Vision plan for township

 

Residents concerned about future of West Chester Twp.

 

Candidates for 2012 Vision Committee meet for first time

 

By Benjamin Poston

The Pulse-Journal

 

Paul Szydlowski believes ensuring responsible growth in West Chester Twp. should be priority No. 1.

 

"We now have the tiger by the tail, if we don't take control we will end up with a jungled mess," said Szydlowski, a 12-year resident.

 

He's not alone.

 

Township native Jed Jesse moved back to the booming area after college and now works as a real estate appraiser. He said he plans to raise a family and eventually retire in West Chester Twp.

 

"I will be here the rest of my life, I just want to make sure this is a community where my daughters can stay," Jesse said.

 

Many of the nearly 50 township residents and business owners on hand for the initial gathering for the 2012 Vision Update Committee Tuesday expressed uncertainty about the direction of development and growth in the township of nearly 60,000 people.

 

"My biggest fear is that we are just another wave of the suburbs that will be vacant in 20 years," said Rich Farris, who works in product development at Procter & Gamble.

 

Trustee George Lang's opening question in his three break-out sessions with prospective committee members addressed that aspect of the community: "Where do we want to be in 10, 20, 30 or even 100 years from now?" he asked.

 

Dave Furterer said he wants to lay out a plan for growth so "seniors and single parents can afford to live here."

 

"We can't let suburbia pass you by. We have to make sure we aren't pricing our kids out," Furterer said.

 

Still, some residents like self-proclaimed "newbie" Gary Gaffield said the 2012 Vision Update Committee just goes to show the township's commendable foresight.

 

"It's rare that a community takes its future so seriously," said Gaffield, an administrator at Wittenberg University in Springfield.

 

Melinda Zemper, an advocate for parks, said the township should look to stimulate growth in the next five to 10 years to build "as utopian a community as we can."

 

The trustees in February requested that a group or residents redefine the long-range continuous improvement plan, which was adopted by the board in 1993 to provide direction for growth.

 

The update committee will likely be composed of 22 residents: 12 appointed by trustees, two from the religious community, one from the township administration, one from Southeastern Butler County Chamber of Commerce, one with Senior Citizen's Inc., two from the Lakota School District, two students representing Lakota East and West high schools and one from the West Chester Community Foundation.

 

Assistant Township Administrator Judi Carter said the selection process is underway and decisions will be made by the board in the next two weeks. Candidates will receive a notice via mail, she said.

 

Once the committee is formed, it will provide periodic revisions to the board and then make a final presentation to the trustees in 2005. When it was drafted, the 2012 Vision and Implementation Strategies Plan was created to address issues such as community aesthetics, cultural enrichment, education and commercial development.

i have so many comments about this article that i think i'll wait until i have more time to share them.

CRAZY...............

 

 

 

By Randy McNutt

The Cincinnati Enquirer

 

Judging by the terrain, visitors can't tell where Liberty Township ends and West Chester Township begins.

 

The busy suburban townships are intertwined in appearance and the future. The communities are among the most popular residential areas in Southwest Ohio, but it wasn't always that way.

 

When main highways were built in the area decades ago, Liberty and West Chester (then Union Township) were destined to grow.

 

West Chester came first, about 30 years ago. Growth started slowly, then continued rapidly. Now, it is Ohio's third-largest township.

 

In the last year, dozens of new retail businesses have opened, including new shopping centers and restaurants on Cox Road and Union Centre Boulevard. What was once an area devoid of food options has become a cluster of restaurants, including TGI Friday's, Panera Bread, LongHorn Steakhouse and Ruby Tuesday, and packed venues like Champps and Red Robin.

 

West Chester has attracted some larger retail stores in the last year, and more are coming.

 

Another attraction is the well-funded Lakota School District, which until a few years ago seemed to defy fiscal reality by passing one tax levy after another. Since the 1980s, the district has opened more than a dozen new schools.

 

A major attraction is the location. Residents of both townships live close to Interstate 75.

 

Growth a challenge

 

All this growth and development also worries some people who are concerned about sprawl and traffic, which have already changed life in the once-rural communities.

 

But Rick Titus, a Cleveland native who has lived in Liberty Township for 10 years, takes it calmly.

 

"Our township is in a prime place, between Dayton and Cincinnati, and is looked at as a bedroom community," he said. "So I'm sure the development issue will keep popping up. The way I see things, the township is a good place to live, with good schools. Growth is just one of the challenges that we live with."

 

Dr. Rebecca Martin, formerly of Lexington, Ky., is happy with West Chester, where she has lived for 10 years. "When I moved here, the township didn't even have that many restaurants. Things have changed. I've watched the township evolve," she said.

 

Liberty: Catching up

 

Meanwhile, Liberty Township is growing, too. It is receiving spillover population from the growth in West Chester.

 

A 1982 map of Liberty tells the story: Space is all over - empty space. It is now filled by subdivisions.

 

Last year, Liberty led all Southwest Ohio counties in single-family housing starts, with 870. (The closest was Hamilton Township in Warren County, with 600.) This year, officials predict more than 1,200 housing starts.

 

To prepare, Butler County is planning a full-service interchange as a collector and distributor to Hamilton-Mason Road. Trustee President Christine Matacic said the project, to be finished by 2008, will include widening Hamilton-Mason to five lanes from Cincinnati-Dayton Road to Butler-Warren Road, and extending Cox Road to five lanes from Hamilton-Mason Road to just north of the Ohio 129 interchange.

 

Already houses are being built along the Michael A. Fox Highway (Ohio 129), and nearly everywhere else. So many developments are being built that the local fire department has to draw its own street maps to keep up with the growth.

 

The township's new fire headquarters is being built on Ohio 747, north of the Fox Highway. It will be completed this fall.

 

The station will be manned by four firefighter-paramedics, who will be on duty 24 hours, seven days a week. To handle the growth, the building will be capable of accommodating 10 officers as the population increases.

 

"We'll have 100,000 people between the two townships soon," said Dan Zieverink of West Chester. "You look at the types of services that even small cities have, and you have to say, 'Why can't we have that?' That's why West Chester needs to become a city. It's too difficult to maneuver township money around. Township government is best when it governs 20,000 to 25,000 people."

What was once an area devoid of food options has become a cluster of restaurants, including TGI Friday's, Panera Bread, LongHorn Steakhouse and Ruby Tuesday, and packed venues like Champps and Red Robin.

 

still looks devoid of food options to me...

 

 

the situation up there is sickening.

There are so many great places to eat in the city that I don't expect I'll ever be getting out to any of these McEateries.

 

I agree, gross...

Liberty twp should be about to break the 30k mark. Which then the census will call it urbanized. Cincinnati urbanized population will get a big boost soon from liberty twp and middletown. It will be interesting to see if the gov will designate the Cincinnati Dayton urban area as one since they will be connected with all the sprawl in sw Ohio. Kinda like Miami and West Palm Beach has been one urbanized area for so long but was never a CSA until recently.

 

 

 

Jack of All Games to expand headquarters

 

Duke Realty Corp. will begin construction on a 400,000-square-foot industrial facility for Jack of All Games, a distributor of video game software.

 

Jack of All Games will expand its corporate headquarters with the new space at World Park at Union Centre in West Chester.

 

 

 

Duke did not disclose the project cost.

 

Jack of All Games will start moving into the new warehouse and distribution center in August, with plans to be fully up and running in early 2005.

 

Kevin Rogus, senior vice president of Duke's Cincinnati operations said Jack of All Games wanted to double its space.

 

Matthew Flott, chief operating officer of Jack of All Games, said the company was committed to remaining in the West Chester area. He said Duke provided space that was flexible and competitively priced.

 

Duke Leasing Representative Bill Chester worked with Bill Poffenberger of Cincinnati Capital Properties to complete this build-to-suit, for-lease transaction.

 

World Park at Union Centre is a 210-acre master planned industrial development with access to Interstate 75 and convenient access to Interstate 275. The park houses eight industrial facilities totaling 1.5 million square feet.

 

The Jack of All Games building will be the largest facility at World Park, Chester said.

 

Duke Realty Corp.'s Cincinnati portfolio includes more than 16.2 million square feet of office, retail and industrial real estate and more than 250 acres of undeveloped land for future development.

 

Jack of All Games distributes video game software, hardware and accessories to customers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, Electronics Boutique, GameStop, Toys "R" Us and Blockbuster.

Sounds like the company was already based in West Chester, so this is actual growth in the region, not just the shifting of resources. Good news.

A stretch of road that needs a lot of work. From the 9/30/04 Fairfield Echo:

 

 

The future of Ohio 4

Right now, it’s a road without direction

 

Without a consensus among the city and those owning businesses along Ohio 4, the future of Fairfield’s busiest street looks more like a dead end than a flourishing freeway.

 

The possibilities for commercial and residential development along Ohio 4 are endless, city officials and business owners have said. In fact, a plan has been in place since 1999 to start rolling on street upgrades and landscape improvements, among other things on Ohio 4.

 

But despite years of planning in the late 1990s by the 50-member Route 4 Committee, the two groups have been driving in different directions. The road they leave behind could suffer because of it.

 

“There is a plan that is on the books, and the plans are dependent on the private sector,” said Tim Bachman, Fairfield’s development director. “The problem is that we’ve tried to implement portions of the plan and we were told not to, so they got dropped. From a handful of residents, (the reaction) was very negative.”

 

 

Coalition concerned about screening, access

 

Much of the reaction came from Ohio 4 business owners who banded together passionately in front of council on July 28 when a corridor plan — a major aspect of the Route 4 Plan — was expected to be read for the first of three times. After the third reading — typically two meetings later — the plan could have been adopted, thus putting the wheels in motion for implementation.

 

The reading never took place.

 

Instead, as council approached the subject of a plan for the city’s north and south corridors — to Hamilton and Springdale, respectively — the Route 4 Business Coalition founder Tom Burer and many Coalition members approached the chamber’s podium.

