Tuesday, January 18, 2000
458-home site needs rezoning
Lebanon asked to OK change
BY CINDI ANDREWS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — A proposal for one of the city's largest residential developments yet is on the drawing board and headed to city decision-makers.
The plan would put 458 homes on 205 acres in southern Lebanon, next to Countryside YMCA on Deerfield Road. Countryside Homes also would include a six-acre park, a swimming pool, a playground and a seven-acre commercial area that could include a day-care center and a convenience store.
The development hinges on Lebanon City Council allowing rezoning of the land. Home prices would range from $150,000 to $400,000, said Jeff Hebeler, director of land acquisition for the developer, Great Traditions Land & Development Co. of Cincinnati. The proposal will go before the city planning commission tonight.
The prospect of 400-plus new homes is causing concern among some neighbors along Deerfield Road.
“The traffic is already real bad,” said 20-year resident Phil Post. “You're taking a real small road and adding 300-400 cars a day. (Lebanon) is growing too fast for people to cope with.”
Another neighbor worries about the effect on schools.
“I don't understand why the city is allowing more development when the schools are busting at the seams,” said Sheila Tolson, who has a daugh ter at Berry Middle School. “Where are they going to put more kids?”
Mrs. Tolson said she doesn't think the new homes would hurt property values, but she lamented the loss of her home's rural setting.
“It'll be sad because right now I look out my window and I see a pasture, a field, and it's going to disappear,” she said.
The land is zoned residential, but the developer is seeking a designation that would allow building on smaller lots and with smaller setbacks.
The planning commission will make a recommendation to City Council. Council will hold a public hearing, likely Jan. 25, and then decide whether to allow the rezoning.
Construction of infrastructure such as roads could begin by late spring, with home building starting in the fall and the entire community finished in five to seven years, Mr. Hebeler said.
Great Traditions previously built the Wetherington Golf and Country Club neighborhood in West Chester. Regional growth patterns led the developer to Lebanon, he said.
“Over the last few years, growth has definitely been moving up the I-71 corridor,” Mr. Hebeler said. “We felt the time was right to create a nice, upscale, master-planned community.”
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