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Developer Mark Overholser spoke to commissioners and told them he has been working with neighbors in the area since acquiring the land. He said the project will help development in that part of the county.
“The pool came up for sale and we purchased it last fall,” Overholser said. “As a pool, it is no longer feasible. We can’t re-work it and bring it back as a pool.”
The pool has been closed for a couple of years now, Overholser said, and since then the property has been sitting vacant.
The decision to close the pool came in 2015, when board members decided that its age and condition made it no longer safe for swimmers. The pool was open for almost 60 years before that and many community members expressed sadness when it closed.
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Neighbor Richard Vovo said he would have liked to see it stay as a pool for the community but didn’t mind the developers building condos there.
“It’s fine,” he said. “Do something with that place. People need places to live and I got nothing against it.”
Overholser said the project will be beneficial for the area.
“Northridge has had some really good press about being a great place to live and we thought it would be a good idea to do some type of housing like that,” he said.
Jennifer Tuttle with the county’s community development office recommended Clark County commissioners approve the zoning change. She said Overholser has worked with the community so far and has listened.
“There were a lot of discussions about apartments and condos,” she told county commissioners. “The applicant agreed to amend the request for condo development only so there will be no apartments.”
The property sits on 2.85 acres and is located in a neighborhood. The condos would fit in with the community overall, Tuttle said.
“There are condos, single families homes and a school nearby,” she said.
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Overholser said he wants to listen to Northridge residents to be sure they’re happy with the new development, too.
“I did discuss with the neighborhood there at their last meeting and their concern was apartments and the busyness of that. I would like to have (an apartment option) but their concerns are valid,” Overholser said.
The new condos will likely be built similar to the condos that are already in the area, he said, but they are still planning and are unsure how many units will be included.
“To the north we have condos that are existing from years past and we will probably do something similar,” he said. “It’s very much in the planning stages of what we want to put in there.”
The project might be completed within two years, Overholser said, but that depends on how quickly the plannings stages go. He said so far the process has gone smoothly.
“All the government agencies and the the neighbors have been really good,” he said. “I see a lot of good things this commission is doing and I am real encouraged by it.”
Though he doesn’t mind the condos, Vovo said he does have concerns with the school being nearby.
“They are going to have to screen the residents and do background checks,” Vovo said. “Somebody is going to have to be in charge of that.”
By the Numbers:
2.85: Acres of land where the condos might be built.
60: Years the property acted as the Northridge Pool.
2: Years the pool has been closed.
In-Depth Coverage
The Springfield News-Sun digs into stories about new developments throughout Clark and Champaign counties, including recent stories on new restaurants in downtown Springfield and new stores opening at the Upper Valley Mall.
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