Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. It's 12 o'clock noon on the button here, at least on our clock. I want to call the Athens City Planning Commission meeting of September 2nd to order. Boy, we're moving into fall very quickly. It's amazing how fast the summer has disappeared.

Anyway.

Anyway, the first order of business is to establish a quorum. And as I look to my left and right, we have a full contingent today. So we're all here and present. And so we do have a quorum. Next item is that anybody who would care to speak today, either about the case or the communication we have or other business, I would ask that they raise their right hand and agree to what I would have to say, which is that everything that you will communicate to the commission will be accurate and true to the best of your knowledge. And if that's the case, say I do. Thank you. Okay. First order of business actually is to dispose or the disposition of the minutes for August 19th. Has everybody had a chance to take a look at those minutes? And if, are there any, well, if so, well, are there any corrections or additions or anything that needs to be adjusted? And if not, I'll entertain a motion to accept the minutes.

I so move to accept.

The mayor has moved to accept. Is there a second?

I second.

Second by Mr. Stone. So any discussion whatsoever before I move to vote? Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Or anybody opposed say aye as well. And anybody who would abstain say aye. I'll abstain since I was absent.

Oh, I guess I should abstain since I was also absent.

Okay, so it passed 3-0 with two abstentions then. Okay, the first item on the agenda that we need to deal with is item 26-03, which is the Athens County Children's Services annexation and the recommendation for zoning. This was a communication last week, and now we're bringing it forward for proper disposition so that we can move this to City Council. With that said, is there anything, Ms. Jennings, that you'd like to say about this at this point? I see there's a map in our packet and everything, so.

That's what I was going to mention. As per our discussion at the last Planning Commission meeting, I assembled a proposed zoning map that reflects our discussion of having the southern portion of their property zoned as B3 and the northern portion starting at Hillcrest being zoned as R1.

Okay. So I think that's exactly what we talked about and agreed to. Any... Oh, yes.

Just my kind of catching up with looking at the map, because what I'm seeing is, what I've seen in other lots, including one I had on Old Coach Road at one time, there's going to be Portions of the individual residences that are on Utah, so above Children's Services and Zenner, well, Zenner House, it'll be B3. And so what they have, those individual residences on Utah then, they have a portion of their land that'll be parcel in the city property, parcel in the county. My question is whether we would anticipate... Could Children's Services potentially develop up in that area, or is it highly improbable?

So I'm not exactly sure where the building is located in there, but I know that at some point toward the rear, it becomes very, the terrain is very difficult, and I don't know. Ms. Jennings, do you have any response to that?

I'm not sure of any plans that they have for expansion. At this point, their facility is more located on the southern portion right now. But you're correct in noting that there will be a gap, essentially, of the city limits that encaptures the backyards of some of the existing residences there on Utah. And so that portion of their rear yard will still remain unzoned. And then the children's services property back behind will be B3. I would assume that if those properties wanted to come into city limits, we would recommend zoning those as R1. But we have not had that discussion with them.

And the only concern I could see potentially from the homeowners would be if children's services, you know, says they might expand someday up that area. But I hear what you're saying. It's not real, Steve, but it's not probable, but they should be aware.

If I could just kind of add some context to this. The reason we didn't pursue annexation of the rear of those properties as part of this endeavor is because this specific type of annexation is established under the ORC for annexation of county property into a city. If we would have added the backyards of all those adjacent properties to this effort, we would have had to undertake a different type of annexation. And so it was critical to us, given Children's Services improvements, that we had the opportunity to get them into the city because they required they required services from the city and so we used that opportunity to pursue this annexation and it would have muddied the water had if we would have also pursued the private property certainly we can interact with all those private property owners along the that stretch as a separate initiative to seek annexation I'm not concerned about that right the annexation of those individual homeowners properties County parcels it's just the

the potential for eventual development up behind there with Children's Services. And I know we can't say, well, it'll never happen. Sure. But it's probably unlikely.

Speaking to Otis, the director of Children's Services, about this, he thought B3 would be the most appropriate zoning. And we thought it was, too, for what they're doing. It fits with that type of thing. Two considerations that would probably negate any potential development, like more intensive development in at least the next 20 years. Number one, they're going to carry about $13 million in debt for that building that is going to have to get paid off. Certainly, that takes time. Just like our fire station, we're going to be paying that off, about similar expense for the next 20 years. Secondly, there is no access to East State Street and there will never be any access to East State Street into these parcels like directly because it's federal limited access highway in that area and so you could never put a drive into the area from East State Street through that fence that's down there because of the federal limited access highway and so the likelihood of there being a more intensive development that would maybe be allowed in a B3 but that wouldn't have frontage on East State Street, I think is pretty low.

Thanks.

That answers my question. Sure.

Thank you. Is a question, because this B3, a large portion of it abuts county property, actually on both sides, I guess, well, maybe the states on the other, but on the east side, Does that limit what you can do, or does that allow you more liberal development if somebody were to want to develop some of that county property, or if the county wanted to do that, the children's services wanted to do that?

Excuse me, Chair, are you talking about this?

Yeah, the backyards of those properties that are... I'm saying, does that make it... Does that allow the developer of the children's service property or the development of the more liberal development than would if that were R1? Is, I guess, my question. Just curious about that.

The... The strip that is to remain in the county, is that what you mean? I apologize.

I'm actually talking about the B3 property. Okay. If the Children's Services or the county, somebody wanted to develop something there, would it protect the R1 people on Utah, on that side of the street, more if they were in the county, I mean, in the city or if the backyards remained in the county. Is there any difference? Would it be any difference? Okay.

I don't believe so. And, you know, this situation with these backyards being outside of the city already exists. Right. It is that way and has been as long as I've been with the city.

I was curious as to whether or not there was some kind of an incentive for the private residents on Utah there on that side to maybe consider annexation. But I just was curious.

Decrease in property taxes. The tax rate inside the city versus out in the township is lower. Absolutely.

I'll say this, within the B3 zone with more intense uses, there are required distance buffers between those uses and adjoining R1 zones. And so even though the county gap is there, that distance buffer still applies.

Okay. Okay. So is everyone here on the commission comfortable with what is being presented here? I am. Okay. Does anybody in the space today want to speak about this? No. Okay. So I guess I'll entertain a motion to propose this annexation with the zoning presented here to our... City Council. Mr.

Chair, I move that the Planning Commission recommends the zoning as shown in the map in alignment with the effort to annex this property. Second. Second.

Any other discussion? All those in favor of the proposal, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? So it passes. Thank you. Okay. That's what we have today for cases. Now the next item on the agenda is a communication. It's Title 21, Planned Unit Development, Welcome Home, Ohio. The project on Hudson Avenue on that site. Megan, are you going to lead us on this? I'll manage it.

