Trustee Mark Welch has supported the district from the start and pushed for non-profits — that were originally excluded — to be added to the assessment. He said it is still a worthy endeavor to keep the character of the area but agreed with his fellow trustees they went about it in the wrong way.
“I think it’s a good idea for the township to bow out of this and for the residents and business owners of Olde West Chester to proceed with a petition,” he said.
The proposed district would have raised $4,000 annually and been in place for 10 years. Finance Director Ken Keim said previously the largest per-parcel cost was $556, and the average was $49, based on road frontage from West Chester Road to Interstate 75. The highest assessment under the last proposal was $416 for a large vacant property closest to Interstate 75.
There were 96 parcels, and 63 property owners would have started paying the annual assessments in 2021.
A majority of the property owners would have to sign a petition to get the matter before the trustees again. Trustee Ann Becker agreed a petition from the property owners is the proper course to take. The boundaries of the district would be set by the petitioners.
“I think a petition should have been started, I think it’s bad precedent for us to impose assessments on businesses, residents, that aren’t interested in having it,” she said. “But also it should be wanted by the residents it shouldn’t be something we impose on the district.
Absent an assessment, if light poles and sign posts are damaged, Butler County will install standard-issue replacements, according to Welch.
Trustee Lee Wong encouraged the business owners to get organized.
“We are sensitive to what the business owners wants,” Wong said. “Until they really make up their minds how they really want it, they can start a petition and bring it before the board and we will consider.”
Business owner Bill Lendl spoke numerous times in favor of the landscape district. He was also instrumental in getting a lighting district in place several years ago as part of a $7.8 million widening project that concluded last fall. Those assessments pay for electric and maintenance of the antique streetlamps in the heart of Olde Chester.
He told the Journal-News he will not likely spearhead the new petition effort, although he still thinks it has merit. The last effort took eight months.
“I did this for lighting district, and it’s time-consuming, so I’ll probably give it to someone else to do quite honestly,” Lendl said. “It’s somebody else’s turn to do it.”
During the two public hearings held on the matter residents had various issues with the assessment, some saying they didn’t want the expensive mailboxes in the first place but they were foisted upon them. Victoria Alvarez was one.
“Only in West Chester do they give you mailboxes and then they send you a letter and say you owe us $60 (per) year for 10 years,” she said adding she never received a letter asking her if she wanted the mailbox installed. “I’d like to know if you don’t spend all that money each year where does it go? He said it goes into a fund, after the 10 years where does the money go that doesn’t get spent?”
The goal was to maintain a uniform look throughout that area of Olde West Chester. If excess funds accumulated in the future, the money would be spent on landscape and other amenities like benches.
At the last public hearing a couple weeks ago Jan Frankel, who owns the largest parcel, asked the trustees to remove her land from the proposed district. She said the 72-acre vacant tract is roped by guardrails because of the rough topography and sidewalks, and poles will never be installed. With its location next to highway, the land really isn’t part of Olde West Chester, she said.
“I am getting assessed or taxed, whatever word you want to use, more than anyone else,” Frankel said. “Our property is getting absolutely no benefit, no mailboxes, no light poles, no benches, no sidewalk, no nothing.”
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