Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

Two minutes is what I'm seeing. AAA, yeah, she hit a parent.

This May 27, 2026 meeting of the Union Township Zoning Commission is hereby called to order. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. First order of business, can we have a roll call, please?

Yes, sir. Mr. Campbell? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Mr. Toth? Here. Mr. Wing? Here. Mr. Beckman? Yes. Mr. Honorhoff?

Here.

We have quorum. Thank you. Next order of business is the approval of the minutes. Do I hear a motion to approve the March 25th, 2026 minutes?

I'll make a motion.

Second. I have a regularly made and seconded motion that we approve the minutes of the March 25th, 2026 Zoning Commission meeting. Any discussion? No discussion. If you'd call roll.

Mr. Wing? Yes. Mr. Toft? Yes. Mr. Onderlaw? Yes. Mr. Beckman? Yes. And Mr. Campbell? Yes. Motion carried.

Minutes are approved. For those wishing to speak tonight, just as a reminder, if you'd please fill out a sign-in sheet at the back of the room. And when you come up at the appropriate time, if you'd just bring those to me. We need that information for the record. Do we have any old business come before the commission?

No, sir. I just would like to point out that obviously Mr. Woodruff is filming for us. He's our planner. You see that we have Craig back. Craig came back after spending a couple years, a few years at Butler County in a planning supervisor position, and he's stepping into Mark's shoes. I think he's hit the ground running in the last week and already doing good things. Tonight he's going to call the roll, and you'll see more and more of him moving forward. Okay.

I appreciate it, Mr. Wright. Craig, welcome back. Thanks, sir. Good to have you back. And we'll try to take it easy on you a little. And that does answer my question to whom questions should be addressed and who was handling the staff report, so I appreciate it. So prior to the hearing of the case this evening, I want to provide a brief overview about the process. When the case is called, we will hear from the applicant or their representative first. The Commission reserves the right to question the applicant at any time. After the applicant's presentation, we will open the floor to anyone else who wishes to speak in support of the proposal. Then we will open the floor to those wishing to speak against the proposal. Those wishing to speak must fill out and provide us with a speaker registration form. All speakers must speak at the podium and into the microphone for recording purposes. Each speaker must identify themselves for the record. The Commission reserves the right to ask questions of persons speaking against the proposal. The expectation is for all speakers and observers to maintain the professional decorum of this meeting at all times. We understand that individuals are often passionate regarding their positions and preferences. However, this meeting cannot function properly if it becomes unruly. We ask that all speakers be conscious of the time and that speakers be concise and avoid making repetitive statements. Once those in opposition to the proposal have spoken, the case will be closed for public comment. Discussion at that time is limited to the Commission, although the Commission may ask questions of zoning staff, the applicant, or those in opposition. After discussion, I will call for a motion from the Commission. This motion requires a second, after which the motion itself is opened to discussion. A vote will be called and action taken on the motion. When a motion receives a majority vote, the Commission issues its recommendation to the Board of Trustees in accordance with the wording of the motion. Our options are to recommend approval of the requested change with some recommended modifications or denial of the requested change. The purpose of this motion is to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees regarding the case. The authority to grant an applicant's zoning request or to deny an applicant's zoning request rests with the Board of Trustees. Okay, that brings us to our only case. this evening, which is case number 3-17-Z, Applicant Nico G. Investments, LLC, which is requesting that 10 parcels totaling approximately 7.06 acres be rezoned from PD plan development and R1 single-family residential detached structure to PD plan development to accommodate a mixed-use retail and multifamily development. Do we have a... zoning staff report.

Sure. And I am happy to introduce that to the commission. So in this particular case, this involves And the reason the case number is 317Z is there was a prior zoning case on this parcel, which involves six of the ten parcels. And the thought is, for administrative purposes, tracking it and all that, keeping everything together. So that explains that. So anyway, this particular application rezones six – or basically – reaffirms and approves a new development plan for six of the ten, a new PD plan, and then adds in some additional properties, R1 properties that were acquired, you know, through the traffic improvements on I-COLTS in that. Generally located at the, we call it roundabout number two, which is the police department roundabout, kind of in that segment there. And it is about eight acres, I believe, or seven acres in size. uh... into in total so the parcels are located in the uh... the ivy point commerce park area of the Kind of the ivy point i colts commerce park mixed-use area in the comprehensive plan Kind of extends through from you know, the Civic Center. You can kind of see the Civic Center there You have the Eastgate corridor, which is the gray area. That's Walmart to just to the north of the project and then it you have the trilogy senior complex to the immediate east there. With that, the comprehensive plan talks about mixes of use, particularly mixed use developments, blending commercial and residential areas, mixed commercial and residential densities with walkability in mind shall be encouraged. Talks about target minimum gross densities of 12 units per acre. Talks about design strategies emphasizing a sense of place and pedestrian accessibility. Again, monument signage, things like that. Entertainment uses, small-scale retail, restaurant, lodging, convention uses also encouraged. Parking toward the rear of the structures, buildings oriented to the street, and structured parking, if feasible, encouraged. Maximum parking thresholds should be negotiated to prevent inefficient land uses. So looking at this, you know, this plan is basically it's a mixed residential and commercial project. You can see there's two separate retail, retail entertainment type uses. Those have not been defined yet. In that, we do have a multifamily development to the, I have to get oriented here. This is kind of northeast, northeast, southwest, kind of west there. And I wish that we had included a picture of the prior plan. So by way of background, this particular property, the bulk of it, was subject to a zone change for, I believe it was 75, 77 or 80 apartments. Six to seven years ago, it was a senior facility. It was going to be, I believe, rent-controlled, very similar to the Summerside Woods project with the geriatric center included. I'm not sure what that is, but it was basically kind of a gathering place and some other services. would be driven to that. The additional parcels being rezoned, there is a back portion you see where sort of the northern portion of the apartment building. It's basically been rotated 90 degrees. If you go back and you kind of think about the original plan, the original plan was along Glen Esty because at that time what you see constructed, Eicholz Road did not exist behind Walmart. That's since been relocated and everybody remembers the old Eicholz Glen Esty intersection and all of that. So basically the plan has been flipped 90 degrees with the additional inclusion of commercial retail space in that. Looking at this from a bulk and area standpoint, the building footprint of the proposed multifamily is around 30,000 square feet. Total floor area around 118,000 square feet, 120 units. Again, basically it's one additional floor. It might be slightly larger. If we were to overlay the two, it might be slightly different, but again, same bulk and mass, one additional story. And then you have 8,400 square feet and 9,800 square feet of commercial pads. These are single-story structures. We call this horizontally integrated use. It's not, you know, a traditional pedestal style concrete shell with stuff over top of it, but it would be architecturally integrated in that. So you can kind of see the retail elevations. Again, these are multi-tenant buildings. Structures of these size are going to see spaces as small as probably 1,200 to 1,500 square feet, or they could be very large. You know, you could have one tenant take half or whole of one of these structures. You do also have the institutional use with the police department and the quasi-institutional use directly across the street with that. There is some green space, plaza areas, and streetscaping fostering conformance with the Horizon 2030 plan. There is a little bit of staff discussion. I won't belabor the point too much about potentially shifting some of the parking and allocations of the site to promote more of that streetscape appearance in that. It's also in the Glen Esty-Withamsville I-COLTS Roads Revitalization and Improvement Plan, and we talked about that in a previous case, talking about removing blight and recurrence of blight, encouraging appropriate mixes and uses, development of new housing and new retail opportunities to prevent stagnation, development standards to guide development of new structures, and all of those things. driven toward increasing overall investment in the area. And again, an analysis of the plan indicates that it is generally conform conforming with those sort of platitudes in that, uh, subject to, you know, design modifications, potentially the PD district regulations have been provided for the board's review. Again, these are, these are, these are standards that can be varied by the commission recommended by the commission, ultimately approved by the board of trustees. And again, just to hit on the background, six of the ten parcels are already zoned PD. It was approved for about 82,000 square feet, 77 units, and a single-story geriatric center. Again, we're talking about a little bit of an enlargement, kind of a modification of the site plan that sort of reflects the revised roadway configuration with a new access point along the newly improved Eichholz and Glanasty corridors. Looking at this, it does result in mixed use in compliance with the plan. It does add the residential component with the retail and restaurant opportunities here. Again, these are going to be lower intensity uses. These are not large grocery stores or things like that because this is kind of an emerging sort of transitional corridor in that area. There are some plan requirements that they have to meet. They have to provide us with some updated open space calculations, consolidate dumpster enclosures, get them away from the street frontage areas, curb, gutter, sidewalks, facilitate pedestrian access throughout the site, high quality building materials, brick stone, masonry, complimentary materials. A lot of this is more like a detailed site level review that you would probably see more at like a permitting phase. So a lot of the comments are driven toward that. Signage locations have yet to be determined. Again, with multiple street frontages, multiple entrances, you would expect, you know, at least two, you know, multi-tenant signs here, probably one kind of in that boulevard area, and then one along Eicholz Road in that. You know, there probably should be some discussion about buffering, you know, particularly along the former high cold spur. What does that look like? Again, we're at a concept level phase. There's specific items that, you know, the commission would like to see or you know, the response of the public comment. I think those are all ripe for consideration and discussion. And you can also see site has a couple of different detention areas on it. You've kind of got an area to the to the west there that kind of takes water from Veterans Park. There is an existing stream that, you know, will have to be subject to regulatory review and then a proposed detention structure along the frontage of kind of reconstructed Eichelsworth. So with that, there are 13 recommended modifications for the board. Some of them are fairly technical recommendations. The board's action is to recommend approval as submitted, approval with additional modifications or denial of this particular request. And that concludes the report.

