Tuesday, May 25, 1999
Land offer for school criticized
Official calls it 'legalized bribe'
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE — Boone County Commissioner Robert Hay has called a developer's offer of free land for a new county school a “legalized bribe” that he doesn't plan to take.
Mr. Hay, a one-term member of the Boone County Fiscal Court, said Monday he will oppose a zone change request by Arlinghaus Builders, an Edgewood company that wants to build a residential development of 1,200 homes, condominiums and apartments on 600 acres off of North Bend Road in Hebron.
The fiscal court is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on the project, which has been recommended by the Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission, at its meeting tonight.
Mr. Hay said he will vote against the project because of safety and planning reasons and despite an offer by Arlinghaus to donate 14 acres for a new school that education officials say is badly needed in the fast-growing county.
Mr. Hall called the land donation a “legalized bribe designed to enlist the school board as lobbyists for the project.”
“The current fiscal court campaigned on the principle of promoting smart growth or common sense planning and zoning,” he said in a statement and in a letter to newspaper editors. “This proposal is neither.”
Bob Schroder, vice president of Arlinghaus Builders, said the school board actually approached the company about the property.
“We did not enlist (the school board) as lobbyists,” he said.
North Bend Road north of Interstate 275 is a narrow, winding roadway that could not handle the traffic generated by the Arlinghaus project, Mr. Hay said.
“If this plan is adopted, the result will be sheer carnage on a road unable to safely handle its current traffic,” he said.
But other fiscal court members, while not saying how they'll vote on the project, indicated Monday that the county and the state may come up with the money to revamp and widen North Bend Road.
“We've learned that if the county can put up some of the money for the project, the state may be able to come up with the rest,” said Commissioner Cathy Flaig.
Ms. Flaig did not have an amount for the county's share.
“That's something we can work on when we put together the budget, but it shows there may be a solution to fixing the road and getting a school that is needed in the community,” she said.
Ed Massey, vice chairman of the Boone County Board of Education, said Boone County is growing so fast that a new school is needed every year.
“We have good, quality schools in Boone County, and there is a need to continue that by building new schools like this one,” he said.
He also took exception to Mr. Hay's comment about a “legalized bribe.”
“This was a well-thought process, not a legalized bribe,” Mr. Massey said. “The board agreed unanimously to support this project and this effort. We simply don't have the funds to build a new school a year, and a partnership like this is a good solution.”
Having the land donated could save the school district about $700,000, officials have said.
Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore said he does not see the offer of land as a bribe, but he is worried about the safety of North Bend Road.
“The school has a need, and that need is being created by the building and development going on in the county,” he said. “The safety of that road is a concern. And we're trying to look at some ways to address those concerns.”
Carrie Dickman, the school board's vice chairwoman, said schoolchildren are already traveling on the road on their way to other schools in the county.
A new school means the children would spend less time on the road and wouldn't have to travel as far.
“It's in the children's best interest that this be approved,” she said.
But Mr. Hay said he is seeing a trend in Boone County where developers offer land for schools so they can win approval for their developments.
The Erpenbeck Co. donated land for a new school near the Plantation Pointe subdivision it built in Florence. Ray Erpenbeck, a member of the Erpenbeck family, is the engineer on the Arlinghaus project, according to Mr. Hay, a former member of Florence City Council.
“Were it not for the fact that (Mr.) Erpenbeck has the board (of education) reacting in a Pavlovian manner over a free school site, this project would not see the light of day,” Mr. Hay said.
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