 

His concern, along with many business owners present at the July 28 meeting, focused on proposed beautification efforts, which he said would “screen” Ohio 4 establishments.

 

“We are here as a last resort,” Burer said at the July 28 meeting. “We ask that you eliminate the requirement for tree planting.”

 

Others echoed Burer’s sentiments.

 

“I don’t think this booklet is what we want,” said Harold Maggert, owner of the Dixie Deli, about the Route 4 Plan. “And I think it should be thrown out.”

 

Coalition member Martha Tipton said at the meeting that the corridor project was not so much a matter of improving the look of Ohio 4 as it was a potential hindrance to customers.

 

“We are not anti-beautification, but we are pro-enhancement,” Tipton said July 28. “We would ask that this plan, in its present form, not be accepted and that it be reformatted.”

 

Added Tipton recently about the formation of the Coalition: “The existence of the Route 4 Business Coalition in itself was evolved from the city’s deaf ear to our concerns.”

 

Former councilmember Jeff Holtegel, who was chairman of the council’s Planning and Economic Development committee, was present at the July 28 meeting, fielding comments and suggestions from the Coalition. He said he agrees with the necessity of a positive working relationship among the city and business owners.

 

“We backed away from it quicker than a little kid touching a hot plate,” Holtegel said. “That’s why I don’t see it resurfacing. When you don’t have private enterprises bucking up and backing the plan with their own dollars, the city can’t do it by themselves.”

 

 

From paper to reality

 

An agreeable plan for the city’s north and south corridors has yet to be placed before council. Much of the reason centers around a busy year, as Fairfield government officials have been dealing with the aftermath of widespread flooding, the decisions on where to build a new Justice Center and new construction in other parts of the city.

 

But the plan adopted in 1999 is far from a total loss, Bachman said. Major improvements are nearly finished on the Mack-Muhlhauser Road intersection. A plan to expand the intersection of Ohio 4 and Cresentville Road is in its early stages, and work is likely to begin following the completion of Mack-Muhlhauser intersection and grant approval from the Ohio Department of Transportation. Both projects were included in the Route 4 Plan.

 

What the Route 4 Business Coalition and city leaders have agreed on, though, is an urge to fill vacancies along Ohio 4.

 

“We would like to see an air of enhanced cooperation between the city and business (and) involvement by the economic director in bringing and marketing new businesses to Route 4 by actively marketing vacancies and offering incentives to business and land owners successful in refurbishing or releasing vacant or neglected buildings and parcels,” Tipton said recently.

 

Answering the Coalition’s call, the city’s Development Services Department created a database of businesses in Fairfield. The list is meant to provide a marketing tool for businesses looking to develop locally in the future.

 

“In 1999, that (business database) was a desire,” Bachman said. “And in 2004, it was implemented.”

 

 

A ‘Hodge-podge’ effect

 

Proceeding without a clear-cut plan for the potential of Ohio 4 could be damaging to its future, city officials said. Instead of looking at the entire 5.9-mile stretch that is Fairfield’s section of Ohio 4, work is done on an as-needed basis. As problems arise, they are addressed.

 

“I think that if you continue to do that, you create a hodge-podge effect,” said Erin Donovan, Fairfield’s planning manager.

 

Still, since so little of the 2-inch-thick Route 4 Plan has been implemented, the city is travelling down uncharted waters, Bachman said.

 

“There has not been any direction from City Council to move forwards with a plan for Route 4’s future.”

 

Contact Dave Greber at (513) 829-7900 or [email protected]

 

http://www.fairfield-echo.com/hp/content/news/stories/2004/09/30/fe0930ohio4.html?urac=n&urvf=10966446213070.5322028898596508

That stretch of 4 between dowtown Hamilton and the Cincy bypass has to be one of the more dismal commercial strips in SW Ohio. OK, it does have Jungle Jims, but otherwise, bummer!

 

Maybe they should Vegas-ize it and put alot more neon and big signs and such....just go with the flow rather than pretty it up with landscaping.

sprawl hell.

 

New home along that highway as far as the eye can see. And this is 30 miles from downtown Cincinnati.

That area sucks ass.. Sprawl for miles and miles  all cookie cutter homes.

It's a depressing ride, that's for sure.

This is not such a radical idea...from the 12/23/04 Enquirer:

 

 

West Chester trustee wants to double some zoning fees

'Way undercharging' for new homes, commercial projects

By Perry Schaible

Enquirer contributor

 

WEST CHESTER - Developers in this booming Butler County community could soon pay more to build new homes or commercial developments.

 

Trustee President Catherine Stoker wants to double some zoning fees and increase others to help offset the cost of the township's Planning and Zoning Department.

 

"I do think we are way under-charging for the cost of new residences and commercial, and the reason I say that is we're only offsetting one-third of the Planning and Zoning Department with the fees," Stoker said. "I don't think we could really say there's a lack of precedence for charging higher fees."

 

The Planning and Zoning Department has a yearly budget of approximately $500,000. Director Brian Elliff proposed several changes to the zone fees Tuesday, but Stoker said they weren't enough.

 

She wants to double the cost of a single-family residence permit to $500 and charge 10 cents per square foot, up to $3,000, for new commercial construction.

 

That's a notion Chris Wunnenberg, director of development for Schumacher Dugan Construction, called "ludicrous."

 

"What you're doing is, you're saying: 'Hey, you're coming in here so we're going to get you,' " Wunnenberg said.

 

Changes recommended by Elliff include a $250 "as built" fee at the foundation stage on residential property to stop homes from being built too close to setback requirements.

 

He also proposed a $100 final re-inspection fee for new single-family construction.

 

A comparison with seven other communities, including Hamilton and Liberty Township, shows West Chester currently has the third highest fee for single-family permits, but is in the middle of the pack for new commercial.

 

Neighboring Liberty Township increased its zoning fees in September.

 

Township officials asked Elliff to review the current zoning fees in November.

 

The trustees will review the recommendations and revisit the issue in early 2005.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041223/NEWS01/412230371/1056

 

^ We're still waiting....

 

:D

West chester is the armpit of cincinnati

^ We're still waiting....

 

:D

 

keep waiting... ;)

More on Butler Co. road projects, from the 2/15/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Fox to road planners: Faster

Says Butler Co. needs high-speed projects done soon

By Janice Morse

Enquirer staff writer

 

HAMILTON - If Butler County wants to continue to produce jobs and alleviate traffic congestion, transportation officials must push harder and faster on three major road projects, a County Commissioner Mike Fox said Monday.

 

"When it comes to (building) highways, driving slowly kills projects - so speed is your friend," Fox told the Transportation Improvement District board.

 

Fox urges faster timetables for:

 

Widening the Ohio 4 Bypass to four lanes - an estimated $28 million project.

 

Constructing the Liberty Interchange at Ohio 129 and Interstate 75 at a projected cost of $30 million.

 

Extending Ohio 63 to connect with Ohio 73 in the Trenton area, opening the county's northwest corridor to commercial development - a project estimated at $60 million.

 

John Fonner, executive director of the 11-member board that coordinates transportation improvement projects, said Fox advanced some good ideas, but "I think we're working on a pretty fast track right now. ... I have no reason to debate Commissioner Fox's speculation about how fast projects can move forward."

 

Fonner thinks the transportation board "will look to consider the suggestions that Commissioner Fox made very closely."

 

Road projects involve many aspects that require approval of state and local entities that are outside the transportation board's control, Fonner said.

 

"There's no end to the constraints that are upon any of these projects," Fonner said. But he acknowledged that input from people like Fox can help remove obstacles.

 

A former state legislator, Fox had pushed for West Chester Township's Union Centre Boulevard, which has spawned a flourishing enclave of chain restaurants and a cinema complex. He also is credited with encouraging the construction of Ohio 129 between Hamilton and I-75.

 

Fox said financing is available if the transportation board looks in the right places.

 

For example, Fox said, special taxing districts could be used to fully fund the Ohio 4 Bypass project - and Ohio Department of Transportation officials might be persuaded to "credit" that money as a local match toward the Ohio 63 project.

 

Ohio 63 is the county's top priority because it has the most potential for creating jobs, Fox said. But it likely would take five years to complete because of problems with skirting a housing subdivision.

 

With the right maneuvers, construction could begin on the first of three Liberty Interchange phases this spring, Fox said. He also thinks work could start on the Ohio 4 Bypass next year. The transportation board has slated construction in 2009-10.

 

"Bypass 4 is already extraordinarily congested - and with the proposed developments that are going to come online, it's going to be gridlock," Fox warned.

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050215/NEWS01/502150364/1056

 

From the 2/20/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Butler County plans to build turn lanes this summer on all four approaches to the bottleneck at Princeton Road and Ohio 747. This view looks north along 747.   The Enquirer/Tony Jones

 

Clearing bottleneck leads list

By Janice Morse

Enquirer staff writer

 

LIBERTY TWP. - One of Butler County's most persistent traffic bottlenecks is about to be opened.

 

Turn lanes will be built this summer at all four approaches to congestion-prone Ohio 747 and Princeton Road. Construction is scheduled to begin in May and should be finished in November.

 

That $2.8 million intersection upgrade is the single most costly project on the county engineer's slate of $11.6 million in capital improvements this year.

 

The Princeton-747 work also likely will have the greatest impact among those projects, County Engineer Greg Wilkens said. "This is probably the one we've had the biggest cry for," he said.

 

The area has spawned traffic complaints for more than two decades, said Christine Matacic, township trustee president.

 

"As a matter of fact, I complained about that intersection before I became a trustee," she said. "It started as a problem that seemed to be of a minor magnitude. But the problem has grown as the township has grown."

 

In 10 years, Liberty's population has jumped from about 13,500 to 30,000. In the past five years, Princeton-747 traffic has increased about 10 percent, Wilkens said.