Okay, thank you. So back in 2024, the City of Athens applied to the state's Welcome Home Ohio grant program to build affordable for purchase single-family homes here in Athens. We were successful with our grant application and received just over $2 million, which are funding a minimum of eight single-family homes This application is in order for the development to move forward, we determined that the site that we selected was going to require both variances and a major subdivision application. And so in order to streamline that process, we decided to file it as a planned unit development or a PUD so that the planning commission could be the body that reviews both the major subdivision requirements and the variances. So this presentation today is starting that planned unit development application with the Planning Commission. Myself and our developer, Joe Retchie from Community Building Partners are here to kind of tag team on the presentation. I will kind of let him start off the presentation reviewing the Welcome Home program in more detail. And then I'll probably tag in more at the end to review any development details as well as the variances and details. This is the initial hearing for the PUD application. You will be seeing this application again at your next meeting in September on the 16th for the final hearing, kind of like a case where you will vote to approve or disapprove it. And then it will move forward to council for final review. So I've got my laptop here with the PowerPoint. Our developer, Joe Retchie, was not in the room when you swore everyone in, so you need to be sworn in before we can kind of get the party going.

Okay. So why don't you come to the podium? So what I asked was that anybody who speaks will raise their right hand and will, to the best of their knowledge, everything that they will present to this commission will be true and accurate to the best of their knowledge. And if you agree with that, say yes.

Yes.

Okay. And then add your name and address for the record. Please.

I'm Joe Ritchie, and my address is 388 West 6th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43201. Okay. Okay. So this is the planned unit development application for the property at 93 Hudson Avenue. I want to go back just a minute to say we, after obtaining the Welcome Home Grant, I think we reviewed more than a dozen sites with the city, with the construction team to try to identify suitable sites that would meet the requirements of the State of Ohio Department of Development, your market requirements and your building code. We settled on this site after trying looking at many sites. We settled on this site the combination of previously city-owned property about a half acre and About a half an acre that was owned by the Red Cross. We purchased that Property, so we've consolidated the one acre site is the subject of this planned unit development. It does comprise of the eight units that are required by the state to meet the grant requirements. So if I can provide a little bit, I won't spend a lot of time on this because we've spent time on it in public meetings. But the Welcome Home program was designed by the Ohio Department of Development to promote workforce housing, what's often called the missing metal. It's just affordable home ownership, and it's true throughout the state. It's especially true in Athens, Ohio because of significance of the student population so it's just very hard as you know to find affordable homeownership opportunities for families and these units are three-bedroom primarily two-bath units in design so really are appropriate for families in addition to that and it's probably important to note we've given a lot of consideration to creating an ADA unit that would be satisfactory for somebody in the disability community as a home ownership unit. So carefully designed the plan around that. That was not a requirement of the state, but it was a strong recommendation from the city to try to find a way to provide for that. So the program has a contour to it. There's an income qualification that is not perhaps significant to the Planning Commission, but the income qualification is the family or purchaser can make no more than 80% of the median income adjusted for family size. So that's a precondition. They have to live in the unit as their primary resident for five years. And then if they choose to sell the unit, it must be sold to another homeowner. So it continues in home ownership for at least 20 years. There's a deed restriction placed on it to guarantee that that happens. And the buyer of that home also has to be in that median income range, just like the seller. So it's really a way to preserve for the community affordable home ownership. So, with that, that defines a lot of the constraints of the program as we fit it into the planning profile. So, I won't go through that. It has many goals. All those goals are consistent with the city's goals of economic development, workforce housing, and stability. There is, in addition, there's financial literacy required as a precondition of this, so they go through that process as well. They do obtain a conventional loan. The maximum sale price and the sale price for these homes will be $180,000. That's governed by the state. So the home buyer has to qualify for a hundred and eighty thousand dollar mortgage or have other funds in our experience a down payment is not required and In our experience none of the home buyers have come with a down payment because there's significant equity in the home So it qualifies for the best possible rate I'll just skip through this portion The the

Do you want to pick it up from there? Could I ask you a question, Ben, before you change speakers? So if you, after five years, the owner decided to sell, are they limited in terms of how much they can sell it for?

They can sell it for any price that is affordable to somebody making 80% of median income. So there will be appreciation, obviously, but nobody gets to just cash out of it and take the money and move out of town and there's no longer affordable housing. And the other significant issue is it can't be converted to rental housing for a 20-year period because that would be the other thing that would happen in the city of Athens is a lot of housing converts to rental for the income. Thank you.

I'll just stay up here so the laptop can stay put. As Joe mentioned, we did consider a lot of other sites within town and we selected this site for a couple of different reasons. This site in particular, the city already owns 93 Hudson and then the property to the south was owned by the Red Cross and we learned that they were looking to sell that property and so we reached out to them and got connected and got them connected with Joe. The lot itself, both parcels combined, are appropriately zoned. They're zoned as R3, which is what we needed for this proposal. And then the site itself is large enough to fit all eight of our required homes. So not only is that just convenient that it's on one site, but it does reduce our construction costs and allows us to extend the financial benefits of our funding from the state even farther. The site itself, though, does have constraints. It is in the floodplain. As usual here in Athens, we're either on steep slopes or a floodplain. So this site is in the floodplain. I included information here, the base flood elevation, meaning the elevation at which the floodwaters can reach at the 100-year floodplain is 640 feet. The site itself has an elevation of 635 feet. Our code requires that any living space needs to be at least one foot or above that base flood elevation, meaning we have about six feet of elevation we had to make up for in order to build livable space on this site. As such, that affected our design. we have decided to do ground floor garage. That allows us to raise those living floors up out of the floodplain, as well as create a two-car garage for each home, which is a great amenity. With our site, we also were intentional with including at least one ADA accessible unit. That unit will be raised above the base flood elevation with fill dirt, rather than a ground floor garage, just due to the ADA accessibility concerns. With the fill dirt, we will include parking to the rear that's on the ground and then also a ramp up to an accessible side entry on the home so that they have the same type of on-site parking to car parking. Along with this site, we have existing utilities, water, sewer, and also underground electric. And one of our biggest concerns when selecting this site was making sure that the traffic was well dispersed throughout the neighborhood. We heard concerns from residents on Hudson that adding eight units would increase the traffic on Hudson. And so with our design, we were intentional about addressing that concern. And since we are doing essentially an infill lot in an existing neighborhood, we wanted to make sure that our design was welcoming to the neighborhood and also cohesive with the existing environment around it. So we were sure to approach that design with kind of a welcoming open layout. The result, two pictures here on the screen. The first is kind of a hand-sketched 3D rendering of what the site will look like in terms of scale and context. And the bottom image is an aerial view graphic representation of how the site will be laid out. As you can see, all eight homes will fit on this lot. And the way we were able to make it work is it does actually meet the majority of our R3 zoning bulk controls and is very cohesive with the R3 single family scale of what's allowed in the bulk controls. You'll also see here in this design, we were very intentional with including a central green space. The homes face a central green space and they have rear accessed parking from two alleyways. There's an existing alleyway on the north that lays between May and Hudson Avenue and that alleyway connects down with Hudson Avenue behind four of the homes that we are proposing. And so those homes will all access their properties via that alleyway. And in order to disperse traffic, we then extended Morris Avenue via an alleyway, public right of way, along the southern section of the site in order to orient the additional four homes facing towards the center of the site and having rear access similar to the units above. We were also sure in this design to include a formalized pedestrian connection from Hudson Avenue to the recreational fields and bike path to the south of the site. These two sites that we're developing on have been a very common connection for the neighborhood to access those fields. And so we will be providing a sidewalk connection through the site down to the alleyway extension of Morris Avenue there on the southern portion of our site. Then I will also note in terms of utilities, the existing water line on Hudson Avenue is not appropriately scaled to accommodate the eight additional homes. And so we are working on improving that water line from a two-inch line to an eight-inch line. So that will not only allow us to add these eight additional homes on this site, but also will improve existing water line services along Hudson Avenue for those existing residences. So I mentioned before that we're moving forward with a planned unit development application. We chose this because it does streamline the review and approval so that the Planning Commission can review both the variances and the major subdivision application. In total, this site is just over one acre in size. Our proposal is to divide it into eight individual lots, which are around 33 feet wide by around 200 feet deep. which is estimated to be about 6,500 square feet per lot. These lots are larger than what is required or the minimum requirements in an R3 zone for single family homes. And the homes will meet the R3 building height and lot coverage requirements as well as most of the setbacks. The lots will need variances to reduce side yard setbacks as well as potentially a rear yard setback. Let's see. The proposed layout, like I reviewed, preserves that central open space, which is amenity not just for these residents but also for the neighborhood. clustering of the homes together on the northern and southern end of the Lots are consistent with the scale of the existing neighborhood As well as just an efficient way to use this site The 180 a accessible unit is going to be a ranch style and currently is proposed in the bottom left corner of the site this site or this portion of the site already has some higher elevation than the rest of the site. We'll take that to our advantage and use fill dirt to make the rest of that portion of the site floodplain compliant. The shared drives, essentially the alleyways and the garage arrangement limits, I guess, traffic and pedestrian Interactions, so we're creating one central open space for the majority of our pedestrian accessibility and then the cars are dispersed to the ends of the site rather than crossing through. And then the layout itself leaves plenty of room for addressing any drainage and utility connections without pushing buildings into neighboring properties. And then the next few slides include details about the homes themselves. I'm not sure if Joe would like to review those. Okay.

