GENOA TWP., OH (WCMH) — Strong opinions are being voiced over a Delaware County land development that went from a proposed residential development to an agricultural one.

A 43-acre plot of land on the corner of Tussic Street and Oxbow Road in Genoa Township is at the heart of a development dispute. The owner said for a dozen years he has tried to convince township officials to let him build a residential neighborhood on the land. Now, he said he has moved on.

“We have been frustrated, we have tried to work within the process and system and come to many, many meetings in trying to present our positions and opinions, to no avail,” Benton Benalcazar said.

Genoa Township officials said there were meetings along with conceptual plans discussed, but said Benalcazar did not apply for a zoning application.

He says that could cost $100,000 or more and said he was getting nowhere with the residential development, so the next step is a proposed livestock farm.

Benalcazer said he hosted a walk-about with county officials and neighbors in September 2004. NBC4 filed a public records request for details of the walk-about and meetings with officials. The township provided conceptual plans, but claimed the request was too broad to find official meetings with Benalcazar over the 12-year-period.

Plans for the agricultural buildings show they could eventually hold 1.2 million pullets or baby chickens too young for egg laying. A separate barn would house 2,400 swine, beef cattle and a building for manure storage.

Word spread like wildfire through Genoa Township with folks voicing concerns, one being runoff into Hoover Reservoir, a major drinking water source for Columbus.

“There will be a manure containment system, I just can’t believe if there are heavy rains that that stream that runs through there isn’t going to get some runoff that just wasn’t intended when they wrote the rural residential code,” said Jim Carter. He is a retired resident of Genoa Township, who also said he was concerned about the high density of homes proposed in the former residential development.

Benalcazar said the township would allow only one home per two acres and that would not have been profitable enough to make a go of the development. He proposed four homes per acre and said it would have been a $100 million investment.

Another neighbor, Kevin Gainer, said he personally thinks an agricultural development would be better than a residential one, but did not want to see the loss of green space.

He is part of a loosely-structured group called the ‘Citizens Referendum Committee’, which could be offering a ballot referendum allowing local voters to decide on every rezoning request in the township. He said Benalcazar’s land needs to be preserved.

“I would rather see it remain in the condition it was in when the Indians inhabited Genoa Twp., it is better for everybody, even the landowner,” Gainer said.

But Katheryn Benalcazar says a vocal group of residents have balked at every proposal, and she asks what about their rights when this project fits present zoning.

“It is not that we don’t enjoy green space, we do, but we have to have our land make money for us. And if it not going to make money in development, then agriculture is our next best step. We can no longer afford to have a parkland essentially for Genoa Twp.,” said Benalcazar.

Benton and Katheryn said this latest development is not a threat to get the land rezoned, instead it is an expensive piece of property and they need to make it profitable.

NBC4 spoke with Dr. Richard Westerfield, Administrator for the Division of Water, Columbus Public Utilities about the livestock development.

“We take very seriously our responsibility to protect the drinking water supply for our residents and central Ohioans. We will monitor this development and work with the State of Ohio to ensure that any new land use will not have an adverse effect on our ability to provide safe and clean drinking water to the region.”

The Benalcazars have filed all the necessary paperwork to form a Limited Liability Corporation, and said construction on the pullet barn should start before the end of the year.