She said the city’s zoning regulations allow higher density than the township does.
The Journal-News asked Monroe City Manager Larry Lester about the potential annexation and project and he just kept repeating, “we have not received an application for annexation.” The Journal-News made a public records request and was told there aren’t any.
The property owners could not be reached for comment.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Trustee Tom Farrell told the Journal-News they can’t stop annexation, but said creating the TIF could make the proposed development much more expensive.
“Putting a TIF/RID on that area could deter someone from annexation because the way the rules are stated, if you annex property that is in an incentive district you have to continue to pay the taxes to that jurisdiction until the infrastructure improvements are complete, which could be 30 years from now,” Farrell said. “Therefore making it not very feasible for someone to annex the property.”
The documents on the trustees agenda indicate they are creating the TIF to help pay for future infrastructure to support a development with approximately 90 single family homes at a $600,000 price point. The development plan for the farm indicates the TIF is “vital.”
“The proposed residential development will create an urgent need for infrastructure upgrades in this area of the township,” the plan document reads. “The proposed Incentive District will assist in financing public infrastructure improvements vital to the growth and development of the property but will also aid in attracting new families, a vital factor to the overall development of the township.”
High-density development could hurt area of growth, trustee says
Trustee Steve Schramm told the Journal-News a development triple the size would wreak havoc with the township’s carefully planned future. The township is in the midst of building a new $50 million Interstate 75 interchange at Millikin Road, and a new high-density development wasn’t in the plans.
“All the traffic going to Cincinnati would be coming right now Cincinnati Dayton Road, either all the way down or over Millikin once get it put in, which would include 300 to 500 cars a day that we don’t have factored into any of our growth plans up there,” he said. “That’s the part people don’t realize, we try to do projections out for 10 and 15 years analyzing growth the way that we have it in our boundaries. When someone comes in and does this it just screws us up big time.”
Another avenue to pursue is through the schools. Schramm said if the property is annexed it would still remain within the Lakota Schools boundaries, so the school district could file an objection with the state over a huge influx of students, he said “we’re going to throw every daggone roadblock we can in front of them.”
When asked about that option Lauren Boettcher, assistant director of School & Community Relations said, “We will wait for our Liberty Twp. trustees to make a final decision before providing any comment. Regardless of the outcome, however, we will educate any student who lives within Lakota’s official boundaries.”
Rick Seitz, one of the people involved in the potential development — he is purchasing the land — said he couldn’t comment on the alleged annexation, project details or the trustees installing a TIF. He did say all they are trying to do is provide housing stock people need.
“I think all municipalities want big, gigantic, expensive houses on big gigantic lots,” Seitz said. “But the reality is all these municipalities need a variety of housing product for the various stages of their residents’ life.”
Farrell said they have worked very hard to create the right balance and it isn’t right that Monroe can annex property and throw everything off kilter.
“But at the end of the day this is all about a builder trying to get higher density so they can make more money,” he said. “Not caring what load it puts on the schools, not caring what load it puts on the roads sand infrastructure and not caring what load it puts on Liberty Township’s vision plan.”
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