Thank you, Mr. Wright.

Is the applicant or their representative present?

i don't see them in the audience i'm not sure if they're stuck in traffic or they've got the you know it was a mess out there i was out there earlier today okay so that's a little unorthodox but uh we can't hold the meeting for that so at this point i will open the floor for those who wish to speak uh for or against this proposal for anyone wishing to speak if you would please come to the podium bring me your sign-in sheet And we can go from there. And if the applicant arrives, then we'll allocate time for them to speak, because I'm sure there are questions. You can ask questions. We will try to address them.

I just want to ask some questions.

Could you please state your name and your address, please? Thank you.

My name is Dawn Phil. I live at 781 Deer Valley Drive. A couple of questions. I had noticed the trees in the picture. Are they able to build without clear-cutting the trees?

That is an excellent question for the applicant. Based on my review of the plan, I would say most of those trees are probably going to be removed.

Based on a review of the plan, a lot of that vegetation will be, yeah.

That's one detriment because that's so important to the community. Is there a reason that land has to be developed?

Well, I don't know that there's a reason why any particular piece of property has to be developed, but part of our comprehensive land use plan that's set out for this commission, that really binds this commission in terms of these kind of recommendations, says, Hey, if you're in a particular area, this is what has been determined to be the best appropriate for the corridor.

Okay. That I understand. Do we know with 120 units, because we don't know what single double or triple bedrooms, the capacity of the units.

um so in my experience you know something like this is probably most these guys are going to build two bedrooms there's probably going to be some one bedrooms in there a product like this is probably going to it's either a two bedroom plus a den or a one bedroom plus a den you know if i look at this project it looks a lot like the echelon project which is a mix of i think They had a few threes, very few. They were kind of the corners where they had extra space. Most of them were twos, and then they had some ones in there.

Okay.

And, again, this is about, let's see, echelons, tower. It's about 185, maybe 190 units. So this is 120, so it's probably about a third smaller than that.

Is there a reason it has to be apartments?

Again, the comprehensive land use plan for this particular corridor pushes towards mixed use and multifamily development.

That's a zoning request change, correct?

It is. As Mr. Wright alluded to, the bulk of the parcels in question are already zoned plan development, and they were zoned that way. for essentially multifamily uses. If I looked at the report, it was, yeah, the original case came about in 2017. Correct. And I was looking for the numbers in the staff report.

It was 77 units, about 82,000 square feet of structure, plus an additional geriatric center. My understanding was it was a company out of – I think, that was looking at it, and they were pursuing LIHTC. credits, very similar to a project. They actually built a similar project in what we would call, when I worked at the city of Loveland, East Loveland, just past where the old marathon and the railroad tracks were. I think that was the same company. It was PI Pearl, but I forget if the H came before or after. Yeah, but anyway, I mean, you get where that is.

Is the developer providing any support to the community in terms of funds to assist with the road changes or utility changes, funds to support the school, or funds to support fire and EMS employees?

So I'm happy to answer that question, ma'am. So this project site is part of a tax increment financing district. That makes the schools whole. The schools will receive full revenue no matter what happens here if a project moves forward with this specific tax increment financing district. The bulk of our tax increment financing districts make the schools in the joint vocational district whole. I'm sorry. I don't mean to cut you off. A project of this size may also, given my experience with the county engineer's office, likely require a traffic impact study. They've been requiring for single retail projects. The projects at the corner of Klepper and Gwanesti, that actually required a traffic impact study. Uh, so I, I think that they'll take a look at this too, most likely, um, you know, since they're both County roadways and they're going to be fairly protective of those things.

Well, one of my actual concerns, um, pertaining to the traffic is that we haven't built yet the Briar Hill development. If I remember correctly, won't that also have a hotel in it?

Yes, but it will also have a shared access point with the project that's under construction at the corner of Klepper, and they've actually been coordinating that through. They actually had to do a TIS. They partnered with Bonnell Hill on the five acres, and they've kind of managed the access points in that to align that.

Do we know what that hotels don't have?

We have, they have inspected.

My concern is building something like this without seeing the effects of the Briar Hill development, which I believe is exceptionally dense. And that's a big concern for myself. I'm sure people in the area who are already so frustrated with the traffic. My other question, and I try not to be longer because these people need to speak. My other question is, will these departments be in any way involved in low-income housing funding?

No. They've not ever mentioned it. My understanding is these are market or market plus.

Do we know what the rental rates might be?

I mean, I know what the rents right across the street are. You know, Gentry, I think they're in the buck 50 to buck 60 range of square foot.

Easily, yeah.

And Echelon's a little bit higher. So I would say that's probably on par with... Is there a target market for this apartment? I don't understand the question.

Well, I think, if I may, I think the question is in terms of demographics, if they're targeting a specific clientele.

I don't think they've really identified that it's going to be 55 and up or young professionals. I can tell you, here's a funny story. I remember talking to the guys with PLK, and I think one of their first tenants was a woman in her 80s. that rented a three-bedroom and was like, I love it. I don't have to do all of that. But then there's like 25-year-olds that moved in. So I'd say it's really a mixed bag in that from all walks of life.

Okay. And can it be something different than apartments?

I mean, it's whatever.

Well, it's the plan that's presently before us. If the question is... can they change it from something that isn't multifamily without a plan change, then the answer to that question is no. If it's approved for what it is and they decide they want to put in, let's say, a grocery store on that and make a four-story grocery store, they can't change the fundamental usage of it.

All the buildings under the same umbrella financing.

It's the same applicant, but I'm not sure of their financing. Yeah.

From what I know is that the applicant, there's really two kind of groups involved. You have Anderson, which is more retail specialists, right? And then the primary applicant, which is more of the residential one. My suspicion is it's probably a JV, you know, a joint venture with that. to manage that and all that. So that's, uh, I think the bulk of the conversations I've had on, you know, the application materials have been with the guys from Anderson. So those guys are, you know, they did the Ruppwood towers and all that.

Okay. So my final comment, uh, is I'm not comfortable with adding more apartments to the township. Um, generally with apartment life after about 10 years, uh, apartments start aging a township very very much you can drive around now and see apartments done in the 70s you can see apartments done in the 80s even the luxury apartments which i luckily actually lived in one one time by chance and it was directly across from the police station they still have a lot of common problems most of it being theft Um, even the high level ones, most of it being theft. Garbage is always an issue. Traffic is always an issue. Uh, based on my experience with apartments in a lot of different cities and suburbs, uh, for this particular community, which is very much a family oriented community. I, I'm not in support of apartments. I'm supportive multifamily housing. where the owners have an ownership interest in the property, not a transient interest in the property. And I'll give you just one example. One of the things that is used a lot out east instead of apartments or townhouses or condos are the, and I can't think of the right word, the flats. Okay. Which will look similar to an apartment, but they're individually owned and really become sort of a neighborhood community in themselves. Um, it's not flats. It's think of brownstones, but not Brown. Okay. In a lot of the contemporary use, they appeal a lot to the 25 to 40 year old generation. typically not as expensive as a house, could have a similar appearance. There's more privacy than in an apartment, and you have that ownership interest where the individual owners are paying taxes and perhaps might have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community. They can have a similar appearance, however, many times you will have... each one be a different color, even though they're uniform. And it actually sort of brightens the community, which I think just from a design point of view, we need to consider some happy colors here and there to brighten things up. My hope would be that it would appeal to some of the younger people that might want to buy a house, can't quite come up with the down payment, but that that could be a stepping stone for them. I'd much rather see that type of multifamily support as opposed to another apartment building, which I don't think always fits well in the community and does not age a community well. Okay. I apologize. I took up way too much time. But thank you all so very much.

Thank you for your comments. Thank you. Who else would like to speak? I know I saw a couple more sign-in sheets get filled in.

My name is Maggie Fall, and I live at 848 Shaler Road.

Ma'am, would you bring your sign-in sheet up, please? Thanks.

Since I live on Shaler Road, and I lived there for like 20-something years, I have seen an increase of traffic and a lot of trucking, you know, the big trucks coming through there. And I was just wondering, you know, with this rapid growth that we're doing in the township, has there been a study on the traffic on this roads is, I mean, I don't want, I know several years ago they were, we came to a meeting where they were thinking about whitening Shaler Road and then going into Withamsville. So that way we would lose a big portion of our front. of our house. So anyway, that's one thing that I'm worried about is the traffic increase. And, you know, we're getting all this talk about bringing in retails and all that. Okay, I know that Eastgate Mall is right now in the courts and that's what I have heard. So that's why it's not going forward with any development. But that place sits there. There's a lot of, there was all this retail before and everything, and it just kind of went away. And now nobody's taking really care of the parking lot. There's a lot of broken glass, dirt everywhere. I mean, isn't there a way that the township could speak to the owners of the property and kind of speed up that, and then instead of building and rebuilding here and there. I mean, you know, I always loved living in Union Township because of, it was kind of not necessarily country living, but, you know, I mean, if I wanted to live in the city, I moved to the city. And I can see that Union Township, that's what it's becoming. It's attracting people from the city and other places that, I mean, I wouldn't want to live there. I want to live in Union Township where people are nicer, things are, you know, and it's just changing so much that I am very, very disappointed. So thank you for your time.

