Speedway hasn’t given up on plans to demolish the historic Twenty Mile House and build a gas station and convenience store on the site.
Speedway spokesman Shane Pochard said the company is reassessing the project to see where its next steps may be. He told The Enquirer’s Paul McKibben that no decisions have been made at this point.
Deerfield Township’s zoning commission is scheduled to review a site plan for the project on Spet. 12. Anne McBride with the planning firm McBride Dale Clarion has asked the commision to postpone that hearing to Oct. 17.
“The postponement is necessary to allow Speedway time to review alternative site access which will impact the site plan under consideration,” she wrote to Hayfaa Wadih, the township’s planning manager.
Warren County commissioners voted 3-0 on Aug. 23 against a plan to build a new driveway off of Columbia Road into the site. Speedway was seeking to bypass the county’s access management regulations.
Paul McKibben has more details:
The Twenty Mile House is located at Columbia Road and U.S. 22/Ohio 3, a major Warren County intersection. The proposed driveway was closer to the intersection. The existing driveway doesn’t meet the access management regulations either and was grandfathered in.
Nick Hershberger, a design engineer with Speedway, told county commissioners previously the company wasn’t interested in the project if the existing driveway remains where it is. He has also said that there is no physical way with the physical restraints of the property to meet the current access management regulations.
The company was going to spend $250,000 to build a right turn lane at the intersection that was required by the Warren County Engineer’s Office. Speedway’s new driveway would allow only right in and right out turns.
Jeff Black of South Lebanon, who owns the Twenty Mile House, has said he wants to the sell it because he is losing money. Black didn’t return messages seeking comment.
Residents have been concerned about the building being demolished and traffic safety.
The building was constructed in 1822 and parts of it might date back to 1804. It has served as a stagecoach stop and as a restaurant. The property is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
