Thursday, June 17, 1999
Panel to support hillside rules
Anderson to be urged to copy county
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP — The controversy over hillside regulations may be a step closer to resolution.
A 15-member task force of construction and geotechnical engineers, residents, government officials, landowners and developers will recommend to the board of trustees today that it adopt Hamilton County's hillside regulations.
“The task force agreed that the Hamilton County Earth works Improvements cover the kind of regulations for building on hillsides in Anderson Township,” said Albert F. Peter, chairman of the task force. “We think our recommendations will cover the concerns of groups on both sides of this question.”
Home builders, developers and some residents objected to regulations drafted by the department of development services saying it had too many restrictions.
One opponent was James Hassan of 8210 Ohio 32, who owns a 42-acre farm he wants to develop.
“Those regulations simply said we will solve the hillside problem by not letting you develop the land,” Mr. Hassan said.
The board of trustees threw out those regulations last November and appointed the task force to start fresh.
“I am very well pleased that all members of the task force agreed to recommend the county regulations,” said Russ Jackson, president of the board. “This comes from a broad cross-section of people who took a good look at the needs and what the county regulations provide.”
Mohammad Islam, project geotechnical engineer for the county, said the county's Earthworks Improvements were adopted in 1990. But improvements have been made, requiring a better monitoring system on hillside development. Mr. Islam said he thinks the regulations will be suitable for Anderson Township.
The regulations outline specific requirements for building on hillsides that must be met before the county issues a permit for construction.
One example Mr. Islam gave were guidelines regarding slopes on hillsides:
“For instance, if you want to build on a hillside and there is a slope on the site deeper than a 3-to-1 grade (where the land rises 3 feet for each 1 foot length), you are required to get a geotechnical report. The report comes to the county to decide whether to issue a permit, based on information gathered at the site.”
The report includes information on the soil texture, drainage and whether there has been slippage.
“If you are building a house on a 4-to-1 slope and there has been landslide, if we issue a permit to remove dirt, all dirt excavated cannot be used on the site. It must be hauled away, because if there is slippage, putting more dirt on it forces more slippage,” Mr. Islam said.
Anderson Township's prob lems escalated in 1996 when several houses in Lawyers Pointe, an area with houses averaging $350,000, slid off their foundation.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) gave the township $1 million to correct the slippage with the stipulation it adopt regulations to control further development on hillsides.
Mr. Jackson said if the board adopts the task force's report, public hearings are not required.
“Public hearings are only required if there is a zoning change,” Mr. Jackson said. “What we have is the task force simply saying the county's regulations will suffice.”
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