The moratorium area is bordered by the following streets and landmarks:
- Ohio 747 on the west
- Mill Creek on the southwest
- Muhlhauser, Allen, and E. Crescentville roads on the south
- Interstate 75 on the west
- Indiana & Ohio railroad on the east
- West Chester Road, Union Centre Boulevard, Smith Road, and Lakota Drive West, on the north
- Beckett Road on the north/northeast
“The original development moratorium put a stop to all development within the area that was designated and the revision to the moratorium will allow for certain changes to existing buildings,’’ said Lisa Brown, township administrator.
“It was more restrictive than we had intended to do so we created a second revision of that to allow additional exceptions in the area of changes to existing buildings.”
The move comes after business and property owners in the restricted area – between Ohio 747 and Cincinnati-Dayton Road – complained to township officials. Many said the moratorium prevented them from moving forward on planned improvements or expansions.
Questionnaires were sent out to 100 business owners or brokers affected by the moratorium. The township received eight responses representing several businesses.
Based on responses from the survey, comments made at recent trustees’ meetings and a further study, the revised moratorium:
- Allows for building expansions up to 60 percent of the primary structure.
- Does not apply to zoning applications received prior to the effective date of the resolution or revisions of active, approved zoning certificates.
- Allows for tenant finishes and fit-outs for new or existing tenants provided they don’t increase the building footprint.
- Excludes exterior alterations that don’t increase a buildings footprint
- Allows for changes to exterior signage, fence permits, temporary tent permits, cell tower alterations and job trailers for already permitted projects.
“I appreciate the community’s patience as we work through this and I truly appreciate the comments we got from our business owners helping us fine-tune this and making it work for everyone,’’ said Trustee Ann Becker.
“I know it’s a little bit frustrating to have a pause in any kind of normalcy in a community but this economic look that we’re going to do in this corridor is very important to the future of that last part of development along Union Centre Boulevard.”
Chris Wunnenberg, director of development for Schumacher Dugan Construction, thanked the trustees for listening to the business community, but urged them to complete their study quickly.
“We hope that this can be expedited as soon as possible,’’ Wunnenberg said.
“A lot of people are going to be without the ability to use their properties if they’re building new and/or expand their properties if they need to expand more than 60 percent. I can’t imagine it would take 10 or 11 months to decide what needs to be done here.”
With just 12-13 percent of commercially-zone land empty, trustees said the moratorium is still needed while they study the area to make sure the land is developed appropriately.
“We have limited land left in this area…and we have to be very careful future development," said Trustee Lee Wong.
“What (the) next 50 years are going to bring us, so I think this is necessary.”
Trustee Mark Welch said it was important to make sure the best possible development goes in the corridor – the heart of the business district.
“I agree wholeheartedly that we have to do this expeditiously – get it done as fast as possible and make sure we get what we want – what’s best for West Chester,” Welch said.
Brown said consultants to assist the township study the corridor should be hired by year’s end.
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