January 9, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 2

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

American Foursquare on East Schantz Avenue

Sugar Camp proposal outlined further to Oakwood Planning Commission

By Dolores Winkler-Wagner

The Oakwood Planning Commission met last Wednesday, Jan. 3 to hear further-defined plans for the proposed Sugar Camp development from Oakwood Investments, LLC and the Versant Group, LLC, the two developers of the area. A general overview was presented by Deputy City Manager Jay Weiskircher. Of the 36 acres owned by Oakwood Investments, 11 acres will be purchased by Versant, which, with the seven acres they already own along Far Hills Avenue, will give them a total of 18 acres for the construction of housing plus two professional buildings. To make way for the development, 13 of the 20 acres of trees now on the property will be cleared.

Parking Lots & Entrances

Sugar Camp’s West Schantz Avenue parking will remain, with additional parking spaces added. The “east” parking lot at Maysfield and Schantz, will be eliminated to make way for housing, and a new lot built to serve the professional building closest to West Schantz Avenue. (Bldg. D). The gatehouse located there will be converted to an open-to-the-public café.

Although there are only 424 parking spaces for the property where the city code requires 548 vehicles, Weiskircher noted that the different hours of usage by the various constituents, (medical patients during the weekdays, synagogue attendees on Saturdays and evenings) makes the 424 spaces adequate.

A total of three entrances will serve Sugar Camp, The west-most gate on West Schantz Avenue will remain the same. However, the main gate, now located opposite Maysfield, will be closed and new one opened on Schantz opposite Kramer Road. A third entrance will be located on Far Hills Avenue at Springhouse Road to provide access to both Sugar Camp’s housing component and the Oakwood soccer fields. Traffic lights will be installed at both the Kramer Road and Far Hills Avenue entrances. Along the West Schantz border, most trees will be saved, the iron fencing removed and new landscaping installed. Soft high-pressure sodium lights will be used for street lighting.

The Professional Buildings

Two new office buildings will be added to the four Sugar Camp buildings already on the property. One will be a four-story professional building near the west gate on Schantz (because of the topography of the area, only 11⁄2 stories will be visible from the street) with a possible restaurant on the top floor, which might serve liquor since, according to Weiskircher, liquor permits are available in Oakwood.

The second building will be a 30,000 sq. ft. professional building to be located near the new northeast entrance to Sugar Camp at Sawmill Rd.

The Residential Component

The residential component will include three types of housing – Towne Villas to be located along Far Hills Avenue at a 40-ft. setback from the street; Park Villas to placed throughout the complex; and Manor House, four 4-story buildings, each with eight units and underground garages. Cost of housing per unit will range from $400,000 to $700,000, approximately, with sizes in the 3,000-4,000 sq. ft. range.
Finally, a large Community Building for Sugar Camp residents will be built near the residential complex.

Herold Williams, CEO of the Versant Group, LLC, elaborated on the construction of the buildings. A selection of pre-designed floor plans will be available. Exteriors will feature a combination of brick, stucco, stone and smooth limestone. Clay roof tiles of moss green, gray and brown will be used throughout the residential area.

Versant will use a relatively new type building system for exterior and interior separation walls - “autoclaved aerated concrete” (AAC) – a solid, ultra-lightweight concrete system, 80 percent air, that exceeds performance found in wood-frame traditional building methods, according to Williams. It is fireproof, weatherproof, sound proof and also acts as excellent insulation, Williams said. “Looking
at this site needs to stand the test of time. AAC offers more solid construction without worry of mold,” Williams said.

Other Considerations

Steve Nixon and Paul Goodhur of Woolpert Engineering discussed the impact of this new development on traffic, traffic patterns and turning lanes and will present more complete and detailed plans at the Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 17.

Police, fire and trash collection will be serviced by the city of Oakwood. Responsibility for snow removal, salt, street repair, leaf collection also will be provided by Oakwood if Sugar Camp becomes a dedicated public area.

Drainage of water from the development poses the biggest challenge. Scott Kneble of Lockwood, Jones & Beale, and Kevin Weaver, Director of Engineering and Public Works for the City of Oakwood, felt confident that proper water drainage could easily be handled by current Dayton and Kettering facilities.

