By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Tyler's Place Boulevard will be extended to Hamilton-Mason Road by September, providing easier access from the north to Meijer, Wal-Mart and other stores along Tylersville Road.

West Chester Township trustees approved rezoning 47 acres of the Keefe farm to allow general business at the southwest corner of Hamilton-Mason Road's bridge over I-75, site of the proposed Liberty interchange with I-75.

Another 23 acres on the southern edge of the farm have been rezoned residential for 37 new homes ranging from $400,000 to $1 million, said Thomas Homes, president of Great Traditions Land & Development Co., which built Wetherington Golf & Country Club.

Five of the houses will face Wetherington Drive in the township's 450-acre housing development, he said.

"This is the missing jigsaw puzzle piece," Homes said. His company has wanted to connect Tyler's Place Boulevard to Hamilton-Mason Road for nearly 10 years, he said.

Business and commercial zoning will allow for drive-through restaurants and possibly a gas station adjacent to the proposed I-75 ramp. The developers have agreed to donate all necessary land for the widening of Hamilton-Mason Road, part of the Liberty interchange project, said Rick Bailey, Butler County Transportation Improvement District director.

Highway engineers still don't know if the Butler County water tower at the Hamilton-Mason/I-75 overpass will be in the way of the interchange ramps, Bailey said. If it must be moved, Homes' company has promised to help find a new location for the tower, Bailey said.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com