Voters won’t get choice on 197-home development plan

MIAMISBURG — An effort to have voters decide on the rezoning of land for a plan to build 197 homes in Miamisburg has failed.

Petitions were not filed by last week’s deadline to get the issue on the fall ballot, according to the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

Residents near the proposed Deer Valley subdivision sought to get enough signatures to put the Miamisburg City Council’s rezoning of 86.6 acres off Benner Road before voters.

About 500 signatures were collected by those seeking to get the issue on the ballot, said Kimm Mote, one of the organizers. More than 2,100 valid signatures were needed, according to the board of elections.

“It’s disappointing. But time was not on our side,” Mote said

The group seeking signatures had 30 days after city council’s June 18 rezoning vote to file petitions. City council unanimously voted to adopt the planning commission’s recommendation to change the zoning on the Benner land in a rural area south of the Mound Business Park and west of Pipestone Golf Club from agricultural to planned residential.

Oberer Development and Ryan Homes plan to build homes on the property near the Miami Twp. border. Supporters of the referendum petition said they feared how the new homes would impact the area, including concerns about traffic, noise and safety.

While Miamisburg Vice Mayor Sarah Clark said the those opposed to council’s rezoning vote had some valid concerns, Mote said the group faced several challenges in collecting signatures.

It was difficult to organize and meet the legal requirements during the 30-day deadline, she said. A key issue was collecting enough signatures in the middle of summer, when many residents were unavailable because of family vacations, weddings and other prior commitments, Mote added.

In the end, “people were gone and not enough people were gathering” signatures, she said.