LIBERTY TWP. — A key piece of land for a proposed interchange has been sold, and nearby residents are pushing to get better buffering for their properties from anticipated traffic and businesses.

Homer and Ruth Harding recently sold their farm on Hamilton-Mason Road. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Increased buffers between homes at the Four Bridges community and a proposed eastward interchange off the Michael A. Fox Highway at Interstate 75 would come in the nick of time for residents.

        A big part of land for that interchange — a 94-acre farm — was sold to developers who plan to build on part of it and sell the rest to either the county or state for the road.

        “We want to make sure we protect the values of our homes,” said Tom Farrell, president of the Four Bridges Homeowners Association. He met Monday with Liberty Administrator Nell Kilpatrick. Surrounding land is zoned for offices buildings and industrial facilities such as bottling or distribution centers.

        A formal request goes to the township zoning commission next month.

        The increased buffering would include 10-foot-high dirt mounds with a double row of 8-foot-high trees on top and no lighting higher than the trees. The buffering must be complete before construction begins on the new road or developments.

        Now, the minimum buffering requirements in land zoned for offices is either a 6-foot-high brick wall, or landscaping with 6-foot mounding or 6-foot evergreen trees that can't be more than 10 feet apart.

        Homer and Ruth Harding's farm on Hamilton-Mason Road, just north of where Cox Road now ends, was sold Sept. 12 to a new Cincinnati-based corporation called Henjur LLC, according to the Butler County Auditor's Office.

        The farmland was sold for $5 million, county records show.

        Robert Burns, an agent of Henjur, did not return calls Monday, but a Henjur developer has told others the company plans to commercially develop part of the farmland, saying it's ideal for big-box retail stores and a cinema. Henjur plans to sell the rest of the parcel to either the county or state for the interchange.

        Plans call for the interchange to run eastward about a quarter mile to an extended Cox Road through the Harding farm, and then extend to Kyles Station Road.

        Mr. Farrell said residents would object to large stores or a movie theater emerging behind their homes, which range in value from $250,000 to nearly $1 million.

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