As residents of Westwood Manor in Butler Township, we are the ones who will be directly affected by the proposed low income housing being granted on Ritenour Lane, off North Duffy Road.

We are an established, 50-year-old, single-family home community, not an apartment rental area. The proposed development does not fit in in this community. The zoning was changed a few years ago under false pretense to allow upscale townhouses to be built.

This development, known as a 421A for tax purposes, means the developer builds these apartments and the owner-investors receive tax breaks by renting to low income tenants — tax breaks as large as paying no taxes for up to 25 years which does not increase Butler Township’s tax base.

This plan is of no benefit to Butler Township or its residents. The job of township commissioners, we believe, is to work for the residents/taxpayers. They are to work to better the community and keep its residents safe. Why commissioners Joseph Hasychak, Dave Zarnick, Joseph Weist, Sam Zurolo and Charles Nedz are siding with the WODA group of Ohio, which has no connection to Butler Township other than its own, constitutes a travesty.

If this project is so great, why don’t they build it in Ohio?

If you’re concerned about your community, it is essential that everyone attend the township meeting on this matter. It’s at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15, in the Butler Township Municipal Building, 290 S. Duffy Road.