By Danielle Coots
For the News-Current
BEAVERCREEK — The Cottages at Beavercreek received the approval needed from city council to move forward regarding zoning for approximately 20 acres.
Simms Development requested rezoning from an agricultural district to a residential planned unit development to construct 90 multi-family housing located at 2358 County Line Road. This development will be Simms Development’s third community in Beavercreek.
During the public hearings over the past couple of months, one of the main issues from residents was the connection of an emergency access road. The question was whether to have the emergency access road at Quill Drive be a permanent roadway or keep it as a temporary road and remain part of the bike path.
The opinions of connectivity divided the city council at previous council meetings. Some members were all for connectivity, while others were not and a few needed more information from the fire and police department. Residents were in favor of leaving the emergency access as a non-motorized pathway. Because of the split opinions, the fire department presented in front of the city council members with a recommendation of not connecting The Cottages of Beavercreek with a permanent roadway.
The fire department’s recommendation was based on the current condition of the maintenance of the questionable bike path section. Unlike other area emergency accesses, this section appeared to be clean and proved to be easily accessible in case of emergencies.
The Cottages of Beavercreek was approved for rezoning and it has been recommended by the fire and police department that the emergency access road be constructed with a 12-foot asphalt pavement path with collapsible bollards or a gate that will be determined by the Fire Department at the site planning stage. The path will inhibit vehicular access between The Cottages of Beavercreek and The Stone Gate II neighborhoods.
The rezoning application was approved by the majority, but opposed by council member Melissa Litteral.