Thank you. And I believe to address one of your points regarding the traffic, We're talking about a county road for this particular project, and as Mr. Wright alluded to, the county has been conducting traffic impact studies that would impact a plan like this in terms of... Go ahead, Mr. Wright.

I actually remember the project I think you were talking about. It was from Loda Drive all the way down to 125. It was in the Shaler intersection, and they were going to realign the the intersection and all that. I remember that those open house meetings, it was probably 12 or 13 years ago and they elected to not move that forward. Um, because there were some concerns about a traffic signal and the stops, this current stop condition and all of that. And I think the County put the stop on that particular project or the County engineer did at the time. Um, I can tell you that I, somebody just told me that we're taking traffic counts somewhere here locally. They're always constantly updating traffic counts. I do know on Bock Buxton and the intersection at Bock Buxton and Shaler, the county is advancing a huge project down through there. The township's partnering on that from a pedestrian side with throwing a grant that we got from OKI to kind of enhance that so we don't build it and tear it up and build it again. sidewalks, shared use path. I know everybody hates roundabouts, but they carry four times the traffic that a traffic signal does, two roundabouts. So I think that's going to start. It's either going to start. It might sell as early as mid-next year. I don't know. They're in stage two design right now. So it just takes a long time to advance projects of that magnitude. But as far as individual projects, They do look at the traffic load. They do look at the impacts. A great example would be Everybody remembers construction when Wawa was building. Then they added the additional turn lane and lengthened that, and that was part of that. So they do look at project-specific impacts to add capacity related to that project. And I know this particular county engineer is much more aggressive about requesting traffic impact studies. That's not good or bad. It's just that's what I'm seeing. asking for more information.

Well, I just don't want to see the day when they will come to our road and try to widen it. And then we, my neighbors, myself, we lose part of our property. And I don't want to move anywhere else. We're retired. We're older. This is where we wanted to stay during our retirement and live out our lives. And it's just too many changes. But thank you for listening.

Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak?

I would.

Yes, ma'am.

This is Cheryl Davis. I'm 4315. I vote first. She doesn't want to live where somebody's going to come and start taking part of her property. Now, I'm not into politics, so how do I know when that happens? Because I know now that when I bought my house, I could not see Walmart. Now I see Walmart and jungle gyms. Now, here soon, I'm going to see apartment buildings. And I'm the house that's sitting on Eichel's Road that's going. Like she said, that day has come, it's here. Eventually you will not, when you look out your front door, you're gonna see what I see. Now I have a cute little blue-gray house on Michael's road. Now I've got a house that is in the middle of literally Walmart parking lot. If I would have known this five years ago, I would not have bought it. How do I get the information to know this so I'm not up here standing talking about something that I don't even know what I'm talking about?

So that is part of the reason that public notice is sent out for adjoining property owners, where you're given notice of this public hearing.

At this public hearing, this has already been done. These departments are going up in front of me or not.

This hasn't been approved yet. It's a prior case that was approved impacting most of these parcels of land.

So the stake's down there in front. I can look out my window and see this. I'm here. I'm late, so I don't know what everybody else has said. But I know where I live. And I know what I see. And the 33 pages of this document shows the plans. Yes. But it's not approved yet. So how do I come and say, hey, let's not approve this?

Well, that's part of the function of this public hearing. So this is a zoning commission. So we make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees makes the final decision so that they can listen to our recommendation They can listen to our recommendation and make modifications. Or they can overrule this commission. So they have the final authority on this.

So how could I have found out sooner before we got to this point?

I don't know if there's a way. See what I'm saying?

I could have actually not bought my house or actually sold my house. Because at this point, we're here.

It's based on a timetable that's triggered when there's a submission of a plan. So if you wanted to speak...

So my common sense told me.

So if you wanted to speak about the original rezoning for most of these parcels, that was in 2017.

It's the gray area that you see. That's why this map's pulled up. Yep. And again, I'm colorblind, so forgive me if it's not gray.

I live at the corner of that gray zone and that red line, that triangle there. I guess that's where I would be if I'm seeing this right.

So which, I guess, which property?

So I'm at 4315 across. When they did NICOLS, I knew at that point this was going to happen. My common sense told me that. And I didn't do anything. And I guess I was hoping that...

So where are you in relation to the roundabout behind Walmart?

Oh, I'm right there. When you did the roundabout, the first concrete there on that house, on that gray-blue house.

We're like the third parcel down.

Yep, yep, that's the triangle.

On the old road? On the old road. No, it's the dead-end part. That's the dead-end part. Okay. Across the street. Right there. That's us.

That's us right there. That's me.

I'm sorry.

This is all just very overwhelming. As you see, we're retired people. We bought the house. We got the house because my husband lost a leg in an accident. This is our first house now. This is happening to us. We've had it for five years. And I hope it doesn't have to sound like you hate your house a whole lot longer than five years. And it does. It just bit me in the butt. And I knew it was happening. When they dead-ended, first of all, they blacked off the road. Twelve hours before it opened, and I pulled through. I'm sorry. I'm just, this is overwhelming to me. Because this is, now. We've got a $280,000 house that isn't big enough to put a fucking couch in. Oh my God, I'm so sorry. My apologies, that's not me. That's why I'm saying this is overwhelming. So here we are, and this is what we got looking forward to. It was bad enough when they cut all these trees down and the roundabout went in. Because when we moved there, it was like we lived in Eastgate, but private. Right. I mean, there was trees around, and there was a fence down that lane there, and they tore all that out. And here I am thinking I'm going to try to plant trees to where we can actually maybe decoy that there, and now we've got this coming up. And I'm just overwhelmed, and I've got all these notes that I'd love to say, and I'd love to say them right, and I'm just overwhelmed, and I don't know what to say and don't know what to do. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you.

I will point out that one of the recommendations in the zoning staff's report is that we require substantial buffering and extensive landscaping to screen the adjacent residential parcels along the Eicholt Spur to the west of the proposed development.

I think that's the actual name of it. If I were the county, I probably would have picked a better name. Other than call it Eichholz Spur. But that's the only name that I could. I think that's what it's called. Or Lane or something. I don't know. Okay. But the other thing for the commission's benefit. So I had Craig put the plan back up. And you can see there's a significant stream corridor there. and some topography that kind of runs through that's not part of this. And if you drive on either side of it, you can kind of see that that's probably outside of, you know, if you kind of follow the stream. The stream corridor is really the most heavily, you know, vegetated portion of this site. Because remember, these sites were occupied by prior, they were all prior residential houses. Right. And so if I remember the stuff along Golanesti before it did this, when it did that, I mean, most of it was clear. There were vacant lots. I mean, there's a couple of larger trees. And even the stream, the headwater of the stream, is just kind of an unmowed area that comes off. It's just a drains veterans park, kind of some of the soccer fields there. And then it kind of meanders. And as you get through more of the site this way, kind of down toward what we'll call the northwestern corner, that's where the bulk of the vegetation is. So there will be a little bit of impact there. where that parking lot kind of is or whatever. But the bulk of that vegetation, if you go through there, is not part of this proposal. And I think if I caught her reference of where she is, she's that yellow house there. Yes. Okay.

Okay. So just to reinterpret and to verify,

the wooded portion along the rear of the proposal all of that natural vegetation is intended to remain because they don't they don't own it they don't own it where they are purchasing it we don't we don't touch it okay unless that guy wants to wipe it out you know and that's his right as property right because this isn't part of that okay thank you for clarifying um anyone else wishing to speak yes sir

My name is Keith Camp, 787 Clough Pike, 25 plus years. So I guess I've got a question, not necessarily with this development, but it's just a trend, okay? I'm trying to understand the township and all of a sudden when I came here, when I got married with my wife and moved to Union Township, all of a sudden we're into apartments. And I understand the challenges of, you know, people acquiring homes and so on and so forth. But I'm just concerned about the population density. Since I've been here in 25 years, okay, we've got, what, 900 units over on the Glen Esty High School property, okay? We've got now 120 units that's proposed with this. You said something was 185 units over here at the corner, the echelon properties. We've got the cove that went in or not the cove but behind there. I'm confused as to what's the plan from the Commission's perspective in terms of are we going to become now an apartment community? Are we going to, we seem to be moving away from residential, single family residential. You don't see development where they're sitting down there and they're creating residential units. It's all multi-families and we're, fairly high density multi-families. And I think that's a general concern that I'm hearing from other people, is that we're losing the character of what Union Township used to be. Now, do we have to change with the times? Yes, I'm sure we have to change with the times. But that's what the concern of the residents are, is that we're going from fairly, you know, we're on a third-acre lot, or half-acre lot. I'm not saying that you can all have half-acre lots, but it's going to a tight pack. And, you know, that's what I'm hearing the concern is. Okay? And the other thing that I'm hearing the concern with is about they're saying retail, retail, these small retail shops. And I understand. I'll be honest with you. What's going in here and they're sitting down there and talking about drinking establishments. Well, I guess you need drinking establishments if you've got 900 units just a quarter mile down the road. You know, I think you're changing the character of Union Township. And unless somebody makes a good case on that, on an individual case-by-case basis, you know, it's the death of a thousand cuts. You know, they need to sit down there and really be making the case that the zoning commission, the trustees need to be making the case and saying, hey, listen, we're going to change the character of this. I don't know if they're going to win a whole lot of votes with that.