 

Because a county road and a state road make up the intersection, fixing its problems required cooperation among township, county and state agencies, Wilkens said. Public and private funds will pay for the work.

 

The Princeton-747 project will complement the county's long-range plan to widen all nine miles of 747 in Butler County, from the Hamilton County line to Ohio 4.

 

But right now, a part of 747 is five lanes wide and the part near Princeton is just two lanes, contributing to the bottleneck.

 

Another problem is the lack of a left-turn lane and traffic light for northbound 747 motorists trying to turn west onto Princeton. Cars stuck behind others waiting to turn can be delayed more than 10 minutes during rush hours.

 

"It's frustrating," said Dianne Klei, who has lived near the intersection for 15 years.

 

The worst of the rush-hour snarls hit during weekdays from 7 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. That's when Klei has seen 747 traffic queued from Princeton to Tylersville Road - a distance of two miles

 

"I avoid going there at that time - period," Klei said.

 

She dodges the clogged traffic by zigzagging through subdivisions and taking round-about routes that add miles to her trips.

 

"You have to," Klei said, "or you can't get home."

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

2005 PROJECTS

 

Four intersection improvements: Muhlhauser Road at Allen Road, $650,000; Princeton Road at Ohio 747, $2.8 million; Yankee Road at Cincinnati-Dayton Road, $2 million; Cincinnati-Dayton Road at Bethany Road, $650,000.

 

18.2 miles of paving/resurfacing: Various streets and alleys in Darrtown (Milford Township), along with segments of Boyle, Canal, Chapel, Gray, Minton, Ross Hanover, Somerville, Stillwell Beckett, Taylor School and Wayne Madison roads. Combined cost: $1.4 million.

 

One roadway improvement: Construction of new streets and tie-in to Allen Road from the "Streets of West Chester" development at Union Centre Boulevard. Cost: $1 million from a West Chester Township special taxing district.

 

Seven bridge replacements: Allen Road, $930,000; Frazee Road, $144,000; South Dwyer Road and Warwick Road, combined cost of $225,000; Millikin Road and Stillwell Road, combined cost of $955,000; Canal Road, $30,000.

 

10 culvert replacements: California Road (Morgan Township). Cost: $200,000.

 

Other projects: Pavement markings, guard rail replacements, sidewalk installation, drainage improvements at a combined cost of $640,000.

 

Source: Butler County Engineer's Office, www.bceo.org

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050220/NEWS01/502200359/1056/news01

 

From the 3/5/05 Pulse-Journal:

 

 

Cin-Day expansion irks property owners

County will likely claim Liberty Twp. land by eminent domain

By Mary Lolli

Cox News Service

 

The traffic passing in front of Donna and Theodore Leist’s front porch in Liberty Twp. might soon be getting closer.

 

The Leists, one of six property owners who refused to sell or lease part of their property for a Cincinnati Dayton Road widening project, might be losing their property anyway.

 

Butler County Commission last week approved six declarations of eminent domain, which, if approved by the courts, will allow the county to seize the property for public purposes in exchange for paying the owners the “fair market value” or adequate lease payments on the tracts.

 

“Our house is already too close to the road,” said Donna Leist, 6520 Cincinnati Dayton Road. “Now they’re going to put it nine feet closer.”

 

Leist, whose front steps stop at a sidewalk about 15 feet from the existing two-lane road, said the project adding a third lane will leave her bottom step about six feet from the road.

 

In the Leists’ case, the county already owns the right-of-way easement in front of their home. However, the project will require crews to dig in their front yard to gain access to public utilities.

 

In order to do that, the county has to pay the Leists a fair lease value for the duration of the project.

 

According to Mrs. Leist, the county offered $306 for the inconvenience.

 

But the Leists and their attorney, Richard Glazer, aren’t convinced that’s fair or reasonable.

 

“They’re not just using our property. They will be taking out two very large, old trees that sit on the county’s right of way,” Mrs. Leist said.

 

Glazer, who represented the interest of property owners when the county and state took land for the Ohio 129 extension project several years ago, said he couldn’t comment specifically on last week’s commission action because he had not yet seen the resolutions.

 

“I knew action was coming,” Glazer said. “We’re not contesting the fact that (the county) has a right to exercise the power of eminent domain. We’re just exercising our right to fair and just compensation.”

 

County Administrator Derek Conklin said the county declared eminent domain because negotiations with property owners stalemated.

 

The Butler County Engineer’s Office has several projects planned for various sections of Cincinnati Dayton during the next two years. They include:

 

Adding a turn lane and signals at the Bethany Road intersection this fall, at a cost of $650,000.

 

Widening to three lanes from Crescentville Road to West Chester Road in 2006 at a cost of $2.29 million.

 

Widening to three lanes from Ohio 129 to Milliken Road, including entire existing roadway through Bethany in 2006, at a cost of $3.7 million.

 

Contact Mary Lolli at (513) 820-2192, or e-mail her at [email protected].

 

http://www.pulsejournal.com/hp/content/news/stories/2005/03/05/pj0310cinday.html

 

I'll try to find more information about this.  From the 4/13/05 Enquirer "Briefly" section:

 

 

Ohio 4 streetscape planned

 

Almost a mile of Ohio 4 in Fairfield at its southern border with Springdale will soon get a face lift. The median between Woodridge Plaza and Stockton Station Lane will be upgraded using city and federal dollars. The streetscape project will be overseen by the Ohio Department of Transportation and includes planting of trees, flowers and bushes; decorative pavers; irrigation, lighting and banners. Improvements are to begin this June and end in October 2006. The city will pay $177,320 and has received a $760,000 grant from the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Government. Eventually Faifield would like to do a similar project along Ohio 4 at its northern border with Hamilton.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050413/NEWS01/504130400/1056

 

Ohio is stupid. They should have at least brought it down to Glendale Milford road to hook up with the C/D system there. They could have helped with the bottleneck there as the C/D Comes to an end..

From the 5/17/05 Enquirer:

 

 

West Chester planning for future

By Perry Schaible

Enquirer contributor

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. - More than 10 years ago, a "blueprint for the future" that included a community center was created by a committee of residents in this growing township.

 

Despite the rejection by voters recently of the community center idea, a new group of residents is working to update the township's vision for the next 20 years.

 

Residents and business owners are invited to participate in a community outreach meeting hosted by the West Chester 2025 Vision committee. The meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. today in the SEBC Workforce Academy, 7617 Voice of America Centre Drive, will be a brainstorming session led by the Ohio State University Extension.

 

The committee has worked for the last year to update the township's 2012 Vision, a guide created in the early 1990s for township trustees as they approve policies and implement decisions.

 

"A lot has been accomplished, but a lot has changed as well," said Tom Zenge, a committee member of the 2012 Vision and now the 2025 Vision.

 

The new document will likely be released to trustees in the fall, said 2025 facilitator Dan Woodring. He describes the document as a grassroots, citizen-oriented and focused plan.

 

"Everything that you can imagine that impacts the community will be in that plan," Woodring said.

 

Residents will be asked to consider two questions: What do you value most about the West Chester community? And, what do you hope West Chester will become for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren?

 

There are several areas of study including safety, diversity, education, environment and leadership.

 

"This is an open forum for residents and business people to tell the committee where they see West Chester today and where they would like to see West Chester in the future," said Joe Hinson, president and CEO of the West Chester Chamber Alliance.

 

Officials may hold another open meeting in late spring or early summer. The committee will then spend two months collecting information from community-based organizations. Groups who would like a presentation should contact Woodring at (513) 779-3439.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050517/NEWS01/505170372/1056/rss02

 

An update on Bypass 4 from the Butler County Transportation Improvement District (BCTID) Spring 2005 newsletter.  It mentions the April meeting, but doesn't contain any new info based upon that meeting:

 

 

What is the Current Status?

 

Step 3 of ODOT’s 10-step process for minor projects is being finalized (see chart on page 2) for the S.R. 4 Bypass Widening Project.

 

Several planning and environmental documents have been completed. The remaining documents are underway and are scheduled to be completed by Spring of 2005.

 

Alternative 1 with an estimated cost of $25.1 million includes widening S.R.4 Bypass to four lanes from Hamilton-Middletown Road to Dixie Highway and providing turn lanes where needed.

 

Alternative 2 with an estimated cost of $26.7 million includes widening S.R. 4 Bypass as follows: (each including additional turn lanes where needed)

 

• Four lanes from Hamilton-Middletown Road to Tylersville Road

• Six lanes from Tylersville Road to Symmes Road

• Four lanes from Symmes Road to Dixie Highway

 

Funding has been acquired from the Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) for development through the preliminary development stages. The project sponsors are currently working to secure the remaining funding needed for the projects.

 

 

Estimated Project Schedule

 

Depending on the availability of funding, the following is an estimated schedule of how the project may proceed.

 

* PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL PHASE: Fall 2004 - Spring 2005

* BEGIN CONSTRUCTION PHASE: Spring 2009 - Winter 2010

* RIGHT-OF-WAY ACQUISITION PROCESS: Spring 2007 - Fall 2008

* DETAILED DESIGN & ENV. DOCUMENT APPROVAL: Summer 2005 - DEC 2006

 

http://www.bctid.org/whatnew/SR4B_SP2005Newsletter.pdf

 

Also, aerial photos of 747:

 

Phase I - Port Union to south of Smith Rd.

 

Phase II - South of Smith Rd. to Tylersville Rd.

 

Phase III - Tylersville Rd. to Fox Highway (OH-129)

 

Phase IV - Fox Highway to north of Princeton

 

I def think that Bypass 4 should have priority among county projects.  The road is way to small with the amount of business and residental establshed in Fairfield/Fairfield Twp.  I think that 6 lanes from 4 to 129 would be fine and we should just build big now, bc the road won't be upgraded for another 20 yrs.  The liberty interchange is for growth, but as Hamilton-Mason as the cut-off between Liberty and West Chester, I feel part of the project is to take traffic off of Tylersville Rd.  And Cox Rd to 63 will not happen bc there is several homes between Princeton and Bethany valued between $5-10 million each.

