Malcolm Porter

"It'll be a challenge," said Malcolm Porter of the Building Industry Association.

''Down the road, in tough times,'' says Building Industry Association (BIA) of Central Ohio consultant Malcolm Porter, ''folks in those communities may not be willing to support future tax levies of any kind.''

The cities have a need for revenue," said Malcolm Porter, a BIA consultant at the forefront of development issues facing builders."I hope folks on the government side think twice."

Pricing the market

Builders worry too much reliance on impact fees and community-development authority revenue could backfire if costs rise too much.Porter said buyers in community-development authority districts could revolt against any further tax issues - whether for schools or county agencies - when they go to the ballot box.

"Down the road, in tough times, folks in those communities may not be willing to support future tax levies of any kind," he said.

The BIA in 2003 opposed Pickerington's proposal to create a 10-mil community-development authority to offset the cost of highway projects, city services and future school projects in that city.The city council retaliated by imposing a 100-house limit on building permits from August 2003 through last August.

That action, coupled with a voter-approved retraction of housing densities on several parcels, prompted a lawsuit from builders and the BIA in November 2003, which could be resolved in early 2005.

"We got to the point where the cost of the community-development authority got beyond what the market could bear," Porter said.

Bob Gable , scenic river program manager, Ohio Department of Natural Resources; Malcolm Porter, consultant, BIA of Central Ohio; Cheryl Roberto , director of the Department of Public Utilities, City of Columbus; John Tetzloff, president, Darby Creek Association

Malcolm Porter, a consultant for the Building Industry Association of Ohio, said builders remain wary of the additional costs they might have to pay.

Malcolm Porter, a consultant for the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, which represents Columbus-area home builders, thinks there is a common ground, a compromise that can be reached.

"The bar that the building industry wants to meet is to protect the current conditions that give the Darby the exceptional habitat status that it has," Porter said.

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