed project and to steer the plan toward the district?’s best interests.
In addition to the new homes, the site would include almost 19 acres of open space, more than double the 8.4 acres required by Columbus.
A redevelopment plan for an additional 151 acres between the development and Broad Street also is being proposed. The rezoning application calls for development of new commercial space, medical offices affiliated with Mount Carmel Health Systems and for the existing Lucent business.
Although the project could bring business back to the area, Morris said the school district would remain wounded.
''This was a site that provided up to $6 million a year for the school district,'' Morris said. ''Having some development on this site is going to help, but I suspect it?’s going to fall far short of replacing that revenue the district had.''
Developer wants to build on Lucent site
Gahanna schools wary of proposal to put 484 homes on 90-acre parcel
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Dan Eaton and Miriam Segaloff
THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Once one of the Gahanna-Jefferson schools?’ largest sources of tax money, a portion of the Lucent Technologies property could be redeveloped into homes that would add students ?— and costs.
M/I Homes purchased 90.5 acres of the Lucent property at 408 Taylor Station Rd. near E. Broad Street late last year and plans to convert much of the manufacturing site to 484 residences.
Although located in Columbus, the 241-acre Lucent site ?— which once provided up to $6 million per year in property taxes ?— is part of the Gahanna-Jefferson school district.
M/I Homes has submitted a rezoning application to Columbus that calls for the initial development of 381 houses and an area reserved for 103 town houses on the property it purchased.
Columbus also is considering zoning changes for the other 151 acres, including Lucent?’s factory, to allow medical offices and some commercial businesses.
Adding nearly 500 new homes and the children who would live in them is a burden district officials had not anticipated, Superintendent Gregg Morris said.
''We have not grown substantially in the past eight years,'' he said. ''We?’ve grown modestly and we?’re pretty much stable, number-wise, with the development that?’s taken place here.''
Morris said he does not yet know how many students M/I?’s proposal could add. He also said it is unclear how such a development might affect the district?’s first operating levy since 1998, which is likely to go before voters in either late 2005 or early 2006.
Officials from both Gahanna and Jefferson Township said they have kept a tight rein on development to protect the school district.
''Residential development in itself does not generate enough revenue to pay for the cost of educating the children from that development,'' Gahanna Mayor Becky Stinchcomb said. ''We?’re always wary of that when we?’re developing in Gahanna.''
Jefferson Township Administrator Ellen Walker said the township trustees also work to make sure there is no more development than the school district can absorb.
''They have not had to build new buildings like Hilliard and Olentangy and the other rapidly growing communities,'' she said. ''They have not had operating levy after operating levy.''
Morris said he is talking with officials from both M/I and Columbus to get more information on the proposed project and to steer the plan toward the district?’s best interests.
In addition to the new homes, the site would include almost 19 acres of open space, more than double the 8.4 acres required by Columbus.
A redevelopment plan for an additional 151 acres between the development and Broad Street also is being proposed. The rezoning application calls for development of new commercial space, medical offices affiliated with Mount Carmel Health Systems and for the existing Lucent business.
Although the project could bring business back to the area, Morris said the school district would remain wounded.
''This was a site that provided up to $6 million a year for the school district,'' Morris said. ''Having some development on this site is going to help, but I suspect it?’s going to fall far short of replacing that revenue the district had.''
