Developer plans 72-home development on Vandalia site near Dayton Int’l Airport

Vandalia planning commission recommends project approval; council to hold vote in August.
Developer D.R. Horton plans to build 72 houses on a 14-acre site near Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, at the south end of Corporate Center Drive. The site is currently tree-filled. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF

Developer D.R. Horton plans to build 72 houses on a 14-acre site near Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, at the south end of Corporate Center Drive. The site is currently tree-filled. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF

A developer in Vandalia wants to construct a new housing development on a vacant site south of the Dayton International Airport.

National homebuilder D.R. Horton is asking the city of Vandalia to reclassify a long-vacant, 14-acre site situated at the south end of Corporate Center Drive from office district zoning to residential planned unit development.

The rezoning would facilitate construction of 72 single-family homes on the currently tree-filled site, planning commission documents show.

Vandalia’s planning commission recently recommended council approval of the proposal.

City council will consider the project during its July 21 study session, with a vote scheduled during the Aug. 18 regular meeting.

D.R. Horton has proposed around five home lots per acre, with just over 5 acres preserved as open space.

ajc.com

icon to expand image

As part of the proposed development, the current cul-de-sac of Corporate Center Drive would be vacated to allow installation of new public streets, according to planning documents.

The development would be served by three new cul-de-sacs, all connecting to Corporate Center Drive.

The site is located within an area that includes a blend of residential and business uses.

Homes proposed for the development would be a “narrower townhome-style design,” planning commission documents state, with minimal side yards.

Plans call for open space around the perimeter of the site, with a 40-foot buffer area preserved along the eastern edge of the site, between the D.R. Horton development and neighboring homes on Damien Street to the east.

The development would not be connected by roadway to the adjacent neighborhood along Damien Street and Pool Avenue, but a planned pedestrian walkway would provide some level of connectivity.

A small “tot lot,” or neighborhood common area typically designed for young children to play, has also been proposed at the north end of the development site.

The development would be completed in two phases, with phase one construction beginning around fall 2026.

The pace of home sales would then dictate the beginning of phase two, with construction otherwise estimated to begin around mid-2027.

To the southeast, a 167-home development is planned for an 85-acre site at 7848 S. Brown School Road.

This development, to be named Riverdale, will be constructed by Arbor Homes in four phases, with phase one set to begin in December. Future phases would begin in one-year intervals thereafter, with each expected to take approximately 15 months to complete.

The project was contested by a group of Vandalia residents, a group of whom formed a committee in an attempt to bring the proposed development to an Election Day vote.

But the nearly 600 signatures collected as part of the referendum effort were deemed legally insufficient by the city of Vandalia, despite a recommendation to the contrary by the Montgomery County Board of Elections, due to “critical errors” on petition forms prepared by city law director Gerald McDonald.

About the Author