By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jeanne Dawson, 83, a legally blind woman who has lived on Garland in Norwood for 44 years, wants to sell her house to developers. The Cincinnati Enquirer/TONY JONES

NORWOOD - Led by her guide dog, a yellow Labrador Retriever named Lizzie, the legally blind 83-year-old woman slowly walks down Edwards Road as cars and trucks roar past.

Jeanne Dawson had hoped by this time to be living in a retirement home, where she could walk with Lizzie on a path by a lake, far from the traffic and the noise that now envelops the Norwood neighborhood she has lived in for the past 44 years.

Almost two years ago, she and 64 of her neighbors signed contracts to sell their homes to Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate and the Miller-Valentine Group. The developers plan to demolish the neighborhood and build the Rookwood Exchange, a $125 million addition to the Rookwood complex of shops and offices.

But a handful of property owners refused to sell. Norwood, anxious for the revenue from this development, declared the proposed Rookwood Exchange site a blighted neighborhood so it could use eminent domain to acquire the properties.

Last September, the Institute of Justice, a civil liberties law firm in Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit on behalf of the owners of two homes and three businesses in an attempt to block Norwood's action. A trial on this case will begin April 12. The two-year delay has caused economic hardship and emotional turbulence for many of the 65 property owners who agreed to sell their houses. They won't receive any money for their homes until the developers can acquire all the properties.

For Dawson, it has meant the loss of three opportunities to move into a retirement home. She can't afford to move anywhere until she receives the money for her house.

"I can't cook, read or drive," said Dawson, who has hearing as well as vision problems. "I love my home, but it's too much for me to take care of. I need to move."

Many other residents of this tiny, triangular-shaped neighborhood also feel as if they have been in an interminable holding pattern.

"Everyone's stuck. It's like we're on this island and can't get off," said Michelle Vogelsong.

The Vogelsongs bought another house in Norwood last August because it appeared the dispute was about to be resolved. But then the developers received a second extension on their contracts.

As a result, Michelle and Rob Vogelsong are paying $2,000 a month on two mortgages, one on their new house and another on the house they moved out of on Garland Avenue, off Edwards Road.

To avoid filing for bankruptcy, the Vogelsongs, who have three children, are using money from Rob's pension fund to pay the bills. Michelle , recently had to return to part-time work. "It's one of the worst times of my life right now," Michelle said. "I don't want to lose everything."

The residents who are waiting to sell their houses are angry at the Institute of Justice, which is representing the holdout property owners for free.

But Scott Bullock, the Institute's lead attorney in this case, blames the developers.

"We're just trying to protect the rights of other people in this area who don't want to sell their property," he said. "If there's anybody holding somebody hostage, it's (the developers.) They could have bought the properties outright but didn't."

Richard Tranter, the attorney for the Rookwood Exchange developers, said it's preposterous to expect developers to start buying some properties for a development site without knowing whether they'll be able to buy them all.

"A developer must be able to assemble the entire project site before proceeding with a multimillion-dollar project," he said.

The Institute contends that Norwood had no basis for declaring the neighborhood blighted. It accused the city of misusing the eminent domain law.

But many residents say their neighborhood has deteriorated in recent years and deserves the "blighted" label. They say the increased traffic and noise caused by commercial development have ruined the neighborhood's character.

"Neon lights shine into my back yard, and I can hear music from a restaurant," said Kim Crawford, who has lived in the neighborhood for 18 years. Walter Sims, 67, stood in his front yard on Edmondson Road, looking at the large garage for the Rookwood Commons patrons across the street.

"I used to sit on my front porch a lot," he said. "I had a great view of Madison Road. But that garage ruined my view."

The delay in the Rookwood Exchange project has also hurt Norwood, which is trying to figure out what to do about its $3.5 million deficit. No one can estimate how much tax revenue the development would generate for the city, but Norwood needs every dollar it can get.

"It's delayed a potential income stream at a time when we need it the most," said Janet Kennedy, Norwood deputy auditor.

Despite financial pressures and an uncertain future, Michelle Vogelsong tries to remain positive.

"I'm trying to be optimistic," she said. "But when it's the first of the month again and I've got two mortgage payments due, it gets a little harder to be optimistic."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com