What you can’t get by regulation, try to get by litigation. That developer’s mantra seems to hold true in Union Township, where township officials recently voted down a proposed Lowe’s home improvement store, and now face two lawsuits filed by Lowe’s and the owners of nearly 30 acres of land. The current zoning is part business, and part industrial. Lowe’s wanted the site reclassified all business. Last May, the Union Township trustees voted against rezoning the land. The public hearing was packed with homeowners near the site who said the development would bring too much noise and light pollution to the site. Road improvements were also a major concern expressed at the hearing, according to the Clermont County Community Journal. “My problem with Lowe’s is the intensity of the development for retail use that they were asking for in the original case was just an awful lot in an area that is already maxed out roadwise,” explained Town Trustee Mary Walker. Lowe’s and the land owners filed a second lawsuit saying that the industrial zoning is unconstitutional because the portion of land which is zoned industrial “cannot be developed or used in an economically feasible manner”, according to the lawsuit. There is nothing in Ohio law that says a landowner can do anything with his property to maximize profits.
Want to help the residents of Union Township? Go to the Lowe’s website and send an email to the company urging them to withdraw their lawsuits from Union Township, OH, and go someplace where the residents want them. Remind Lowe’s that its not too late to pull out, since the land has not yet been purchased by the building supply store.
