Tuesday, December 21, 1999
Lebanon decides not to seize land
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
LEBANON — Citing a cost that could have reached $2 million, council on Monday folded in the fight to stop a controversial apartment complex near Deerfield Road.
Council agreed to dismiss eminent domain proceedings to take the 10-acre Deerfield Road parcel and turn it into a park. In November, council initiated those proceedings after the developer, Deerfield Crossings Limited Partnership, started work on the project.
Though council last week rejected a proposed swap that would have moved the 96-unit complex to a 12-acre site on Turtlecreek Union Road, the city agreed to continue negotiations to buy the Deerfield Road site.
But Deerfield Crossings Limited Partnership wanted too much for the land. By dismissing the proceedings, council effectively will allow the apartment complex to proceed.
“The purchase is well in excess of $1 million,” said City Attorney William Duning. “It's in the range of $1.8 million to $2 million.”
The city can't afford the developer's stated investment, some council members said.
“We've come to the end of the road, and my comment is we give up,” council member Joe McKenzie said. “You can't win them all.”
Mayor James Mills said he opposes the project being on Deerfield Road because the area can't handle the traffic.
“I'm not against the project. I'm against where it comes in and comes out,” he said. “I'm still against where the driveway comes in and out, and I'll die that way. I'm done with it.”
Some residents argued Monday that the project will make the area too congested with traffic, as well as decrease property values.
John Perkins, who lives near the site, said the city should have continued fighting the project, and had harsh words about city officials:
“It goes to show what small-minded people can do to a small town. I wish that the city of Lebanon hired one of those slick lawyers like the developer did. I never saw so many people quit in my life.”
The Deerfield site last sold for $275,000, but in November, Joseph Trauth, Deerfield Crossing's attorney, told council the developer has $1.6 million invested in the project. Deerfield Crossing proposed building apartments on the site more than a year ago and in October began clearing it, surprising city officials and some residents.
The city would have also credited or waived city fees for the project on the new site.
In other action, council took the first reading on a 2000 budget that eliminates the deputy city manager and assistant to the city manager positions. A final reading on the budget, which also calls for a 3 percent across-the-board cost-of-living increase but eliminates merit pay, could be taken Dec. 28 at the next council meeting.
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