A modular home moving into a Hermitage neighborhood has some residents worried their property values will decline.

"If someone puts a home in there of lesser value and brings down the value of our homes, does that mean I get to pay less taxes?" Dennis Proctor of 105 Greenwood Ave. asked Hermitage commissioners Wednesday night.

The home of contention is a two-section modular planned for a Greenwood Avenue lot.

"Let's face it, a modular home is a trailer. I don't care if they do cut the tongue off and take away the trailer," Proctor said, adding he did not want to "hurt anyone's feelings."

But, he said, "I still have to feel compassion for my neighbors." He explained that the way the home would sit on the property, it would be only 8 feet from its nearest neighbor.

City Manager Gary Hinkson said the property owners met all the city's requirements, which is why they were issued a building permit last Friday. He told the residents, who attended the commissioners meeting armed with a petition, that they have 30 days from Oct. 18 to appeal the decision.

"We do plan on filing an appeal with a hearing board," Proctor said. Hinkson told him construction can't begin during the 30-day appeal period and would be put on hold once an appeal is filed.

City officials are looking into concerns residents raised earlier this week about storm sewers in that area, and whether the construction would be feasible if there is a flooding risk, Hinkson said.

But otherwise everything else was in order.

"We can't deny a building permit based on the fact that a neighbor doesn't like a modular home on the plot of land next to him," Hinkson had said earlier Wednesday.

The residents did not know the property owners' name and Hinkson did not have it at his disposal Wednesday afternoon.