Saturday, October 23, 1999
Apartments catch Lebanon unaware
City intended park in that area
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer datel
LEBANON - One of Lebanon's last large areas of green space green spaces is on its way to becoming a 96-unit apartment complex, to the surprise of city officials who had neglected the project.
A year ago, Lebanon council proposed swapping the 10-acre wooded site on the city's south side for another piece of land they thought would be better suited for apartments. A majority of council members hoped to turn the 10 acres into a park, a plan supported by about 200 residents who signed a petition opposing the development.
Negotiations stalled, and at some point, the project fell off the city's radar screen — that is, until last week, when bulldozers began stripping the land near Deerfield Road and tearing down trees.
“Can you say the ball was dropped?” asked Councilman Mark Flick. “Yeah, the ball was dropped.”
But Mr. Flick cautioned against finger-pointing. Over the past year, three people have led the city as manager. Three of seven council members are new. And the city has had other projects occupying its time, such as building a multimillion-dollar telecommunications system, and Silver Street renovations that took nearly three times as long as expected.
Nevertheless, said a heartbroken John Russell, who
owns an auto repair shop across the street from the development, “I think the city goofed up.”
“Another week and there won't be a tree left,” said Mr. Russell, who occasionally took walks in the woods. “You can't believe how thick (with trees) it was.”
Resident Andy Timmerman fears the development is another step toward the death of small-town Lebanon. Already the city's population is exploding, up 31 percent since 1990 to an estimated 13,700. Further, Lebanon is on track to best its record for residential housing construction this year.
The latest figures show the city issued 171 residential building permits through August, already more than the 159 issued in 1998. The record is 218 in 1996.
When Mr. Timmerman and his family moved to a 1910 home in Lebanon seven years ago, “it was just a nice, quiet town.”
“There are very few towns like Lebanon left, and they're certainly not building any more of them,” he said. “I'd like to retain the small-town character it has left.”
Mr. Timmerman said residents also are concerned about the high traffic volume, and the development's impact on area schools. About three-fourths of the apartments are to be two-bedroom units, with the rest three-bedroom, City Planner Doug Johnson said. The apartments are not expected to be federally subsidized.
The site work by Associated Land Group caught residents and city officials off-guard. In fact, City Manager Jim Patrick, who came on the job in late July, said he was unaware until last week the project even existed.
Associated Land Group is acting within the law, Mr. Johnson said. The land already was appropriately zoned, and the planning commission had no choice but to approve the site plan last year since it met all the city's requirements, Mr. Johnson said.
“Probably if they had their personal preferences,” he said, “I'm sure some would have liked to see it stay undeveloped.”
Mr. Patrick said he has asked Associated Land Group to stop construction and continue negotiations. On Thursday, workers still were tearing down trees and clearing the land.
Garth Reynolds of Associated Land Group did not return calls Thursday or Friday.
Council on Tuesday is to discuss options to preserve the green space, which could range from a land swap to eminent domain. The planning commission earlier this week passed a resolution supporting the city's attempt to buy the land.
Although the land last sold for $275,000, its purchase price surely would increase to include engineering and preliminary site work, Mr. Flick said.
Mr. Patrick said the city is looking at other possible sites for a land swap but would not divulge the locations. A year ago, city officials said potential sites could include the eight-acre Tecumseh Trails Park at Cook Road, as well as land along Dave Road or Ohio 123.
Even if a deal is worked out, the city would face considerably more work now to transform the hillside into a passive park, including replanting trees.
Mr. Flick said council is working on a set of landscaping ordinances that would safeguard green space in future developments. Unfortunately, he said, the ordinances would come too late to protect the 10 acres on Deerfield Road.
Should negotiations fail and the development continue, the incident has highlighted a need for the city to improve its system of tracking projects, Mr. Patrick said.
“We probably need to do a better job flagging these kind of projects,” he said, “to make sure we don't have surprises like this anymore.”
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