So the design was constrained by the flood fringe, the fact that we had to lift the building up. The current plan is that first floor is a masonry garage and utility room or yeah utility room and stair that goes up to the second floor which is the main living floor the footprint of the building is as shown so it's a relatively small footprint so most of the surface area of the entire one acre site continues to be So it has a minimum of stormwater issues relating to it since we're not covering the site with asphalt or buildings. What's on this lower level, it's approximately 1,450. It's a little bit bigger than that. It's three bedrooms and two and a half baths. So when you go up to that first living floor, it is... Let's see if I'm doing that right. You can see that well enough, but I can't. But the first living floor is on the right side, and it's living room, dining room. You're coming up. The front of the building is to the right. You're coming up the stair. There's a central hallway, living room, dining room, and kitchen and half bath. And then there's a balcony that comes off of the front of the house. overlooks the green the common green in each of the eight units at the first floor level there's a patio so there's courtyard space or living space on the first floor for each resident then the common green is handled with an HOA which is basically common landscaping to make sure that that continues to be open playing area for kids or community gardens or whatever the the folks decide they want to do with it The third floor, which is the bedroom floor, it has three bedrooms and two baths. So that portion of the house is fairly utilitarian. It has a lot of natural light that comes into the building, all from the front and back of the unit. I think that's it. This is a rendering that we have multiple types that we're working on, but this is a rendering. It has a shadow box feature, which shows that it comes out beyond the house by about four feet. You can see that the darkened area, and that also makes a kind of sheltered balcony area off the living space. And then the rear of the unit has a very similar design, but has the two-car garage, and that's opening into the alleys.

On that, so those two, one was one side of the building and the other was the opposite side. Right.

So the front, this is one variation of it, is outside of the front of the building opening to the green and the back of the building opening to the alley. The building is about 26 to 27 feet wide, 28 to 30 feet deep. And the two-car garage then needs plenty of room for the two cars, although there's no living space or utilities on that first floor because you have to stay above the flood fringe. We're building that up nine feet, which gets us three to four feet above the, and that affects the, you know, if you're in the flood fringe and you're above that by that quantity, then you have reduced insurance. So the mechanical room that's downstairs, does it have the furnace in it? It does. It's on the first floor, but it's tucked up above the, at the top of the ceiling. Okay. So it's up at the 79th floor there.

So it's hanging off, it's on a mezzanine or something above?

Yeah, it's basically mounted against the ceiling. Okay. So the hot water heater and the furnace. Okay. That's critical. And then there's a closet for that too, because you have, the rest of it is garage space.

A question. So let's assume that we end up with... a 100-year flood, can the water flow through it?

Very good point. So what's required is that it have a flood gate, basically, at that first floor level. So it opens and closes so it allows water to flow in and out of so you don't create pressure on the outside or inside of it. And since all of it is masonry on the first floor, it won't be affected by water intrusion. So if we did have a 100-year flood, those little gates would open automatically, they close automatically. They're just pressure sensitive.

And are they on the sides?

They could be on the side.

Oh, so you're not sure exactly where, but that's what it's going to have?

Yeah. It'll be in the front, and then most likely on the side where it's a smaller... area between the homes, you may have to put it in the back because you have to maintain that fire rating between the units.

And so then they'll be calculated engineering-wise to how much water it has to allow through and out, in and out. And that'll be how big it is. And those things, are they secure? So that whatever you have down there, nobody can get through this gate or anything? I assume they are?

Yeah, I mean, they're small. Okay, they are relatively small.

They'd be hard to crawl through. Yeah. Okay.

But they are pressure sensitive. So they close and then under pressure from water, they would open. So this rendering, it's another variation of it, but it kind of gives you an idea of how they line up. This image, those units are about 20 to 22 feet. Our units are actually wider. We have a slightly taller pitch to the roof to maintain that vertical and modern connection. So we're maintaining the aesthetics of this as we solve the building issues. Go back to it Okay, so this is this is for instance if we're on the north side of the Property looking to the south it's these show five But it's would be you'd see four of these lined up and they're similar south looking north but that green space is Significant in between the idea is that we have a sidewalk Coming along Hudson, it cuts through the site so each unit has its own access off of a sidewalk. We're anticipating that we would have sort of a courtyard area for each unit where they would have their own landscaping and their own patio, so that would be unique to each unit. But then beyond that, that common green is handled by an HOA so that it remains a playing space and a recreational space and has an aesthetic quality to it.

