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County Planners Reject Liberty Medical Complex

Posted on: Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 21:00 CST

By Chris Dumond, The Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio

Jan. 10--HAMILTON -- Plans for a new 100,000-square-foot medical complex in Liberty Township failed to get the blessing of the Butler County Planning Commission Tuesday afternoon.

The commission voted to recommend Liberty Township trustees deny a request to rezone about 70 acres on the north side of Hamilton-Mason Road between Cincinnati-Dayton and Mauds-Hughes roads for the medical complex largely because of the inclusion of a condo development and questions over density.

The land is now zoned for agriculture and business uses. The development plan calls for about 150 attached homes on 25 acres, a 100,000-square-foot medical center on about 11 acres, a 30,000-square-foot medical office building on about 3 acres, a 150,000-square-foot office warehouse on about 16 acres, 45,000 square feet of two-story office space and seven out lots totalling about 9 acres.

County Planner Joseph Schmidt recommended against approval of the request because the county's land use plan calls for the entire area to develop for business use. Schmidt said Liberty Township's zoning rules also wouldn't permit the density for the condos.

During the public hearing, Hamilton-Mason Road resident Gerald Parks said backups on the road from the railroad underpass east of Mauds-Hughes make traveling dangerous already without adding more homes and offices.

Parks said a hill before the underpass compounds the problem.

"As cars come over the hill traveling west on Hamilton-Mason Road, they cannot see the stopped cars on the other side," he said. "How do I know this? Because I have cars driving through my fences."

Developer George Flynn, partners with Bob Hutsenpiller on the project, said stakeholders have already discussed widening the road. Flynn said the township's density rules don't make sense to him and shouldn't get in the way of the project.

"Land use and planning and economic vitality should go hand in hand," he said. "In our proposed mixed-use development, we're providing economic vitality that the county and the township are looking for while increasing the quality of life in the township."

Although Commissioner Steve Feldmann agreed, the rest of the commissioners present did not.

The proposal now goes back to Liberty Township.

In other business, the commission recommended:

--Denial for a request to rezone 14.5 acres west of U.S. 27 in Oxford Township for the construction of about 100 subsidized apartments. Earlier plans for 128 apartments on 18 acres have been downsized. The item goes before the Butler County Rural Zoning Commission Jan. 23.

--Approval for a request to rezone 154 acres near the intersection of Ohio 4 and Lesourdsville-West Chester Road for a mixed-use development contrary to the county's land use plan.

--Plans call for 140 acres of single-family homes, 11 acres of planned-unit development to include condos, and 3 acres of community business development. The item must now be considered by Liberty Township.

--Approval for a request to rezone 5.5 acres next to the University Pointe medical complex between Cox Road and Interstate 75 for commercial planned-unit development to conform with surrounding zoning. The parcel is part of plans for a 30-acre Health Alliance hospital there. The item must now be considered by West Chester Township.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio

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Source: The Journal-News

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