Well, and that's the thing. We are, as a commission, bound by the comprehensive land use plan, which designates specific corridors for specific uses. And they have... that it specifies target densities and what is planned for various areas. So Board of Trustees has a broader purview than this commission does when it comes to what they seek to approve. So we make recommendations based on the plan as it is, and that being the comprehensive land use plan. I hear your concerns about multifamily development, and I believe, and this is probably putting Mr. Wright on the spot, but I know that Mr. Lewis, a member of this commission, asked for an overall percentage of what percentage residential in this township is multifamily.

I think Mr. McCormack had provided that, and what we saw was that the percentages of multifamily and single family were growing proportionate to each other. There might have been a fractional change, but it was not significant because the single family. And then I think what you're also seeing is, you know, Many of us, and I remember, I've been here longer than probably most people remember, the days of 200- and 300-acre tracks are gone. We have 147 acres across the street from this facility that is likely to be farmed for at least another generation, I'm guessing, based upon the current ownership. It's great. It's beautiful. I look at it. I come in every day. When I leave, I look at it. It's beautiful. It might be something someday. It might continue to be a farm forever. I don't know. There's a couple other pockets of large assemblies. Some of that's down off of a lot of people don't realize Union Township goes all the way to the city of Milford off of 450. So there's big pockets down there. Some of that's industrial. Some of it's kind of landlocked. And then if you kind of go through the center portion of the township, you're going to find maybe 20 and 30-acre tracts as opposed to 80 to 150-acre tracts. And so as really kind of a first ring suburban community from a land use perspective, this is – you see – infill projects. That's what you see are infill projects. Not saying right, wrong, or indifferent, that's what you see, though. So you're not going to see a huge farm get turned into houses here, quite frankly, because there aren't really that many or any huge farms anymore, right? Those were built in the 70s, and then there were more of them developed in the 80s and 90s, and then in the 2000s. And so, and everybody remembers Jurgensen Farm when that was developed. I mean, that was 200 acres, right? And then, you know, it took, what, 12, 13 years to build out completely?

I think the challenge, though, is like we're talking about, let's talk about this, what we're talking about here. We're talking about seven acres, all right? Seven acres, and what I thought I heard the number was 120 units. Okay? That's pretty dense pack. I think that's the challenge that people are having with that. I mean, our children grew up and went to school at Glen Esty High School. Now, what is that, 1,000 units, 900 units, something like that? I mean, we've changed the character from by the congestion volume of apartments that are just within a one square mile area. And I, you know, all of you talked about the traffic studies. I mean, traffic is terrible. I know that's partially because of 32 and everything else, but I mean, it used to be that you could get around, even when they were single family roads, you know, before they widened Clough, you could get from one side over to Rumpke or over the East gate a lot quicker. Now that they've increased the roads and stuff like that, it takes three times as long, you know, and I know that's the county. I understand that's the county, but I mean, it's a quality of life issue and that's not what I think what I'm hearing from other people is quality of life. Okay. And they're looking at economic development and so on and so forth. They're not looking at quality of life. And I think that's the challenge. And I think the zoning commission, I'd be interested to know what the density number is for this square mile area coming from the high school down to where Echelon is and now this development. I'd be really interested to see what the number is for population density or unit density, housing unit density. Does anybody have that information?

I don't have that information, but I'd like to make a comment. I probably lived down here longer than most people.

Oh, how true, ma'am. You've been around forever.

As a matter of fact, my parents moved here in 1959, so in Mount Carmel. Everything has changed. I mean, you're seeing it here now. I saw one cornfield behind our house by Summerside School. I was here before Eastgate Mall. That was a farm. I also own homes in Oakley. All kinds of apartments are going up all around me down there, and it's not new, and you're just seeing it to this side of Union Township right now, and it seems like the commercial areas build out.

But at the same point in time, just within the last 10 years, the number of individual developments that are multi-apartment units, not townhouses, not condominiums, and I can't speak to the finances of that. I don't have that information, and I can speak intelligently about that. But I can sit down there and see when we go, what's at the high school, echelon, the second echelon, now this unit. Sit down there, and within the last, not even 10 years, approval of what five units six unit developments like that i think that's it's too it's things are moving too quickly and that's that's where the dissatisfaction is i personally understand that i appreciate your time thank you thank you would anyone else like to speak ma'am

Oh, I'm sorry.

Sir, if you, if you sit there on the end, we will go to you next. Thank you.

Thank you gentlemen. Um, I think I'm a little late because I live on Marma lane and I, it sounds like that development is a done deal at the end of Lama lane and the, um, single family houses that are going to go in that green space.

Yes, ma'am. It's my understanding that the trustee's .

But that's not really why I'm here. I've only lived here in this area for four and a half years. I'm from Anderson Township. Ran around out here before Jeff Weiler was even built. I went to Claremont. I think it was first graduating class at Claremont College. But I do live in Larman Lane now. I've been here for four and a half years. And I loved it when I first moved here. It's just wonderful out here. Then the apartments started going up. And I don't know if I'm saying the street right, Ilium, where the Clintus, what Kingsville High School was. And now I hear sirens constantly. I have an app on my phone. It's not the Citizens app. It's Crime Watch. 10, 12, 15 times a day, it's back there. With this constant multi-family housing being built, it's only going to get worse. And I didn't even feel like I needed to lock my doors before, but I definitely do now. That's stupid to not lock your doors, but I didn't feel like I needed to. I know a couple on Webold that are moving because of all the growth out here. The police department has got to be over. I mean, overextended. Are they going to add to the force to deal with the crime that's going on here? And I know that's not really a zoning question, but building and building and building and particularly multifamily complexes, you're going to get some you're going to have issues. You got too many people crammed in too small of a space. And when I found out, I just found out two weeks ago what was happening at the end of Lorimer Lane. I was like, somebody told me, I was like, you're crazy. That will fit there. So disappointing. And, you know, and again, people's packed in a small space. There's going to be problems. And I guess I just want to know what the township sees in the future for fighting those kind of issues. I mean, just this app I have, I probably should get rid of it. It's just constantly going off. And I don't know how the police department is dealing with it, quite honestly.

So last night was a trustee work session. And it's on YouTube. And you can watch it. And you should watch it. Everybody should watch it. And it's talking about safety services and how they're funded and what happens with all of this stuff. Our police and fire right now, we're in really good shape. We're not flush, but in terms of personnel and response times and everything, we're right at the top. I actually was one of the leaders of the fire department back in the 80s here, and I understand a little bit more about all of the issues they have when it comes to things like this. This is all taken into consideration, the police, the fire, everybody, that all gets taken into consideration. I'm also one of the first graduating classes of Claremont. I lived in Anderson.

We know each other then.

Maybe. I've been out here since 1982, so I've seen a lot of change as well. I agree with what everybody says about density, population, and all that, but I also, if you watch what was presented last night, you'll understand a little bit more about why development is important right now. Because it's a deep dive to understand finance for a township. There's a lot of things that when I first started, I've been coming to these meetings since 2014. And I was against a lot of things because I didn't know. but by spending a lot of time, and it's not little, it's a lot of time researching, and I've attended 95% of the meetings that the trustees have had since 2014. No reason other than I just want to know and I want them to know somebody's watching. It's why I'm on the zoning board as well. So that being said, the, the public services for what we're looking at here is minimal. Now what's happened at Glen, I see high school. I think a lot of people were taken by surprise in some instances, but again, they're getting a handle on it. I live on Rumpke road. There's 35 houses back where I live. We have sirens back there all the time because we have an elderly pop population now. And, uh, I think that because the township is more towards the elder side, sirens are going to become more and more constant. It's just part of living and dying. Um, but anyway, so I understand the frustrations and the quest, you know, and, and again, I agree, I, I'm not a big fan of multifamily. I think we're dense enough. But you also have to understand development for the township is important in order to keep what we have. The money doesn't come from anybody except us. So these guys, when I talk to Corey and the administration, they do a really good job as stewards of what we have and where we're going. And things do change regularly. I sit through a ton of meetings. I don't get anything out of it other than heartache, stress, and knowledge. I have a much more open view of what happens now and why things happen. I'm not for typically for more multifamily, but like in this particular case, this has already been zoned for the multifamily on six of the 10 properties. And when you look at the properties that are currently R1, only one of them abuts any other residential. And that would be that the one, Yeah, so so it's it this is a case of That could have been in in 2000. Well, they approved it in 2017 that could have been built by 2019 Which I think would have been before you moved in So these are the kind of things that if the information is all here, but it's it you have to pay attention and So, you know I and I you know I've got a long history with this township in terms of dealing with some issues. And I'll talk to people privately about that. Not that I can give you any information that isn't readily available, but there are things that have happened in the past that maybe shouldn't have in terms of direction. But the other thing everybody has to remember is population is growing exponentially. Growth is going to happen. I was out here in 82 when we didn't have a lot of apartments. That's why I came out here, though, because Anderson didn't have our landing. And as a young married couple, I needed some place to go. That's still happening. now people who came here let's say in the late seventies early eighties a lot of them are going out to brown county now because again it's what they looked for when they came here it's just progress if you want to call it that but it's what we're going to see until we stop having lots more people uh... there has to be a place for people to go and the other the one other thing i would say about this is the property owners they do have a right to do what they want with their property within reason. And so this one for us might be a little different because we've turned down a number of, of multifamilies, but it's because the I's and the T's are not dotted and crossed properly because we have to follow the letter of these regulations. We're not allowed to use bias or opinion. The trust that's where the trustees come in. So, We've been called some bad names recently because we've approved things that, by law, we have to. So what I'm trying to get across is the big picture is being looked at. And we understand the desire for people to want no change. But change is there. It's imminent. Change is imminent. I, you know, I was ready to move from my property, but things worked out for us and I don't have to. Um, and that's, you know, and if it had, then I wouldn't be sitting here. Um, so anyway, um, I hope that, you know, this one is, you know, like I said, it's a little different because this has already been zoned for the majority of what this is. And, uh, I would love to see those be condos as opposed to rentals, but that's not something we have any direction in.