From the 7/12/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Ohio 4 Bypass 'fix' is in

Widening project ranks high, might win money

By Janice Morse

Enquirer staff writer

 

Butler County's Ohio 4 Bypass, which is often congested, appears to be the top contender for coveted state and federal road-improvement dollars.

 

A committee will vote today on whether that ranking holds.

 

The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) has done a preliminary analysis that rates projects' effects on safety, ability to create or retain jobs and other criteria.

 

According to that analysis, the $32 million Ohio 4 Bypass widening project outscored a pair of much-costlier Interstate 275 projects: one at I-74 in Hamilton County and the other at Ohio 32 in Clermont County.

 

The I-275 projects exceed $100 million apiece - much costlier than the Butler County project - and have less-certain sources of local dollars to "match" the federal/state fund awards, the OKI analysis shows.

 

"It would be nice to have them all funded," Mark Paine of OKI said.

 

A pair of OKI subcommittees will meet today to vote on how to rank the trio of projects.

 

The subcommittees' recommendation will head to OKI's executive committee for a final vote in August.

 

As one of 17 metropolitan planning organizations in Ohio, OKI recommendations hold a fair amount of weight with the state Transportation Review Advisory Committee, which has final say over how the federal dollars are distributed, Paine said.

 

Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens said the Bypass 4 widening project has been discussed for about a half-dozen years - and it is moving forward now largely because local communities are digging into their pockets to help pay for it.

 

The cities of Fairfield and Hamilton, Fairfield Township and county commissioners committed $16 million toward the project, said John Fonner, executive director of the Butler County Transportation Improvement District.

 

The bypass stretches six miles, from Ohio 4 in Fairfield Township to Ohio 4 in the city of Fairfield, near the Hamilton County line. The project calls for adding one lane in each direction to the bypass, which now has only two lanes. "I think it's great that it's the top contender, because it sure is congested," Wilkens said.

 

If all goes as Butler officials hope, construction could begin in late 2008 and be completed in 2012-13, Fonner said.

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050712/NEWS01/507120348/1056/rss02

 

You know i doubt it's more congested than Montgomery road(rt 22-3) north of I-275. That needs widening BADLY. Where is the priority there??

1 each direction. assorted turn lanes, programmed for widening "soon" - 5 Lanes I think, in 2 phases...I-275 to Fields Ertel Road, then North to the Fosters Bridge over the L-M river (Which is NOT to be widened)

 

2002 ADT from I-275 going north to Fields Ertel:  41,830 - 32,400 - 25,880 - 18,350

 

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/techservsite/availpro/Traffic_Survey/TSR_Report/2002_TSRmaps/ham_tsr_2002.pdf

 

2003 ADT for Bypass 4 varies from 20,140 at OH-4 South to 11,460 at OH-4 North, on essentially the same number of lanes BUT the capiacity of Bypass 4 is greater since its basically limited access (no driveways)

Well, then Hamilton and Warren counties should push for expansion of Mont. Rd.  It is needed very badly.  I hope By-pass 4 gets expanded as quickly as possible, because its just a huge mess now, it seems a lot of our roads are too small!  Better yet, expand busing into Butler county, now theres an idea OKI. 

 

Well, then Hamilton and Warren counties should push for expansion of Mont. Rd.  It is needed very badly.  I hope By-pass 4 gets expanded as quickly as possible, because its just a huge mess now, it seems a lot of our roads are too small!  Better yet, expand busing into Butler county, now theres an idea OKI. 

 

Monty Project is coming, they are buying R/W now

Better yet, expand busing into Butler county, now theres an idea OKI. 

 

 

I agree that it would be wise to expand some type of mass transit into Butler County, but given that the majority of funding for SORTA comes from the city of Cincinnati's earning taxes, I don't see how Metro could be expanded into Butler county without a funding referenum being placed on the ballot. Until then, we're likely to see the same services currently being offered in those regions, in which communities pay for routes to come to their little towns.

 

Just for fun, the 2004 operating budget for SORTA can be found here: http://www.sorta.com/aboutMetro/funding.html

Considering how many people work in Cincinnati from Butler County, paying the city 2.1% income tax, it seems stupid not to have mass transit.  But I guess this could help encourage people to stay in Cincinnati, get mass transit along with paying the income tax.

From the 7/20/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Liberty struggles to control its growth

By Jennifer Edwards

Enquirer staff writer

 

LIBERTY TWP. - In a case that illustrates growth problems in this burgeoning Butler County suburb, some residents were surprised to see trustees reject a rezoning request this week to build upscale homes on 88 acres off Cincinnati-Dayton Road.

 

Trustees say even though current zoning permits homes, a long-range land-use plan calls for that site to be part of a commercial corridor.

 

Officials have been saying Liberty, a hotbed of residential growth in the last two decades, needs more commercial development to offset dependence on residential property taxes.

 

But, because the land's zoning remains residential, not commercial, the developer could still build more than 120 homes, probably lower-priced than the previous proposal. And that has people wondering why trustees didn't just approve the higher-end version of the proposed Fox Hills subdivision, which would sit between Interstate 75 and Cincinnati-Dayton Road, just north of Millikin Road.

 

"What we were pushing for was the best plan for the community. They didn't listen," said Carole Bland, 44, who lives about 200 feet from where Fox Hills would go.

 

"They are trying to use this as an example (of sticking to the land-use plan) but it's too late," Bland said.

 

"They are going to develop it residential and there's nothing they (trustees) can do about it."

 

The developer, JKW Development, wanted a zoning change from suburban estate residential to residential planned unit development district (PUD).

 

A PUD requires the developer to carve out 30 percent of the overall site for open space. In exchange, the developer can build on smaller lots. With the green space, plus a proposed community pool and walking trails, Fox Hills envisioned building brick-front homes that could sell for about $375,000 on average.

 

Trustees voiced several concerns about the project, including how it would handle traffic. But the biggest issue was the clash with the land-use plan.

 

Trustees said the land-use plan exists for a reason.

 

"Now with the growth of the township the way it is and residents are complaining about their taxes, we have said we need to balance growth," Trustee Christine Matacic said.

 

But with the rezoning rejected, a different kind of housing development could emerge.

 

Under the property's current zoning, developers could still build 123 homes on standard 20,000-square-foot lots, as long as water and sewer services are available.

 

Such a development would likely include less expensive homes than originally proposed, said Jonathan Zimm, a representative of JKW, who addressed trustees Monday.

 

Before the trustees vote, the township's planning and zoning director and its zoning commission had recommended against the rezoning. But, earlier this summer, Butler County's zoning board approved the Fox Hills request, saying the upscale approach made more sense.

 

On Tuesday, Zimm declined to discuss the next steps for Fox Hills.

 

Meanwhile, Liberty is working to close its loophole of having areas zoned for homes in a corridor where the land use plan calls for business development.

 

"To what end does the township want to take control of how the township develops?" said Jon West, Liberty's planning and zoning director. "Do they want it to be developer-driven?"

 

A proposed zoning code amendment would require developers with land identified for commercial use to get a zoning change to conform with the land use plan, West said. Trustees are expected to take action on that measure next month.

 

"It's a shame the township didn't think of this earlier and push through legislation sooner," Bland said.

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050720/NEWS01/507200342/1056

 

Two great locations to bring up a family, but for singles it sucks.  I can't wait till I move into the city.

From the 7/28/05 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Communities begin to narrow transportation priorities

By Chris Dumond

Butler County Bureau

 

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP — More than 70 public and private representatives of communities across Butler County gathered Wednesday to begin setting priorities for transportation projects.

 

The forum was spurred by complaints from the county’s state legislators about sending mixed signals. County Commissioner Gregory Jolivette said the idea behind the forum was to begin crafting a unified message when it comes to road projects by getting as many stakeholders as possible together in one room.

 

That message, he said, would be taken to Columbus by members of the county’s five chambers of commerce during their annual business lobbying day in October.

 

Though the meeting ended with five different priority lists from areas organized around the five chambers of commerce, road projects such as the Ohio 63 extension, the Liberty Interchange and the Bypass Ohio 4 widening showed up multiple times.

 

Brian Coughlin, director of the county’s department of economic development, said there was more work to be done to hone those lists down into one and to follow through with the development of funding strategies.

 

Jolivette promised to work to keep the ball rolling in that direction before the chamber delegation leaves in October.

 

“I don’t like to go to meetings for the sake of meetings,” he said. “We’re going to go forward with this.”

 

Both the county and the Butler County Transportation Improvement District had priority projects going into the meeting. They include:

 

An Ohio 63 extension to take the highway from Ohio 4 west to U.S. 127.

 

The widening of Bypass Ohio 4 to take the two-lane road to six lanes between Symmes and Tylersville roads and to four lanes for the rest of the route.

 

The Liberty Interchange, an entirely locally-funded project, to connect Hamilton-Mason Road to Interstate 75, widen Hamilton-Mason between Cincinnati-Dayton and Butler-Warren roads and extend Cox Road north.

 

The Oxford Connector to tie U.S. 27 to Ohio 73.

 

County Engineer Greg Wilkens said it’s clear why legislators get confused.

 

“They don’t understand what we want when we’ve got one group saying we want 63, another group saying we want Liberty Interchange and another group over here saying we want the Oxford Connector,” Wilkens said.

 

He suggested, however, that officials don’t need to put one project over another. Because the projects are in different stages of planning and development, they will need funding at different times. With the exception of Liberty Interchange, he said, the state should be able to assist with all of them.

 

Though officials have applied to have the project reranked, the bypass is not scheduled for state funding until 2011. Whether or not the county can get back $27 million once committed by the state to help fund the Ohio 63 extension also remains to be seen.

