WILMINGTON — Conditional upon a couple matters being resolved, the first two phases have been approved for a proposed residential subdivision on 109 acres off Prairie Avenue.
Phase 1 of the Bill Marine Estates Subdivision has 32 building lots, and would include an entrance on Prairie Avenue.
“The city needs it [lots to build new houses], and we need to figure out a way to make it work,” property owner and developer Bill Marine said near the close of this week’s Wilmington City Planning Commission (CPC) meeting where the preliminary map of the development was approved.
Last week, the CPC approved rezoning the site from rural residential to suburban neighborhood.
Local realtor Walter “Butch” Peelle is the agent for Marine. At the CPC meeting Peelle said, “We have people that are heading to Mason. We have people going to Hillsboro. We have people going to Washington Court House. We have people going to Milford and Loveland.” Those residency choices don’t help the Wilmington tax base, added Peelle.
People who reside within the Wilmington corporation limits are subject to the city’s earnings tax.
Wilmington Service & Safety Director Brian Shidaker said the city needs more residential lots, but he also wants to do it in the right way. Part of doing it the right way, he indicated, is seeking advice from an engineer whether a turn lane will be needed on Prairie Avenue at the subdivision’s entrance.
Clinton County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Taylor Stuckert, also present at the CPC meeting, concurred. An expert is needed to assess the residential development’s likely impact on traffic, and to see what improvements may be necessary for the short- and long-term, said Stuckert.
Another question that needs to be discussed, Shidaker said, is who will pay for the construction of sidewalks in this and other future subdivisions — the developer or the individual property owners?
Stuckert said “newish” residential subdivisions in Wilmington such as Timber Glen and Country Oaks have a sidewalk gap of some sort.
Plans are for the Marine Estates development to have a paved walking trail, as well as sidewalks.
Phase 1 of the Bill Marine Estates Subdivision would include an entrance roadway on Prairie Avenue. The entrance would be aligned with Lowe’s Drive on the other side of Prairie Avenue.
Anticipated street names in the Phase 1 section on the preliminary map include Bill Marine Way, Michael Lane, and Susie Court. Two other street names penciled in on the map are Patti Place and Boulevard of Dreams.
Marine has been an automobile dealer in Wilmington since 1960.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