Thank you, Mr. Wing.

I appreciate all the information that you just provided. What is your name? Wing, W-I-N-G. Did you go to Anderson High School?

I went to McNick, but I was at Anderson a lot. I grew up in some of the states.

Okay, yeah. All right, well, thank you very much, gentlemen. I appreciate it. This is my first meeting, and I'm going to get more involved. Please come back. Because retirement's right around the corner.

So, thank you. Congratulations on that.

Thank you.

Sir, you're next up if you want.

Thank you.

I really don't have any rants. My name is Ron Davis. I live at 4315 High Colts Road, right down at the end there. My wife actually pointed it out. I guess this was approved in 2017, this apartment complex.

It was a different complex.

Senior LIHTC section 42 might have been, I think it was rank controlled. It's very similar to Summerside Woods. I remember a presentation by senior services talking about they had something like a waiting list like a couple years at the time for that.

Okay. So this went from a senior complex and I believe that one on, on Somerset, didn't you say in that a single story or is that a two story story? Okay. I'm not sure about the one you're talking about then. Uh, my problem is, is over here at Glen Esty high school, where you guys approved that going in there, it's a four story complex, which is a monolith. I mean, it's huge. It's tall, I guess, from what I understand is you're going to be putting one of those at the end of I Colts road. I'm a stone throw away from where this complex is going in. You guys are talking about buffering. What type of buffering are you talking about? And let me stop myself right now before I forget this. I want to thank you for your services and the fire department and EMS. I have used that, unfortunately, too many times, and you guys are right on time. Thank you. Okay, back to what was going on. The buffering. What will we see? You put in a roundabout. You approved that roundabout right there. Understandably, it's been great. But we see jungle gyms and a roundabout. Now, when we moved there in our house, we didn't see any of that. Our total, what you see out our front door, has changed immensely. And so when you're talking about buffering, what are you talking about? I mean, are we going to see... that apartment complex right there? Are those trees right there that are next to it where that creek is going at? Are they going to be tore down? I mean, what is your proposal on this?

So as previously mentioned, the wooded area immediately behind the complex isn't owned by this developer. So the owners there, within reason, could do what they want with that wooded area. The buffering we're talking about is the direct rear and then specifically there on the Eichold spur. And I can read the proposed plan modification that staff has come up with regarding the buffering. and it would be that we require detailed landscaping and buffering plans. It shall be provided for administrative review and approval along all commercial and residential interfaces to assure the mitigation of any adverse impacts for the planned parking and circulation areas and along areas adjacent to existing residential development. A fully detailed landscape plan detailing plant types, sizes, location, and buffering shall be submitted for administrative review and approval during the permitting stage. The applicant should be prepared to provide additional landscaping surrounding all dumpster enclosures. Furthermore, substantial buffering and extensive landscaping shall be designed to screen adjacent residential along, I believe, adjacent residences or residential usage along high cold spur to the west of the proposed development. So you're asking for the specific details of a buffering and landscaping plan that we do not have, but we would require the applicant to submit during the permitting process to be administratively reviewed and approved by our zoning director.

Okay, now are these going to be little shrubs? Are they going to be trees? Is it going to be something that is actually going to be blocking when I walk out of my driveway to get my mail, am I going to see the back end of this apartment and there's just little shrubs out there? Or is there going to be something blocking that? Let me extend that a little bit. You said that the developer... This screen over here is a little bit better for me. But you said that the developer that is actually putting in these apartments right here actually owns where that creek is going through and all that.

No, no, no, no, no. If I said that, that that was a mistake on my misinterpretation.

Then go ahead, please.

So, Mr. Wright, perhaps with your experience in these projects, you can describe that landscape and buffering.

So so I can tell you, we ran into this There was a small parcel, infill parcel, on Block Buxton. It's the Otterbein Project. Everybody knows the Otterbein Project. Kind of a great use. They take care of people that are sort of at the end of their lives. It's a nonprofit. They were up against residential lots. And I think we made them put in either eight I don't know. They bought the trees from the guy down on – everybody knows who the spruce guy is down on Mount Formal? Yep. They bought those. I think they were 8 to 10 footers when they put them in.

Okay.

So they were big trees.

Okay.

And so everybody – if you look out the window, and it's hard to see, I remember the Civic Center and how small those trees at the Civic Center were. Yeah. five to seven years ago. And once they get established, they take off. So it would be comparable to kind of a staggered buffer or something. And again, if that means that there's some other comments about site configurations and shifting parking and other things, candidly, there's some stream influence in here that has to be mitigated that the Army Corps may require to not be touched. and it may shift the whole site okay and it may shift it the likelihood is it may shift it because the stream goes like this they may require to be relocated they may have to leave the back portion of it but if you look at that photograph that is that is the extent of the development plan and you can see that they have the most heavily wooded area of that entire sort of because when you drive through there appears to be as though one property If you come out of Walmart, right?

I live across the street from this.

Yeah, you see it. Yeah. It appears to be like one big property.

Right.

With two houses kind of across the street from you.

Right.

But the bulk of the wooded area is owned by, I think the gentleman's going to go back and correct me. That's Mr. Windhoven, I believe.

Yeah, Woolhaven.

Yeah, Windhoven. And then they still show the old house that got wiped out from the roundabout at the very tip of the photo. Right. And then there's another smaller house that, uh, is kind of nestled in there. Those are private property. Those are single family residential. Yeah. They're, they're still there. That's theirs. Yeah. Those are the only two left.

So there's no chance of this wooded area actually be taken out and using, you were talking about the core of engineers coming in.

This project will not touch that stream or that wooded area. It can't go beyond the limits of what they own or what they would own. But if Mr. Windhoven wanted to come in and decided that he liked mowing grass, he could take those trees out. That's his right to do it. Now, he may put himself in the jackpot with the creek and all this. There's other rules. There's multiple agencies. But But again, that's his property. That's his property. I think he owns two lots there. And then there's a single lot just to the north of that. And then the county, I think, owns where the old house was kind of on that little area there. That's like a leftover over by is what they call that, where the impact of the roundabout was too great and they actually took the house. Okay. So what you see there, those are the project limits. You know, probably plus or minus because GIS is accurate. depending on the age of the area, within a foot or two, right? These are maps in a computer, but you know, they'll go out and have to survey it, mark boundaries and all those things.

Okay. Now the last property on, I calls on the right hand side, if you're heading towards the dead end or heading towards the park.

all that yet there's yet there's no modification any of those other driveways through that it yet they're not yet they're not for those are currently it's there will stay Yeah, that's what I mean when I say GIS is inaccurate. It's, you know, they overlay all these things on top of the map. They could not vacate Eichholz and deprive... We could not vacate Eichholz and deprive a property owner of access to a public road. That would be a taking. We are not doing that. Plus, the county just rebuilt that, and that was expensive, and...

Okay. Well, typically speaking, uh, when you put, uh, that size of, uh, an apartment complex in next to single family homes, how does that affect the property of the single family homes and maybe the sale price later on down the road? Is this going to lower our property value? Um, our, our, our taxes going to start raising up because you guys are putting in or, or voted to agree. to put in a multifamily complex. Is our taxes going to go up because of that? Our property taxes.

Do you like me to speculate on this? So property tax valuations are a very, very complex thing, and I know that they are a as a topic of significant interest throughout the state of Ohio. And the reason I know that is because the township's primary source of income is property tax. That's our primary source of income. We're not like a city where everybody who works here and everybody who lives here pays income tax. So the answer is I don't know the answer to that question.

Who do I talk to to find out that?

