By Eamon Baird

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PIQUA — Confronted with a standing-room-only crowd, the Piqua Commission opted to table two divisive resolutions at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

Kyle Hinkelman, community service director for the city of Piqua, introduced two resolutions on a preliminary replat of two parcels of land from RE-10 Residential Estates (10,000-square-feet) to RE-6 Residential Estates (6,000-square-feet) at the Deerfield Subdivision in conjunction D.R. Horton Homes. Under the new proposal, single-family homes would cost between $280,000 and $400,000, and townhomes would cost between $200,000 and $300,000.

Among the concerns brought up at the meeting by Piqua residents was the possibility of loss in property value to current residents in the area, as well as possible drainage issues, and the narrower streets, which residents feared could cause delays in traffic patterns and emergency services.

Another issue discussed was cul-de-sacs, which Hinkelman spoke about at the meeting. He did say in the initial plan the cul-de-sacs would remain but cautioned the necessity for them.

“Generally, in our codes cul-de-sacs are frowned upon,” Hinkelman said. “They do not create an efficient traffic pattern; they increase the emergency response times and increase the cost to the city to maintain.”

After Hinkelman’s presentation, the commissioners heard from Rob Smith, land acquisition manager of D.R. Horton of Cincinnati.

“D.R. Horton is the largest homebuilder in the nation. We are fairly new to Ohio; we’ve only been here about five years, and we are based out of Arlington, Texas,” Smith said.

Commissioner Frank DeBrosse asked Smith about D.R. Horton.

“In no way, shape or form am I accusing you or slandering you or your company of anything, however, I have received several emails from constituents who referenced class action lawsuits that your company is a plaintiff in, and there are numerous videos of folks going through your products and other areas. That is a huge concern, and I would love to give you the opportunity to address that,” DeBrosse said.

“Being the largest homebuilder in the country there are mistakes that happen. If you do the same Google or YouTube search, you’re going to see the same complaints,” Smith said.

“For what it’s worth none of those problems are going on in Ohio,” Smith added.

After hearing from Smith, the commission opened the floor to public comments. Members of the public talked about not being informed about the proposed resolutions ahead of time, changing the size of the lots without their knowledge, and dwindling property values.

“It’s important to provide quality services,” Kim Heisler said. “To me, it’s not nearly enough time for the citizens.”

“I only learned about this two days ago,” said Andy Burner. “There should be more notice.”

Resident Wayne Davy said he was opposed to the city’s plans to extend Eagle Lake Drive into the 22.4-acre subdivision at the northern end of Eagles Lake Drive.

“I do not think the city properly notified the residents of Eagles Nest and Deerfield in good faith of the proposed changes. Most residents learned of this plan last week, only a few residents at the end of Eagles Lake Drive on the cul-de-sac area received letters regarding the builder’s plans, but no one was told in advance of the city’s plans or intent to connect the cul-de-sacs,” resident Wayne Davy said.

“There are a lot of concerns with D.R. Horton, those are up for you to consider. I don’t have information as to what those lawsuits are about, but there are lawsuits,” Tom Buecker said, adding if the plan moves forward property values will decline if the lot sizes are reduced.

“We ask that you stick with the master plan that’s in the best interest of Piqua that this section of the property remains R-10,” Buecker added.

“We’re now learning that you’re six months in with the discussion,” said T.J. Manson. “You didn’t contact the schools, you didn’t contact the police department and from what we’re learning you didn’t contact the fire department or EMS. The transparency has been non-existent.”

“This has been a very disappointing experience,” Manson added. ”You’re going to plummet our property values.”

At the end of the lengthy discussion, all five commissioners agreed to table the two resolutions until the next Piqua Commission Meeting.

“I’ve talked to some people and understand your concerns,” Mayor Kris Lee said. “We are going to do a better job of communicating and letting people know.”

After the meeting, Miami Valley Today talked to Commissioner Paul Simmons to get his thoughts on the meeting.

“I understand we have to do something with that property, and I don’t have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is these people out there paid a lot of money for their homes because they were all brand new homes, and it wasn’t that long ago and they deserve a little bit of consideration as to what is going to be put next to their property,” Simmons said.

“The Planning Commission signing-off on something and voting 5-0 is not a suggestion to us that we need to that we need to follow suit,” he said. “They decide whether it’s legal, we decide whether it’s the right thing to do.”

The city of Piqua announced on its website it will hold two special commission meetings on Monday, Oct. 21, and Tuesday, Oct. 22.