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Residents get look at Land Use Plan By Kurt Backscheider
kbackscheider@communitypress.com
Volume 93 Number 12 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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In the next few days your Community Press carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s Northwest Press. Your carrier retains half of this amount as payment for his or her work. If you wish to add a tip to reward the carrier’s good service, both the Amanda Wood carrier and The Community Press appreciate your generosity. This month we’re featuring Andrew Wood siblings Andrew and Amanda Wood. Andrew, a ninth-grader at La Salle High School, enjoys playing soccer and volleyball. He is involved with Young Explorers in Green Township, and hopes to go to college to play soccer and become a firefighter. Amanda, a fifthgrader at St. Ignatius of Loyola School, enjoys playing soccer, softball and volleyball. If you have questions about delivery, or if your child is interested in becoming part of our junior carrier program, please call 853-6263 or 8536277, or e-mail circulation manager Sharon Schachleiter at sschachleiter@community press.com.
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Pat Thompson said she is pleased with the proposed changes to the Green Township Land Use Plan near her home. “There were very little changes recommended in our neighborhood,” she said. “The one change they are considering is a positive.” Thompson, who lives in Mack, was one of the hundreds of township residents who filtered in and out of an open house the township hosted Thursday, April 15, to give the public the opportunity to review and comment on proposed changes to the land use plan. She said she was happy with the recommendation to change a Bridgetown Road property near her home now designated for industrial use to a mix of office and residential uses. “The storage of trucks is probably not the best use for that property,” she said.
KURT BACKSCHEIDER/STAFF
Green Township Land Use Planning Committee member Betsy Ryland, left, talks with township resident Deborah Boland about proposed Land Use Plan changes along the Harrison Avenue corridor during an open house where residents could provide input on the proposed updates.
KURT BACKSCHEIDER/STAFF
This is the Land Use Plan map for Green Township. The board of trustees will review the changes recommended in the five-year update of the plan later this month, and the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission has the final say in adopting the updated plan.
“If a township has a land use plan, the regional planning commission requires the plan to be reviewed every five years,” Snyder said. Residents who attended the open house were able to speak with members of the township’s land use planning committee and county planning staff, ask questions about the plan and fill out a comment sheet with their thoughts on the proposed changes. “We view the land use plan as a living document,” said Green Township Development Director Adam Goetzman. He said the changes recommended by the committee were based on development trends,
past land use strategies and previous zone change conditions. He said the board of trustees will host a public meeting later this month to consider the recommendations of the land use planning committee as well as comments from the public. The proposed updates will then be sent to the county regional planning commission for ultimate approval. The planning commission, which actually adopts the township’s land use plan as its plan for Green Township, will likely review the plan in June, Goetzman said. Green Township’s land use plan can be found Online at www.hamiltoncountyohio.gov/hc rpc/development.asp.
Groesbeck UMC may sell, move By Jennie Key jkey@communitypress.com
Colerain Avenue could lose a landmark. Groesbeck United Methodist is pondering whether to sell its property at 8871 Colerain Ave. Robert Reichert, owner of the Kings Auto Mall, is interested in buying the property. The church was offered $3.75 million, and has been praying and meeting to look for God’s purpose, according to a message by Pastor David Mack in the church’s bulletin. The church formed teams to consider the church’s ministry, facilities and vision. A long range planning team has been assessing
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Members of the Green Township Land Use Planning Committee have been working on the five-year update of the land use plan since January. Bryan Snyder, development services administrator for the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, said the land use plan is a document that includes text and maps to guide future development in the township. Changes in the plan guidelines or maps do not change the zoning of property, he said. The purpose of the plan is to provide a framework of considerations and recommendations for future zoning amendments.
the strengths and weaknesses of the current facility or a new facility to fulfill the mission and vision of the church. For the past two weeks, the congregation has had meetings on the issue. On April 11, there was an informational meeting where the teams shared the information they gathered. On April 18, the membership voted 164 to 111 to pursue the possible sale of the church. Mike Vogel, chairman of the church’s building committee, said the church membership is realizing they need to make changes as the community’s demographics change. “I think we found we were a
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little out of step,” he said. “We want to reach out to youth and young families. Whether that’s here or in a new facility remains to be seen.” Reichert said the sale still needs to be negotiated, so he is unwilling to discuss his possible plans for the property. He said the Groesbeck team has been pleasant and professional to work with, and he hopes the negotiations will be concluded soon. According to “Colerain Township Revisited,” a book compiled by Ruth Wells of the Coleraine Historical Society, Groesbeck United Methodist started as Olive Branch ME Church in 1832. It met in members’ homes and the Roundtop School before a new
church was built in 1882. The first phase of the present building was dedicated in 1958 and the sanctuary was built in 1963. Vogel says it’s a difficult discussion for many members. “We have emotional ties here,” he said. “We’ve raised children here, had weddings and funerals … so thinking about this kind of change is hard for some of our members.” He added that the church’s forefathers faced the same kind of change in the 1950s, when they decided to build the present church. “They looked up the two-lane road that Colerain Avenue was then, and made the move,” he said.
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