 

The state pulled the funding commitment in 2003 after local leaders could not come up with a promised local match, due in part to Monroe’s refusal to contribute financially. Though the project was at the top of priorities listed by those represented in the Middletown-Monroe-Trenton chamber Wednesday, the Monroe’s support remains tepid.

 

“We still don’t see much benefit economically to the city of Monroe and we never have,” said Jay Stewart, the city’s development director. “We don’t object to it, by the same token. It’s good for the region and it’s good for those communities to the west.

 

“Because we cannot identify any economic benefit, we are not going to be contributing any funds,” he added. “We’ll help along in the process as we can.”

 

Another theme during the meeting was the apparent clash between the legislative delegation and local officials over the use of residential Tax Increment Financing districts. Though TIFs have been used widely in Butler County to help fund road projects, local legislators supported changes made in the latest biennial budget to restrict their use.

 

Many in attendance — including commissioners Jolivette and Michael Fox — said they remain confused about the complicated changes and the implications.

 

Fox called the differences between the county and state over the use of TIFs a pink elephant. He said Butler County communities have demonstrated they can get beyond differences in politics and personalities and use TIF districts to complete road projects that have led to the county’s status as the regional leader in new job creation.

 

Fox said that spirit should set the tone, “not politics as usual where everyone tries to slit everyone’s throat and the public comes out the loser.”

 

Representatives from the county’s eastern cities and townships said they would also like to hear more from Butler County officials about working with Warren County, given close border ties in Middletown, Monroe and West Chester and Liberty townships.

 

Coughlin said the priority lists compiled Wednesday would be sent back to participating communities for review. Fox said it was possible that more work could be done through an Internet forum to hone the list and to form funding strategies. Wilkens also volunteered to help the chambers work on the list.

 

Chamber representatives from Hamilton, Fairfield, Oxford, West Chester, Middletown, Monroe and Trenton are scheduled to visit Columbus on Oct. 18 for their annual business lobbying day.

 

Contact Chris Dumond at (513) 820-2025, or e-mail him at [email protected].

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/07/28/HJN0728FORUM_s.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=6

---

Transportation priorities by communities

 

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP — The following priorities were established at the Butler County transportation forum Wednesday morning:

 

Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce

1. South Hamilton Crossing, which would extend Grand Boulevard west to the area around the Vora Technology Park and the Miami University Campus and avoid at-grade railroad crossings.

2. Widen Bypass Ohio 4 and extend Bobmeyer Road to the bypass to improve access to the airport and open undeveloped land.

3. Extend Ohio 63 from Monroe, across the Great Miami River, and to U.S. 127.

Unranked projects included more bridges across the Great Miami and the Liberty Interchange

 

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce (Fairfield and Fairfield Township)

1. Widen Bypass Ohio 4 from two to six lanes from Symmes Road to Tylersville Road and to four lanes along the entire length.

2. Improve the state’s method of funding schools.

3. Enhance the Butler County Regional Airport.

 

The chamber of commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton

1. Extend Ohio 63 to U.S. 127.

2. In Monroe, connect Salzman Road with the alignment of Yankee Road north of Todhunter Road.

3. Improve Oxford State and Greentree roads.

Unranked projects included making improvements to local rail lines and greater cooperation with Warren County

 

Oxford Chamber of Commerce (including northwest Butler County)

1. Improve relationships between the county and townships.

2. Foster greater communication on the use of Tax Increment Financing.

3. Support of all county and Transportation Improvement District priorities.

 

West Chester Chamber Alliance (including Liberty Township)

1. Liberty Interchange: Connecting Hamilton-Mason Road with Interstate 75; widening Hamilton-Mason Road between Cincinnati-Dayton and Butler-Warren roads; and extending Cox Road north to Ohio 63.

2. Widening and intersection improvements to Ohio 747.

3. Extend Ohio 63 to U.S. 127.

Unranked projects included the widening of Bethany Road, establishing a connector route between I-75 and I-71 and the widening of Bypass Ohio 4

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/07/28/HJN0728FORUMSIDE_s.html

 

 

Hey grasscat, you must have given that piss sample!

^ LOL...you actually remember that comment?  :D

 

Yeah, I went ahead and registered.  It wasn't nearly as painful as I thought!

Here are a few "under the radar" projects in and around the Fairfield area:

 

 

South State Route 4 (Dixie Highway) Streetscape

 

This project will install Streetscape and Landscaping in medians along the southern section of State Route 4 in the vicinity of the Mack/Muhlhauser Road intersection. The components of the project consist of streetscape enhancements that include plantings, decorative pavers, irrigation, signage, and lighting in the medians along State Route 4 from Woodridge Plaza at the south end to Stockton Station Lane at the north end. This project was derived from the City of Fairfield's 2003 Route 4 Corridor Design Plan and Insight 2010 master plan. This project will be bid and administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). The project is scheduled for award by ODOT in July 2005, with construction commencing shortly thereafter. 

 

Joyce Park Access Road

Project cost: $2,023,978.20

Low bidder: John R. Jurgensen

Bid opening was held on November 19, 2004

 

This is a jointly funded project between the City of Fairfield, City of Hamilton, and Ohio Public Works Commission, Issue 2. The project will construct an additional access road into Joyce Park from the River Road and St. Clair intersection. The project will also include improvements at the intersection of River Road and St. Clair with the addition of turn lanes, and installation of a traffic signal.

 

The project commenced on March 1, 2005 with clearing and grubbing occurring on the west end of the project in Joyce Park. Completion of the project is tentatively scheduled for October/November 2005. During certain phases of construction River Road northbound traffic will be detoured with a detour being posted directing northbound traffic around the closure utilizing Pleasant Avenue (US 127). This first phase of the detour will be in begin April 11, 2005. A second phase, scheduled to occur May 31, 2005 will close River Road south of St Clair with traffic detoured onto St Clair to Pleasant Avenue.

 

Gray Road Curves[/size]

Bid Opening: June 27, 2005

Low Bidder: Barrett Paving

Bid Amount: $295,750

 

This project will eliminate two 90-degree curves on Gray Road by constructing two banked curves in their place. This project is scheduled to start construction in the late summer of 2005, with completion by year-end. The work will require that Gray Road to be closed to through traffic during the construction with traffic detoured to Pleasant Avenue. A grant that funds 45% of the project was obtained from the Ohio Pubic Works, State Issue 2 program.

 

US 127 (Pleasant Avenue) at John Gray Road Intersection

Bid Opening: June 27, 2005

Low Bidder: Barrett Paving

Bid Amount: $277,502

 

This project will modify the east and west approach to the intersection of Pleasant Avenue and John Gray Road to provide additional lanes on the east and west approach to the intersection. The existing traffic signal will be replaced with a new mast-arm traffic signal. The work will occur on the road west and east of the intersection not directly impacting the flow of traffic on Pleasant Avenue. This project is scheduled for construction in late summer of 2005, with completion by year-end. Traffic will be maintained during the construction. A grant that funds 49% of the project was obtained from the Ohio Pubic Works, State Issue 2 program.

 

http://www.fairfield-city.org/pubworks/pwprojects.cfm

 

From the 8/3/05 Fairfield Echo:

 

 

A complete connection

Union Centre Boulevard link provides unexpected boom to city, residents

By Andrea Yorke, Cam Fullam and Mike Pitman Fairfield Echo

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

 

At first, it was all about connectivity.

 

Four years later, that connectivity has been complemented by economic development for the city of Fairfield. Taken together, the Union Centre Boulevard/Symmes Road extension has provided a double dose of good for residents and businesses alike.

 

The extension was finished in the fall of 2001. Prior to that, while there were indirect routes to Interstate 75, Fairfield residents would have to drive to Interstate 275, either from Ohio 4 or Winton Road by Cincinnati Mills — then the Forest Fair Mall, to access the highway.

 

Connecting Symmes Road to Union Centre Boulevard at Seward Road was not about economic development, said Fairfield Finance Director Jim Hanson, but it is a by-product.

 

“The Symmes corridor wasn’t built for economic development,” Hanson said. “It was built as a connector to (Interstate) 75. It does stimulate economic development, but it wasn’t built for that.”

 

From 2000-04, the economic impact of the extension increased the city’s 1.5 percent income tax collection by 21 percent.

 

It has been used as a recruiting tool, said Kimm Coyner, who recently left her job as the city’s economic development manager for a bigger position with Warren County. The extension opened up 300 acres of land for development in Fairfield, and it has “a leg up” because of the Union Centre Boulevard name, she said.

 

“They can have the corridor, but at less of a cost,” Coyner said.

 

The corridor in Fairfield is zoned for industrial and commercial businesses, and Fairfield City Manager Art Pizzano said the city is looking for companies with “lots of jobs per square foot.”

 

“We are looking for value-added businesses, which means they are job intensive,” Pizzano said.

 

The city will collect around $21 million in local income tax, which is slightly less than four times the money collected in property taxes, Hanson said.

 

Tax incentives aren’t arbitrarily given to businesses in the corridor, Pizzano said.

 

“We’re not looking for the kinds of uses that you see in some other area,” Pizzano said. “If you want incentives, you have to bring job incentives.”

 

Tim Bachman, city development services director, said he does not have a count of how many businesses moved because of the road extension, but many business owners and managers have told him it was a factor.

 

“I hear that a lot. It was probably part of the decision process of many businesses along Union Centre Boulevard,” said Bachman, who is taking over economic development duties until Coyner is replaced.

 

That vital link is noticed beyond just businesses and beyond just Fairfield residents.

 

West Chester Twp. resident Carl Ruhlman said the road offers east-west movement in the area, allowing more connection from West Chester Twp. to Hamilton and Fairfield.

 

“When we moved here years ago, all the arteries were north-south. The ability to go east-west in the township is glorious,” he said. “Union Centre was magic. We have everything up here that Cincinnati wishes they had.”

