MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER: John Richardson, Chairperson
Roll Call: Scott Evans, John Richardson, Robert Giesse, Don de Reynier, and Matt Evans were present. Alternate Cherry Linder was absent. Also present was township legal advisor, Dan Hendy.
Minutes Motion by Don de Reynier to approve the minutes of 04/09/07 as written. Second by Robert Giesse.
Roll Call John Richardson-Abstained, Robert Giesse-Yes, Don de Reynier-Yes, Matt Evans-Yes, and Scott Evans- Yes. The motion was approved.
Dan Hendy, Township Attorney, administered the oath to those planning on giving testimony. John Richardson explained to the audience that each speaker would be limited to 3 minutes to talk and he suggested if the audience heard someone say what they planned to say please do not repeat it.
Case #2007-156 Stage 1, Zone Change for Erbecks Farms & TKSB Properties, northeast of Fields-Ertel and west of Wilkens Blvd.
Staff Report Hayfaa Wadih explained the location of the property requesting the Stage 1 map amendment and zone change. She described the zoning classifications of the surrounding properties which was predominantly Residential Single Family. Ms. Wadih said on the sketch plan they have proposed 3 types of housing, 139 residential single family homes, 91 attached one-story condominiums, and 120 condominium attached two-story units, for a total of 350 dwelling units. The access points were proposed via Fawn Run and Old Farm Drive. A new road to Wilkens was proposed to be built and paid for by the applicant. Retail commercial was proposed near Wilkens and Bardes Road. She said the proposed zone change did not comply with the land use plan. Staff believed the current use was the better use of the property and would be more compatible with the existing Residential Single Family as it would not have the impact that one and a half times the number of units would have on the neighborhood infrastructures and character. Staff recommended denial of the requested rezoning. She asked the board for any questions.
Proponent Joe Trauth, Keating Muething & Klekamp, 1 East 4th Street, Cinti., OH 45202, said he was representing the applicant. Mr. Trauth distributed a new document. He described the proposed plan. He said the planning commission asked them to lower density and they did. He explained how they changed the plan to a total of 265 units instead of 350 units. Mr. Trauth explained the reasons for reduction of the units in relation to vehicle trips generated and the number of cars on the township streets. He reminded the board of the number of surrounding condo developments nearby and the generated number of cars. He said Rick Young of Henderson & Bodwell has planned a bridge be built for another access. Mr. Trauth said the traffic influence is from many different areas.
Richard Young, Henderson & Bodwell, 3530 Irwin-Simpson Road, said they have changed their plan and lowered the density to 265. He asked the board to consider this project from the overall geography of the area and he said the geography makes sense. Mr. Young sited a recent Enquirer article stated that there is a trend now that people are looking for this type of housing so there would be a need. He disagreed regarding the land use plan, and the township and WCRPC stating this development does not comply as transitional. He said he believed the Erbeck property was perfect as a transitional area from business to residential.
Mr. Young said they prepared a traffic impact study. The traffic impact would be improved with the lowered density. The county recommended that Wilkens Boulevard be the primary access to the development. He described the type of housing units included in their plan. The mass of the buildings would be considerably smaller than the homes in Long Cove.
Concerned Citizens Faye Smith,5474 Old Farm Drive, was concerned about this proposal being in compliance with the land use plan. She was unhappy about the possible traffic generated in the surrounding neighborhoods by the extension of stubbed off streets and “cut through” traffic.
Joyce & Jerry Bogan, 5450 Old Farm Drive, were concerned about their neighborhood safety if there would be increase in traffic because of the proposed development. Several homes in this neighborhood already have signs to notify drivers that there is a child in the home. Don de Reynier asked if the characteristic of the people in the multi-family causes them to drive differently than the single family home owners.
Heather Harwood, 5449 Old Farm Drive, said she expected more single family homes if this vacant would be developed. She said she checked on that zoning before she moved into this neighborhood. She didn’t like this type of mix including the condos. She said traffic and safety was a concern. She didn’t like the parking lot but said they should have garages.
Dan Fette, 5354 Fields-Ertel Road, said he would like to see the affect of the current development on traffic before more development would be allowed. He said there are many developments in process which are not “built out” yet.
Janet Fette, 5406 Fields-Ertel Road, said she has lived there many years since 1967and the excess traffic continues to be a problem.
