Hill Farm II Rezoning Moves Forward Despite Resident Pushback
Environmental, Traffic Concerns Prompt Series of Votes and Amendments
Construction of a 300-unit housing development by M/I Homes north of Scioto Darby Road, west of Elliott Road, and east of Langton Road, can start after Hilliard City Council, in a 5-2 decision on March 24, approved the necessary rezoning for the development, known as Hill Farm II, to advance.
The future residential development will be adjacent to the existing Hill Farm development with a sliver of the development on the east side of Elliott Road, adjacent to the Estates at Hoffman Farms.
Dozens of residents from Hoffman Farms, while acknowledging they would prefer to but could not reasonably thwart the development, vociferously appealed to City Council to prohibit the connection of Jeffrelyn Drive west into the future Hill Farm II development. (These public comments are collected on pages 35-103 of the linked .pdf)
The road is currently a stub street in Hoffman Farms.
City Council ultimately voted 5-2 to rezone the parcel from R-R, rural residential, to Hilliard Conservation District, or HCD, with Councilwoman Cynthia Vermillion and Greg Betts voting against the measure.
But first, Betts moved to postpone the application until April 24.
Betts’ motion failed 4-3 with only Betts, Vermillion, and Councilman Les Carrier in favor of doing so.
Council members Emily Cole, Peggy Hale, Tina Cottone, and Andy Teater voted against postponing the ordinance rezoning the 231-acre tract.
In advance of his motion to postpone the ordinance, Betts called for a meeting of “stakeholders” at a special meeting to discuss all the concerns that had been brought forth March 24 and March 10, when the ordinance was introduced.
Betts called for representatives from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Darby Creek Association, and other environmentalists, as well as affected residents.
But Cole said the developer “asked for a vote” and deserved City Council’s consideration.
City Council’s decision to go forward with a vote was in opposition to what many Hoffman Farms residents asked.
Melissa Brinkerhoff, of Langton Road, asked City Council to “hit pause” on the proposal until Brown Township Trustees updated their comprehensive plan and for the findings of an ongoing environmental study of the Big Darby watershed by ODNR.
“(Going ahead now) benefits only the developer,” Brinkerhoff said.
Heather Bickley, of Jeffrelyn Drive, appealed to City Council to prohibit the connection of Jeffrelyn Drive west to Langton Road, citing that the increased volume and speed of traffic would put children at risk.
“We’re asking you to listen to us,” Bickley said.
John Tetzloff, president of the Darby Creek Association, voiced concern about the environmental effects of the development.
But Josh Barkan, senior vice president with M/I Homes, as well as Hilliard City Manager Michelle Crandall, said the proposed development meets or exceeds the recommendations of the Big Darby Accord, a development agreement currently under revision, that recommends how development should occur in the Big Darby watershed area in western Franklin County, including Brown and Norwich townships, and the City of Hilliard.
Hill Farm II includes 70 percent open space, in excess of the 50 percent standard in the Big Darby Accord.
But the 300 residences are not evenly spaced out on the entirety of the parcel, Barkan explained.
M/I Homes previously developed the 229 residences in Hill Farm after rezoning was approved in 2021 and told council members Hill Farm II has been in the works since before that time, but there were not adequate water and sewer taps until the City of Columbus, earlier this year, allocated the capacity for additional taps.
Columbus, which provides water and sewer service to Hilliard, has allocated 1,331 new taps, according to city planner John Talentino.
When conversation turned back to the status of Jeffrelyn Drive, Barkan said M/I Homes would be willing that Jeffrelyn remain an emergency-access only roadway until a traffic impact study and traffic calming plan were completed.
But Vermillion made a motion to amend the ordinance prohibiting the connection altogether as a condition of the rezoning.
That measure failed 5-2 with only Vermillion and Betts in favor of it.
A third vote allowed for the extension of Jeffrelyn Drive but amended the ordinance so as to make it emergency access only until otherwise amended to allow for through traffic.
That measure passed 5-2, with Vermillion and Betts dissenting.
A final vote to approve the amended ordinance rezoning the parcel from R-R to HCD passed 5-2 with Vermillion and Betts dissenting.