 

Beyond the economic development the connector has brought Fairfield, the road’s main attraction, The Union Centre Boulevard interchange in West Chester Twp., complete with its restaurants, movies and shops, has provided residents a nearby entertainment outlet.

 

 

History

 

The Union Centre Boulevard development was initially slated to be built at Allen Road. However, Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox said an engineer saw problems with that location, citing power lines and the topography.

 

A location nearby was then considered, which eventually became the Union Centre Boulevard interchange, located off I-75.

 

Legislation creating a transportation improvement district got the project moving, Fox said.

 

“The TID did three things. First, it enabled a local community to lift control of the highway project out of the hands of (the Ohio Department of Transportation). Secondly, it provided an exemption to a lot of the ODOT process requirements. Finally, it provided a host of financial tools that were not available prior to the change in law,” Fox said. “We were able to go from start to finish in about 14 months.”

 

 

Development

 

November marks the eighth anniversary of the opening of Union Centre Boulevard. Construction of the interchange began in March 1997, and it opened for traffic just eight months later.

 

The cost of the project was $29 million and was built entirely with local and private funds. Union Centre Boulevard facilitated increased commercial development by opening up approximately 3,000 acres of land in West Chester Twp.

 

Union Centre Boulevard was initially expected to move 30,000 cars daily. The latest traffic counts show more than 57,000 cars use the Union Centre Boulevard interchange daily, according to the West Chester Chamber Alliance.

 

In addition to encouraging development, Union Centre Boulevard development created more than 18,000 new jobs, Fox said.

 

West Chester Twp. Trustee Catherine Stoker agreed and said the Union Centre area is “doing very well.”

 

“We were very positive about the development from the beginning because the feasibility studies that we saw indicated there was a tremendous need,” Stoker said.

 

Stoker said there was a need because there was no place to shop in Butler County, outside of grocery and other small shops.

 

“Most people in Butler County, if they wanted to go for a special night out or to shop they had to go outside Butler County,” Stoker said. “Before the interchange was built, we had a plan for the central business district.”

 

Area residents said they enjoy the Union Centre Boulevard area and go there often.

 

“It’s developed very well, especially on the east side of I-75,” said West Chester Twp. resident and trustee candidate Bruce Jones.

 

Pam Shrout, president of the Union Centre Boulevard Merchants Association and property manager for the Streets of West Chester, said the development was well thought out.

 

“It’s being built up very smartly,” she said.

 

 

What does the future hold?

 

Envision driving out of Cincinnati, north on I-75. Leaving the city behind as you pass the I-275 interchange, another skyline appears on the horizon. The glass mirror-like panels of office buildings reflect images of restaurant marquees, movie theater lights, pocket parks and retail shops.

 

Smaller than the big city but the picture of a thriving economy, this “edge city” stands out as a unique suburban downtown, combining shopping, dining, employment, arts and culture and public space.

 

This vision is the future of the Union Centre Boulevard interchange.

 

Township officials, developers and investors have plans to see the UCB area, already a successful business district, shaped into a bustling town center.

 

According to some, the key component in achieving that goal is to put a public-use building, such as a community center or library, in the heart of the district.

 

“It’s not a town center without a public use,” said Charles Chappell of Chappell Construction. “Otherwise it’s just a business district.”

 

The recent defeat by voters of the West Chester community center postponed the township’s goal of bringing a public component to the area, Chappell said, but a commitment to that goal remains.

 

Such a facility, Fairfield officials say, would provide benefits for not just West Chester residents, but also city resident who are becoming increasingly accustomed to using the east-west link to find things to do.

 

http://www.fairfield-echo.com/hp/content/news/stories/2005/08/03/fe0804ucbsymmes.html

 

West Chester to redefine its 'vision'

Trustees schedule public meeting Monday for input on 20-year planning blueprint

 

By Perry Schaible

Enquirer contributor

 

IF YOU GO

What: West Chester Township's 2025 Vision committee seeking public input

 

When: Monday, 7 p.m.

 

Where: West Chester Library, 7900 Cox Road

 

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. - A document created more than 10 years ago as a blueprint for the future of this fast-growing township is being updated to include the next 20 years.

 

Monday will be one of the last opportunities for public input into the township's 2025 Vision plan, a guide for township trustees as they approve policies that will shape the community.

 

A community outreach meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the West Chester Library on Cox Road. The session will be the last of three public meetings held by the 40-volunteer 2025 Vision committee.

 

Residents will be asked two questions: What do you value most about the West Chester community? And, what do you hope the West Chester community will be for your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren?

 

Several areas of study include infrastructure, safety, education, and leadership. The information will be used to compile the 2025 Vision plan, which will be presented to the trustees in December, said committee facilitator Dan Woodring.

 

Residents at the first two meetings focused on infrastructure, green spaces, and public walkways.

 

The committee has worked for more than a year to update the 2012 Vision, created in the early 1990s.

 

"It provides a very important voice to us, but it does not control what the township does," said trustee Catherine Stoker. "But, we look at it with a great deal of respect because, like I said, this is the voice of the people."

 

Longtime resident Dan Wagner, who campaigned last year to get the development of a township community center on the May ballot, is concerned that the committee is not an accurate representation of the public.

 

He's concerned it's too heavily tilted toward developers and real estate interests.

 

He said that, during the community center debate, township officials presented the issue as the goal of the 2012 Vision committee and therefore the public's opinion.

 

"That's my whole hang-up. They don't really represent the people," said Wagner, who plans to attend the meeting Monday.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050807/NEWS01/508070374/1056

From the 8/10/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Panel hears hopes for W. Chester

Group updating community's vision statement holds forum

By Sue Kiesewetter

Enquirer contributor

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Josh Lee wants to see this Butler County community develop more recreation for 15- to 25-year-olds.

 

The 2003 Lakota West graduate wants a place where youth can legally skateboard or rollerblade. He'd like a recreation center, Internet cafes and wi-fi connectivity in his hometown.

 

John Friedhoff wants leaders to make sure the township's infrastructure allows people to get to their destinations with a minimum of confusion or congestion.

 

The two men were among 35 residents and committee members who gave their ideas on West Chester Township's future during a public forum Monday sponsored by the 2025 Vision Committee. The group is updating a document adopted a dozen years ago that has helped guide this fast-growing community. The revised plan will provide trustees a blueprint for the next 20 years, organizers say.

 

"This is a grassroots effort that's more inclusive than the Vision 2012 group," said facilitator Dan Wood- ring, who also served on the original group.

 

The 40-member group has been meeting for more than a year and plans to prepare a draft document the community can review in November and a final plan to trustees in December.

 

The plan will include a vision statement and will look at 10 areas including the economy, environment, education, leadership and recreation/entertainment.

 

During the forum, residents said they value the Lakota Schools, racial harmony, access to major interstates, the variety of churches and responsiveness of trustees.

 

But residents would like another library, controlled growth, green space, a hospital, quality housing in differing price ranges, walk/bike paths, public transportation and an even stronger tax base.

 

"Growth is good but growth is not good at any cost,'' said Jules Saslow. "I don't want to be seen as the fastest growing. I want us to consciously maintain a regulated growth. Getting bigger isn't necessarily better."

 

Sixteen-year resident Rob Morgan gave the group credit for seeking public comment but was disappointed at the turnout and the phrasing of the two questions.

 

"The feedback from the way the questions were posed is probably not going to be as useful to township trustees or as insightful as it might be," Morgan said. "It was nice but it was a feel-good session."

 

Township administrator Judi Carter, who has attended most of the forums, sees a common theme in the comments.

 

"People want us to make sure we continue and enhance the services that have made us a premier community and set us apart," Carter said.

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

WHAT'S NEXT

A vision statement and preliminary plan will be presented to the community in October.

 

The final Vision 2025 plan will be given to West Chester Township trustees in December.

 

Committee members are still soliciting volunteers and input from the community. Call the township offices (513) 777-5900 to volunteer, give ideas, or arrange for a committee member to speak to any civic, community or neighborhood group.

 

An interactive Web site - www.westchester2025.com - will go online by the end of August. There, residents will be able to give input to the committee and get information.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050810/NEWS01/508100382/1056/rss02

 

Jesus Christ!  MORE retail?  Some time soon, they are going to have to expand Bypass 4 to 30 lanes.  Incredible.

 

From the 8/15/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Fairfield Twp. eyes more retail

Third major center along Bypass 4 proposed

By Sue Kiesewetter

Enquirer contributor

 

 

FAIRFIELD TWP. - Trustees won't decide until next month whether to approve a retail development with a Meijer store as its anchor.

 

If built, the 65.7-acre complex at the northwest corner of Hamilton-Mason and Ohio Bypass 4 would become the third major shopping center along the bypass near the Ohio 129 exchange.

 

Home Depot opened on Princeton Road, west of it's intersection with Bypass 4, three years ago. It was quickly followed by Wal-Mart and a small strip center in front of it - all on Princeton across from Home Depot. Construction on a 72,085-square-foot expansion of Wal-Mart began several months ago.

 

On the east side of Bypass 4, also on Princeton, sits the 60-plus acre, year-old Bridgewater Falls development. Among its offerings are J.C. Penney, Michael's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Old Navy.

 

Besides the Meijer store, plans for the new development call for a second anchor and another 10-11 buildings for a total of 473,364 square feet of retail space with 2,039 parking spaces.

 

Developer Vandercar Holdings Inc. asked the township to postpone a public hearing on the project originally set for Tuesday, said Michael Rahall, township administrator. The hearing is now set for 7 p.m., Sept. 27, at the administrative building, 6032 Morris Road.

 

The township's zoning board and the Butler County Planning Commission have given their approval to the plan with conditions related to road improvements, open space and water/sewer issues.

 

The plan is similar to one trustees rejected last May, largely because of traffic concerns.

 

The revised plan eliminates any entrances/exits from Bypass 4 and adds an entrance on Gilmore Road through the adjacent Lutheran Services property, Rahall said.