Well, you could ask the county auditor. I mean, they're getting ready to do the triennial reappraisals. Linda Fraley? Yeah, she's still there. Okay. So the answer is, will your property taxes go up? I don't know. You have to vote millage in. You have to vote for levies in the township. But there are certain portions of the total tax bill that do go up when your property values go up, specifically inside the 10-mill floor. So those are like we have a mill for road and bridge. We have... 0.8 mills for general fund, which is sort of the only way we fund parks and all the nice amenities. The county has a mill, and then the school district has some inside millage and permanent improvement. And then there's an additional thing called the 20-mill floor, which the state says that school districts need a minimum of 20 mills to operate. So depending on whether your district's on the 20-mill floor or off the 20-mill floor will determine if your property taxes go up more or less. That's very complex, and that has to do with House Bill 920 that was done back in the late 70s to prevent runaway inflation so levies over time are reduced. So for example, in 2020, the township passed a two-mill police levy and a two-mill fire levy. We had basically a total of four mills passed. Those levies have been reduced, the millage amount, from the original two mills down to I think it's like 1.2 mills each because of additional property appreciation. So if you really think about it, the more development that occurs, the less your incremental share of a levy that's subject to reduction becomes. Does that make sense?

It kind of does.

That's the easiest way I can explain it. It's very, I mean, I'm getting into like, sometimes I feel like it's complex calculus trying to look through it all and all that.

In a nutshell, what does the mill mean?

A mill is a unit of value. And basically, if you really think about it, I'm trying to think of my projections here, the easiest way to explain it. So in Union Township, one mill generates $35 per year for, for a 100,000 for a $100,000 property. Does that make sense?

It does.

That's the easiest way to explain it.

Okay.

So, and we showed that last night and that's why I tell everybody go watch that safety services presentation. It was a very good presentation. We put the spreadsheets up. We showed potential millage calculations based on information that we have from the county. And we walk through all of that so people can see that. So the answer I would ask is, so I remember when houses were acquired for the I-Cults project on Larma and Webold, and those houses I think were bought in the $100,000 range, and I think houses are selling well over $300,000 now. So the answer is property values are appreciating. I don't have a better answer than that. I actually saw houses listed on Sipsy Klein, for everybody who knows about the short-term rental issue that we dealt with over there that was sort of not the township's doing, but we're fixing it. Those houses are listed. One of them is almost 500, and one of them is mid-450s in Lexington Green.

And this is on Webull?

Well, Webull, I'm seeing houses in the 350s. Okay. And Lexington Green right around this way, I guess, this way. Okay. Those houses are in the 450s now.

Okay. All right.

So the answer is property values in this area are appreciated. Yes.

Okay. Well, speaking of that, it was passed the last time we were here was last month. And, uh, uh, it was passed that I believe was 15 single family homes. We're going to be brought in somewhere around the 400, $500,000 value. Now having something like that past, will that help raise the property value around here or on existing homes?

Well, I mean, I, I, again, existing homes are a complex calculation. because they send an appraiser out, and they look at things, and they look at improvements. They look at structured grades. They look at like and similar. They don't chase sales. I've learned they don't chase sales. Some counties do. I know Hamilton County does. Uh, only because I was a recipient of a revaluation notice when I bought my first home to my surprise. Um, but, uh, they don't necessarily chase sales. They kind of look at a market. Uh, it's, uh, a neighborhood with a small end, you know, like the neighborhood, not the neighborhood, not the big neighborhood.

It's, it's, I live in a very small one. Yeah.

Yeah. It's, it's like the small, they look at the, they try to do everything to, to try to even that out to get the truest picture of an assessed value and all that. I have no idea, without looking at the tax information, what your house is appraised at by the county now. I do know that, to my knowledge, I mean, you're going to see $400,000 to $500,000 houses down the street. They may be dissimilar construction. You do have more land, probably. So there's a multitude of factors that play into that.

Okay. All right.

Okay, well thank you for answering that. That's my best non-county auditor answer.

You did great. No, I understand what you were saying. Can you guys tell me when the construction is going to be starting on this apartment complex?

To be determined.

We don't get any timeline on these. because this is like the first step. And like the thing that got passed in 2017, it never got constructed. Now there are new regulations in place that they cannot... extend forever. We changed that last year, I believe.

Yeah, we passed a resolution regarding that particular issue so we wouldn't have constant extensions and projects that went nowhere.

Well, then we had the overlays. Overlays are a very unique plan approval. You see those a lot on 125 and in areas where the development's older and it doesn't fit the new code. We would get people that would come in for overlays and they would sit for five years and are not doing anything. And people say, what's happening? What's happening? Well, we put a clock on them now. So, so that's good. Right? So, so there's some certainty in that, that it has to. So with a PD, if I remember correctly, it's, they have five, was it five years to start substantial active construction now, I believe something like that. It's in, It's in the 680 section. I could be off of that. Mr. Wing has a 680 section? It's in the 680, I want to say like 684 or 685 maybe. Talks about timelines for PDs. They have to have.

Let the old dyslexic look here and see if you can find it.

See there's six 84, six 85 substantial active construction through, uh, expiration. Yeah.

Five years, five years of the date of the board of trustees approval. It will expire if they've not done anything.

Yes. So that's, they have to do something or the plan expires and then it has to go back through the restart as though they weren't here. The district doesn't change. So the map doesn't change.

Right.

But then they have to come back to the zoning commission, back to the trustees, start all over, start all over five years.

Well, I remember I've been around this area for, well, since late sixties and, uh, I graduated from when SD, uh, I watched Jamestown going up and it sat there like a ghost town for years, because I guess the developer. went bankrupt or whatever the financial situation was. So that can't happen these days. Is that correct? Is that what you're saying by this five-year ceiling? Am I reading this right?

Substantial act of construction.

Right. It takes a substantial act of construction to be initiated within that five-year period. So could the developer go broke and not take any action for five years? They could, but then a subsequent developer or that developer gets more money and comes back, they'd have to restart the whole process if that five years expires. Before we didn't really have... a clock. We didn't have a clock in that way. So this is an inducement to for a responsible developer to actually take action once they've gone through this process.

Okay. Well, okay. I have one or two other questions. Number one, how is that when all this developing is going on, how is that going to affect us down there at the bottom end? I close road. All right. Now we just went through the road. They put the new pipeline in, everything, and I had trucks day in and day out. I ride a motorcycle, and it was hell getting out of my driveway onto that road to get up there. I mean, horrible. So how is this going to affect our family and the rest of the folks that live around there?

And that's a good question, and I would anticipate, well, Minister Rankin.

I can tell you that, you know, in my experience, my suspicion will be that they'll route construction traffic off of Glen Esty and Eicholz. They won't come off Eicholz Spur if I have anything to say about it. No.

Okay, so you don't think we'll see much then?

Yeah, you may see some utility work, because remember the old road went through there, and there's a big... kind of fat telecom bundle that runs down this side of the road. I'm pointing to this side, my right side, if I'm looking back this way. So on the project side, there's multiple. This is one of the only places I've ever seen where we have poles on both sides of the road. Usually they're co-located on a single side. Here we have, because Cincinnati Bell owns their own poles, Spectrum tends to co-locate with. So there is a big telecom fiber bundle that sort of follows the old roadway alignment. They may move that or underground that or co-locate that, but there's zero chance I'm going to let them run construction traffic off I-Colts Road.

Well, I know if you look up for my property, you can see all kinds of wires going. Some going to the substation over here off of Clough Pike. There's a lot of utilities to go through. There's a lot of utilities. Yes, sir, there is. The other thing I wanted to ask, let me see. Is there any way, going back to what you were saying about that there was going to be a an assisted living or whatever that was proposed to begin with, um, where you're building this complex at, um, when did they decide that they were going to go with a four story? Uh, I can't help it guys, but what's, what is being built over there at the high school is just way too much and putting something like that in down there at the end of our road seems like it's going to be way too much. Um, how do you talk to folks about altering that? Maybe just drop it a floor, you know, instead of going up four stories and making a tower over all the trees, go ahead.

You seem like you, I was going to say, Mr. Wright, do you, because this is a different developer than the initial, it is a different developer.

And, and, and so, and I'm trying to remember, and this was a long, long time ago, uh, If I think about the East Loveland project, which was built by the same developer, it actually had sort of a more traditional single family roof type, which is, in fact, taller. This structure appears to be with, it's got parapet walls, so it's going to be a flat roof structure. So when you really think about height, if you have something that has more of a residential roof to it, so most people don't realize this, a single family residential home in Union Township can be 35 feet tall. 35 feet tall. And the way we measure height is you take the wall height plus one half of the gable. So it's actually taller than 35 feet. So a single family home can be very tall. The thing with a flat roof structure is you're going to see floor heights probably I'm guessing 12 to 13 feet to fit all the mechanicals in on a commercial, on a commercial build based on my walk. I walked through echelon when they were building it just to see it. So I think the deck heights are probably, they're probably 12 feet. So you're going to see a structure that probably nets out if somebody were to build a three story with a peaked roof on it versus a four story with a flat roof. If you stand, If you stand 150 yards away from it, you might be able to tell they're this, they're, you know, that they're different heights, but the net difference when you're closer to it is going to be about the same.

Okay.

I don't know if that makes sense or not. No, it does.

No, I've built homes. Uh, so, uh, I understand what you're saying. Um, so basically. You're thinking that because it is a flat roof that you can get by with another floor, which would basically be the same as a two-story or three-story house with a gabled roof on it. With a peaked roof. Yeah.

