Council Reverses Course, Blocks Jeffrelyn Drive Connection to Hill Farm II

After resident pushback, Hilliard City Council votes unanimously to prohibit future street extension between Hoffman Farms and upcoming 300-unit development.

Hilliard City Council on April 14 reversed course and amended an ordinance it adopted on March 24, and opting to not allow for the possibility of Jeffrelyn Drive, a stub street in the Hoffman Farms subdivision, to be extended into the future Hill Farms II subdivision.

Dozens of Hoffman Farms residents appealed to City Council through a variety of means to not allow for Jeffrelyn Drive to be extended to the west to provide connectivity between Hoffman Farms and the future Hill Farm II, of a 300-unit housing development by M/I Homes north of Scioto Darby Road, west of Elliott Road, and east of Langton Road.

But City Council, in a 5-2 decision with City Councilman Greg Betts and City Councilwoman Cynthia Vermillion dissenting, approved the rezoning necessary to allow for the development of Hill Farm II.

In a separate vote, also 5-2 with Betts and Vermillion dissenting, City Council determined that Jeffrelyn Drive would be open for emergency traffic only, and that approval by City Council would be required for the road to ever be open for public traffic.

On April 14, Vermillion asked for the ordinance to be amended to prohibit Jeffrelyn Drive to be extended in any manner at all, and requiring the developer to submit a revised site plan to reflect the amendment.

Betts seconded the motion.

Carrier asked what had changed since March 24 to prompt the requested amendment.

Council Vice President Andy Teater replied that upon reflection, he believed that no future City Council would opt to open Jeffrelyn Drive up after Hill Farm II was built out.

“So I think we should just (prohibit the connection) now,” Teater said.

The motion passed unanimously.