Thursday, June 17, 1999
Owners, developers sue in zoning denial
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP — Jennifer Russo and her husband Paul kicked off 1998 with a brand new house in a community they thought would one day be home to 410 families.
Eighteen months later and five years after the first house went up, the Russos have fewer than 25 neighbors. The development isn't selling and the company that is trying to resurrect it is getting the cold shoulder from township officials.
Now the Russos, along with nine other Wedgewood resi dents have gone to Warren County Common Pleas Court to try to save their community.
The couple and and five other families at Wedgewood, along with landowner Wesreal Inc. and Grand Communities Ltd., the development arm of Fischer Single Family Homes Ltd., sued township trustees Wednesday to push rezoning of the property on U.S. 22/Ohio 3 between Zoar and Nunner roads.
“Our opinion is that we have somebody that wants to develop it. We support them. They have good plans, and we would rather have that than nothing,” Mrs. Russo said .
Grand Communities, which has an option to buy 161 acres in the development from Wesreal, wants to increase the density of the project by 188 homes to add a variety of sizes and price ranges from $110,000 to $250,000.
The company's proposal, which includes patio homes on small lots, also calls for 27 acres of green space for playfields and a second pool. The development would be built out in 10 to 15 years.
Township zoning officer Gary Boeres said the proposal complied with township zoning for the property and had cleared recommendation by the Warren County Regional Planning Commission.
However, two of three township trustees voted down the proposal on June 2, and the zoning request failed.
Trustee Clyde Baston was the lone vote in favor of the request. Trustee Becky Ehling declined comment, saying she had not seen the lawsuit, and Trustee O.T. Bishop could not be reached.
“I was in favor of it due to the fact it was well within our code. Twenty-seven people voted in the subdivision to go with it. So I said yes,” Mr. Baston said.
Jim Gorman, vice president and general manager for Grand Communities, said the trustees' decision was unreasonable and the current zoning is “not economically viable” for a developer. A single community of large lots and houses with high price tags wasn't attracting buyers, he said.
“What we're proposing is something that's becoming fairly common — a variety of lot sizes and a variety of housing product offset by open space,” Mr. Gorman said.
Johann Garwood, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, moved to Wedgewood in May. He said he built his house there because he liked, for the most part, what Grand Communities had proposed.
“Not everybody is in favor of everything (Grand Communities) wants to do out there,” Mr. Garwood said. “But we don't have any other offers on the table.”
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