Friday, March 19, 1999
Urban sprawl feared from plan
Residents say their ideas were ignored
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HARRISON — Late in the game and several power plays behind, western Hamilton County residents continued their drive against a regional development plan Thursday.
They said the plan would bring urban sprawl to their quiet towns and farms. They brought their concerns to members of the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, who looked less than happy to be carrying the ball at a public hearing Thursday night at Harrison High School.
The collaborative plan outlines future areas for public utility service as well as commercial, industrial and residential development in Green, Colerain, Miami, Whitewater, Crosby and Harrison townships; the city of Harrison; and the villages of North Bend, Addyston and Cleves.
The regional planning commission will consider the public testimony and vote on the plan at its regular meeting April 1. Its recommendation will be forwarded to county commissioners, and the plan will then be distributed to each of the affected jurisdictions for local consideration.
Residents complained that their concerns have been ignored and urged regional planning commission members to go back to the drawing board.
“They didn't set this plan up for western Hamilton County,” said Cheviot resident Bob Neal. “They just set it up for maximum development. And the residents will have to fend for themselves.”
Jim Schenk, a member of the collaborative planning committee early in the process, said he, too, thought that planning has been one-sided. “The citizens expressed a different view than that of the business community, so their input was ignored,” he said.
But members of the steering committee that honed the plan defended the process. They pointed out that it was fashioned by township and village officials.
“There are some who would like to believe this was forced out of downtown,” said Joe Wolterman, a Colerain Township trustee. “That's not true. There's plenty of room (for citizens) to speak.”
For the plan to work, individual municipalities and townships must approve it and incorporate its provisions into their zoning codes and land use decisions.
They may choose to make localized changes, or take no action at all.
But the plan, if approved, will affect county-level planning and funding decisions. Commissioners have said they would follow its outline in deciding which roads to improve and where public water and sewer lines should be built.
And the planning commission would use the document in making zoning decisions for Whitewater Township, where residents have repeatedly voted against giving zoning power to their trustees.
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