City Manager Scott Brunka said the 16- and 73-acre tracts that comprise the Cunningham Property tract is for sale but there is nothing on the table for proposed use and there have been no formal requests to annex the property into the city.
“This property is currently not part of the city, but the property owner is marketing it for sale and has an interest in potentially annexing the property into the city in the future,” Brunka said.
Mayor Mark Messer said, “Council is very interested in exploring this opportunity. It fits our strategic plan for the area and allows us to guide the development process towards that end.”
Following the discussion, council indicated that the required land use along Ohio 63 frontage recommendation is non-residential such as office or commercial.
“If the interest is residential development, it would have to be low density residential,” Brunka said.
Brunka said any annexation proposal will trigger an additional 0.35 miles of Ohio 63 coming into the city and a road will be required.
In addition, if the Cunningham Property is ever sold, it could also feature an expansion of the adjacent Parkside Park to support trail connectivity to Union Village.
Residents who live near Parkside of Lebanon, a proposed $430 million mixed-use housing development west of Lebanon, continue to raise concerns about traffic along Ohio 63 just days before city council is scheduled to vote on the another project.
The huge proposed Parkside at Lebanon development includes: 574 single-family homes, a 280-unit apartment complex, a 230-unit senior living facility, 178 townhomes, a park and a retail/office complex.
Brunka said plans include widening Ohio 63 to three lanes along the frontage of the development. He said land for the widening would come from the north side of roadway.
Brunka said there would be two access points that will have traffic signals and another “right turn in, right turn out” access point at the west side of the development. He also said ODOT would have to approve the access points and signalization because Ohio 63 is a state highway.
The city has also purchased 60-acres of the Parkside development for a city park.
Brunka said the developers of the Parkside project are working on their site development and the engineering of Ohio 63 for the widening to three lanes.
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