Eloise Pitstick, 5915 Timber Rail Lane, was concerned about the use of the existing farm lane as open space. She said on the plan it was listed as open space. She wondered if it would be used for emergency access or what it would be used for. Rick Young said it would be a nice walking path but it is not wide enough for vehicles to use. John Richardson asked if they knew yet how it would be used. They did not know yet.
Jenny Gast, 5815 Timber Rail Lane, said she is a student and she reminded the board of the endangered plants on the undeveloped property and the need for protecting Polk Run Creek. She said Warren County had a high foreclosure rate.
Mary Wortham, 9753 Snider Road, talked about the current high amount of traffic in front of her house and was concerned about the increase due to the new development.
Mark Popp, 9678 Fox Run Drive, had concerns about traffic and said people may cut through to avoid traffic on Fields-Ertel Road. He didn’t like the zoning change and was concerned about parking for the development.
Sandra Tomlin, 5725 Fawn Run, spoke about the possibility of cut through traffic on her street and that impact. She was concerned about more impact on storm water flooding problems and the negative impact on schools. She had safety concerns for the children. With traffic being so bad she was concerned about EMS response time.
Mark Reinking, 9662 Fox Run Drive, said there has been storm water flooding in the past and he was worried it would get worse due to the higher intensity land use.
Henry Fenechel, 5714 Fields-Ertel Road, representing Northern Hills Synagogue, was concerned that the planned two story units would be visible from the synagogue and condos due to a lack of buffering. He asked about the internal traffic pattern for the development.
Tim Hershner, 8576 Lake Chetac Drive, had concerns about the 2003 Housing Forecast in which this property was forecast at 2.03 dwelling units per acre. That would be 146 units for this property. He said the bridge could be a liability to the township because of the huge maintenance cost. He said Hunters Creek Condo development was permitted by Warren County and that is one of the reasons Deerfield Township wanted its own zoning. He asked the board to deny the request.
Zeke Zekoff, 9799 Snider Road, asked if Snider Road would be widened to accommodate the Erbeck property development. He was told that is not in the plan.
Diana Halligan, 4011 Brookside Court, showed some slides of before and after some developments new Polk Run and she suggested this proposal would not be good for the environment. She said when sewer lines are installed the land is destroyed.
George Pitstick, 5915 Timber Rail Lane, didn’t appreciate the possible increase in traffic. He said the traffic study substantially underestimated the traffic. He said the space should remain open space or maybe a park. He said open space should not be a creek or driving lane. It should be open. He didn’t like that there would be no garages. He said the development would increase storm water run-off.
Jennifer Wheeler, 5881 Homecrest Lane, said she put yellow signs in her yard to show children live there. She had concerns about traffic density on Deer Run, Homecrest and sewer issues.
Mary Galeano, 5896 Homecrest Lane, had concerns about the number of children living there under 5 years of age and excessive traffic. She also was concerned about accidents due to the increase of people. She was concerned about Polk Run Creek and flooding.
Bob Weaver, 5904 Timber Rail Lane, said he wanted to know what goes on the plan for the Erbeck driveway; which connects with Snider Road that is behind his house. John Richardson said the plan for that would be shown in Stage 2.
Brenda Lykins, 5816 Timber Rail Lane, said there were too many homes planned for that area.
Nancy Edwards, 5924 Timber Rail Lane, spoke about the economy and would those houses be sold. She said she believed too many homes are being built in this area.
Laura Barry, 9528 Fox Run Drive, said she had an on going problem with standing storm water and the development could make it worse. She had concerns that people move here for the school.
Ruthanne Grant, 5875 Deer Run Drive, was concerned about the community. She told the board that they had a difficult job.
Brad Price, 5862 Timber Rail Lane, said the traffic impact of the proposed development is unknown. He was concerned about Fields-Ertel Road corridor traffic. He said this proposal was not transitional.
Geoff Schardein, 5835 Fawn Run Drive, had concerns that the development would have access to Snider Road. He said they have a storm water drainage problem. He also said there should be some sidewalks installed along Fields-Ertel Road.
Robb Olsen, 8704 Charleston Woods Drive, said he believed there was no need for this type of housing and disagreed that this housing would be transitional to residential.
Lois McKnight said she had received several letters and e-mails and she read them as follows:
Steve Schneider, 9200 Nottingham Drive, said he was concerned and didn’t want the zone change.
Steve Wendel, 4701 Windward Drive, said that since the township is currently updating the Comprehensive Plan, no decisions should be made. He said the retail seems to be closing at the Deerfield Towne Center and he said until those developments get more stable, this should not be approved.
