By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SYCAMORE TWP. - Residents in a woodsy and convenient neighborhood bordering Indian Hill have banded together to stop developers from tearing down homes and splitting up lots for more houses.

Saying they want to preserve what's left of their neighborhood, 95 of 107 homeowners have asked trustees to change zoning in the Concord Hills subdivision and on three surrounding streets to allow only a single home on lots that come close to an acre.

TEARDOWN TREND

What happened in Concord Hills is part of a local and national trend to raze and replace smaller, older homes in popular neighbors with expensive dream homes desired by today's families. Much of the activity locally is centered in Montgomery and Sycamore Township, which have run out of open land for residential development. Both northeastern Hamilton County communities are known for good schools and high land values. In Montgomery, about 30 homes have been demolished and rebuilt or pegged for redevelopment since 2000. A study published last year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation called the trend "disturbing" and said it was approaching "epidemic proportions" in historic neighborhoods across the country.

"It's been ruined by the number of houses. They just keep coming closer. You feel more closed in and with more traffic," said 92-year-old Ray Ostrander, who has lived in a ranch-style home on Concord Hills Circle since 1955.

"I'm getting tired of what's going on. They keep trying to bug me to sell. I have one of the larger lots. I just told them to talk to my executor when I die."

Ostrander signed a petition that was presented to trustees this month. It represented 90 percent of the neighborhood, which includes Concord Hills Circle, Concord Hills Place, Concord Hills Lane, Owlwoods Lane and portions of Miami Avenue and Keller Road.

The petition seeks to change zoning to expand the lot size for a single-family home from a half-acre to 35,000 square feet, or slightly more than three-quarters of an acre.

The township established the new zoning last December in response to protests from Concord Hills that developers were ruining the character of the neighborhood by tearing down trees and increasing the density of homes, part of the "teardown" trend around the nation.

High land values, good schools and the neighborhood's proximity to the Kenwood shopping district, Interstate 71 and Indian Hill have made it one of the hardest-hit teardown areas in the township.

About 15 of 120 lots in the 1950s neighborhood of modest ranches and Cape Cods have been gobbled up since 1998 for "panhandle developments" that can place up to four houses on a private drive between existing lots.

Three or four more houses on Keller Road were razed to put in a small subdivision of $800,000 homes, and recently another ranch was bulldozed at Keller and Miami, and two houses will replace it.

Chris Rodgers, an owner of Christopher Robin Homes, is currently building three houses on two lots he bought and divided on Concord Hills Circle. Before that, he built about a dozen homes on six lots he split as panhandles.

"They pretty much bled that neighborhood dry," Greg Bickford, township zoning administrator, said of developers. "I don't want to say this is too little too late, but there are only a couple more opportunities left. There are three hot lots back there that this is going to slam the door shut on."

The measure would not stop developers from buying up adjoining lots and building additional houses as long as they followed the new lot-size requirement, Bickford said.

Township trustees agreed to initiate the zoning change because of the overwhelming support from the neighborhood. That means landowners who object can't opt out, Bickford said. The trustees' involvement streamlines the process which otherwise would require public hearings and decisions for individual properties.

"The township trustees have the right to change zoning whether somebody wants it or not," Bickford said. A series of public hearings will be held before trustees make the final decision, he said.

Rodgers, who has been a target of neighborhood criticism, said he isn't bothered by the zoning campaign. He said he's done with Concord Hills after he finishes the three homes. That plan will not be derailed because trustees approved it before the neighbors asked for the zoning change.

"I knew they were kicking that around. Our (lots) are already recorded. It's a done deal. We're fine," Rodgers said. "If they come together and do it, then that's what the voice of the people wants."

Keith Cahall, who has lived for 38 years on just more than an acre on Keller Road, refused to sign the petition. He's not concerned that a zoning change might keep him from making more money on his property. He has not been approached by developers, but isn't looking to sell right now anyway.

"It's not just that it might be detrimental to my house and a couple of others. It's just too darn late," Cahall said.

"They should have done this two years ago or five years ago."

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com