The Newark Planning Commission has received the request to change land deemed The River Road Development from R (330 single family homes) to PUD (Planned Unit Development- high density of 502 lots, 111 acres; 322 homes on 93 acres, multifamily on 18 acres)

We, the signed, ask the Newark Planning Commission to make the recommendation to keep The River Road Development zoned as is for the following reasons:

1. Newark residents will be faced with higher taxes to pay for items such as the newly planned waterline loop with booster station, roads to manage increased traffic, and increased expenditures for infrastructure and public services. 

2. Immediate neighbors to the development face environmental challenges; such as increased water run off, flooding and erosion, impacts to the aquifer and water quality, sedimentation and displaced wildlife. These factors would be a detriment to quality of life for both single family homes and farms nearby.

3. Granville School District would be legally required to build a new school building as the increased zoning density would cause the school population to exceed the maximum occupancy rate. According to the School District Board this would trigger the construction of a new middle school and the need for a 3.5-4 mil levy. The burden of the cost of the development would be on current Granville residents.

4. According to the Zoning Code of Newark 155.1 (page 183) Council may amend code when the rezoning request is in public necessity, public convenience, public welfare and good zoning practices. It is our belief that the request for the PUD zoning does not meet any of these requirements.