By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LOVELAND - A second effort to debate an upcoming zoning referendum fell apart Tuesday.

Alleging bias by the sponsor, the citizen group Voice of the Electorate turned down the Loveland Area Chamber of Commerce's invitation to participate in today's event.

"I am gravely disappointed. The losers are going to be the citizens who are not going to be able to hear both sides," said Paulette Leeper, executive director of the chamber.

Voice of the Electorate canceled a similar debate last month after city officials refused to participate, saying they objected to the group's characterization of the ballot issue as "spot zoning."

The chamber will instead hold an information meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Loveland Intermediate School cafeteria on Lebanon Road. Councilman Joe Schickel and Assistant City Manager Tom Carroll are scheduled to speak.

Problems surfaced last week when members of the group said they wouldn't participate unless the chamber answered a list of 25 questions and concerns. Councilman Paul Elliott, a member of the group who expressed interest in being a panelist, said he was concerned about the selection of a moderator and how questions would be chosen from the audience.

The group's spokesman, Dave Miller, who led the charge to get the issue on the March 2 ballot, criticized the chamber's sponsorship of the debate because the business association had publicly supported Loveland's decision to expand commercial zoning.

"This was not to be a debate in anything but name," Miller said Tuesday. "It was instead a crass attempt to make one last grand sales presentation to sell the voters on the bad idea of spot commercial zoning."

Leeper said chamber officials would not be involved in the actual debate. Trustee Georgia Porter, who headed the debate organizing committee, said she answered most of the group's questions.

"The only questions I didn't answer were the ones that were attacks on the chamber," she said. "The chamber is not up for debate here. The chamber is sponsoring the debate."

A lawsuit that Voice of the Electorate filed in 2002 forced the referendum after the city changed zoning to allow properties of 5 acres or more to be rezoned to commercial even if they are next to residential neighborhoods.

The change, defended by Loveland officials as part of the master plan, paved the way for Hines-Griffin to buy the $3.4 million White Pillars property from the city and to develop the Ohio 48 site for residential and commercial use.

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com