BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
After three years of talking, the people working on the Western Hamilton County Collaborative Plan have chosen a growth option that straddles moderate and aggressive development.
It also includes a new bridge across the Ohio River.
That choice is contrary to wishes expressed at public hearings in August, when a majority of western county residents said they wanted to maintain the west's rural character, as one committee member pointed out Wednesday night.
"I'm not quite sure what aggressive economic development means and if that's what anybody wants," said Robert Polewski of Miami Township.
The details will become clearer next month, when a consultant is to report on the potential results of the committee's choice. The plan is intended to guide development in western Hamilton County over the next 22 years.
Committee members looked at four growth scenarios presented by consultant LDR International of Columbia, Md. They chose the exact middle option -- a combination of Scenarios Two and Three. They call it Scenario Two-and-a-half.
It combines the moderate growth of Scenario Two with Scenario Three's aggressive road improvements and the new bridge.
Scenario Two is a moderate growth, "anti-sprawl' option. It would encourage residential development around cores that already exist: the inner townships of Colerain and Green, the city of Harrison and adjacent to the Fernald plant in Crosby Township. This scenario assumes that "leapfrogging" development in several pockets throughout the west side would be too expensive in terms of sewer, water and roads. Police and fire services would be stretched thin.
Scenario Three would allow individual jurisdictions and county government to pursue aggressive economic development by seeking to attract businesses.
This option assumes a new bridge to Northern Kentucky, as well as an upgrade of the interchange at Interstates 74 and 275. The scenario would reserve the best sites for business.
The bridge is important, steering committee members said, because of probable job growth around the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. People could work there and live in western Hamilton County.
Combining Scenarios Two and Three, the western county population is expected to reach 200,200 to 214,000 people by 2020. That's an increase of 37 percent to 46 percent in 22 years.
Committee member Bill Seitz, a Green Township trustee, asked the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission to come up with comparison figures for some fast-growing areas on the east side and in northern counties, to show that the projected growth is not outrageous.
Anderson Township, for example, grew 61 percent in population between 1970 and 1996. Symmes Township witnessed 227 percent growth in the same period. Mason's population grew 167 percent, Blue Ash's 51 percent and Sharonville's 27 percent.
The committee rejected Scenario One, the most popular option among residents attending public hearings in August in Green and Whitewater townships. Of 122 people responding to a questionnaire, 82 percent said they liked the low growth option that would maintain the west's rural character.
Committee members voted against it because it would create too few jobs, magnify current traffic problems, stifle tax revenue growth and discourage cultural amenities.
Decision-makers also said no to Scenario Four, which was to allow growth to continue on its current course, without planning. This option, like the moderate growth of Scenario Two, would also result in a 37 percent population increase by 2020, planners said. Scenario Four is essentially a failure of the planning process, committee members said. Eventually, roads and other infrastructure will be inadequate to handle the growth.
County commissioners and planners began this process a little more than three years ago. They said the extension of water and sewer lines, combined with riverboat gambling in Indiana, would force growth on the west. They hoped to gather leaders from the several western jurisdictions to work together and plan ahead.
The plan area covers Green, Colerain, Harrison, Miami, Whitewater, Crosby and Harrison townships; the villages of Addyston, Cleves and North Bend; and the city of Harrison.
In January 1996, commissioners hired LDR to do an 18-month study for $285,000. The study has gone a year beyond that deadline.