So like on Unit 8, which is the one that's being set up as one for somebody with developmental differences, they'll be able to come out on the first floor, or the first living floor, which is above the garage level comes up. They park low, they've got a ramp to get in. On the back side, on the courtyard side, they'll come out the door and then it'll ramp down to the courtyard level.

Exactly. So their view of the green would be very similar to the living floor of the more vertical because they're up at the same level. They've gotten there by means of compacted fill and the ramp up. But when you're looking out your front window, you'd be looking at the green the same way everybody else would. And your bedrooms are also on that floor. And rather than a two bath because of the ADA, you have a bigger bath but it's totally handicapped accessible. And the unit size is very similar. It's about 1,360 square feet. So these units have an extra half bath because you have that two baths on the third floor level and there's one in the main living floor. Yes.

Did I see that you're on the agenda for the Chaitrey? this week with details for that. And solar panels, did I read that they'll be solar panels? Will they be on all the units?

Yes.

Okay. And my one other question was about ADA. I think that's great. I also love this courtyard approach. It's wonderful. So ADA on one of them, is there any thought to trying to incorporate universal design in terms of some of the other features in the other houses? Simple things like handles? You know, door handles and things like that?

Yeah. Well, that makes sense. So, yes, we would...

But I understand. It's workforce. You know, you're not going to have somebody necessarily with... And my one other question was the... Well, just two other brief questions. One was the... Page 18... It was an earlier map shows the access from the alleys, from the alley on the north and then from Morris Avenue on the south. And so it's one. And I value that for restricting. Go through traffic so it doesn't become a runway through. But and fire department and police are. Confident with safety features and access, you know, I noticed that there's a fire hydrant within 400 feet and They're all right with the access in this way off the alley and yeah and Morris Avenue extension.

I Think so You bring up an important point that increased size dimension of that water line also finishes a loop which enhances the fire protection for the whole neighborhood because it's not just the fire hydrant but the fact that that dead end or whatever you call it, the loose leg of it is completed in a loop. Better fire protection for the whole neighborhood.

Yeah, I mean there will be an addition of a new fire hydrant because currently the closest fire hydrant on Hudson is on Lincoln and so this would place a fire hydrant down right in the proximity of these which is great. If we can, just briefly go back to the Welcome Home Ohio funding. The way I kind of think about it is it's a revolving loan fund with diminishing returns because these homes are actually $250,000 in that range to purchase and to build on site with all the amenities, the utility work that has to go on down here. But Joe, can you give us an estimate as to how many homes after the subsidy is absorbed with the purchase, yet the sale of the house is $180,000, that $180,000 then kind of goes back into this diminishing return pot?

Yeah.

I'm guessing around 20, potentially 20 homes?

That would be the maximum if we use 100,000, approximately 100,000 per unit. These homes are admittedly more expensive because we're in the flood fringe. It's a pretty deluxe home. We don't have the final pricing on that yet, but you're correct. Once eight units are completed, The grant has been completed. So for example, in another community, Sandusky, where we've done this, they completed all of their required units. They still had revolving funds. And then they took the median income up to 120%, which opened up another range of workforce housing. They had more flexibility. So you could fine-tune it to your community. The remaining funds could be fine-tuned. Observing your welcome home strategy, in fact, because that would be another... Advantage for you if you go back in for additional funding under the program, which I strongly recommend once once we establish it It's a competitive program. But once you've established capacity and you have experience and you have momentum It becomes much more attractive to get additional funding. Yeah, so that would be the goal would be to Recycle funds and also to add to them with additional grant funds on a competitive basis So this is this round is bringing eight

brand new houses with solar on the rooftop, which helps drive down costs too for the qualified purchaser of the homes, for a three bedroom, two and a half bath house. Good luck finding that in the city of Athens as it exists now for a brand new house. You know, and we all recognize every community in the United States, I would contend, is challenged with increasing their housing stock. But this adds a whole different dimension because of the Welcome Home Ohio.

And really, from our work around the state, a town with so many college students, that is the most challenging area to find workforce housing for families. It's just you're competing with the entire world. parents of children, large investors, wealthier homeowners. I mean, it's very hard to find anything in the city of Athens that meets that. And also, as it was described, difficult to find sites to build on. We tried many. It's just very difficult to look at the constraints that already exist in the area.

Just one comment on the mayor's point as a description of the Welcome Home Ohio program as a revolving loan fund with diminishing returns as you are. So every amenity that we require takes away from the ability to extend the money for future construction. So I think that's important for us as a as a. Planning Commission as a community, because you know that $250,000 price tag for a house, probably more than that, I'm guessing, given the various requirements of this particular site and us. And so really, as far as being able to, that subsidy, which is what it is, With the cap of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars is you know every amenity that we add on top of it It doesn't move that hundred eighty thousand dollar price tag for the buyer So it just reduces the money remaining in the revolving fund fund but to your point about if we have a successful program We can go back to the state and we can ask for more to get added to this program to promote homeownership And that that's here. I think that that that's pretty important going forward.

So and then there are other Some additives to that as well. So for example with the solar we're capable of using the investment tax credit now through the end of December 2027 so these homes would have a very low cost or no cost power purchase agreement because we carved that out and make sure that that reduces the cost of the solar and So you just find any means possible to increase the amount of benefit without increasing the drain on the grant funds. But I think the most important thing is a job well done makes, readies you for competition for additional funding.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Joe or Megan, I attended a meeting on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m., Thank you. Of course. You want to talk about the reception? You know, there was a lot of questions that were being asked. There was a lot of concern, as Commissioner Knisely was saying on cut-through, you know, that there's not going to, we're not connecting, this project is not going to connect Hudson with May or with Morris Avenue. Yeah.

So I'm glad you brought that up. I wasn't going to mention it, but we did have a voluntary neighborhood meeting on a Saturday morning, invited the neighbors and the broader community. It was well attended. It was at the community center. And we presented this idea and got comments. And many of the comments really validated or confirmed Decisions that we had made internally in reviewing the PUD process and and anticipating those things among them were concerned about the vehicular traffic and our ability to separate pedestrians and vehicles Seemed significant to families but also in the neighborhood because they continue to have an invited green space With a sidewalk that that makes sure that they have permanent access through to the park land to the south in addition they were There were comments, many of the folks that came live along May on the adjoining properties and reviewed the plan and saw how it fit together with their fence line, their property line, their site lines. They remarked about the fact that the garage had been there for many years because it was a state service garage for many years and They see this as an improvement. So we actually had very positive comments and some prospective homeowners who are already qualified came and they made comments as well. So we did get really good input from an informal basis. We didn't change any of our plans from that because I thought We had accommodated those in our design, but we continue to take comments to try to improve the quality of what's being delivered, and that would include the tree scape along Hudson. The Red Cross has asked for and required, in fact, a fence along their perimeter. on the west side of the property so that area will be kind of a firm line against the red cross but on the other side it's more open and welcoming and we're just using landscaping rather than fencing or gating to try to make sure that that reads as a as a an area of invitation yes uh just a few questions about the setbacks

Yeah, and I think that's on page 43 of our document So they're going to to to set back things that are affecting so if we can just trying to visually get an idea I had slides about that.