Gale & Harold Nordiman, 9921 Hunters Place, asked the board to vote no because development would add to their problems.
Greg & Michelle Pitstick, 5556 Squires Gate Drive, current land use should be followed, Warren County Engineers recommended denial. They asked board to vote no.
Larry Carvalho, 5641 Squires Gate Drive, complained about traffic problems.
Mike Lorenz 8700 Charleston Hill Court, said due to traffic and retail decline this should be denied
Todd & Lori Hiners, 5562 Squires Gate Drive, gave 6 reasons to deny the case.
Kathy Youngquist, 8511 Charleston Knoll Court, said she is against this project.
John Richardson asked our township attorney to comment on the procedure with the change in the proposal. Dan Hendy said the original submittal was what should be considered but their changes tonight are to be viewed as a proposal as to what they would do to comply with some suggestions they have received from the Warren County Planning Commission.
Joe Trauth, Keating Muething & Klekamp, 1 East 4th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, said that the application for the zone change has not changed. Originally they had planned for 139 single family homes. To try and comply with the Planning Commission’s suggestion, they reduced the number to 99 single family units. In the one-story attached condominium area that is 17.4 acres, the 91 units originally proposed were reduced to 86. On the 8.2 acres with the two-story attached condos, they were reduced from 120 units to 80 units. The total reduction went from 350 units on the same amount of acreage to 265 units. Mr. Trauth said by these reductions, they had reduced the number of traffic trips.
Tom Erbeck, 9698 Snider Road, said if he were planning to make this all residential single family homes people would still not be in favor of this development. He reminded the board that the plan showed the single family homes near the residential single family neighborhoods. He said the synagogue has light pollution for the next door neighbors and when they empty the dumpster it makes noise. Mr. Erbeck gave reasons he believed this proposal should go forward.
Don de Reynier said that he understood that anything residential would be similar traffic issues. He asked what advantage or benefit would there be for the residents if this would be allowed to develop as the plan showed.
Mark Duerkers, Architect, 3749 N. Berkley, described the condos and said they would be selling very well since they are in demand. He said they were small, easily accessible, and would be very well received in this area.
Don de Reynier said in a PUD there normally is a give and take process but he said he didn’t see that. Mr. Duerkers said there was green space. Mr. Richardson said that was not “open space” but it was “un-useable” space.
Joe Trauth, Keating Muething & Klekamp, 1 East 4th Street, Cinti., OH 45202, again argued that the lower traffic counts and lower impact on the schools would be a benefit.
Richard Young, Henderson & Bodwell, 3530 Irwin-Simpson Road, said that it was not unusual for a zoning matter to be amended in process. He said he respects Mr. Hendy’s opinion but he disagreed. Mr. Young said this traffic study has been the most comprehensive study which had ever been done in Warren County. At this point they have gotten approval with an access to Wilkens. As Tom indicated they looked at many ways of access to this development. He said they could do some things to discourage cut through traffic. Mr. Young said the storm water management was required by Warren County and they usually end up with a good outcome because they adhere to the requirements of Warren County. Regarding Polk Run Crossing, they would have many controls in place as they proceed with the project and that a concrete span would have very little maintenance.
John Richardson asked since the road cut on Wilkens Blvd. would not match up to Bardes Road, would a traffic light be proposed for that location? Mr. Young said it was established so that “as necessary” a light could go there. That would not be a 90 degree intersection but the preliminary alignment engineering drawings for the intersection would be part of the Stage 2 process. John asked if that would be speculative or if that would be part of the plan. Mr. Young said that would be part of the process.
John Richardson closed the public portion of the meeting. Dan Hendy asked the board of they understood the procedure. Lois McKnight told the board their decision was on the original application but they could approve the plan with modification or they could deny. Scott Evans asked about the number of homes that they would be allowed to build with straight residential single family zoning. Mr. Young said around 200 homes would be allowed.
There was a two minutes recess.
Discussion of Zoning Code Text Amendment
Lois said at the March meeting the Zoning Commission initiated an amendment to the zoning code regarding the parking and storage of recreational vehicles. The Warren County Planning Commission accepted our recommendation and made the change. This board suggested creating a new Section #20.03.1 in our code. The Planning Commission recommended placing it in a different location in our code. She said she respected the Planning Commission but she recommended it be put in Section 20.03.1. Matt Evans asked if that is included in the definitions and Lois said it was. There was much discussion about screening of the recreational vehicle and getting the wording of the amendment correct. They made sure the definitions were clear.