 

"They're moving in the right direction as far as traffic concerns," Rahall said. "It (revised plan) provides an alternative to everyone dumping out on Hamilton-Mason Road."

 

Trustee Steve Morgan said he wouldn't look at the revised plans until they are formally presented Sept. 27. He voted against the project last May.

 

"Traffic was the main issue," Morgan said. "It's zoned for that. We just have to get the right commercial project in there. This may be the one."

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050815/NEWS01/508150348/1056/rss02

 

From the 8/19/05 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Group concerned about growth in western part of county

By Chris Dumond

Butler County Bureau

 

HANOVER TOWNSHIP — With the Great Miami River fading as a barrier to residential growth in Butler County’s western townships, more than a dozen concerned residents gathered here Thursday night to discuss a solution.

 

Participants representing communities between Hamilton and Oxford Township varied in their opinions on growth and in how to put together a larger, more influential coalition, but most agreed that forming such a group was in order.

 

“My hope for this group is that we can have a united voice,” Hanover Township resident John DeVore said. “If we stay divided and just write letters to the editor and people get angry by themselves, developers won’t care. If we have a group of three or four thousand people, those developers will say, ‘We have a gorilla to deal with.’”

 

DeVore lives in the same house where he was born more than 50 years ago. It’s also home to his family’s landscaping business. He and others in Hanover Township organized earlier this year to try to stop a 300-home subdivision from being build on adjacent property.

 

The group was successful, but the developer — Dixon Builders — is now suing Butler County for refusing to rezone the property. The lawsuit encouraged DeVore and other members of the Hanover Citizens for Reasonable Growth to try to put together a larger, county-wide coalition.

 

Orie Loucks, an Oxford Township resident, said he was somewhat disillusioned by the political process. Loucks helped lead opposition to a housing development southeast of Oxford. Though there was strong representation at planning and zoning hearings opposed to the development, Loucks said he felt as if he was largely ignored.

 

“We need a better voice when asking for better representation on the (county) planning commission and on the (rural) zoning commission and perhaps on the county commission,” he said.

 

However, he said, he was not in favor of a county-wide coalition. He said it was more important for the western residents to organize because he did not see any common interests with those east of the river in Butler County.

 

Former Hamilton councilman Fred Southard, now a resident of Milford Township, said DeVore’s “gorilla” would take a lot more work than the 16 or 17 people that showed up Thursday night. Pulling a wad of cash out of his pocket, he said, “This is what talks and this is what the politicians and the developers in eastern Butler County have it.”

 

The effort did get the attention of other groups not in attendance. Staff leaders at the Smart Growth Coalition for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati-based Citizens for Civic Renewal have considered throwing their hats into the ring.

 

The meeting was facilitated by Larry Frimerman, a member of the Butler County Planning Commission and director of the Three Valley Conservation Trust. Frimerman said the trust’s mission is not in political activism, but that it could work to educate and help organize the county growth group.

 

No matter what the outcome, Frimerman said, it’s important for the residents in western Butler County to tell their city council members and their township trustees what they want their communities to look like, to make sure those changes are made to land use plans and to hold officials to those plans when new development prospects come in.

 

Contact Chris Dumond at (513) 820-2025, or e-mail him at [email protected].

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/08/19/HJN0819REASONABLE_s.html

---

And from the 8/19/05 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Broader representation sought by trust

By Chris Dumond

Butler County Bureau

 

HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Butler County residents concerned about housing growth spreading across the river will hold another organizational meeting next month.

 

That meeting will come on the heels of one Thursday night where more than a dozen concerned residents, mostly from western Butler County townships, gathered to talk about forming a coalition to counter development pressure west of the Great Miami River.

 

“What I found was that people really want to do this and they want the Three Valley Conservation Trust to convene another meeting,” said Larry Frimerman, the trust’s director.

 

While the trust is not interested in working in advocacy, Frimerman said it may have a role in getting such a group organized and educated.

 

Much of Thursday night’s meeting involved basic education on planning and zoning principals and discussion of the viewpoints of those in attendance.

 

He said the next meeting, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 20, will look to involve a broader representation of county townships and to move forward on the group’s structure.

 

“We’ll need to go over at least a little bit of the same educational ground to get people up to speed, but the bottom line is that at the next meeting, we’re going to work through our next three agenda items, which are forming a mission and vision and then actual organization.”

 

Thursday’s meeting was attended by Hanover Township Trustees Timothy Derickson and Doug Johnson and Oxford Councilwoman Prue Dana.

 

Frimerman said he hopes to see more trustees at the next meeting.

 

Contact Chris Dumond at (513) 820-2025, or e-mail him at [email protected].

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/08/19/HJN0820GROWTHGROUP_s.html

 

Preble and western Butler counties are nice in that low-key Midwestern way.

 

One of my favorite road trips is OH 725 to Camden, then down the Camden valley to the road to Oxford to that little gemlike att museum at Miami.

Here's info for a large project in Ross Twp., from the 9/13/05 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

County planners change vote on Ross condos

By Chris Dumond

Butler County Bureau

 

HAMILTON — The Butler County Planning Commission overturned itself Tuesday, voting in favor of a zoning change to allow as many as 240 condominiums to be built in southern Ross Township in a move that angered two dozen residents in attendance.

 

The condo development is planned for 115 acres west of the intersection of Layhigh and School roads. Opponents said the development will put a strain on existing roads and schools, and that the planned density is too high.

 

Planning commissioners followed that line of thinking last month, voting 5-1 against the zoning change because the planned density was higher than those in surrounding neighborhoods. Tuesday, however, Butler County Department of Development staff showed that the opposite was true for subdivisions to the south and west, resulting in a reverse vote of 5-0 in favor of the change.

 

“Ross Township does not want to become a West Chester Township,” resident Terry Bridge said.

 

Bridge argued there is already too much traffic coming down School Road between Ohio 128 and Layhigh Road and that adding more than 100 new homes would cause burdensome backups.

 

Ed Bosse, president of the Ross Local School District Board of Education, spoke up during a call for neutral comments. However, his sentiments were anything but, as he focused on overcrowded classrooms at Elda Elementary.

 

“This elementary school is currently at capacity and building additional classrooms is not a long range alternative,” Bosse said. “To add one more classroom we converted our custodian storage office room to a classroom.”

 

He said that developments like this one were “too much, too fast” and asked what kind of financial assistance the county or developer was willing to provide to help schools keep up.

 

Through boos and catcalls, planning commissioners explained their reasons for supporting the project.

 

Commissioner Bryan Blade explained that the township’s land use plan — adopted by the county in 2001 and created with the help of Ross Township Trustee Tom Wilsey, then-Trustee Don Thiem and five other residents — allows for higher density. The plan identified this area and a fifth of the rest of the township for development of up to four homes per acre compared to just more than two per acre proposed.

 

“This board’s role and mine is to balance individual property rights versus community values,” Blade said. “In this case we have a zoning law and a land use plan... and the proposed development is consistent with the land use plan. I understand some of you may not be happy with what that permits. But I would submit that your beef is with the land us plan and not with this proposed development.”

 

Commissioner Steve Feldmann said he was sympathetic to concerns about increased demands on schools and failure of residents to consistently approve school tax increases. However, Feldmann also said he believed that most of the people moving into the condos would be young couples or older adults without kids, effectively subsidizing the schools.

 

Those present — Blade, Feldmann and commissioners Seth Johnston, Michael McNeil and Coe Potter — voted to recommend approval of the zoning change from agricultural and residential zoning to a planned residential zone.

 

Ross residents who attended the meeting loudly criticized the decision, and their township’s lack of representation on the board before filing out of the meeting room.

 

The case will now go before the Rural Zoning Commission on Monday before being presented to the Butler County Board of Commissioners.

 

In other business, the planning commission voted in favor of a zoning change that would decrease density for areas in Liberty Township zoned suburban residential from 2.9 units per acre to 1.7 units per acre. The commission also gave final plat approval for 117 residential lots on 85 acres.

 

Contact Chris Dumond at (513) 820-2025, or e-mail him at [email protected].

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/09/13/HJN0914PLANNING_s.html

 

From the 9/19/05 Journal-News:

 

Ross housing debate to continue tonight

By Chris Dumond

 

HAMILTON — A controversial rezoning issue to convert a farm in Ross Township into a housing development is scheduled to go before the Butler County Rural Zoning commission tonight.

 

Opponents say the 81 condos and 162 single-family homes that could be built on the 115-acre Brown farm would overload local schools and roads. Supporters contend that the land is marked for an even higher number of homes in the county’s land use plan.

 

Over the objections of two dozen township residents, the county planning commission voted to recommend approval of the zoning change last week, reversing its August vote. According to the county planning documents, the area around the farm, located west of Layhigh Road near the intersection with School Road, is intended for development as dense as four homes per acre.

 

In the Ross Township land use plan, the area is within a “development service boundary” indicated for higher levels of development because of the availability of public utilities.

 

The family also says it needs to sell the land in order to pay for health care costs for the owners, who are in poor health.

 

Some residents and the president of the Ross Local School District Board of Education claim Layhigh and School roads were not built to accept the extra traffic that could be generated by the housing development. Ed Bosse, the board of education president, said the nearest elementary school is at capacity and that educators have had to use a janitor’s room for classroom space.

 

The zoning commission is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Butler County Government Services Center at 315 High St. to consider the matter.

 

The rezoning is then subject to a vote by the Butler County Board of Commissioners.

 

 

Contact Chris Dumond at (513) 820-2025, or e-mail him at [email protected].

 

Copyright ©2005 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All rights reserved.

 

http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/news/stories/2005/09/18/HJN0919ROSS.html

From the 9/22/05 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Twp. survey gives mixed results

By Eric Schwartzberg

 

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP — Results from a survey sent to almost 9,000 registered voters in Liberty Township this summer show a community content in certain areas but yearning to expand into others.