Would you like for me to be right? Okay Don't mind the click quick clicking Okay, we can jump back to the presentation and As I mentioned before, there are required variances, a part of this planned unit development process. They're from these three sections of code. Article 21, within the planned unit development, there are some site requirements that need variances, as well as we need a variance for 2303-10, which requires buildings to face on public streets. and then Title 2310, which is our bolt control tables. Within Title 21, the planned unit development specific variances, planned unit developments have a minimum development size of two acres. This lot is just over one acre, so we need a variance to allow for that smaller site requirement. And then the other... Planned Unit Development specific variance is potentially related to the open space. Within the Planned Unit Development requirements, there's language that 20% of the site area has to be dedicated as public open space. The language in the code itself talks to who has to maintain it and we will be requesting between now and the next Planning Commission meeting a legal interpretation from our law department because we're definitely providing more than 20% of the site's total space as open space, but the land itself will be platted on private lots, but we'll use deed restrictions to maintain it as a common open space. So we'll just need our law department to make that interpretation as to whether or not that specific variance is required. The other variances that are needed are related to the buildings facing on a public street due to just limited direct frontage on a public street and also our conversations about really minimizing traffic dispersion. We are proposing to have those homes accessed from a public right-of-way and alleyway rather than a public street. This will be one of the variances that are required for this application. Then I mentioned some bolt controls requirements. In the R3 zone within single family, the required side yard setback is five feet. And for each lot, the side yard setback varies anywhere from two to four and a half feet. And then also there are potentially rear yard setback variances. The R3 single family requires a minimum of a 20 foot rear yard setback. And what's proposed may or may not meet that requirement. In order to confirm these setbacks, we'll need more detailed plans for each lot to determine what each setback really is. And so we will have those prepared by the next planning commission meeting so we can confirm if these variances are required.

If I'm understanding right, maybe I'm taking this too literally, so if it's two and a half to four feet per sod, side yard setback is that from the wall of the house so potentially two feet from the wall of one house two feet from the wall of the other probably two feet between there'd be two of them property line pardon me to the edge of the property line thank you so there would be another setback between houses okay so basically a five foot side yard setback means that there's a total of 10 feet between the homes at minimum right

Okay.

So.

Oops, sorry. So how's this open space maintained?

Oh, yes. Let me go back to the site plan really quick. Sorry for the quick slide progression.

Okay, we'll get there sometime. There we go.

So as you see here, it's a little hard to see the lot lines, but the lots themselves, let me see if the laser works it does not work on the screen nope okay i wonder if my mouse will work no you can't see my mouse either okay um essentially if you can try to visualize there's that dark line in the middle of the site that is the northern and southern property line between um the grouping of four homes either on the north or the south. Then each lot line will go between each home and meet at that center line. The central green space will technically be located on private property, each private lot, but they will use a homeowner's association and a deed restriction to make sure that that open space is maintained as one communal space. There will be probably requirements about how it's to be maintained, limitations on it being fenced so that it is maintained as one large open space. Someone can't just carve out their front yard and put a fence around it.

Everybody will pay a fee into this to be able to maintain it.

I think it'll be up to the homeowners to decide how they want to. Any other questions either about the variances or the site layout?

One question about the site layout so I'm I think I know the answer to this but so when I I'm looking at my map and it has them each of the units numbered one through eight one through four on one side and And that has access to to Hudson and then five through eight on the other, which has access to that new extended cul-de-sac. So I assume the addresses of those would be the five through eight would be Morris Avenue and the one through four would be Hudson Avenue. Is that true?

I'm sorry. Go ahead. Mr. Chair, we'll have to talk with Athens County 911 about what makes the most sense. Okay. Certainly the public emergency response folks and myself will look at it because that's the reason why addressing is so important is in order to be able to get EMS particularly to the site rapidly if need be. And so we haven't really thought about the addressing.

But even for visitors and guests coming, trying to figure out, I mean, if they were all Hudson or something like that, you'd get to one area and you wouldn't find it, and you'd have to go all the way around May and get there. So it's got to be, yeah, okay.

Whatever Google Maps would tell you to go, right? That's not always good.

Okay.

Um, if there aren't any other questions about the site plan, we did have some additional slides about the construction, which I think could be helpful for not just the public, but also the commission to hear. Okay. Um, this is the floor plan by the way, for the ADA accessible unit. I know Joe talked about it in detail, uh, but here you can see the layout, one large common, uh, living room, kitchen, dining room space, um, and then three bedrooms with one large, uh, bathroom. as well as the utility room, which is where the washer dryer and other utilities will be. Okay, so you may want to jump in here, but we are partnering with Unibelt, which is an Ohio-based family-owned company that does prefabricated modular homes. So they're all built inside, allowing for The elements to not affect construction and also really minimizes on-site construction as well The homes are assembled off-site and delivered to the site once the foundation is is ready so that Like I said reduces the on-site construction and won't be stick built on site to producing a lot of noise for the neighborhood and when the homes are ready to be installed and There's a large crane that will come and place them on those garage foundations. And so the general, I guess, installation time is a day or so. Joe may be able to confirm that.

So a day per house.

Okay, a day per house.

Okay. In this case, because the way the buildings are built, most likely at least four of them will be set at the same time because once the crane is set, they're going to lift. In each of these, there are four prefabricated modules that comprise the unit. So they're mated above a podium. The podium has to be built in advance. So all the underground utilities, everything's done and the podium's in place. The crane comes and lifts those modules into place. At the end of the day, that door's locked and the unit is secure and dry. It's built in an environment, as Megan described it, and some of the representatives of the city actually visited the site to assure the quality. But the units are built in a dried environment. They have about a 2% construction waste, which is the lowest in the industry. That's also significant from a recycling and conservation aspect. They're very energy efficient and very well engineered. So because if you think about it, the strength of this unit, the building has to be driven down a highway at a freeway speed, which is quite a bit different than typical construction. The unit itself has a, if you can envision it, a floor plate, the one story, and then there's a full joist roof system. Above that is another floor system. So there's actually a foot in between of lumber between each floor. So sound attenuation is great. The units are built very tightly because they're built from the inside out. It's framing, drywall, insulation, exterior, so they can tighten every seam in connection with the design. So it's a really well-built house. We've had a lot of luck with it. The company has been in business for... since 1970. They've done 1,100 homes in this area over a 35-year period. Not so much in the city of Athens, but in the entire area. So there was a very active builder at one point, and so they have a lot of experience in the area. This unit design is a variation of something they had designed and built in another location, but it was fine-tuned for this particular location, this particular program, the flood fringe, all the details that go into it. So they spent a lot of time perfecting this particular design for this use then about half of the construction continues to be conventional because you're still doing your HVAC the electric finish the plumbing the exterior the flat work foundation and so forth continues to be done locally primarily with local subcontractors so it's not an all done in Vandalia Ohio it is all Ohio made product but but it's a combination of what's done at the factory and then what is done here on site. Any questions about that? This picture is what was built in Sandusky. This is a traditional infill in a traditional historic neighborhood, and it's a similar style. It's 1,350 square feet, and it's on a full basement, but it does not have a garage. The basement is finishable. It is a precast basement. It already has the metal furring strips built into it, the channeling for electrical and plumbing. So we didn't, in this case, we didn't finish that lower level. It has a significant appraised value, but it could be finished by the homeowner. So it was an entry level unit that they could improve on their own in a simple DIY project.

