By John Kiesewetter
Enquirer staff writer

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Township trustees approved construction of a $33 million community and recreation center at Union Centre on Tuesday, knowing the decision could be challenged on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Members of Let Us Vote West Chester, a local citizens' group, said they will start circulating referendum petitions Thursday on the decision to build the center on 18 acres at Union Centre Boulevard and West Chester Road, opposite Lakota West High School.

The group must collect 1,577 valid signatures of township voters by Aug. 12, according to the Butler County Board of Elections, to get the issue on the ballot.

Trustee George Lang said he expects the petition campaign to be successful.

"I trust the people of West Chester to make an intelligent decision. I think the citizens will support it," Lang said.

The trustees' unanimous vote Tuesday came during a standing-room-only meeting at township hall. The 100-plus people arriving for the meeting were greeted by a dozen pickets supporting the referendum effort.

Randy Stanifer, owner of FitWorks and a critic of the center, said the three-month delay for a referendum would have a minimal impact, considering that officials have been talking about the center for 11 years.

The center, proposed in the township's 1993 "vision" master plan, would become the centerpiece for the new Union Centre central business district.

The 172,515-square-foot center would include an indoor leisure pool, indoor competitive swimming pool and grandstand, outdoor pool, basketball and racquetball courts; an indoor field turf multipurpose room; fitness and aerobics area, and meeting rooms.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com