 

Fifty-seven percent of those responding to the survey felt there are enough shopping areas or restaurants close to home.

 

But almost half said they usually shop outside the community. While a whopping 77 percent of residents said farming opportunity should be maintained in Liberty Township, they also stressed their desire for bicycle paths and gathering places.

 

"I think that's going to help us promote our identity," said Township Administrator Dina Minneci. "We're looking to the future but we're trying to preserve our history."

 

Minneci said she was happy with the response rate and said she believed it was a very good representation of the township. Nothing really stood out for her among the survey results, including the interest in increased commercialism, but she expressed interest in the positive response to a possible park levy.

 

Township officials sent the survey to 8,898 Liberty Township households in June and saw 1,392 — or 15.6 percent — completed and returned. The survey cost the township almost $2,500 and Jonathan West, director of planning and zoning, said Monday its results were to be posted to the township's Web site at www.liberty-township.com.

 

The township's police, fire protection, and life squad, as well as its public buildings, such as the fire department and administration building, all received good marks. But community buildings such as a library, post office or community center struck a note of discord with respondents — only 27 percent said they "agree" or "strongly agree" that their expectations were met in that area.

 

Statements like "the streets in my area are adequate to serve the traffic demand" and "there is not sufficient employment opportunity in Liberty Township" received mixed results.

 

Township officials presented the survey results Monday to The Liberty Township Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. Now comprised of 34 residents, the committee first met last May and was broken down into subcommittees, each dealing with a specific area of the township's first comprehensive plan.

 

Contact Eric Schwartzberg at (513) 755-5126 or [email protected]

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/09/22/HJN0922LIBERTYTRUSTEES.html

From the 9/24/05 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Housing density issue is a matter of perspective

By Chris Dumond

Butler County Bureau

 

ROSS TOWNSHIP — As more people continue to move into Butler County, particularly into the county’s western townships, the debate over housing density has reached a head.

 

Last week, more than 100 angry residents turned out to a Rural Zoning Commission where a 240-home subdivision was up for consideration on a 115-acre Ross Township farm. The scene was similar earlier this year when Hanover Township residents came out against a similar 332-home development on a 161-acre farm.

 

Complaints of too many houses on too little land without the schools, roads, police or fire to serve the new residents were followed by “we don’t want to be another West Chester Township.”

 

At issue, explained by Ross Realtor Larry Thinnes, is the “128, lock the gate” mentality. Everyone wants a slice of rural township living, Thinnes said, but once they’ve put down roots west of Ohio 128, they don’t want to let anyone else in.

 

Developers and home builders, though, point out that the county’s land use plan in both instances called for residential development at these places and at these densities. The question, they say, is not one of whether the houses will come, but where they will go and what the developments will look like. Both subdivisions were proposed as planned-unit developments — better, they say, than regular residential zoning.

 

 

What’s a PUD?

 

Planned-unit development, or clustering, is generally preferred by land use planners over regular residential zoning because it allows them to concentrate people and the services they require while maintaining some open space, said James Schwab, senior research associate with the American Planning Association.

 

“You’ve got somewhat greater density within the developed area of the site, but there’s a trade-off there,” Schwab said. “Instead of having a 40-acre site with 80 cookie-cutter lots up and down, you do smaller lots with those homes and preserve a chunk of that site as common open space with a larger public amenity for everyone in the process.”

 

Butler County requires developers to keep 20 to 30 percent of the development as open, usable space. Mike Juengling, director of the Butler County Department of Development, said the county has been encouraging PUD developments since the early 1970s.

 

Given a 100 acre lot, a developer desiring a two unit per acre density could put in 200 homes on third-acre lots while keeping another 30 acres open as a fishing pond or hiking trails. Juengling said county zoning codes also allow planners to control other aspects of the development such as access points, the location of open space and sidewalks.

 

Under so-called “straight” residential zoning, the developer could put those 200 homes on half-acre lots, spreading the development over more area without the open space preservation restrictions.

 

“Everyone has their own idea of what sprawl is, but clustering allows you to condense the extension of infrastructure, which under ordinary circumstances should save you money as opposed to extending power lines and sewer lines over much larger lot sizes,” Schwab said.

 

 

Practical concerns

 

For builders and developers, density is a matter of demand and being able to sell property before carrying costs eat their profits, said Terry Sievers, Midwest region president for Drees, one of the region’s largest home builders.

 

Hypothetically, Sievers said, a developer may be able to do well selling 75 lots on 25 acres over the course of three years. At the same purchase price, density and rate of sales, doing that on 100 acres could be untenable.

 

“That’s a 12-year supply,” he said. “The interest on the thing will absolutely kill you. When you’re looking at a 100-acre parcel, you need to get multiple densities and multiple price points on there.”

 

And while there is a market for large lots, they’re not for everyone and forcing them is not a smart way to control growth, he said.

 

“Large lots are expensive, they don’t house America,” he said. “Ideally a municipality should have some sort of comprehensive plan that allows for housing of different lot sizes. When you look at a cross section of America, that’s what you need. Whether people like it or not, a third of the population rents apartments. There’s got to be a place for those people to live, too.”

 

While many of the Ross Township residents who spoke out against the 115-acre subdivision raised concerns about the proposed density, most of their complaints centered on the incapacity of former two-lane farming roads and a school district that struggles to pass levies to handle hundreds of additional residents.

 

“This is an infrastructure problem,” Ross resident Terry Bridge said. “I’m not sure for this development that it’s time for them until some infrastructure projects get finished.

 

“At some point, things have to stop being about money and profit. I have no problem with the private businessman or the landowner wanting to make some money and ride off into the sunset someday... but developers have to stop running roughshod over the township.”

 

Concentrating residents in an area where services are available and can be provided at a bargain makes good planning sense, Schwab said, speaking generally. Allowing residential growth first, then playing catch up with roads and services is not.

 

“The purpose of planning is to think of all of those things at once,” he said.

 

Contact Chris Dumond at (513) 820-2025, or e-mail him at [email protected].

   

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/09/24/HJN0925DENSITY.html

Bill comes in for West Chester

Township spent $613,334 on failed recreational center effort

 

By Jennifer Edwards

Enquirer staff writer

 

WHERE THE MONEY WENT

The township spent the following on the proposed West Chester Community and Senior Center:

 

$519,698 in contracts for consultants, studies, drawings, surveys, focus groups, soil tests, etc. for the proposed $35 million center.

 

$5,179 in trips, including a 2003 trip to St. Louis to tour community centers.

 

$29,206 for 2005 legal fees to fight a legal challenge from a resident.

 

$59,250 for preliminary studies, focus groups, etc., for a $29.9 million community center proposed in 1997.

 

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Township leaders spent more than a half-million dollars planning for a community center that voters shot down in May.

 

Outrage lingers over what some say was wasted money: $613,334, according to township records.

 

Amid growth concerns, it's one of the heated issues fueling the busiest trustee races here in nearly two decades.

 

"Those numbers are incredible," said Bruce Jones, one of eight candidates for two open trustee seats - the most since 1989. "They thought a half a million dollars wrong."

 

After years in the making, the much-ballyhooed $34 million West Chester Community Family and Senior Center was defeated in the May primary election after voters felt the project was too much for the township to take on.

 

The 171,000-square-foot center would have been the largest and plushest of its kind in the region, bigger than those in Mason, Fairfield and Blue Ash.

 

It was supposed to be a gathering place for families, senior citizens and students. There would have been something for everyone: swimming pools, basketball and racquetball courts, and space for senior citizens' activities.

 

If voters had approved, trustees intended to build the center with money from a special taxing district of businesses, also called tax increment financing, in the Union Centre Boulevard area.

 

The township intended to build the center without raising residents' taxes.

 

Supporters said the center would have met unfulfilled recreation needs and would have improved the overall quality of life.

 

But opponents argued the center would have been an unneeded luxury. They feared the center would have lost money - and township officials would have had to ask voters for a levy to support its operation in the future.

 

The township spent $554,084 in two years, between 2003 and May, on studies, consultants, soil tests, a construction contractor, trips and legal fees for the proposed center, township records show.

 

Out of that, one company alone was paid $196,264.90 - Messer Construction of Cincinnati, the construction contractor, according to township records.

 

The $554,084 in expenses for the studies and planning was paid through a TIF fund from business property taxes in the Union Centre Boulevard area, township officials say. It did not affect any other project the township was working on, Trustee Catherine Stoker stressed.

 

Nearby cities that recently built community centers spent considerably less in preliminary work for their projects - though it's impossible to make an exact comparison with West Chester's plan because the other projects were built with the architectural and other costs included in the final price tag.

 

Fairfield's $10 million community arts center opened in the city's new downtown, Village Green, in May after officials spent $62,200 for the preliminary studies and surveys, said Jim Hanson, the city's finance director.

 

Mason's community center, a combined $65.9 million project that also brought a new a high school to the city, opened in 2003, after voters approved the joint project in 2000.

 

The city spent $32,400 on studies and consultants before it went to public vote, said Jennifer Trepal, city spokeswoman.

 

At least one new face on West Chester's township trustee board is guaranteed. Trustee Jose Alvarez already has announced he is not running again for personal reasons, but community center supporter Stoker is running for her fourth term.

 

While some candidates such as Bill Zerkle say the community center is a dead issue and other candidates such as David Stiles served on a committee pushing it, others such as Jones, Randy Stanifer - a part owner of FitWorks - and Beverly Richards, criticize the township's spending for the center.

 

Stanifer and Jones led a successful petition drive against the community center. They say the township needs to be tighter with its money and question the integrity of the project.

 

Stoker said she is still convinced most people want a community center but apparently didn't want it enough to go the polls and vote for it.

 

Another candidate, Lee Wong, said he saw a need for a recreation center but agrees the community is still upset.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050928/NEWS01/509280350/1077/NEWS01