Welch said on the surface it appeared Hearthstone had exceeded green space requirements with more than double the required amount for the approximately 7.1 acres that is now home to Casa Bianca Banquet Center & Ristorante; however, that green space is achieved by taking what would be property owners’ backyards and reclassifying them as green space, Welch said.
“I believe it’s misleading to call what otherwise would be called ‘back yard’ green space,” he said. “By my calculation, the only green space in the preliminary development plan is the proposed detention area in the southeast corner and the undevelopable piece of land just north of it.”
If the vision for the township doesn’t line up with a developer’s vision for a proposed project, it is incumbent on the township “to work with alacrity” to help developers through the process, he said.
“Basically, it has to be a win-win or it’s a no deal,” Welch said.
Because the project is consistent with the land use plan, he said he wasn’t inclined to deny the major change request if the land use plan could be modified.
Trustee Lee Wong said he had no problem with density of land use for the site, but the way the project was initially designed did not sit well with him.
Wong said he preferred the plan to have buffering in place, to have buildings staggered to “break up the monotony” of rows of houses, and to have a pocket park created.
Welch, too, said he has no problem with the project’s density but stressed he wants to see something “a little more imaginative and creative in design” when it comes to green space than categorizing the space in between buildings as such.
Trustees voted last week to approve a major change to a residential planned unit development and preliminary development plan for the site, subject to several conditions.
Those conditions include the developer using at least 50 percent brick/masonry to construct all buildings on each elevation and creating a system of interior pedestrian paths and a five-foot wide concrete sidewalk along the Muhlhauser Road.
Trustees also are requiring the developer to incorporate adequate buffering and berms with sufficient landscaping on the north and west property lines of the site to cut back on the amount of offensive visual and audio pollution to adjoining properties.
The developer also must establish an homeowners association to maintain the open space, private drives, drainage easements and any other common areas, as well as include all requirements of both the Butler County Water & Sewer Department and Butler County Engineer’s Office on the final development plan.
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