Vandalia homeowners near proposed townhome project seek to join appeals court case

This is the second time the city has considered this project, as DDC Management submitted similar plans in 2022.

In both instances, the project received a recommendation for approval by planning commission before being ultimately rejected by council.

The developer, DDC Management, being represented by law office Coolidge Wall, filed an administrative appeal against the city in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court earlier this month.

The city of Vandalia has not yet officially responded to the appeal, according to court records.

However, a group of residents who live in the immediate vicinity of the proposed development have filed a joint motion to intervene in the case as additional party-defendants.

The motion contends the six individuals filing the joint motion would be directly affected by the proposed development and therefore have standing to intervene in the appeals case on their own behalf.

The motion asserts the neighbors would be impacted by the proposed development in several ways, including by “significant traffic overload”; loss of privacy and rural character; lowered property value; noise from I-70 due to loss of natural buffer; and farmland incompatibility.

“The movants are the only parties with a direct, personal and irreparable stake in preventing the destruction of their residential enclave,” the motion reads. “The city of Vandalia is required to defend its legislative zoning decision, but it cannot adequately represent the movants’ district interest in privacy, traffic safety, property values and quality of life interests that will be permanently impaired if this high-density development is approved.”

The motion asks the court to grant the motion to intervene and to further uphold the city’s denial of the development plans.

If an appeal is approved and the development is allowed to continue, the motion further asks that the city be required to mandate certain conditions, including construction of a wooded buffer along Mulberry Road, a sound barrier along I-70, a traffic impact study, independent property appraisals and an additional exit and entrance to the proposed development.