EVENDALE — The village is proceeding with a “visioning” process to revitalize a commercial corridor, despite protests from some property owners who don't like what they see.

        For the past year, the village has been evaluating its stretch of Reading Road, currently a mix of retail, office and industrial uses. Officials believe that vacant properties could be developed in a way that would enhance the area and bring more business.

IF YOU GO

What: “Visioning” session for Evendale residents     When: 7 p.m. Oct.1     Where: Evendale Recreation Center     Format: Public meeting is moderated by planning firm KZF Design Inc. Reservations requested.     Information: 956-2666.

        An urban renewal plan completed in August 2001 reportedon the condition of properties there, but includes no action steps, said Bill Covell, assistant to the mayor. But the plan's designation of the study area as “blighted” has inflamed some property owners.

        A blight designation is a required part of any urban renewal plan, Mr. Covell said. And completion of that plan was a necessary first step for Evendale's Community Improvement Corp. (CIC) before considering any action to improve the corridor.

        When Dan Regenold hears the term “blighted,” he pictures inner-city eyesores or havens for criminals. It's not a word he would apply to Evendale's major north-south artery, where his company, Frame USA, is located.

        Another Reading Road property owner, Bruce Hassel of A to Z Discount Printing, erected a sign outside his building to alert passersby to the legal definition of the word. The sign reads “Notice: You have entered a blighted area. The Village of Evendale has determined that the Reading Road Corridor is a menace to public health, safety, morals or welfare.”

        Mr. Covell explained that, like it or not, the term “blight” is part of urban renewal language. However, he said, the government's use of the term is specific. A piece of property can be so labeled if it fails to meet any of several standards relating to building age, structural condition, site condition, fire code violations, location in a flood plain, vacancy, crime rate, lot layout or nonconforming land use.

        “A blight declaration doesn't mean every property is blighted,” Mr. Covell said. Of the 130 properties, few failed to meet the standard of fire code safety, but many are automatically considered blighted because they lie in a flood plain, are vacant, or don't meet existing codes.

        Mr. Regenold and Mr. Hassel believe that the village is using the urban renewal plan and its blight designation to lower property values and, ultimately, to buy up property along Reading Road through eminent domain. They say that many errors were made by McBride Dale Clarion, the consultants who performed the property assessments. And they say they are frustrated by the village's apparent lack of response to their concerns.

        “They should have solicited public input before, not after, the plan,” Mr. Regenold said.

        CIC has conducted four visioning sessions for Evendale's business and industrial community. The fifth and final session is designed to get comment on Reading Road's future from local residents. Without community support, no action will be taken, said CIC president John Perazzo.

        “Our immediate goal is to find out what people want; our ultimate goal is to improve the corridor,” he said. “The urban renewal plan is a tool that gives us the right to use eminent domain should we ever need it.
       

Whole lot of flapping going on
Military service rare on delegation
Evendale plan riles firms
Expansion could be empty promise
Markers tell Ohio history
Ministry to gays draws protests
Obituary: C.S. Luck, mayor of Silverton
Tristate A.M. Report
Where are the speed humps?
BRONSON: Hate crimes
He helps India's poor
New Lebanon high school provides for future growth
Drug busts rise in small towns
Justice hopefuls: Don't assume
Ky. universities, colleges see enrollment increase
Recent deaths recall unsolved killing