Developer proposes 65-unit senior affordable housing at Dairy Barn site; council holds public hearing

Spire Development on Tuesday asked the Greenville City Council to rezone 1249 Schweitzer Street — the Dairy Barn property — to a PDR designation to allow a 65-unit, 55-and-up affordable rental building.

At the public hearing, Sean McNichol of Spire Development said the project would be financed through housing tax credits administered by the state and would include a leasing office, community center, laundry and fitness facilities. "We are proposing to rezone the Dairy Barn property to a PDR zoning designation to allow the development of a 55 and up rental housing development," McNichol said. He added the building would be elevator-served and built to modern accessibility standards.

The developer outlined how affordability would be enforced: rents are capped based on county median income and units would serve households at or below roughly 80% of area median income. McNichol said a typical two-person income cap for Darke County in 2025 is about $56,000 and that qualification is an income test rather than an asset test. He described the project as primarily senior housing and said a restrictive deed covenant would keep it limited to seniors and affordable units.

Residents at the hearing urged the council to weigh commercial reuse of the site. Longtime resident Gail Banks asked why the property could not be marketed for a family restaurant or other business: "I don't understand why we can't recruit another business for that space," she said, describing Schweitzer Street as historically commercial. Bob Brandon, a former Schweitzer Street business owner, recounted attempts to sell nearby commercial properties and raised concerns about environmental testing after exploratory drilling on another lot.

McNichol and other city officials addressed technical questions from residents. The developer said a third-party market study is required by state funding rules and that the project must demonstrate demand from Greenville and nearby townships. On parking and traffic, McNichol said Spire is proposing a 1:1 parking ratio (65 spaces for 65 units), citing Institute of Transportation Engineers guidance and the developer's experience; he estimated peak-hour trips at about 16 and daily trips at about 224. He said ODOT thresholds typically require substantially more units to trigger traffic signals or formal traffic-control changes.

Local business owner BJ Paulus asked whether the project could later be converted to general-occupancy low-income housing. McNichol said a restrictive covenant attached to the deed would prevent pivoting to general occupancy: "There's a restricted covenant attached to the deed that it must remain affordable and for seniors," he said.

Council members said they would not take final action tonight because two members were absent; the law director and staff indicated the rezoning ordinance and deed restriction language will be prepared for a future meeting. The council president said rezoning will return as an ordinance at the next meeting for formal consideration.

Next steps: council staff will prepare the ordinance and the deed-restriction language for a future meeting; no vote occurred at Tuesday's hearing.