Developer Joseph Mazzant had requested a zoning change to build 20 villas on 13 acres of land near his home near where he and his wife live. 

 
The development would be called Boardwalk Estates.
 
"We have a major need. We have 29 people on a waiting list to get in the other condos on the other side of us we call them Park Place," Mazzant said. 
 
"They will accommodate the majority of elderly people. There is a strong need here. You may be aware of now we are the third largest land mass in the state here. Number one is Philadelphia, number two is Pittsburgh, and number three is Hermitage," Mazzant added.
 
Some say he has been a great neighbor and they believe he will continue to be a great neighbor on any project he develops.
 
He got married on that property, and his son got married on that property, so it does have a sentimental value to them and I am sure they will not let anything bad happen over there. He has done a lot of work on that property. It looked horrible when he first bought it," Jeffrey Hoover said.
 
A manager at a complex told commissioners she believes this development will add great value to Hermitage.
 
 But some others worry about increased traffic, and potential water runoff in an area they say is prone to flooding. 
 
"I'm very concerned about this drainage issue with the building how is it going to affect all of our drainage," Mrs. Stevenson said.
 
A father of three children worried about his kid's safety if the villas were built.
 
Three commissioners voted for the zoning change saying Hermitage needs homes to meet the needs of seniors, veterans, and FedEx managers and employees.
 
They pointed out the zoning change would have required more stringent water runoff management plans than the current zoning for residential homes, and possibly helped neighbors. 
 
"It's very clear our city needs housing and it needs housing like this," Hermitage Commissioner Cameron Linton said. 
 
However, four commissioners voted against the zoning change since the state's zoning laws don't provide mandates or guarantees that what is promised to be built there will take place.
 
"We all struggled with this. There was just a lot of concern if it was rezoned anything could go in there. If something changed another type of housing unit could go in there. I believe a person's home is the most important property they have. I wasn't about to jeopardize people's homes," Board President Duane Piccirilli said. 
 
Now the owner will adapt and change plans to single-family dwellings allowed by the zoning already in place for his property.
 
"What we are going to do now is go back to the SR1 which is already zoned for and we are going to put in a housing development," Mazzant said.