Wednesday, October 13, 1999

Mason buys land in housing suit

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Developer wants to build 84 homes

BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        MASON — The city is buying the land that led to a lawsuit by a developer after denial of his proposal to use it for residential development.

        Mason City Council on Monday approved the purchase of a 105-acre parcel owned by Northeast Associates of Loveland. Council will pay about $1.6 million for the land.

        Northeast Associates had filed a lawsuit in Warren County Common Pleas Court against the Mason Planning Commission. The suit claims the commission used unlawful and improper reasoning to reject the landowners' proposal for a housing development, to include 84 single-family houses on the 105 acres east of Ohio 741 and south of Bunnell Road.

        In June, the planning commission turned down Northeast Associates' preliminary plat for the subdivision on land zoned for single-family residential use. Planners based their decision on the fact that Mason's comprehensive plan recommends the property be developed for industrial use, despite its existing zoning.

        “A residential development there would be problematic for several reasons,” City Manager Scot Lahrmer said. “There is currently industrial land to the west, south and east to which this property would be adjacent.”

Complaints feared
        City officials said residential use of the land would result in complaints about surrounding industrial uses, rail traffic, heavy truck use on Ohio 741 and other nuisances incompatible with residential development.

        “Because the developer's interest differed from the city's concern for quality of development and neighboring issues, (we) sought an amicable resolution,” Mr. Lahrmer said. “One option the city considered was acquisition of the property.”

        Negotiations with the developer resulted in the city's agreeing to buy the land for about $15,000 per acre.

        It is a price, Mr. Lahrmer said, that is significantly less than what the city has paid recently for land in Mason.

        “The possibility of acquiring the land at an attractive price, rezoning it for industrial purposes and reserving it for future industrial use became a preferred alternative,” Mr. Lahrmer said.

        City officials say buying the land offers many advantages to the city, including:

        • Preserving Mason's interest in compatible land use.

        • Preventing more houses from being built in the city and harming Mason City Schools' rapidly growing enrollment.

        • Allowing the city to become more competitive with Lebanon's Tax Incremental Financing program.

"A good acquisition'
        “I am usually not a proponent of the city getting in volved in the business of land purchase for the interest of brokering properties,” said Mason Mayor Betty Davis. “But considering the fact that we have a chance to get this land at a price below the current market value, it is a good acquisition for the city.”

        Mr. Lahrmer said it is anticipated that the land will sit undeveloped for a few years until more industrial development demands land in the northeast area.

        He said the eventual sale of the land for industrial purposes will be a positive return on the city's investment.

       

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