Just a question about the design, because I see this, and this has got a nice front porch.

Thank you. I not only designed it, I painted that.

Did you? Okay, so here's my, and this is just me, aesthetic. I'm thinking Hudson.

I walk Hudson all the time during the week.

And so I'm thinking it's got front porches. So you look at the design that we have there, and I understand that it all comes at a cost. So are porches possibilities? Because you look at this, that No front porch compared to this. This is very contemporary, very sleek. It looks like downtown Worcester, Ohio, right on the business path. We're in a resident, Hudson, Lincoln, all that. Elmwood is all residential, so it's a personal aesthetic comment, so...

I didn't plant that question after we talked about our stairs to the porch, but she asked it anyway because I knew that we would.

So I do want to point out that this does have a balcony that's 28 feet by 4 feet. It is not a porch.

That is not a porch with steps.

But it has a patio and it has a courtyard.

And all those houses, you know, walking down there, you have the one contemporary apartment building at the end of Hudson. You know, built in the woods, up against the woods. Yeah. acceptable, but it's not what the other houses are in that neighborhood from the 20s and 30s.

The challenge really is the flood issue. So all those porches are grandfathered in and they are in a flood fringe and they do pay flood insurance. We're so sensitive about the cost of operations that the whole idea of lifting it was to make sure that we didn't face that issue.

The existing homes on Hudson were built before our local floodplain regulations were adopted. Especially as the maps have been updated, that base flood elevation has gotten higher. Our minimum floor height for the first floor is significantly higher than what has been built on Hudson. And so if we were to build a traditional front porch style on these homes with our floodplain requirements, it'd be a very tall staircase and not as approachable as, say, the traditional neighborhoods or porches on Hudson.

Mayor?

And I get it. But this does have a front patio on it at grade. It does. And on the backside is going to be garage doors. So that's that. So there will be... with that front patio, the ability people could put lawn chairs out there, they could put a cafe table and chairs out there. Now, granted, to get to the first floor, you're going up the steps, but there is still an element of community with having that patio there, if I'm not mistaken.

I mean, I'm looking at your concept drawings, and you've got... We've done it both ways, and I do think that the sense of community is... intentionally developed. I do think that this, this design will encourage interaction with neighbors and still meet the flood requirements or the sensitivity is to operating costs so that insurance could disqualify perspective home buyer. Um, if you, you know, if we just build it to the minimum, which is one foot above, we'd still be six or seven feet above the, the uh, the ground. So that would be a kind of tall porch. In this case that is about 10 feet up. That's just the circumstance of the area. I do like the front porches, though.

Maybe round two. Round two on another site.

Absolutely.

Absolutely. So visually, what was our state storage or highway access building? It's now been used for vehicle storage. That building's coming out. The Red Cross storage building is coming out. Access off Morris. And then access down in Hudson.

Okay.

I need improvement for the area.

That's what the neighbor said.

Oh, I bet, yeah.

I'm just going to digress just a tad. There was a concept years ago to work with the American Red Cross to... Redo the building, create housing, but also continue to accommodate the Red Cross. And that went, it had to go all the way up to the federal, not the federal, but at national Red Cross. And that too was a period where they said, no, we don't want to do that project at all. So I just have to say, to have the partner that we do now with the Red Cross to be able to sell that property, was really interesting to see happen because, again, of the previous experience where Red Cross is now, we're not interested. Even though it would have created a new building for Red Cross local. But to sell that property, it was no easy feat. But it has happened, which again, gives us the real estate size to be able to make this project happen. It's a remarkable element that doesn't get shared enough. So thank you, American Red Cross.

And American Red Cross did put a deed restriction on it. they wanted this for this housing. What they agreed to was selling it for this purpose. So it wasn't just a disposal of a surplus property. They were very deliberate and intentional and it did go up to the national level because it was reviewed in New York. I think it was before they got the approval locally to be able to transfer it. So they were very intentional about this, uh, this purpose.

And I also want to add, I mean, so then there's the city's property, which again is going to be no cost inclusion into this development. Yet there was cost, you know, where we had a lot of storage inside 93 Hudson that we had to create new space in which to put a lot of our street electrical supplies, vehicles, evidence for the police department and whatnot. And so, you know, The city is invested in making this work one way or another.

I will add to that, all of those costs, the cost of replacement, the transfer and everything, if you make a new application, you would show that in kind, that is significant. It's really making the difference on awards. So the amount of support that the city showed with the state partnered on this really makes a difference in the competition for additional funding. So it does pay a dividend, I believe, that kind of commitment carried forward.

A question about process now, Mr. Chair.

Okay.

Because this is a communication now that comes back as a case with recommendations for the variances.

Correct.

And does it? And those variances, they could go through council with the approval of those variances without having to go to zoning?

That's the purpose of what you did. Right. So, like, council, since council, because functionally council sets zoning, right, and council sets bell controls and everything else by ordinance, this is a different path. And so council gets the bite of the apple versus, you know, the traditional path, which just goes through the BZA for a variance where, you know, that didn't go before this body, didn't go before council.

I had a few other questions about affordability, if we're still in a question-and-answer period. Okay, if I may. I'm thinking about the eventual homeowner and the additional costs that they may have to bear living here. Is the elevation of the homes such that they will be out of the floodplain and not require flood insurance, or will the homeowner need to pay for flood insurance?

We are out of the living spaces out of the flood zone. There may be an additional charge on the insurance because you're still in an area that's a flood fringe. So some homeowners experience that in the surrounding area. So that's yet to be determined. But it's lifted out of the flood zone, so it's not treated as a home built in a floodway.

Okay. But potentially flood insurance would still be required?

Some modest, because it goes by increments. So, we're well out of it. So, if there is a charge, it would be extremely modest. Okay.

Just looking at other costs, because affordability is a huge piece of this.

Absolutely. Same with the Home Ownership Association. The decision to do fee simple deed of lots of record rather than condominium was not to fold a lot of other expenses into it that would be common charges because that gets underwritten uh at the same time by the lender they're going to look at those charges so if the hoa is is limited to just the common landscape common area and everybody has their own units then there's no charge in the underwriting for the lender okay that's what i was going to look at um

And then, what if—so, a hypothetical buyer who works for the university, during their first five years, their position is eliminated. They need to look for a job at another university, but they can't sell their house and they can't rent their house. Is there any— What can be done for that particular buyer because the university is a huge employer?

