Dear Supporters,

   Long term development goals in Springboro are laid out in a land use plan that is revised roughly every ten years. There is a revision ongoing right now and your involvement can help shape what the future vision of the city looks like. As an example, the 2009 land use plan that is currently in place calls for a higher density land use on Easton Farm and this is what the developer kept pointing to as their justification for higher density despite resident opposition.

  The 2021 land use plan is in the final development stages. The city has announced that a land use plan steering committee will held on November 9th, 2021 @ 5:00 at the city building. No public comments will be heard during this meeting, but attendance is strongly encouraged. You can provide your comments to this plan by 7 November by emailing the city planner, Dan Boron (danb@cityofspringboro.com) and, I'd recommend also CCing city council (council@cityofspringboro.com). A public open house is expected to be scheduled sometime in early December - please plan on attending this as well.

   To underscore how important this plan is here is a quick comparison of the 1998 and 2009 land use plan's vision for Easton Farm. In 1998 the land use plan summarized "This land should be maintained forever as working farmland. If this is not feasible, then it should remain as open green space adjacent to the road with the remainder developed as a campus of buildings and green space to retain the character of the landscape while providing opportunities for development. [...] Residential and retail development typical of Route 73 should be avoided." In contrast, the 2009 land use plan called for "detached and attached residential dwellings [..] at [...] 6-8 dwelling units per acre with a minimum open space requirement of 25% for attached dwellings" and "residential dwellings [..] on the upper floors of a mixed use building on S.R. 741" among other uses. It is clear that between 1998 and 2009 a pro-density development mindset was adopted radically changing the land use plan from non residential with lots of green space to higher density residential complete with multistory buildings along SR741.

   It is imperative that the residents of Springboro take the time to provide feedback to the land use plan committee to maintain the look, feel and development pattern of our city. Please reach out to the city and tell them to implement low density development, lots of park space and maintain the small town character of our city.

   The current and past land use plans can be found here: https://cityofspringboro.com/444/Master-Plan

Thank you!