Construction crews have been busy with the initial work of installing sewer, gas and electric utilities at 402 N. Wright St. — the site of a future 90-home, 23-acre subdivision. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
90-home subdivision underway in Yellow Springs
- Published: June 21, 2023
Infrastructure construction is officially underway at 402 N. Wright St. — the site of a future major subdivision in Yellow Springs.
Over the last month, Miamisburg-based development company DDC Management, LLC, broke ground and began the work of clearing the 23-acre site to install the necessary sewer, gas and electric utilities to serve 90 future homes.
The subdivision, named “Spring Meadows,” will be composed of 94 lots — 90 of which will be suitable for single-family homes on an average of .25 acres per lot. The remaining four lots, totaling nearly four acres, will be preserved as open green space.
DDC Land Acquisition Manager Clayton Sears told the News earlier this week that once all the sewer and electric lines have been laid, the company aims to begin paving the subdivision’s roads by late November this year.
Before any home can be built on the land, DDC will need approval of its final plat plan from the Village Planning Commission and Village Council. Planning and Zoning Administrator Denise Swinger told the News this week that those meetings will likely take place at the end of this summer.
Although the lots have yet to be physically established, all 90 are presently “under contract for purchase” with homebuilding company Fischer Homes, Sears said. He added that Fischer will close on each lot individually as homes are built, with lot sales expected to take place over the next three to four years.
“The lots were marketed to multiple builders, and Fischer was chosen as the best partner for the project,” Sears said.
On Friday, June 16, Village leaders and staffers joined local realtors and development company representatives to officially break ground on the Spring Meadows subdivision. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
A national company with offices and subdivisions in Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and Southwestern Ohio, Fischer Homes boasts of being the 30th largest new home builder in the U.S. The nearest Fischer-built subdivisions to Yellow Springs are in Fairborn and Beavercreek.
“Our team began discussing Spring Meadows with DDC at the end of 2022,” Marketing Manager for Fischer Homes Carrie Rogiers told the News via email. “We anticipate that [home] construction will begin at the end of this year.”
Rogiers didn’t specify how much she expects each home to cost, saying that pricing wasn’t available yet, but noted that final pricing depends on how the customer chooses to personalize their home.
“We are building single-family homes, including two-story and ranch-style homes,” she said. “We’re still finalizing the portfolio of floor plans that will be offered in this community, but we will have a variety that meet buyers’ needs.”
Rogiers added: “[Fischer Homes] is excited to offer a wide range of colors and exterior styles to complement the village of Yellow Springs.”
Eventual home buyers will be able to pick and choose the designs of their home at the company’s “Lifestyle Design Center” in Washington Township, with “hundreds of design options available, from flooring to cabinets to tile,” Rogiers said.
Pre-built homes for “a quick move-in” will also be scattered throughout the subdivision.
Fischer Homes’ website indicates regional prices of single-story homes with two bedrooms and two bathrooms range from $309,900 to $325,900. Two-story homes with three bathrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms start at $333,900. The most expensive Fairborn home listed on Fischer’s website is a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house for $437,900.
Rogiers noted that as homes are built, her company will likely partner with local realtors to facilitate sales. Over 60% of Fischer’s sales in the Dayton region come from local realtors, she said.
The 23-acre property at 402 N. Wright St. was most recently owned by Dianne Kinney. The Greene County Auditor’s website shows that the tract of land was sold on May 31 for $750,000. Kinney’s two-story farmhouse, located in the center of the property, has been partially demolished in recent weeks.
The 23-acre parcel on which the future subdivision is sited was most recently owned by Diane Kinney. Earlier this month, crews began tearing down the home that sat on the property. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
The property is nestled between the Village-owned Glass Farm to its north and to the south, small neighborhoods along Kenneth Hamilton Way and North Wright Street — both roads which DDC intends to build out to connect to the subdivision.
Over the past year, as DDC went before Planning Commission twice to get various iterations of their plat plans approved by the group, several community members voiced their concerns over the subdivision. Many residents who spoke at the Planning Commission meetings said they were worried about the increase in traffic on Kenneth Hamilton Way as Spring Meadows residents come and go.
Addressing these concerns, Matt Hoying of Choice One Engineering said at the Oct. 11, 2022, Planning Commission meeting that the design of the future neighborhood and its short and narrow roads would naturally cause what he then called “passive traffic calming.”
As the result of the community concerns about dividing the subdivision from the homes on Kenneth Hamilton Way and preserving some of the natural features on the boundaries of the subdivision, DDC modified its plans to include a natural buffer zone on the southernmost part of the property.
Further, Planning Commission members and concerned citizens wrestled last year with a proposed homeowner’s association, or HOA, that DDC intends to establish in Spring Meadows.
At the time, Sears assured commission members that the HOA’s primary purpose is to ensure the maintenance of the four acres of open space, including the detention ponds, playground and natural trails the company aims to build.
However, the HOA will compel homeowners to abide by various aesthetic parameters in personalizing their Fischer-built homes.
As previously reported, the Spring Meadows homeowner’s association manual stipulates “no animals shall be raised, bred or kept on any lot or in the common areas,” “vegetable gardens shall only be located in the rear yard … and not exceed 200 square feet,” “no above ground swimming pools of any type shall be constructed on any lot,” “no structure of a temporary character … shall be … erected, maintained or installed,” “absolutely no metal or plastic structured playground equipment or trampolines will be permitted.”
Additional reporting on the Spring Meadows subdivision will appear in the News as construction continues and when the final plat ordinance appears before Village Council later this fall.
2 Responses to “90-home subdivision underway in Yellow Springs”
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There need to be some homes with some “granny flats, or in-law houses” available for aging boomers to be near the village and loved ones to live without imposing or sacrificing their own privacy if they’re able to live independently. A family could take the bigger house and put a widow/widower or aging couple in the addition because you just don’t need as much “stuff” when you get old! I don’t understand why the problem of housing for the Boomers and other aging generations has not been adequately addressed in our society unless it is to just hide seniors away like unwanted twigs. Some seniors have to go live in a f’n nursing home because that’s the only thing affordable with the benefit of their health care coverage and I’m not talking about seniors who need constant care. It just really pizzes me off that people claim to not have seen the housing dilemma crises coming and everyone wants to look like they’re living in Lake Tahoe. Well, Old People Exist and they Need Affordable Pleasant housing. What’s the point of getting old if you can’t afford to live comfortably? Put some housing in those backyards for seniors you all claim to love so much. Quite trying to look so “cool” and be real. Poor people exist, too.
What Yellow Springs needs is a cozy mobile home park with a clubhouse. Yeah, now we’re talking! Cheers!