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Planning commission approves amended site plan for 314-unit development at Market and Union
Summary
The Middletown Planning Commission approved a major amendment to the planned development at Market Avenue and Union Road, approving rearranged buildings, a new public street and revised parking plan subject to staff conditions on sidewalks, landscaping and fire access.
The Middletown City Planning Commission on Nov. 12 approved a major amendment to the planned development at the northwest corner of Market Avenue and Union Road, a project that already carries approval for 314 apartment units. The commission’s approval, passed unanimously, includes the conditions recommended by planning staff to address sidewalks, landscaping and fire access.
Planning staff summarized the application as a site-plan revision that would rearrange the previously approved buildings and add a public street. “Based on the application submitted, the applicant wishes to construct a public street within the development,” staff said during the public hearing, and noted the proposed new local street has a 53-foot right-of-way, wider than the city’s 50-foot minimum.
Staff told the commission the revised plan proposes 547 parking spaces compared with 584 in the previously approved plan and that the applicant proposed 6-foot sidewalks along the new street, one foot wider than the minimum city requirement. Staff also called out remaining technical items for later review, including parking-stall and drive-aisle dimensions and a landscaping plan to confirm compliance with chapter 12-16 of the Middletown development code.
A commissioner supporting the application said the proposal is a rare opportunity for density: “It’s not every day that 314 homes are proposed to be built in Middletown,” he said, noting the commission had previously granted extensions and wants to see the project built. The commission moved to approve the application with the staff-recommended conditions and recorded a unanimous roll-call vote approving the motion.
The approval will be implemented subject to the conditions listed by staff: construction of a 5-foot sidewalk along Market Avenue and Union Road frontages to connect to existing sidewalks; full compliance with the city’s landscape and parking chapters (which may require reducing proposed parking to meet landscaping standards); and full compliance with the Ohio Fire Code and fire-department access requirements. The commission’s action does not change prior approvals governed by the city council; staff characterized the change as a major amendment requiring planning commission approval only.
Next steps: the applicant will incorporate the conditions into final engineering and construction drawings and submit any remaining technical details (parking stall and aisle dimensions, final landscaping plan) needed for staff sign-off and building/zoning permits.
