RIVENDELL HOMES PLAN REJECTED FOR THIRD TIME

Fears about traffic could doom Rivendell subdivision proposal.

MIAMI TWP. — Traffic concerns led two Miami Twp. trustees to vote against a plan for new homes north of the Dayton Mall, which caused the board president to warn the defeat puts “this entire development at risk.”

The 2-1 vote was the township’s third defeat of Rivendell, a plan to build 81 homes on 31 acres north of Dayton Mall.

The vote was a move that trustees President John Morris said — during an impassioned plea to colleagues — “is a safety issue for the entire township” because of what added revenue from land value could provide for police and fire services.

The two-hour public hearing on Rivendell on Tuesday night attracted about 40 residents, more than 10 of whom questioned how the project would adversely impact traffic, drainage and property values in their Vienna Park neighborhood, which abuts the proposed site.

“I voted against this” last year, trustees Vice President Doug Barry said. “To date, nothing has significantly changed on the resubmittal of this project for me to go back on what I stood on.”

Barry said, “My No. 1 concern ... is for the residents of Miami Twp. That is what we were elected to do: (look out for) the residents. So I can’t at this point in time” support the plan.

Morris said recent moves by the township would help alleviate traffic concerns in the Vienna Park neighborhood just east of Ohio 741 and south of Ohio 725.

Morris said a deal trustees approved to acquire more than 10 acres for $1 from Rivendell developer Zengel Construction and the township’s creation of a Tax Increment Financing district — which trustees approved unanimously Tuesday night — on that land creates a path to extend Vienna Parkway to Ohio 741 and helps solve the traffic problem.

The land purchase also puts the township in a position to negotiate with nearby property owners for a temporary road for construction vehicles to avoid Vienna Park streets, he said.

“I don’t see the value in delaying the development at this time,” Morris said. “We have