Thursday, February 25, 1999
West Chester concept OK'd
Landscaping lends identity
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
UNION TOWNSHIP — A landscaped, four-corner gathering spot anchored by the Union Township government complex will be the first step in a plan to create a uniform streetscape along Cincinnati-Dayton Road through the Olde West Chester business district.
The idea is to create an identity and downtown for this community of 59,000 in southeastern Butler County. Trustees this week approved the concept, authorizing Sharonville architects McGill Smith Punshon Inc. to begin the engineering work for a sign to be placed on Tylersville Road near Butler-Warren Road. In all, nine signs will be placed at various en try points and will feature the same architectural theme as the downtown area.
“We feel the concept will generate a "virtual town center,'” said Scott Bressler, the Union Township project manager who has been working with architect and Union Township resident Jose Castrejon.
The signs will “create a nice sense of entry for West Chester. The next phase of identity is creating a down town, someplace to gather, sit, eat lunch,” Mr. Castrejon said.
Once the town center is created, the theme will become part of a streetscape plan in the works for Olde West Chester under the direction of Judi Carter, the township director of planning and zoning. The improvements along Cincinnati-Dayton Road could begin with the town center at the government service complex and end at the post office.
The cost of the streetscape project has not been determined.
“To some, this may seem a bit plush, but overall I agree with it,” said Trustee Thomas Hayden. “It will give us a sense of community, a sense of identity. That's something we don't have here yet.”
Each of the oval-shaped redwood signs would bear the name “West Chester” and would be mounted on a wrought-iron gate connecting two brick columns, with a decorative ball fixed atop each. The signs would be landscaped and softly lit. The township expects to pay about $16,000 for the first sign, but it hopes to get corporate or business sponsorship for the rest.
A similar sign, probably
with four brick columns instead of two, would be built in front of the administration building, perhaps with a clock tower. Benches would be placed there and even possibly a fountain, Mr. Castrejon said.
Each of the other three corners at Cincinnati-Dayton and West Chester roads would carry the same theme through signs, benches, landscaping and other features. A meeting with property owners to outline the plan and ask for support is set for March 11.
“I'd have to see it first, but I think it would be great,” Nyla Kramer, owner of Flowers by Nyla in Olde West Chester, said Wednesday. “Anything they can do to keep Olde West Chester, I'm in agreement with.”
The township also is pursuing the legal change of the township's name, from Union Township to West Chester Township. Petitions signed by 50 percent plus one of the township's 33,606 registered voters must be submitted to trustees.
Butler County commissioners have final say on the name change.
“This (would) not make us a city. It (would) not raise taxes. It is strictly a name change,” Trustee Catherine Stoker said.
Petitions containing almost 4,000 signatures have been turned in to township offices, Administrator David Gully said.
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