The state has already made provision for that in that if you get a transfer and you need to move and it's less than five years, they will approve the sale of the house. Okay. You sell it to somebody else that meets that so you continue to have that affordable home ownership in the community. You haven't lost that. But if there's a death in the family, a separation that maybe the person can't continue to... the one remaining income can't continue to operate the property, then they can get permission. And they submit to the state an explanation. And they've been very comfortable with providing waivers where that's come up. Also, it is important to note that in the event of a foreclosure, the lender is relieved of the deed restrictions so they can put it in the marketplace. And one reason that is important is it opens up the field of conforming loans so you get a better rate on it. We don't anticipate defaults, but that would prevent getting the lowest possible rate from a lender.

more comment on affordability if you don't mind and this is more of a has nothing to do really with this particular project what has to do with our PUD regulations and specifically the requirement of 20% public open space So we have in our PUD regulations a minimum of that. Somebody has to care for public open space. And I think it sounds great, but if we have a code that requires you build 20% of public open space, and then the public is not going to care for that, right? Because our Parks and Rec Department is overstretched as it is caring for the parks that they have. then somebody has to care for it unless it's going to be woods and not require any care. So a homeowners association or some sort of vehicle would be required to care for that space, and that adds costs from an affordability perspective. So I think that's important to note. Not that we want to remove that from our PUD code or anything else, but I think that every requirement we add adds cost to somebody, and that bears on affordability. Thank you.

one last question okay for me Joe you had mentioned that that you know after five years an individual can you know can sell their house and then a qualified purchaser would be identified and you mentioned 180 but that would then infer that the person selling it is basically It's not earning equity in that home?

No, the sale price is not determined. It's the buyer has to meet those qualifications. Okay. So that buyer needs to fit that 80% AMI or median income requirement. Thank you. Whatever that turns out to be and whatever the affordability is.

Thank you. But now, after five years, an individual couldn't just turn around and say, okay, I'm selling. they're looking around at the median home pricing that we see in Athens and go, I'm selling for 300,000. Yeah, right, they can't do that. Okay, that needs to be clear.

So it's basically the income of the buyer is determinative. And that could change if interest rates change. Say interest rates were lower, the affordability would be greater for somebody at 80% median because they could afford a more expensive home. If interest rates are higher, that would be more of a constraint. But when the state looked at it, they weren't thinking about what's the market value of the house. They were thinking about, let's preserve this as affordable home ownership for somebody in the community, if not the original buyer, somebody else.

And that producer is creating wealth over time.

Exactly. And the income qualification is a one-time qualification. The state wants people to succeed. They're thinking this is a wealth-building opportunity. It's a stabilizing opportunity. So it's a one-time income qualification. If a person gets a wonderful raise at the university or someplace, fantastic. They can continue to live there and be very comfortable. So they're not disqualified in any way.

But there wouldn't be as much of an incentive to improve the home. Obviously, they're brand new, so what's to improve on right now? But there wouldn't be as much incentive to improve, to increase, et cetera, for profit. There isn't necessarily any to be added.

That's an important point because these are new homes, they're warranted, and so all the systems are new. That's the other challenge in somebody reaching into that first-time home ownership is contingency. If they buy a home that's affordable but it needs a new roof the next year or new HVAC or hot water, then those events can be extremely challenging at that early stage. In this case, at that early stage, everything is warranted and it's all new. Even the units have washers and dryers are included in it because we thought, you know, we don't want people moving in and the first thing they have to do is sign up for an installment sale of something else that challenges credit or gets in the way of their mortgage payment.

Thank you. So I would like to thank the commissioners for their thoughtful questions. But before we move on, I'd like to see is there anybody who raised their hand and would consider speaking that want to speak on this particular if you have if you want to talk about another issue we'll do that here in a minute but if you if there's anybody here who wants to speak about this welcome welcome home ohio please come to the podium state your name and address hi my name is bob preby i live on 6495 angel ridge road

I'm a real estate broker and developer with Uptown Realty Group, and I had a couple questions. So first, just a procedural question about PUDs. Are you able to even apply for one without the minimum acreage?

That's what we're requesting variance for.

Okay, you can request a variance for the application right off the bat like that? Is there a minimum that you can't apply for a PUD? I'm not familiar with that.

Is anybody project-specific? It's project-specific. Okay.

That's just a general question. The grant agreement that I read had a completion date of November the 1st of 2026 and a final draw of 12-1-2026. Has that been updated? Adjusted.

We will be applying to the state for an extension. They've been very generous with other applicants granting extensions.

Okay. Is there any concern that the grant funds could be reduced due to the milestones that weren't hit?

I don't have concerns right now.

Good.

But I guess that's up to the state? It's up to the state, I think, yeah. Okay. Is that a concern?

Have we been communicating with the state and keeping them updated on where we are with the project? Yes. Okay.

All right. These deed restrictions. So how will these be enforced? Who specifically will enforce the deed restrictions about the income qualifications and all that? Is that through DOD then?

You'll probably need to come up so that we can... Go ahead and ask the questions.

No, that's my question.

Oh, okay.

That way we can record the answer.

All right. The deed restrictions are recorded at the time of sale. And so it is a covenant that is restriction on the property. Any transfer to have clear title, they have to comply with that. So it would require the income certification to meet that standard. The period of time for compliance is 20 years under this grant program. The Ohio Department of Development is a third-party beneficiary of that, so they have the opportunity to enforce it, as does the city, as the grantee. So either can take action on it, and that's how it's restricted.

Okay. Well, so let's say that there's a transaction, and it goes to the title company, which is reviewing the income qualifications at that point.

We're capable of providing the income qualification.

Okay, let's say five years from now, a buyer or a seller is selling their house and they have a buyer because of the title company.

The title company would see it as an exception.

Okay.

The exception can be relieved by contacting the city or the state to make sure that they can relieve that by making sure there's income certifications. We do income certification and can do that on behalf of the city or the state to help that closing go through.

I've never seen anything like that before, but that sounds interesting. Just so I understand how a maximum sales price could be established in the future. You said that somebody has to meet the income qualifications, but does that mean that income or savings? I mean, if someone has a $50,000 a year job, but they have $100,000 in savings, and they're able to qualify, they're still eligible to buy the house? I can qualify. Okay.

It's based on the income of the adjusted median income for the community. So that's set by HUD. So there's a dollar amount. If they have that dollar, make a down payment to reduce that, say they have savings and they want to have a $50,000 mortgage, then bless them, they can do that. So it's the income qualification that determines it. They have to meet that income. What they can afford in the way of a mortgage is determined by the lender. So the person who is the buyer still has to conform to the credit requirements of the lender, meet whatever that payment requirement is. So the minimum is established in the marketplace by the lender. The maximum is established by the state with the 80% AMI restriction. So in that window is the buyer.

