Wednesday, April 12, 2000

Groups mobilize to fight new mall

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Interstate 75 interchange also a target

BY Michael D. Clark, Janet C. Wetzel and Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        MONROE — Up and down the Interstate 75 corridor, from north of Dayton to Northern Kentucky, opposition to a proposed mall is picking up speed at a phenomenal rate.

        The possibility of what was initially dubbed a “mega-mall,” and the related push for a new Kyles Station interchange on I-75, have galvanized groups and individuals worried that the Tristate's booming growth is getting out of control.

        Local development experts say not in recent memory has a single proposed commercial development attracted such broad-based opposition.

        “This is the linchpin site. We are at a critical decision point,” said Glen Brand, director of the Cincinnati chapter of the Sierra Club. His organization has been among the most vocal of the more than two dozen groups that have publicly taken a stand against the proposed mall. He believes it's also crucial to head off the new interchange, which would, Mr. Brand says, only lead to more interchanges and sprawl.

        Paul Procee, a University of Cincinnati instructor in urban transportation and planning, said the mall issue indicates public opinion against unchecked growth is rising.

        “Sprawling development opposition is not just local anymore,” said Mr. Procee, who is conducting a study on the long-term, economic impact of large shopping malls. “There is now a change of mind in this region ... a questioning of development.”

        Monroe's mayor said that, despite the visible and vocal opposition to the mall, it has “a silent majority” in support, especially among those who would live near the project.

        “I think this mall is something very positive in this area,” and “will help the tax base and benefit schools,” said Elbert Tannreuther. “It will be an economic benefit for the whole area, Butler and Warren County.”

        But where some area leaders see opportunities for creating a prosperous and connected “megalopolis” between Cincinnati and Dayton, critics see unneeded and harmful commercial overdevelopment. Moreover, they object to the possibility that an estimated $11 million of taxpayer money might go to creating a new interchange they say is primarily designed to aid private developers.

        Publicly funded overdevelopment, opponents claim, damages both Cincinnati and Dayton city neighborhoods by drawing away money that could go to revitalizing existing malls and urban shopping; and instead funnels it into the building of new shopping centers in still largely undeveloped, rural areas along the I-75 corridor.

        Supporters, however, counter that a mall would further fuel the growing prosperity of Monroe and other communities along I-75, adding jobs and expanding the tax base.

        Even though the mall exists only as a proposal, it has spurred public opposition that has included:

        •A flood of more than 800 notes sent to the Ohio Transportation Review Advisory Council, whose officials will consider the request for $11 million to cover about half the cost of a new interchange at Kyles Station Road.

        Saturday is the deadline for the public to forward opinions on public highway projects being considered by Ohio Department of Transportation TRAC officials in Columbus.

        •Packed public meetings in Monroe and, most recently, with Warren County commissioners. The Residents Association of West Central Warren County and other mall opponents last week prompted commissioners to write a letter to TRAC. That letter, signed Tuesday, clarifies that while commissioners want a new interchange, they “have no allegiance to any development either existing or planned” in that area.

        Commissioners individually are more pointed: “I don't want the mall,” Larry Crisenbery told opponents.

        •More than two dozen Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky citizens and environmental, governmental and neighborhood groups that have publicly stated they are against a mall and a new interchange.

        Friday, the Cincinnati Planning Commission voted unanimously to forward a resolution against spending state funds for a new interchange in Monroe to the City Council. If approved by council, the resolution would go to ODOT officials.

        The planning commission joins other governmental bodies, including the City Council in Trotwood, just northwest of Dayton and home of the troubled Salem Mall; the Trotwood Chamber of Commerce; and New Lebanon village officials, west of Dayton, in coming out against the proposed interchange and mall. While chamber and village representatives voiced concern about sprawl and the use of tax dollars, they also acknowledged that a new mall could erode their customer and tax bases.

        In its history, TRAC officials said they have never seen such a flood of protests as they have received regarding the Kyles Station proposal.

        “There's never been this sort of public outpouring,” said Michael Cull, spokesman for TRAC.

        TRAC officials must wait for an “interchange justification study” before making their decision on whether to use taxpayer money to fund some of the interchange construction. There are no meetings scheduled on the Kyles Station proposal, said Mr. Cull, but public hearings will be held locally on all proposed I-75 interchanges between Cincinnati and Dayton.

        Taubman & Co. is the Michigan developer that wants to invest $200 million in a 1.7-million-square-foot enclosed mall, which company officials said would eventually add 10,500 jobs to the area.

        Joe Hart, development director for Taubman, declined to comment on the growing opposition but cautioned that any such sentiments are premature. He said his company is only considering building on the 360-acre site in Monroe and has not formally announced any detailed plan for what he describes as a “regional shopping center.”

        Mr. Hart said that, if his company proceeds with a new mall, it would likely resemble Taubman's Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Mich., with more than 200 stores.

        Mr. Hart said that while an interchange would make a mall viable at the site, one is also necessary for helping improve the area for all resi dents.

        “Based on our preliminary analysis, we believe an interchange is important to that region,” he said.

        Monroe's mayor agreed. Mr. Tannreuther added that Trotwood and New Lebanon are taking a selfish position to protect their own interests, without looking at the benefits to those in the fast-growing area of Monroe and nearby communities.

        Lisa Miller, who lives on Tylersville Road about a mile from the proposed site of the I-75 interchange, has a different viewpoint. She moved from Sharonville to the 11-acre horse farm in 1991 to revel in the joys of rural life. Now she sees the things she's come to treasure threatened.

        “We don't want all the sprawl that this mall would bring. We don't want all the development, the subdivisions. We want to keep our rural life,” Ms. Miller said. “I think it's all about developers wanting to make money, not thinking about the impact on the environment.

        “I don't want to see it become like Tylersville Road, or Route 63 — with gas stations, fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, traffic. There's enough of that,” she said.

       

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