"The primary purpose for which it was
incorporated was to give local control over
planning and zoning in order to preserve the residential and rural character of the community, and provide its own police and fire
protection."
- Amberley Village website www.amberleyvillage.org
These primary purposes are now at risk.
Our zoning must be maintained in order to
preserve the residential and rural character
of the community.
What You Should Know.
A recent series of meetings were held at the
Village Hall in order to provide information
to the Village residents concerning potential
development of the Crest Hills property. It is
our concern that the residents may have left
these meetings not fully understanding all
the facts, or the adverse impact that
development of this site will have on the
community.
Many of our citizens are unaware of the
following:
Proposed residential development of the
Crest Hills property will not produce the
touted economic benefits to the Village.
There is no question that the Village is
facing severe fiscal challenges, due to catastrophic
loss of earnings tax revenues which
resulted from the closing of the old Gibson
Greeting Card operations. However, development
of the Crest Hills property will not
produce the "economic bailout" believed
by many poorly informed residents. Unfortunately,
our local tax system in Ohio provides
that earnings are taxed primarily in the
locality where a person is employed.
For example, a marketing executive who moves to Amberley Village
and earns a base annual salary of $200K for full
time employment at the P&G headquarters downtown,
will pay NO INCOME TAX to Amberley, but will
pay it to the City of Cincinnati.
Similarly, a laboratory manager moving into the
Village who works at a new research facility in
Reading, with a salary of $75K, will pay only $375
per year in Village tax after a credit is given for the
earnings taxes he will have already paid to the City
of Reading.
Further, many retirees and residents of other
States, such as Florida, who would maintain
a home here, may have substantial income
that is not subject to Village tax.
Real Estate Tax is Not the Answer
So it must be the Real Estate Tax that will be the answer to the Village's economic woes. WRONG! Only about 8% of each individual property tax billing is collected for Amberley Village. As many know, the semi-annual real estate taxes are paid directly to the Hamilton County Treasurer, who divides up the taxes according to the various tax levies applicable to each property. Property taxes paid in 2003 by residential property owners in Amberley Village, consisted of a total 85.12 mills, of which only 7.00 mills are returned to the Village (the balance being distributed for Cincinnati school district levies - 56.25 mills, and various County levies, including Zoo, mental Health, Children's Services and Hospitals - 21.87 mills).
For each $100,000 in market value, Amberley
Village is
to receive only about $134 in tax.
If 100 new homes valued at $650,000 could be built on the Crest Hills property, ( the terrain would probably not allow for this many homes), a total of approximately $87,500 could be expected to be realized in property tax revenues. This must be balanced against the anticipated costs of servicing an additional development, such as additional Police and Fire, snow removal, trash collection, and road maintenance.
At a recent meeting, the Village Manager estimated these additional costs to exceed $300,000. These estimated costs most likely do not fully account for the additional infrastructure improvement costs that may be borne by the current Village Citizens for traffic control devices on Galbraith and Ridge Roads, and widening of roadways. There also may be increased costs to acquire additional Police and Maintenance vehicles and equipment.
The Village Council retained the services of planning consultants, Meisner and Assoc., to generate studies of potential development alternatives These studies depict
development as Residential, both single
family and multi-family, as well as the addition
of Retail and Office uses, many of which
are not presently components of the Village
zoning plans. Further, without the addition
of uses that do not fit the present zoning, or
character of uses within the Village, a negative
economic impact may
be realized.
It is only after the retail and office
components are added to the scenarios
that the Village would appreciate a positive
revenue; and this would only be realized
if the development were successful and of-
fice space fully occupied. The current glut
of office space in Hamilton County clearly
indicates that this anticipated tax revenue
would be long delayed, if it ever materializes.
Rural Character & Identity of Amberley Village
The Rural character of Amberley, an
attribute that sets us apart from neighboring
communities and supports the market value
of our existing homes, is being put to risk.
One of the major features that puts Amberley
on the map, and increases the property
values of our homes, is the residential and
rural character of the Village.
This is not a "dollars and cents" issue, but one of the Village atmosphere being placed in jeopardy. The Crest Hills property has always been reserved as greenspace within the Village. This is a valuable component to the character of the community, and once lost to development, it can never be recovered!! A zone change for the Crest Hills property would impact the quality of life enjoyed by all current citizens, not only through the loss of greenspace and the loss of the recreational use within the Village but also through the possible increased traffic, need for traffic controls, and widening of roads.
Maintaining the Current Zoning Designation "P" for Park
Maintaining the current zoning designation "P" for Park, is a viable option for the Village. At the recent meetings held at the Village Hall, it was implied that the Village could not maintain the P zoning at Crest Hills and withstand a lawsuit filed by a potential developer. This "scare tactic" is not supported by either logic or legal precedent. Logically this property was originally purchased for use as a golf course, and has recently been "purchased" by the Ridge Club as a golf course and operated as such. It is only through re-zoning and on-going additional expense to the Village and its citizens that the property use can be converted to something other than the recreational use for which it was zoned. According to attorney, Mr. Robert Manley, an expert in the areas of land use and zoning, a long line of legal precedent supports the continuation of the P zoning for this property.
So far as the public has been informed, to date, the Village has not been formally approached by anyone on behalf of the property's owners with respect to a re-zoning or with any proposed plans for development. The procedure by which a property owner may request a change of use is the same for any other property owner in the Village. The first step would be the submission of an application for a zone change. This application would be presented to the Amberley Village Planning Commission/Zoning Appeals, which after review and public hearing(s), would issue a decision and recommendation, passed by a majority vote, to the Village Council. This recommendation can either be accepted by a majority vote of the Council, or modified by a super-majority of 3/4 of Council. Any action of the Village Council may be subject to a subsequent review by a Court.
At present, under Ohio Law, our political body, the Amberley Village Council is charged with the preservation of the Village Zoning plan.
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That is the current situation. Now what can you do to get involved in the effort to keep Crest Hills zoned park?
Please Contact Us or your Council Members with your comments on this matter.