It's going to be very similar in height. Very similar in height.

Okay. All right. Okay. Let me see. If I got anything else, and I'll let you guys go. I know I'm taking up more time than I should be. Is it up to the salesperson or the people that are selling the house to give the new buyer some education on what might be happening in their area projected? Is there anything along that line, or are they just like normal salesmen, say, here you go, I'm selling it to you?

That's outside the purview of this commission. So you would need to talk to a realtor and speak about their code of ethics. That's really beyond the scope of what we would do here. And it's actually a legal question as well regarding is there a potential cause of action because there was fraud and the inducement of you purchasing a piece of property. I can't answer that question, so you'd have to speak. You could consult with an attorney or you could ask a real estate agent, but that's really beyond this.

Okay, well then, living in that area right there with this in our face, do you guys or does Union Township, whoever might be the entity that takes care of this, Do they send any mail out to the particular folks that live in that area? Do you get a form that says, hey, this is going to be in your backyard? And if so, my wife right back here would probably say, yeah, Ron, they did send one out, and I just didn't see it. But at any rate, is that typical?

Yes. To send information out to the locals? Yeah, notice goes out for these public hearings, and then We actually, we can tell everyone now this case, regardless of the action taken by this commission will be heard at the meeting of the union township trustees on what day? June 9th. So June 9th in this room will be six o'clock at six o'clock. Thank you. Because it's a different time than ours at six o'clock. On that date, you can come to this room and this case will be heard before the Union Township Trustees. Much like you did tonight, you can ask questions, you can voice your concerns to the trustees because they're the ones who take final action on this. We're making it, basically we're advising them as required by the terms of the land use plan. We just issue our recommendations. So if you're, if you continue to be interested in this case, that's the meeting to show up to.

Okay. All right. Uh, one more question and I'll go away. If I have any problems or any discussions or anything like that, that, that during the construction of all this, is there a particular number that I can call?

I'll give it out. People watch the meeting. You can call seven, you can call 5 1 3 7 5 3 2 2 1 4. And that will reach my desk.

753-2214?

Yep, that will go right to my desk.

Mr. Wright, is that correct? Correct. All right, thank you. Gentlemen, thank you ever so much for listening to me rant up here. I appreciate your time.

Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak tonight? Sir?

My name is Chuck Raymond. I live at 554 Brandner. Actually, I've got a technical question, I guess, and I think Corey Wright would probably be able to answer this better. It mentioned that the land was acquired through the CIC. I'm assuming that that was ODOT original purchase on some of that right-of-way?

No, actually, if I remember correctly, the CIC acquired the bulk of – Craig, put the gray –

Well, ODOT would have acquired all that right away for the new extension.

Actually, no. So the county TID advanced the I-COLTS roundabout project.

Okay. So that's the County Transportation Improvement District.

Uh, the township actually purchased the bulk of these. And then because we get local match credit for that because of our contribution and we are members to the TID. So that was sort of a, there was a donation deal with that, with the TID to help that project ran extremely tight is what my understanding was.

Then what about the project that was east of there that just got approved that's along most of it, the Glen Estuary?

Those were acquired as well as part of that right away. Is that Ozot property? No, those were township properties and then donated for the corridor.

Okay. I'm just trying to get a handle on that. So the economics of this, I guess, is something to be discussed in terms of how much did – Did Township have to pay to acquire that land?

It was significant. And, you know, in that, and because that acquisition helped offset the cost of that, I forget what the total number on that project was, but I want to say it was north of, was it like $10 or $12 million? And when they started planning it, it was $6 million.

So the township has resources tied up in this. We as a township have a financial commitment with that land acquisition. You can't give that land away. Is it by law you have to at least show a zero

Well, I don't know that there's actually, I mean, you know, at the end of the day, the Board of Trustees sets policy. But if they're asking me, should the township sit on land that we invested in for transportation improvements, if we have a proper and productive use to deploy that to recoup the public's investment, I'm going to advise to do that 11 out of 10 times to get the township's investment back and to repurpose it and turn it back into productive taxpaying property.

So there's a fund that you can continue as like you just sold that or will sell it to the developer and then now you've got additional funding to kind of do the same thing.

Do the same things or offset other projects or enhancements. Basically, that becomes when that property is sold or if it's sold, if it successfully concludes, the CIC pushes that revenue back to the township and watch the safety services presentation because that's an integral part of the economic development portion that offsets the need to run additional levies. So, again, we have resources tied up in this for a project, right? And then, you know, to get the resources back out and create an earning stream moving forward, that is part of the model. And that was a strategic decision made 15 to 20 years ago.

So who then is, like, negotiates the sale price, the transfer of that land?

So, you know, ultimately, it's the executive. Well, so everything goes through the CIC. It goes through the executive director. There's multiple parties that provide input to that.

Okay. All right.

So, you know, they're looking at market rates. They're looking at commercial land rates. There's no giveaways.

Okay. Oh, before I forget too, you had earlier in the, uh, this evening, you had, uh, mentioned something about, uh, traffic counts and, uh, there are some cables up on old 74, Eichholz and not Connell Tabasco. I just threw there. And those are the three I said.

That's a good place to count them.

Yeah. Yep. If, if, and you, I was, I had talked to the county a while back. It's been a while, but at innate, They were telling me that the traffic counts on, say, Mount Carmel hadn't been done in 10 years. And so this may be new information for them.

Yes, they have not kept up on their counts, and they really should be more frequent. I can tell you that private developers are doing counts on Buck Buxton, and the traffic counts are growing every year. They're growing every year. This area, it's hard. They actually, when they did the traffic impact study, they had to do projected counts based on the, they basically looked at what the traffic was back when the intersection was there. and modeled that traffic based on that because without the bridge, if you go over there right now, there's nobody, right? Because you can't get there from here. But they went back to the, you know, everybody remembers that it used to take three or four light cycles to get through, to turn left, to go south on Glaston. I jokingly remind myself. When I get frustrated with ODOT, you know, that when I used to plan a trip down to the county auditor or go to the county planning department or whatever, I planned 45 minutes to an hour. I can get there in eight minutes now. And that's driving slow. And, you know, and I can get back in eight to nine minutes if I can get out of the village. And, you know, and I don't have to sit through three to five light cycles at ELIC and Glen Esty. So, again... You know, some of those things, I know everybody is eagerly awaiting the 32 Bridge. For what it's worth, I saw them putting pavement down on the south side of the interstate the other day. So we are getting close. And I think it's paved on the north side now.

It's actually... If you look south, it's paved all the way as far as you can see now.

Really? So they're racing the rain right now, but it's getting close. I just heard mid-summer opening. That's progress. We like that, yes. So when they did the modeling through this area, again, a lot of that's changed. They have to predict based on what the north-south traffic volumes were. I think they should count them every couple years.

To finish this up, just in terms of comments of this project, I think it was mentioned that retail, there was a recommendation maybe to move it street side or close to the street side, which to me, I guess that's in response to what was just approved right around the corner, that they're going to have some retail stuff designed as good. It was going to be sidewalk, pedestrian exposed to the street and parking in behind it. And so this is, I guess, kind of a response to that to try to reinforce that concept.

That's what the corridor is asking for is to kind of create that pedestrian walkable vibe. It's a walkable village kind of thing.

I just, personally, I think that, you know, when you look at Union Township, and I think a lot of these people should realize that we're the fourth largest township in Ohio, population-wise. We're bigger than a lot of cities in Ohio. But to me, having, when I saw that, there was, it was like, God, this is something new and different. And it's something that you can, you know, you know, It's something you can raise your hat on. It's not something that's typical. To me, it's like this could be special for the township. The density of that new project at the old Glen Esty site, you have people walking up and down that street. It becomes walkable to an extent. Some part of our township is walkable because right now there's no part of our township that's walkable.

Well, and that's in the comprehensive land use plan. A lot of people don't think about it, and I wouldn't think about it if I didn't sit here, how much sidewalks cost. And it would be great to put sidewalks in everywhere, but the only way we get sidewalks is if someone's going to pay to put them in, because the township would go...

Speaking of sidewalks, as a side note, the other thing I thought about, I know right now it's a new development. It's required to put them in technically. I know... Because I live off Mount Carmel, and when they put in the dispensary, there's like 100 feet of sidewalk there. And then around the corner where they did that dog or the pet thing on Old 74, there's another 100-foot chunk of sidewalk. And I kept thinking, why don't, instead of that, maybe escrow that money somehow so that, you know, when you have an opportunity to put in 1,000 feet of sidewalk, you've got the money because people have already, you know, again, just an idea.

