Fairborn plan calls for 141 new homes on nearly 30 acres near I-675

The project began in 1998 as the city approved the development’s preliminary plan and some homes were constructed, officials said.

Since brightSTAR bought the development in November 2020, 10 homes have been added as part of 61 lots and there are now 37 residents, said company President Will Skillman.

Nine homes are now under construction or for sale “and the remainder of those 61 homes” are expected to be added this year “if the market will bear it,” Skillman said.

Those homes — two- and three-bedroom units with garages — are listed at $169,900, he said.

The 141 homes are being proposed as Park Hills Crossing Phase II, he said.

While the city has restricted mobile or manufactured homes in recent years, it is rightly abiding by its preliminary plan approval long before that action was taken, Fairborn City Manager Rob Anderson said.

“This was something that came in and essentially grandfathered because it was approved” in the past, Anderson told city council earlier this month.

“And now the new owners are developing according to the preliminary plan that was developed years and years ago,” he added. “I don’t want anybody to get the impression that we said no and then said yes. We’re following the approved plan that was in place. Again, it’s the owner’s right to do that. We don’t want to infringe on property rights.”

BrightSTAR’s construction partners, The Loring Group, seek approval of a final planned unit development plan for 29.43 acres, city records show.

That proposal had tentative been scheduled to go before the city’s planning board this month, but has been delayed until June at the applicant’s request, City Planner Kathleen Riggs said.

If approved by the planning board, the proposal would require city council approval of more plans before development can move forward, Riggs said.

Phase II homes would include the same features as those Phase I, Skillman said.

“Phase II is going to look exactly like Phase I,” he said. “The same exact home product. The same exact quality…it’s going to look like an extension of Phase I.”

Pending city approval, Skillman said he would like to break ground next spring.