Friday, April 21, 2000
Lockland to redevelop paper mill site
BY Sara J. Bennett
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LOCKLAND — A transformation is in store for an abandoned paper mill that residents have complained about for years.
The village this week reached an agreement with American Tissue Mills of Ohio Inc. to buy the property at Lock Street and South Cooper Avenue.
Lockland plans to redevelop the land. The settlement with American Tissue came just before the eminent domain proceeding was to go before a Hamilton County jury.
Lockland will pay $750,000 for the property, which is a key part of the community's urban renewal effort.
“It can be seen from just about everywhere in the village, and it's just terribly blighted and very unsafe and really what we need to continue moving forward,” Village Manager Evonne Kovach said.
The 6.4-acre property with its cluster of old buildings has been vacant since former owner Fox Paper closed in 1988.
Since then, residents have complained that the crumbling buildings were a blight that attracted vandals and loiterers. An office building and warehouse in the complex burned in March, 1999, and village officials blamed arson.
Lockland has had its eye on the property for several years with hopes of revitalizing it. Located next door to the new Lockland Commerce Park, the old paper mill made it difficult to attract new development to the area, Ms. Kovach said.
Getting American Tissue to agree to a sale price was tough, too. On Monday, the day the issue was to go to court, an agreement finally was reached.
“We feel it was a very good settlement,” said William Santen Sr., the local attorney for New York-based American Tissue. “We're taking the (paper mill) machines out of the building because they have value, and the property will then be available to Lockland, and they can use it for their urban development program, which will be excellent for them.”
Lockland is looking for a developer to buy the property and pay the estimated $200,000 needed to clean up environmental problems caused by its former industrial use, Mayor Jim Brown said.
If that doesn't happen, the village may seek grants to do the cleanup, he said. Lockland has done this before, using a package of state loans, grants and tax credits to clean up the former Jefferson Smurfit paper plant site where the new commerce park now stands.
Brown said he's confident residents will see improvement at the site soon.
“I know it'll be down and cleared up within a year, and I know that's not much consolation for somebody who wants it down quicker, but it's a whole lot closer than it has been,” he said. “We've had several people interested in it, and it shouldn't take long to sell it.”
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