Residents opposed to a proposed housing development west of Springfield packed the Greene County Planning and Zoning meeting room Tuesday night.
Developer Derek Lee wants to change the zoning of land north and east of the intersection of North State Highway AB and West State Highway EE from R1 Suburban Residence District to UR-1 Urban Residence District. His plan is to build 600 homes on just over 93 acres with lot sizes of approximately 6,000-square-foot.
He told P&Z Tuesday night that, currently, the City of Willard can only provide sewer to 60 lots but that they have told him that they are working on upgrades.
"If you were to go up there, the next road up, east-west road 106," he said, "you can see construction out there. And so, they're actively improving their sewer system."
But P&Z board member Dave Coonrod said he feared the rezoning request was premature since the infrastructure isn’t in place.
Some residents expressed concern about water issues they’re already experiencing at their properties and wondered if such a dense housing development might make it worse. Others, including Amber Byrne, expressed concern about increased traffic in an area that’s already congested at times.
"I live off of AB. I have to cross AB to get into town," she said. "If this type of high-density housing goes in, I'm not going to be able to get out of my neighborhood."
A teacher at nearby Willard Central Elementary School, Stephanie Walters, expressed concern about overcrowding at her school.
"We are at 415 students already, so if you think about 600 homes, even if they each just send one kid, which we know even half of them, if it's 300, that's still almost doubling," she said. "So, you're talking about that all at once if this is developed quickly."
After some discussion following the public hearing and directing more questions to Lee, the board voted six to one to recommend denial.
The Greene County Commission will consider the rezoning request on May 4.
