A Citizen's Battle with the City - Oh, and by the way... Welcome to Centerville!

We moved to Centerville in 2004. Since moving here we have had to deal with a variety of issues that have caused us great inconvenience and aggravation: City water connection, The redevelopment plan, and Zoning.

When we purchased out home we called the city to ask about being hooked up to the city water system because we had a concern over the existing well. At that time we were told that all water concerns would be taken up by the city council when the road construction issue on County Road 14 was settled. We were repeatedly told that this matter would wait for the road construction and that we could get on city water when the road in front of our house was dug up sometime in 2008.

This spring we lost almost all water pressure. Our situation was grave. We called again and demanded that something be done because the lack of water had become a quality of life issue and a potential health hazard. We then found out that we could not drill a new well and also found out that our being hooked up to city water actually had nothing what so ever to do with the road construction in the front of our home and that water would come in through the back.

When we discovered that we could not dig a well but that we could get a city water hook-up we requested to proceed with the hook-up. It took the city of Centerville 6 months to begin the process.

We have been given all kinds of erroneous information and spent hours on the phone trying to find out about the bidding process, how we could be hooked up to a hydrant if need be, what the assessment would be, who would be responsible for acquiring and paying for a check valve, etc. etc. When a contractor was finally hired they gave us a date and were ready to start work immediately. The day that the contractors were to begin it was discovered that no one from the city had acquired the appropriate permits from the health department. This meant another 3-week delay. Not only was this inconvenient for us, it also cost the contractors lost time and money.

When the contractor began work on the project it was discovered at the end of the day that the wrong fittings had been used. The inspector sent by the city did not catch the problem when he made his inspection. The job had to be re-done leading to another delay. After all of this we had to wait for a chloroform test and a hydrostat test to be run.

In the end, the city council did agree and maintained our residential zoning. However, it should have been clear from looking at a map that there would never be a commercial interest in our property. We should not have had to speak at a council meeting in order to express this concern. A few months later, we were again informed that we were going to be re-zoned to mixed use rather than residential. If the city deemed this inappropriate once and nothing has changed, why are they now including our property in the second phase of the redevelopment project?

When we bought our property we were zoned as a residential property. If this proposed change is implemented we feel that our hands will be tied. If we are rezoned to mixed used any potential new owners will be faced with being non-conforming and will not be allowed to make any changes to the home. No developer will be interested in buying our property unless all of our neighbors also agree to sell. We feel that we are being unjustly placed in an unfair and unreasonable situation.

Conclusion
We would like to see the city prove that the market can substantiate the current plan before taking on an even bigger proposal. If it can be proved that the City Of Centerville can support all of the commercial and residential growth and development of the existing Comprehensive Plan over the next five or ten years, we think it would then be reasonable to consider further action. But, given the current declining economy and markets, we do believe that a fiscally conservative approach to development is warranted over the next few years.