Paul McKibben reports:
The historic Twenty Mile House is closer to becoming demolished for a Speedway gas station and convenience store as the township’s zoning commission Monday night gave its approval.
Speedway still needs to get approval from the Warren County engineer for the project to proceed.
The property is already zoned for the proposed use, but the zoning commission needed to OK the new use.
The vote was 4-1 to approve.
“The property owner has a right to use his property as it’s zoned in a manner that obviously meets the requirements of the code,” zoning commission chairman John Richardson said.
Residents wanted the zoning commission and township trustees to save the property.
They sent to various officials a 214-page petition with more than 2,000 names that asks township officials to postpone any final decisions for at least six months and to find alternative buyers who would preserve the property.
“Clearly the building can be made quite attractive and visually enhance the area while supporting the notion that historical places should not be bulldozed under the carpet to make way for a modern eyesore,” the petition says.
Deerfield Township resident Steve Link, of the Friends of Twenty Mile House group, said there have been dozens of suggestions for the building such as preschool or kindergarten, artist studios, offices for dentists, doctors and lawyers, or putting in three or four chain restaurants.
“It’s a question of who’s going to step up to the plate and actually do it,” he said.
The early 19th century property once was a stagecoach stop and it’s also been a restaurant.
Owner Jeff Black wants to sell the property to Speedway.
Last year Black/CJMKC Realty Co. contracted with Speedway to sell it for $800,000. The sale is contingent upon Speedway getting governmental approval for its development.
Last August, Warren County commissioners denied Speedway’s request to build a new driveway off Columbia Road. The proposed driveway was closer to Columbia Road and U.S. 22/Ohio 3, a major Warren County intersection where the property is located.
The proposed plan uses the existing driveway off of Columbia Road, according to Black’s attorney Konrad Kircher.
Anne McBride, who represented Speedway before the commission, said a right turn will be added on U.S. 22/Ohio 3 into the existing access point.
In January, CJMKC Realty that Black owns, sued county commissioners and others in Warren County Common Pleas Court. The suit seeks compensatory damages and other relief.
Posted in: Business, Deerfield Twp., News |
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