Friday, March 12, 1999
Petition drive on for change
Name would become West Chester Twp.
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
UNION TOWNSHIP — When Scott Owens asks people in his hometown where they live, most respond West Chester.
Now he wants to make it official.
Mr. Owens is heading an effort to change the name of this rapidly growing southeastern Butler County community from Union Township to West Chester Township. He has the full blessing of the trustees, who say they, too, would like to see the name changed to end the confusion and establish an identity for the estimated 59,000 people who live in Union Township.
“Legally, we are not West Chester,” trustee Catherine Stoker said Thursday. “It is the imagination of a former postmaster who gave us this mailing address. We'd like to have our legal name match the name we use.”
For the past six months, the group has been circulating petitions to present to Butler County commissioners, who have to approve any name change. The law requires them to have 16,378 valid signatures. So far they have about 5,000 with a goal of collecting 20,000, Mr. Owens said.
“We started this a while ago, but we've not made the progress we wanted to, largely because of the weather,” said David Gully, township administrator. “I'm confident we will get the signatures we need when people start going out again. We're going to hit the soccer fields, the baseball fields to get signatures.”
In Ohio, there are 28 townships named Union, including one each in nearby Warren and Clermont counties. Often, the township gets deliveries, mail or bills meant for Warren or Clermont county's Union Township, Mr. Gully said.
Also, people have shown up for court in the wrong location.
A meeting to recruit volunteers and begin mapping out a strategy to circulate petitions is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the township administration building, 9113 Cincinnati-Dayton Road.
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