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ASHLAND — Ashland City Council has called a special meeting to discuss a 120-acre annexation that could lead to a housing subdivision with the potential for hundreds of homes.
The special session is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, according to an agenda issued by the city Wednesday afternoon.
City officials will vote on a resolution “regarding services to be provided to territory to be annexed into the city of Ashland and declaring an emergency,” according to the agenda.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller confirmed the annexation petition, signed by Scott Conery on March 3, involves plans for a housing subdivision.
He said the development could lead to the construction of “somewhere in the ballpark” of 400 single-family houses and market-rate townhouses. But the exact number is evolving.
Conery, a local investor behind numerous businesses in Ashland, did not respond to a request for comment.
The land is comprised of three parcels in Montgomery Township, totaling 119.8 acres. It used to be a farm, said Steve Uhler, a township trustee.
Uhler and other township officials suspected a petition for annexation would be coming.
“We had a feeling this would happen. Annexation was being discussed when we heard about the farm being sold,” Uhler said, adding he heard Conery bought it in the fall of 2024.
County real estate records show the property has been owned by Becker Estate LLC since Feb. 9, 2024. State business records show the LLC is owned by Carl Becker, the former owner of the 120 acres that is now being petitioned for annexation.
It is unclear the extent of Conery’s involvement beyond signing the annexation petition.
Nevertheless, Uhler first learned about the annexation around two weeks ago. That’s when an attorney named Thomas Schmitt, on behalf of Conery, notified the township, city of Ashland and Ashland County commissioners of the intent to file a petition.
“And when it was originally talked about, it was a different kind of annexation,” Uhler said, noting it would be what’s known as a special, expedited “type 2” annexation.
The type of annexation, according to state law, would allow property taxes to keep benefitting the township.
“But whoever would live there would pay city income tax and pay for city utilities,” Uhler said. “But we haven’t talked with the city to know how exactly that would work.”
Miller said annexations always possess the possibility of what he called “revenue sharing” but declined to offer additional details.
Uhler said if the development is good for the community, that’s great.
“But do I like taking 120 acres out of our township? No … Montgomery Township keeps getting smaller and smaller,” he said.
Uhler said the township plans on expressing opposition to the annexation petition in writing in the near future.
Sewer upgrades
City officials have been aware of plans for this housing plan since at least early December. That’s when city council unanimously voted to enter into a $425,000 contract with MS Consultants to design a sewer-trunk line extension in that area.
The extension will stretch from the city’s fire station at U.S. Route 42 and Mifflin Avenue to the interstate’s intersection with Middle Rowsburg Road — a four-mile distance.
At the time, Miller said the expansion “opens us up for future residential growth in that area” and that he knew of one property owner who was prospecting land for plans to build up to 400 housing units.
“This property would certainly be serviced by that trunk line,” Miller said Wednesday. “But it’s part of a bigger intended purpose, which is taking pressure off that side of the city … this 12-inch line would relieve pressure on that side of town because it would take a direct route to our treatment plant.”