Residents press Council for transparency on Washington Hills replat; concern raised about councilmember role

Public commenters at the Nov. 3 Alliance City Council meeting pressed elected officials for more transparency and direct engagement on development plans for the Washington Hills area.

Brandi Douthitt (S Seneca) said online marketing for the Washington Hills development lists 162 homes starting at $160,000 and asked for more detail on housing quality and how the city plans to engage the neighborhood. "I would like to see more transparency in these replats," she said, and asked whether the city would explore working with smaller, micro-developers rather than large-scale projects.

Douthitt also expressed concern about appearances of conflict, thanking Councilman Phillip Mastroianni for recusing himself but asking why he had presented the ordinance if he intended to step aside from voting. The Council later granted Mastroianni’s request to be excused from Ordinance 065-25 (the Hedgewood Avenue replat) during the meeting.

Resident Ben Bolog (Vincent Blvd) told the Council he believes replatting and rezoning can alter lot sizes and house requirements in ways that harm long-standing residents’ property values, and criticized developers’ processes for not soliciting neighborhood input door-to-door. He also defended his building at 40 Park Street after a recent law-enforcement raid, saying the property passed county and state inspections and describing the interior damage as limited.

Council took no final action on the Washington Hills references that evening; ordinances related to replats (Ordinances 064-25 and 065-25) were introduced and referred to the Planning Commission for review.