Planned Development Schedule

Completion of the project will take several years. In 2007 Buildings A and D will be ready for occupancy and the public road serving the commercial uses completed. The synagogue, professional offices and restaurant near W. Schantz Ave. are scheduled for 2008; in 2009 the Town Villas will be finished; 2010 will see the completion of the single and multi-family housing along W. Schantz Avenue, plus the Far Hills Commercial Building and the partial finishing of the 4-story condo units and residences along the north slope of the property. Finally, 2012 will see the completion of the housing section at the northwest corner of the site.

The city of Oakwood will realize significant tax dollars from this development. When complete, it will be valued at $90 million.

The next planning Commission meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at the Oakwood Community Center. The public is invited to attend.

Vanderburgh elected school board president

By Lance Winkler

The first order of business of the new year for the Jan. 9 meeting of the Oakwood Board of Education was to elect a new president and vice president. Paul M. Vanderburgh, Ed.D. was elected as president of the Oakwood school board with Debra S. Hershey elected vice president. Dr. Vanderburgh commented that Oakwood schools have a lot to be proud of and cited the administration, teachers, students and community for its collective success.

“Though I could cite lots of evidence to make the case, I’ll point to two. First, in the 200506 school year, Oakwood was the 4th highest ranked school district out of 611 public school district in the state, according to the Ohio Department of Education’s Performance Index. In fact, we’ve been among the top five for the past three years…Second, the just completed Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) from the State of Ohio Auditor’s Office resulted in the best audit opinion possible. Though we’ve received this rating each of the past 12 years, we do not take for granted the leadership, planning, and meticulous attention in our Treasurer’s office
that makes this happen,” Vanderburg said.

Board member assignments were then meted out: Student Achievement Liaison/ Communication duties were given to Debra Hershey; Beth Merritt was assigned as P.T.O Liaison; Business/Advisory /Finance Committee was taken up by Dr. Paul Vanderburgh; Education Liaison was assigned to Elizabeth Reger; Legislative Liaison went to Dr. Jim Uphoff and Dr. Vanderburgh was given Facilities Committee duties.

In Curricular Showcase, Edwin D. Smith Elementary first grade teachers Meghan Duggan, Heather Jacobs, Kathy Kash, Mary Linzemeier and Pat Tule gave a presentation on their Phonics Dance program, a mode of teaching developed by Troy elementary teacher Ginny Dowd. The method takes students through alphabetical stringing and wordplay that includes chanting, movement and rhythm. A selection of clips showing the students engaged in Phonics Dance was shown.

Oakwood Junior High School Spanish teacher Helen Gustke was commended by the board for earning her National Board Certification in Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood/World Languages Other than English. Superintendent Dr. Mary Jo Scalzo stressed that the assessments and skill tests are extremely rigorous and Ms. Gustke earned her laurel well.

OHS Athletic Director Mark Hughes was recognized for being elected to the Southwest District Athletic Board, Class AA Position. Responsibilities include coordinating the sectional and district tournaments in Southwest Ohio and working with tournament managers to insure that tournaments are run effectively.

Congratulations were given to Micaela Gerace, an Edwin D. Smith sixth grader, who will be singing in a 2007 OAKE National Conference Honor Choir at the national Music Education Conference in Chicago, Illinois, March 21-24.

Additional congratulations were given to the Oakwood High School orchestra, directed by Nan Watson, for their pre-concert performance at the Dayton Philharmonic concert at the Schuster Center; the 33 students who took part in the Dayton Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker and last but not least, the 13 students who will be performing in the Muse Machine production of Thoroughly Modern Millie Jan. 11-14.

The next Oakwood Board of Education meeting is slated for Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.

Ice cream smiles (and one frown)

Brownie Girl Scout Troop 2186, made up of Edwin D. Smith first graders, recently visited Graeter’s Ice Cream parlor on Far Hills Avenue. The girls and their guests were treated to a tour of the store and were put to work making some fresh whipped cream. After their visit, each Brownie enjoyed an ice cream cone.

top of page