Okay. I don't see that. I see a lot of potential for people that do need affordable housing kind of missing out because people who have significant savings or gifts from parents and such kind of subverting the process.

I haven't had that experience and nor has the state.

Okay. Because in this area, there's a lot of people who buy like a college student or a grad student and their parents are basically buying them a house. but they have very little income.

And they anticipate, say they're a graduate student, they anticipate living in Athens for a long term, and they hope to find a job in the community. Yeah, that's fantastic. If somebody is committed to the community, qualifies as affordable housing, wants to be a homeowner, and wants to live in the community for an extended period of time and advance themselves, that is the goal of the program.

Maybe several of us can stay after and talk. The meeting's coming to an end, and it seems like I just want to make sure we get through the rest of our agenda and things. So I don't know how many more questions you have, but maybe it's just something that we could kind of sit and speak to you about, several people who make sense.

Should this be public, though, information?

Well, I don't know. I don't know.

If we're talking privately, that's not public, isn't it?

Oh, yeah. How many questions do you have, sir?

Oh, I'm sorry. Should I just put them away then?

No. I'm asking you how many questions you still have to go. I'm just saying that I'd like to get through the rest of the agenda.

Who's the owner of the initial eight homes, the City of Athens or Praxia Partners?

Go ahead. The owner of the building Stern Construction.

Sorry. So it gets recorded.

Yeah. The owner of the building Stern Construction is Community Building Partners. the owner of the building at the time of sale, the city actually takes title at the closing, passes that title to the qualified home buyer and in that process qualifies for grant reimbursement. The grant funds are delivered to the home buyer, not to us. So we build the home with our own funding and construction lending and deliver it to the home buyer. And the city is a conduit in that process because they qualify for the reimbursement, which is the combination of the reimbursement and the mortgage satisfies the sale requirement.

Is there a difficulty with Ohio Revised Code 72103 when the way of the city would deal with real estate selling and leasing?

No.

Okay. Are you familiar with that?

I am very familiar with that, yep. Okay. We looked at that when we entered into this program. But you're calling this urban revitalization?

Yep, absolutely. Okay. Who will assist a buyer in submitting a purchase agreement? Who facilitates and manages the transactions? Are realtors encouraged to be involved? No. I'm sorry, I asked three questions. Did you... No to what?

Who assists?

We do the marketing to the community. We have an established real estate purchase contract that we present to the city. The city actually enters that agreement if it's acceptable and qualifying. We build the home on behalf of the city and then the city transfers it to the home buyer. We have not involved realtors in any of our transactions thus far because the cost of that is borne by the homeowner and we're already at the maximum. So the intention is to put the program forward to the public without the use of realtors. We encourage realtor involvement as a volunteer, and we have had that experience in other communities where realtors recognize they have no way of delivering this kind of housing to a buyer. They'd love to have somebody that they work with have the benefit of it.

So your company is operating as a dual agent then in that transaction?

No, we're not an agent.

Well, you're representing the seller and the buyer at that point.

We're not representing the seller or the buyer in this instance. We're putting forward a grant program through the state of Ohio and making the housing available to prospective home buyers that meet the qualifications. It's really a community-based effort because lenders have to be involved in it as well in supporting the pre-approval process.

Okay, so I read on the program requirements published on your website that home buyer must occupy the home as a primary residence and not rent any portion of it for five years after purchase. So year six, they can file for rental permit?

The rental requirements are the majority of the home itself, the unit. So within the state, their limitations within the Welcome Home Ohio program limit rentals to just like a room in the home. after the five-year period, but it could not be the entire unit rented out after five years.

So you can't get a rental permit from the city?

I believe so, unless we require that for renting one room. I'm not sure.

Might have to check.

Okay.

Okay.

All right. And for road frontage, I guess that was a question you guys talked about already, but... Yeah, I guess that's it. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Any of the other gentlemen? Did you? No? Okay. Okay. So we'll look for this to come back at our next meeting in two weeks then. Thank you. Thank you, everybody, for all that you've done to make this all happen. I, for one, have just watched what's happened to real estate in the 50 years I've been in this community and how when I first came here as a young individual to work for the university, making a fairly small salary, I was actually able to buy a house and then renovate it, improve it, and move on. But it's really difficult today, and so I really appreciate the efforts that are coming forward here with this. Thank you. Okay, so the next item on our agenda are reports. So Ms. Jennings or Mr. Pyle, do either of you have a report? Nothing to report, sir. Okay.

I'll just add that other required steps in the planned unit development process is to have this application reviewed by both the Shade Tree Commission and the Disabilities Commission. Those meetings are scheduled for this week so that they can review the application and before planning commission next are on the 16th. Both of those commissions, their regularly scheduled meetings are actually for September 16th in the evening. So we wanted to schedule a special meeting with them so they could review it before the planning commission has final say. So tonight at 5.30 is the disabilities commission special meeting to review this application. That meeting is taking place at the community center in their regular meeting space. then the shade tree Commission special meeting is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. here in council chambers I believe it will be televised and so both of those meetings are happening this week ahead of the Planning Commission's final review great thank you so is there anybody who wants to speak on another subject not covered by the agenda no

Any announcements? Anybody have any announcements?

I have one quick announcement. I believe it was last week, Director Stone and I met with a lot of the business owners on Richland Avenue after the August 11th flooding event that we had with the flash flood. And it was a productive meeting. We had probably 20, 25 individuals who showed up from up and down, like I said, the Richland Avenue corridor. And since then, Director Stone and I have kind of laid out a short-range plan, a mid-range plan, and a long-range plan, still planning the long-range plan. We have a lot of work to do on that, but looking to see ways in which we could not solve the issue in the Coates Run corridor, but at least to mitigate some of the flooding that occurs during a flash flood. We got a significant amount of rain on the 11th, especially in the Richland Avenue corridor. When you think about Richland Avenue, it is a holler. It is former Mechanicsburg in the city of Athens, and it is a well-developed corridor, retail and resident corridor, and it's got its challenges for sure, but I believe that Director Stone and I have, at least in the short-range plan and some of the mid-range planning, some positive actions and steps forward to what is occurring down there, but I'm a realist in that when you've got five inches of rain coming down in a rather short period of time, all the flood mitigation you could do in that corridor still isn't going to solve the problem that we see with that particular corridor. But these smaller steps can be helpful. So anyway, I just wanted to report that out, that we had that meeting and I think it was fruitful for everybody.

When I moved to Athens from northeastern Ohio, I was amazed at how quickly the river comes up, how much water actually gets concentrated. And we happen to be along the river valley, and so it's always been a challenge. But thank you. Is there any other business? Hearing none, then our next meeting is two weeks, September 16th, here in the chambers at noon. With that, we will adjourn. Thank you, everybody.