Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Joe Koch of Koch Construction stands at the entrance to The Landings at Boulder Creek, a continuation of the Herons Landing development off New Road in Austintown. The new subdivision is one of two that are opening this year with 54 new housing lots.

AUSTINTOWN — Austintown Township has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and is making a comeback in the housing market with two new subdivisions.

Darren Crivelli, Austintown’s zoning inspector, said 2021 has been the busiest year he has seen since joining the township zoning office 13 years ago.

“Fall of 2008 was the last extension of a new or existing subdivision,” Crivelli said. “That was Calvary Court in the Victory Hills subdivision off Fairview.”

Crivelli said he joined Austintown zoning just as the housing market took a big financial hit. In Austintown, Crivelli said subdivision extensions basically ended for more than a decade.

But this year, builders appear willing to invest in a market where there seems to be a demand.

The smaller of the two subdivision extensions is Serenity Hill, Plat No. 1, part of the Salt Springs tract. This continues the development on Meander Glen Drive off Ohltown Road on the township’s northern border. The extension will include 18 lots in a cul-de-sac that borders the Trumbull County line. The extension will go before the Mahoning County Planning Commission on Tuesday.

The second extension is The Landings at Boulder Creek, which is ready to go, offering 36 lots in the northern section of the Herons Landing.

“The preliminaries have been approved,” Crivelli said. “It is the first new dedicated roadway and subdivision since 2008. We have pretty much run out of desirable lots in existing subdivisions.”

Crivelli said it seems that there is a strong demand for homes, and people “want new.”

FIRST TEST

Handling the Landings at Boulder Creek is Koch Construction. Owner Joe Koch said, “This will be the first test of how these houses will move with the local pressures and the economy.”

He said pricing on everything across-the-board has increased including lumber, siding and roofing shingles. At the same time, though, the value of homes is increasing.

Koch said he believes jobs coming to the area, such as at the Ultium battery plant in Lordstown and others, will be good paying and thus the need for moderate- to upper-income housing will be in demand.

He said doing nothing now would not be right.

“If you look at how a community dies, it is from the lack of progress,” Koch said. “I felt this was a good time to take a risk and make progress.”

Phase I of The Landings at Boulder Creek is ready to be platted. The road and utilities are in place, and Koch said his company could build a home in a couple of weeks.

BIG CHANGE

Crivelli said it is really a big change to see two extensions with a combined 54 lots opening this year.

For the Austintown zoning office, big changes began last year, when zoning permits began to increase.

“In 2019, we issued a total of 350 permits,” he said. “In 2020 we issued 445 permits because residents weren’t going anywhere, so they started investing in their backyards.”

Pools seemed to top the list of increased permits. Going from a few permits each year, the zoning office issued 62 pool permits in 2020. This year, the zoning office is already at 30 pool permits, and Crivelli expects to tie or pass the 2020 numbers.

On nuisance properties, Crivelli said the numbers are down. At the May 24 meeting in 2019, there were 98 nuisance properties. At the May 24 meeting this year there were 38 and the May 10 meeting had 36.

“We don’t have as many vacant homes this year,” Crivelli said.

He said about a dozen homes are nuisances, and one will soon be taken down by the township. He said 4430 Nantucket had a fire earlier this year and was not covered by insurance. The township will take it down and will place a lien on the property.

“Nantucket will be the 96th house we have taken down in the 13 years I’ve been here in Austintown,” Crivelli said.

One other house that fell to a fire was at 1275 Woodhurst Drive. He said a demolition contractor advised the township the home will be taken down in July. That house is insured and once it is down, the township will release the escrow funds.

jtwhitehouse@vindy.com