Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Western residents, county split on development plan
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Striding along the edge of his hay field, behind his Colerain Township home, Dave Suder gestured disgustedly in the direction from which water and sewer lines would one day approach his land.
He squinted into the sun and glanced toward a new subdivision being built just downhill.
He said he wants nothing to do with what some folks call “progress” — the development of western Hamilton County's wooded hills, farmland, mobile home parks and rural estates.
IF YOU GO
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• What: A public hearing on the proposed western Hamilton County collaborative plan.
• When: 7:30-9:30 p.m. today.
• Where: Colerain Senior Center, 4300 Springdale Road in Colerain Township.
• West plan's details
• West plan falls short of wishes
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Along with more than a hundred of his neighbors, joined under the banner of Concerned Citizens of Western Hamilton County (CCWHC), he is fighting a county plan that would bring utility lines and high-density residential and industrial zoning to a 102,000-acre area.
The western Hamilton County collaborative plan — which will be up for public comment at a hearing today and may be approved by a county committee early next month — outlines proposed infrastructure and growth through 2020 for the townships of Colerain, Green, Crosby, Whitewater, Miami and Harrison; the villages of Addyston, North Bend and Cleves; and the city of Harrison.
Commissioners started the process three years ago to push development of the area they see as Hamilton County's final frontier. They are prepared to invest in infrastructure, counting on millions of dollars in financial return from the new industry and business that they hope will follow. They want to keep people, and their tax dollars, in Hamilton County.
But rural residents say they don't want the county to prosper at the expense of their chosen lifestyles and homes.
“I've been blessed with this land,” Mr. Suder, 52, said of the 23 acres where he was born and has worked most of his life. “I don't want to be forced to leave.”
Like many of the region's rural residents, he fears that development pressure and the addition of public utilities will drive up his property assessment. More residents would need more schools, emergency services, roads and other expensive, taxpayer-funded facilities and services.
Mr. Suder said if his taxes go too high, he would no longer be able to farm the land that also houses the engine repair shop where he works with one of his sons.
And worst, he believes his way of life would be destroyed.
That is the concern of Karen Davis, founder of Citizens for a Safe, Clean Green Township and a member of CCWHC. For months, she and her neighbors have been working to prevent mall developers from getting a foothold in 100 acres of wooded land between Harrison and Bridgetown roads, behind their homes.
Shape of things to come
On a map in the proposed western Hamilton County collaborative plan, that 100 acres is colored bright pink to indicate an area of future employment — office, retail or industrial development.
“I have deer in my backyard on a daily basis. There are all these animals around. You feel safe. You feel like it's your home. If they're going to build this stuff, you're invaded,” said Mrs. Davis, 36, who lives in the house that has been in her husband's family for three generations.
“I'm hoping that we can stop them. I'm hoping that they can listen and respect our decision that we don't want all this growth out here,” she said of the 16-member collaborative plan steering committee that may approve the proposal next week.
The plan, pegged by the commit tee as promoting “moderate” growth, would extend into western Hamilton County the sewer and water pipes that are the lifelines for development. It could lead to wider roads, more traffic and, maybe, a bridge across the Ohio River from Miami Township to Boone County, Ky.
There would be condos and high-density subdivisions, strip malls and industry, limited green space and a largely suburban environment. The area's population would swell from the 142,878 people counted in 1994 to 197,000 in 2020.
Supporters of the plan say nothing can stop urban sprawl from encroaching on the area. They say good planning is the only way to prevent uncontrolled growth and traffic nightmares.
“I don't want anyone to use this plan to commandeer (the area) for development only. I think it's a plan to say, "Listen, if we are going to have further development ... it has to meet these particular guidelines. And that includes preservation of green space,'” said Colerain Township Trustee Joe Wolterman, a steering committee member.
“I think there's an ethereal wish list, and also a practical approach. And I think that what we looked at with (this) scenario is a practical approach.”
But opponents rail on the committee for quickly dismissing a low-growth plan that would have provided some new homes and businesses, but couched them amid acres of preserved farmland and green space. They want that option put back on the table.
No matter which plan is approved — the county's or CCWHC's — it will need the support of each town ship and municipality in the area to be enforced, since it is advisory only and does not carry the power of law.
Town, village support key
It will gain strength when the villages and townships pass “memoranda of understanding,” pledging their support through zoning and planning ordinances. And it would be enforced by the county zoning board, which has final say in many development decisions.
First, however, it must be approved by the steering committee, the county regional planning commission and the county commissioners.
It may be implemented next year, or never.
“I don't think anybody's fooling themselves that there's going to be unanimous agreement,” said County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who hopes, nonetheless, for enough of a compromise to make the plan work.
“If there isn't buy-in by individual communities, then it will fall apart,” he said.
That's exactly what opponents hope will happen.
Feeling ignored by the steering committee, which has spent three years and $300,000 on the plan, CCWHC members say they will take their case to village and township boards. If those panels are also unresponsive, CCWHC has vowed to vote them out of office.
“(Officials) don't think too much ahead. They are thinking about the money and what is going to come in their pockets right now” from developers, Mrs. Davis said.
“Once it's there, then it's too late. It's all torn up. It's all concrete. ... We want our kids to grow up here. We want them to have what we had.”
Already, the collaborative plan is changing the face of western Hamilton County — but in a way most residents see as true progress.
Under CCWHC, people from across the traditional cultural divide of the Great Miami River are uniting to fight the plan. Former urbanites burned by development in Colerain and Green townships are joining with the country folk of Miamitown and Ross. Pockets of activists, formed in opposition to specific developments in their own back yards, are sharing their concerns and hoping to use the strength in numbers.
Talking of the future
Local officials in sleepy towns are bandying buzzwords like “sustainable growth,” “employment areas” and “environmental buffers.” They are moving beyond approving stop signs and chicken dinners to forge a comprehensive vision of their communities' future.
And county commissioners are beginning to invest in the area.
To the dismay of CCWHC, county officials want to attract tax-generating industry and provide a home for people who no longer want an urban lifestyle — and might otherwise move to Butler, Warren or Clermont counties.
“Giving them attractive, viable places to move (within western Hamilton County) is, I think, in all of our best interests,” Mr. Bedinghaus said. “Creating value with new homes, perhaps a few new businesses, and creating new taxpayers throughout all of Hamilton County helps to lessen the burden on all of us who live here.”
If the cost of infrastructure out weighs the benefit of development, he said, then the plan will not be carried out.
Yet development pressure is high. Investors own much of the region's prime real estate. They have been lobbying for utility service and improved roads, and some of those projects are already under way.
“It's a political climate in Hamilton County, with a lot of the developers being very powerful. They have a lot of strength with elected officials,” said Joe Sykes, president of the Miami Township board of trustees.
Mr. Suder said he and his neighbors receive frequent letters and phone calls from real estate agents and developers interested in their land. Some farmers have opted to sell or sign purchase option agreements.
“They're looking for land to develop and this is easy pickings,” Mr. Suder said. “When I get letters, I just throw them on my desk for a few days, look at them and laugh, and then throw them away.”
He says working and strolling on his land — often accompanied by his big German shepherd, Hogan — adds quality to his life that no amount of money could replace.
“I know a lot of people want to live out here,” he said. “It's just home. But if (developers and officials) get their way, it's the beginning of the end of life as we know it.”
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