WAPAKONETA —Residents of a subdivision in Wapakoneta have organized an opposition group against low-income housing proposed by Sunset Development and Investment, LLC for property next to their homes.
Wapakoneta Safety Service Director Chad Scott said the location of the proposed housing project is a 7.965-acre parcel at the northwest corner of state Route 501 and Redskin Trail. The back of the parcel is perhaps 30 feet from the back yard of Matt Ricker, a resident of the Lincoln Park subdivision. The project would produce 60 total units in a two-story building.
There are already low-income apartments at 402 Ashland Ave. and 1105 Middle St. in Wapakoneta, Scott said.
According to Bill Jacobs, president of the Home Owners Association, the Auglaize County Auditor has the average worth of homes located in Lincoln Park listed as being nearly $242,000. Jacobs said that is just the worth used to estimate property tax each year, and some homes in the subdivision have sold for more. He did not comment further on the record about what those sales prices were.
Jacobs cited a Stanford University study reporting that low-income housing built near neighborhoods with median incomes above $54,000 caused a 2.5-percent decrease in property value over 10 years for properties within a tenth of a mile. The study also said if low-income housing were built in low-income neighborhoods, it would raise those property values over 10 years.
“The devaluation of the property value would be a direct correlation of the low-income housing going in,” Jacobs said.
Concern over property value is just one concern the residents of Lincoln Park share, and it isn’t even the most important issue, Jacobs said. The neighborhood has a series water drainage issues. Once every year or two, runoff from Kah Farm east of the subdivision cause the three retention ponds in the center of the neighborhood to overflow, causing backups into basements and flooding in the streets.
Jacobs said Springfield Court, one of the roads through the subdivision, has gotten knee-deep in water. One of his neighbors tried to drive through it once and his car stalled in the water, Jacobs said.
The subdivision has three retention ponds in the center of the neighborhood. The first acts as the initial catch for watering coming from Kah Farm and the ditches east of the neighborhood, said Ned Dammeyer, trustee for the home owners association. After reaching a certain depth excess water is supposed to flow from the first pond into the larger second pond but the water can get so deep it stalls in the first pond, Jacobs said. Sediment from Kah Farm also dumps into the first pond causing back ups.
“In about five years, this pond will probably be full of mud,” Dammeyer said.
“The drainage issue will give us more control,” said Wapakoneta Mayor Tom Stinebaugh. “It’s the only thing that will give us control.”
City officials and residents don’t have much say in where or when low-income housing is developed, Stinebaugh said. As long as the property is zoned for that type of development, there isn’t much to be done.
“[Development companies] get a contingent purchase agreement,” Stinebaugh said. “If they get the funding, they purchase the property. If not, they just walk away.”
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency has a special program to help build low-income housing developments, he said. After receiving information about possible development, city officials and residents are given time to respond to the proposition. If there is a legitimate concern, such as the Lincoln Park drainage issue, the state might decide not to finance that specific project, Stinebaugh said.
While drainage and property values concern Ricker, the safety of his family and privacy are concerns for him as well, he said. He and his wife lived about a tenth of a mile from low-income housing in Cridersville before moving to Lincoln Park. While living near the housing development, he noticed an increase in police presence there, he said.
“I don’t have any facts to support it,” Ricker said. “It seemed like the cops were there more than other parts of town.”
While he couldn’t tell when the police officers were at the housing for felony violations, it was obvious when they were there for domestic disputes because he and his wife could always hear that going on, Ricker said.
“I know we have not told our officers there needs to be an increased presence at those apartments (low incoming housing in Wapakoneta),” said Stinebaugh. “It doesn’t seem like there’s that big of an issue with increased crime there.”
Wapakoneta Police Chief Calvin Schneider declined to comment.
“They are two-story buildings and I can’t build a fence tall enough to have privacy in my own yard and patio,” Ricker said.
Jacobs has gathered all of his data together and is sending it, with a cover letter, to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to inform that agency of Lincoln Park’s opposition to the proposed low-income housing plan.
“There are better places in Wapakoneta for it,” he said. “It’s just not here.”
Stinebaugh said the city’s Communications Committee also drafted a letter during its recent meeting voicing opposition to the project. Committee Chair Chad Dunlap said the letter contains research into the drainage problems at Lincoln Park with an assessment of how new development would exacerbate the issue further. The letter also contains correspondence from Lincoln Park residents given to Wapakoneta City Council voicing their individual opposition to the proposal.
“The city’s position is we need more housing but not necessarily low-income housing,” he said. “We have two requests for government-assisted living right now.”
