Continental Properties is applying for a zoning change that would allow a variety of uses on the property, including both multifamily housing and future retail/business spaces.
The proposed development, should it be approved, could break ground in the third quarter of 2025 and complete construction in one phase around the third quarter of 2027, according to Continental’s application.
Residents who spoke during Monday’s regularly scheduled Centerville City Council meeting said they believe the development will negatively impact the community’s quality of life, increase traffic and put a strain local infrastructure.
“There’s a reason why we all live in Centerville, because it’s special, it’s beautiful and it’s peaceful,” said Kristina Russo, who has lived on nearby Pelwood Drive for 13 years. “This apartment complex would completely destroy my sense of peace that I have in my home, and it will also contribute to this destruction of some of the things that make Centerville so special.
“Centerville prides itself on being an open-space community. At what point are we no longer going to be able to call ourselves that due to over-development?
The development would be near an intersection that touches three different communities. Most of the land west of Wilmington Pike, where the new apartments would go, is in Centerville. The land at the northeast corner of Wilmington and Alex-Bell/Franklin is in Sugarcreek Twp. and includes a mile-long commercial strip and the Bayberry Cove apartments. The land at the southeast corner is in Bellbrook, and is home to the huge Mill Pond apartment complex.
Bruce Soifer, whose has lived on nearby Brookmeadow Drive for eight years, asked council “when does stability rule over progress?”
“There’s only so much room for these kind of properties,” he said. “There’s better suited places out on the fringes off of Clyo and Feedwire that would make more sense where the roads are wider and can handle the traffic.”
The applications for the proposed development could be scheduled for public hearings before Centerville Planning Commission as early as Nov. 19.
The commission will review each application and vote to either recommend approval or denial by city council. The second public hearings with city council are tentatively scheduled for its Jan. 13 meeting, a date that is subject to change.
Based on its overall portfolio and property average at its two Butler County sites, one in West Chester Twp. and the other in Liberty Twp., Continental expects the Centerville/Bellbrook site to be home to 480 residents with nearly half the residents between the ages of 20 and 34 and about 20% being between 35 and 49.
The property at 7155 Wilmington Pike includes the Henry Opdyke-Eleazer Williamson Home, a structure that was built in the early 1800s, but has been vacant for almost 40 years.
Opdyke was one of the founders of the city of Bellbrook. Williamson purchased the home in 1851.
Continental’s proposal submitted to the city includes preserving and partially restoring the locally registered landmark, and incorporating it into the community by several walking paths that would connect the structure to the clubhouse, swimming pool and apartments.
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