BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
GREEN TOWNSHIP -- Officials from 10 western Hamilton County townships and municipalities will sit around a table today to plan the development of their region.
At 9 a.m. in the Green Township administration building, 6303 Harrison Road, they will weigh options ranging from the preservation of farmland to nearly complete suburbanization. They will consider stacks of reports and charts and four distinct scenarios -- and try, by the end of the day, to be on the same page.
Although regional planning is a trend across the county, this $250,000 effort is unprecedented in Hamilton County.
"A lot of communities do comprehensive planning, but most of our planning has been for individual townships. This is a real opportunity for us," said Caroline Andrews, Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission planning services administrator.
When it is complete, the plan will map out development strategies for Addyston, Cleves, North Bend and Harrison; plus the townships of Colerain, Crosby, Green, Harrison, Miami and Whitewater. It will outline areas for industrial development, housing, parks, shops and farms.
Officials say their efforts are timed just right. With water lines being laid in western Hamilton County, and plans for expanded sewer service in the works, the area is ripe for rapid development.
"When the west side opens up, it will open up opportunities for the population to go there, rather than into the other surrounding counties (of Cincinnati)," Ms. Andrews said. "The infrastructure will open the door for development . . . we want a chance to make sure it happens in a way that works, so that it doesn't happen haphazardly."
Yet finding a single solution acceptable to all of the area's diverse towns and townships is a challenge. Limiting lucrative industrial development to one town while designating another for a costly residential boom could cause conflicts, for example. "There is no scenario that works really well for every community," Ms. Andrews said.
So the officials, guided by a consultant, will try to find equitable solutions as well as a way to make the regional plan binding on future administrations. They will also practice how to present the potentially controversial plans to their citizens.
"We've tried to get the public as involved as possible because it's obviously their communities and their destinies at stake," Ms. Andrews noted. "This wasn't just the consultants sitting in their office. These (four scenarios) were made with a lot of input from the residents. . . . We hope everyone will want to participate."
