BATAVIA, OH ‒ A fight over high-density housing and developer tax breaks could spell the end for one of Clermont County’s largest villages.
Batavia, home to around 2,800 people, is the latest Greater Cincinnati village where residents are leading the charge to dissolve.
Roughly 25 miles east of Cincinnati, the quaint village serves as the Clermont County seat. In recent years, Batavia and the rural county have become a magnet for home developers thanks to inexpensive land, relaxed zoning rules, and an improved Ohio Route 32 corridor that makes it an easier commute to Cincinnati.
For years, Batavia residents have pushed back against tax-abated developments, worrying they’ll steer money away from local services. It’s one of the reasons William Albright recently submitted signatures to put village dissolution on November’s ballot.
“It’s horrible. They bring all the homes here. They don’t care about lifelong residents, traffic, roads, schools, fire departments,” Albright, 58, said. “I think it’s just plain-out greed.”
But Batavia council members say dissolving the village would eliminate its 11-person police force and wouldn’t solve the development complaints that spurred the dissolution campaign in the first place.
“You’re not going to stop the growth,” council member Steve Staton said. “Only thing it might change is who manages the growth. But it’s not stopping.”
Residents threaten to dissolve Batavia over high-density housing, ‘plain-out greed’
Albright, a Batavia Township resident whose family lives in the village, started pushing to dissolve Batavia two and a half years ago when developers began the process of building a large development, originally 794 houses, near the Clermont County Airport.
In addition to the development near the airport, Albright said, three other major developments in the area have left him and other residents concerned: Streamside, a 265-house and 300-apartment development, a 400-home subdivision named Harvest Meadows and River Pointe Apartments.
Streamside and Harvest Meadows have 15-year tax abatements. Homeowners at Streamside, where ranch and two-story homes start at $360,990, don’t pay real estate taxes to the county on the value of their homes. Instead, they pay half of what that tax would be to the village. Governments offer tax abatements to incentivize developers and draw new residents to an area. But the cut in property tax means less money for local schools and services.
Albright said he opposes “irresponsible” high-density developments that may strain village resources, especially those that receive tax abatements.
Staton said the council does not generally believe that residential developments deserve abatements. In an email to The Enquirer, he said abatements should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and only used when there’s a clear public benefit.
Albright has had run-ins with the village’s council before.
In April, former Batavia village council member Michael Gardner pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after striking Albright outside a council meeting. Gardner resigned from council and was replaced by Mark Wilson on May 11, according to the Clermont County Board of Elections.
Albright said he collected 195 signatures and filed them with the village council on July 1. He can circulate and submit petitions to dissolve Batavia even though he does not live in the village, said Chris Dennison, deputy director of the county’s board of elections.
At least 148 valid signatures need to be submitted to the county board by Aug. 5 for dissolution to appear on the November ballot.
‘You’re not going to stop the growth’
Members of the six-person village council, four of whom were elected in November, say that growth is coming to Batavia regardless.
“I think the best way to do it is to keep the village the way that it is so there can be some sense of control on the development,” said council member Mark Wilson, adding that dissolving the village won’t stop developments from happening.
Staton said developers are selling houses in the village more quickly than expected thanks to the Ohio Route 32 corridor project, which has reduced commute times for residents.
Laura Zagar, another council member, said some residents believe that dissolving the village will get rid of the 1% earnings tax they pay. However, that tax will still be paid by village residents, even if the village is dissolved, until the village’s debt is fully paid off.
Tax breaks pit village against township. Firefighters, schools caught in the middle
If it dissolves, the village would be absorbed by a neighbor it has sparred with for years over developments and tax abatements: Batavia Township.
Breaks for developers have created a “strained relationship” between the village and Batavia Township, said township administrator Karen Swartz.
The township and village share a fire district, cemetery and schools. Swartz said tax abatements for residential properties within the village have “significantly cut funding” to the Batavia Local School District, the primary school district for the village.
Abatements and failed levies have hurt the joint fire district. Levies for the department failed in November and May.
“We’re at the point where it’s dire that a fire levy is passed,” Swartz said. “They’re in desperate need and they’re getting stuck in the middle of the debate between the village and the township.”
Swartz wouldn’t say whether the village should dissolve but did say it would benefit the area if the two jurisdictions worked together, rather than “fighting over development and land.”
“Their economic development plan is not good for the area,” she said. “Because they’ve offered these (abatements) in the past, it has definitely put the township in a position where we have to make compromises on developments that we’re not 100% comfortable with, because of what they’re doing.”
Batavia Township voters in November quashed a 239-home project and banned planned developments altogether.
Tax abatements on Batavia developments, like Streamside, would remain in place if the township absorbs the village, Swartz said.
What would happen if Batavia dissolves?
Swartz said Batavia Township would need to hire new staff members and handle maintenance and snow care for residential roads after absorbing the village.
The township contracts with the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office for its police needs. Dissolving would mean losing the village’s police department, which is “focused on our village,” Batavia council member Jim Owens said.
Council members pointed to the loss of some services and control over development as reasons to stay a village.
“In November, our constituents spoke, and they said they wanted new people on council,” said council member Randy Dorsey. “They have new people, they just need to give us time to work.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Tax abatements, ‘plain-out greed’ threaten to dissolve Batavia
Reporting by Victoria Moorwood and Mia Hilkowitz, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Victoria Moorwood and Mia Hilkowitz, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