That's a great point. So some of the projects, and I know specifically on Tabasco, do you remember the old family dollar that got turned into the really nice Trigon printing thing? Yeah. So when we do, I think when the Board of Trustees has done overlay approvals, which Mount Carmel, Tabasco is a place where you see a lot of overlays, what they'll do is, and I think Craig probably wrote some of these conditions back in his prior life here, is they'll require them to install them if a larger sidewalk project is advanced so that, you know, they get so many days' notice and it's like, hey, the township got a grant from ODOT to pursue, and we've actually been very successful in that, We've got a pending safety grant application on Summerside to fix some of that and to get the neighborhoods connected to the park. Imagine that. And then we are submitting a transportation alternatives grant to pick up where they shorted us right here at the Walmart roundabout number three to get it all the way to Eicholz and Eastgate or whatever, Eastgate Boulevard, Ivy Point. And so, you know, again, going after transportation grants to do that. But if we get those, we can go to those property owners where those are terms and conditions in the zoning file. We can say, hey, you've got to pony up. You've got to give us easements. You've got to pay your fair share. This is a term and condition of zoning. And that is a very frequent thing. And so if you can sort of... chain a couple of those properties together, you can go advance a sidewalk project. Absolutely, I agree with you 150%.

Okay, well thanks.

Thank you, sir.

Would anyone else like to speak? If it's very brief, sir.

Okay, I've got one question.

I know it's not directly adjacent to the Veterans Park, but it's fairly close by. When will there be any determination made of what will be in those commercial spaces? I don't know that I necessarily think someplace that's selling liquor. right across from the, you know, and I don't have any understanding of when that determination was made, or if they could swap the location of the apartment complex and put the commercial on the other side because they're going to say, hey, listen, I got a better chance of pulling in traffic from the Veterans Park.

I can tell you they won't ever move the retail from that roundabout corner. Okay. Just from a – I've been in this business a long time.

I appreciate that.

That they won't – there's zero chance anybody will build retail south of that roundabout. i mean they want it at that roundabout okay that's so what you see there is market responsive okay that's that's how they cited that um if if you made them put it further south they wouldn't do it okay so it's because because the corridor that if you really think about it the traffic volumes I Colts is sort of a, is a kind of a Southern connector road, right? You've got a series of connector roads, right? You got, uh, East gate square slash Klepper, right? Right. And then I Colts is sort of turned into that kind of secondary through their civic center and all that. It trails off precipitously when you go south of this site. So really what you're seeing is more residential influence. The people get to go home on Clough that might live on Clough Lane or whatever, one of those streets down there, or maybe live at Weatherby Farms or Oak or something like that. But yet they wouldn't build south of there. They want to be right at that roundabout.

I think that would be my concern as to what's going to be in the commercial thing, given the proximity to the park, too. I mean, I just know that I could have National Night Out or whatever the things, it's crazy traffic, and I could just sit down there and see the last thing that you want to do is have some place that's not necessarily a bar, but liquor establishments, Doras, and different things like that. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else wish to address the commission? Okay. Last call for the applicant or their representative. I don't believe this has ever happened.

I've had it happen once or twice, but it's very rare. Yeah.

Unfortunately, that's not how Ohio Rights Code works. It's not court. So at this time, I'm going to close the public portion of this meeting. Now, everyone in attendance is welcome to stay, but the deliberation takes place amongst the commission. And then we make a decision. There's a motion. The motion requires a second. And we're voting on our recommendation to the Board of Trustees. For anyone, in case that sounds incredibly dull, I'll just remind everyone that this case, regardless of our action here, will be heard by the township trustees on June the 9th at 6 o'clock in this room. So if you have words that you want to say to your elected officials about how you'd like to see this handled, you're welcome to show up at that public meeting. Okay, so I've now closed the public portion of the meeting, so I will go around the horn regarding opinions on this project. Mr. Wang?

This is one that I actually like the idea because of what it's doing to unify that area right there. I wish the applicant was here because I think looking at this, I read a lot about residential stuff, just different research pieces. One of the things that I keep reading about is Jen's ears who want this village atmosphere where they have the coffee shop and the bakery and the pub on the first floor and they live above. And when I look at the, the frontage pieces, it looks like one corner of what was, it was level eight or eight. There's some larger windows to the right. It was number eight.

Oh, it's in the application, slide eight, on the retail stuff?

Yeah, it wasn't the retail. It was the hotel portion. But, yeah, see those windows down on the bottom there, that row of windows and whatnot? It's the intention to have some commercials.

You know, we'll seek clarification from the applicant.

I think that would probably, I think a lot of people would be more.

Right. I mean, look, I hear it, and I've worked in a town that had pedestal, was fortunate enough to get pedestal-style construction. They hated the aesthetics of it because it was built, again, very different context. Right. But the form worked. The form worked. The biggest failing of that project was they didn't push it back from the street enough to allow for on-street parking.

You're seeing that in Madisonville, right?

Yeah, and that's the challenge is that, you know, fortunately for us, the county, you know, it's slim and never if the county is ever going to let us do on-street parking on Bonasti. So we don't have to worry about that as much. to your point, Mr. Wing, in Madisonville, on-street parking would have significantly enhanced those projects. I'm not going to talk about the project, but the other community, you know what I'm talking about. Some of that retail struggles because of that on-street parking presence not being there. The crazy thing is the room was there to do it. Again, some of this is discussion with them. One thing I have seen is the pedestal The pedestal construction is hard to lease sometimes because you end up with columns in the middle of it. So the question is, can you do it? Can you build it to do it? Can it evolve over time? I don't know the answer to that question.

Yeah, it seems to me, and I'm not talking like, you know, 1,500 square foot. I'm talking the little 500 square foot, walk in, get a coffee, get a donut, and be gone, or get an ice cream cone, you know, things like that. I've seen it in a lot of cities.

Mm-hmm.

not so much in township situations, but that seems to be what a lot of people are asking for.

Yep, there's no question.

So anyway, I wish they were here so we could ask them these questions.

Well, I'm going to make sure that I ask those questions and indicate that that's a concern of the commission, and no doubt that the trustees are... probably watching this.

Yeah. And then the, the only other thing for me is making sure that the buffering is significant to the people on I quotes. Yes. Um, the most of the rest of it, it doesn't matter as, I mean, it's for, you know, aesthetics, it matters, but for the actual buffering, that is where I would put the most emphasis. Significant.

Okay. Mr. Onger. I'm agreeing with you 100%. I think it's scary for neighbors. It really is. But I think it's a good project. I think it would fit. With a little bit of clarification that we've got to do, I'm for it. It's going to be a good project. And I think these guys have got a lot of money. They're going to be invested. We can make sure they can do it right.

Mr. Tom. 100%. Change is always scary and it frustrates people. I sympathize with that because I'm another one from Anderson that came out here. I had horse trails in the back of my house in Anderson back in the day. Things change. It's scary. Progress is inevitable.

Mr. Beckman. I kind of agree with everything. I feel for the people that live around there, they always are the ones that have to take the initial hit, but the project looks good.

Yeah. Yeah, I agree with Mr. Wing's sentiments. This is a popular and desirable design in terms of what younger people are looking for and providing housing for younger people who want to live and ideally work in the township. So I agree with that. I would not be generally inclined for four stories, even though it is flat roof. I like that. But this was previously approved to have a four-story similar building on it. So it was already rezoned to admit that. So it looks like a project that that fits the mixed use that this corridor calls for. I like that it's going to tie in with sidewalks, with other projects, and help build sort of the corridor that was envisioned in the 2030 horizon plan in terms of what should be there. And that's what this commission is required to consider. Right.

I don't think the additional acreage changes anything.

No. Right. Well, so any further discussion? Would anyone like to formulate a motion? I think you would. You're good at it. Very well. If everyone would bear with me, I will formulate a motion for the commission. Okay, I think I'm ready. So this is case number 3-17-Z, applicant Nico G. Investments, LLC, owner, Union Township, Claremont County, CIC, Inc. This is the motion. The Zoning Commission finds that the submitted PD application and zone change request is consistent with the Horizon 2030 land use plan does not meet all of the plan development application requirements of PD district plan. Therefore, this commission recommends the submitted plan be approved contingent upon adherence to the noted modifications as specified in this motion. All required supplemental information and plan modifications must be completed and submitted to the planning director no later than one week prior to the trustees hearing of this case. The following findings of fact. The subject properties are located within the Ivy Point Commercial Corridor in the Horizon 2030 Union Township Comprehensive Land Use Plan. This corridor provides that east of the Ivy Point Commerce Park, mixed use developments that blend commercial and residential uses shall be the preferred development strategy. Mixed commercial and residential densities that are conducive to alternative transportation modes should be encouraged. New mixed-use developments should incorporate design strategies aimed at fostering a sense of place. Entertainment uses, small-scale retail restaurant and a lodging, Convention-type uses shall be encouraged with an eye toward creating synergy among land uses. The subject properties are also located in or adjacent to the Glen Esty-Withamsville I-COLTS Road Revitalization Improvement Plan, which proposes blight elimination, encourages the facilitation of new housing and retail opportunities, focusing on developing attractive, convenient, and accessible environments, and establishing development standards. modifications that this commission would require are on pages six and seven of the staff report items numbered 1 through 13. that concludes my motion i will second i've regularly made the second emotion any discussion of the terms of the motion Hearing none, if you would call roll, please, Craig.

Mr. Campbell? Yes. Mr. Beckham? Yes. Mr. Wing? Yes. Mr. Taub? Yes. And Mr. Allner-Law? Yes. Motion carried.

Okay, with that, I believe we've reached the end of our agenda. Is there any further business coming before this commission before we adjourn? Sir, I have no further business for the commission this evening. Thank you. then we are adjourned at 8.58 p.m. Thank you, everyone. Please turn your microphones off.