BEXLEY, Ohio — According to the Affordable Housing Alliance Of Central Ohio, a person needs to earn $19 an hour in order for them to afford an apartment in Bexley.
"Just to afford a bare bones, two bedroom and most of the jobs in our community aren't paying at that rate," said, Carlie Boos who runs the organization.
A developer is looking to solve the problem by proposing two developments in the city. One is located off East Livingston Avenue and the other is on Cassady Avenue.
A rendering shows the projects would be three stories tall and include one, two and three bedrooms.
"It's folks who make $60,000 or less," said Jeff Beam of The Community Builders.
The project has been talked about for two years and recently, a property owner filed a lawsuit to prevent the project from going through, claiming the project violates the city's zoning codes for a conditional use permit. Franklin County Judge Kim Brown agreed.
The City of Bexley is appealing.
"The developer in this project satisfied all the criteria for this conditional use and we believe it's a strong zoning case," said Mayor Ben Kessler.
Bexley, like other cities across the country, sees the demand for affordable housing. In Bexley, where land is hard to come by, the city sees the project as a way to address a growing problem.
"We don't have land in the city to meet the demand for housing in Bexley," Kessler said.
"Housing costs are outpacing income and we know why this issue in central Ohio has not built enough affordable housing to keep up with the pace of growth. All of the research shows we should be building at least 14,000 houses a year and we're not," Boos said.
An appellate judge is expected to rule on the city's appeal in the next six to 12 months.