By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Not so long ago, Patrick Keefe's son drove a tractor up and down Hamilton-Mason Road in front of the family's 70-plus-acre farm.

But times have changed in this booming township.

Soon the Keefe farm could become the first commercial development near the proposed Liberty Interchange, a connection from Interstate 75.

"The whole area has changed so much that it's not like it used to be," Keefe said Friday. "So it's not like you're losing something."

Representatives of Tylers Place Associates LLC will appear before township trustees Feb. 17 to request a zone change for the property to include commercial and residential.

The zone change has been approved by the Butler County Planning Commission and the township's zoning commission.

Jim Kiefer, director of engineering for Great Traditions Development Group, the parent company of Tylers Place Associates, said plans include 38 acres of commercial development and 23 acres for 41 upscale single-family home sites.

Although the commercial development is still about three years away, he said "the interchange would drive what type of business goes there."

Great Traditions is the developer of Wetherington, an upscale housing development in West Chester.

Kiefer said officials view the development as an extension of Wetherington with houses ranging from $400,000 to $750,000.

Construction on the houses is slated to begin this year.

Plans include the extension of Tylers Place Boulevard from Tylersville Road to Hamilton-Mason Road to alleviate traffic.

The township's land use committee has recommended the land along Hamilton-Mason Road be commercial.

If the change is approved, it will be the first commercial development in that area.