LIBERTY TOWNSHIP — A large crowd of irritated residents couldn't persuade Liberty Township trustees to overturn a controversial zoning change they say will worsen traffic and endanger children.

        More than 50 people from the southeastern corner of this growing Butler County township peppered trustees with complaints and kept a public meeting going until nearly midnight Monday.

        Most spoke out against rezoning two properties along Yankee Road from residential to commercial, as recommended by the township zoning commission. The properties — 1.9 acres and a little more than a half acre, respectively — are near the Stonehenge residential community.

        Despite the protest, trustees voted 2-1 to accept the zoning commission's recommendation.

        Liberty Township Administrator Nell Kilpatrick said the commission believed that commercial zoning for the two plots “was appropriate use for them given their size and proximity to Cincinnati-Dayton Road and the Michael A. Fox Highway.”

        The new highway, which connects Interstate 75 and the city of Hamilton, cuts across southern Liberty Township.

        But Sharon Culbert, a six-year resident of Stonehenge, said she and her family did not move to this largely rural township to have their back yard abut a store's rear parking lot.

        “Everybody out here is really upset about it,” Ms. Culbert said. “We have children and we won't feel comfortable letting them play in the back yard.”

        Other residents complained that allowing commercial development along Yankee Road will add to traffic backups and endanger youngsters.

        No announcements have been made regarding what type of commercial development might be located on the two lots.

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