Cranley revives $35M Madisonville development

It looks like a proposal to add high-end apartments and restaurants in Madisonville isn't dead after all.

Two days after a City Council committee vote, Mayor John Cranley said Wednesday he wants to revive a plan that could help a Blue Ash-based developer build a $35 million project near Madison Road and Red Bank Expressway.

"This is about economic development," Cranley said. "I don't know why we're turning down tens of millions of dollars. The Neighborhoods Committee prevented it from getting to full Council. If they turn this away, I want them to have to face the music."

Council's Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee will consider Circle Development Group's proposal to amend a development agreement to allow for the construction of new apartments in space planned for commercial use. Councilman Christopher Smitherman chairs the committee and Amy Murray and Charlie Winburn are members.

Councilman David Mann chairs the Neighborhoods Committee, which also includes Wendell Young, Kevin Flynn and Yvette Simpson. In a 3-1 vote, the committee rejected the proposed change in zoning despite the Planning Commission approving the measure earlier this year.

"We'll see if he can get five votes on it," Mann said about Cranley moving the proposal to a different committee. "The issues remain. It's not a good thing for the Madisonville community."

The new development would be the second phase of project. Circle Development Group's initial development agreement with the city was formed in 2006.

Ray Schneider, a partner with Circle Development, said he knows there are infrastructure improvements that have been promised but not completed on the project's first development phase. He said negotiations with the city are in "limbo" on site improvements, including closing one end of Charlemar Drive to reduce commercial traffic on the street.

Bill Collins, a Madisonville resident who lived two blocks from Circle Development's property for 22 years, said taking land considered for job creation and adding high-end housing is a "serious mistake in land use policy."

"What is more important: Jobs for working people or housing for well-to-do dog lovers?" he said. "As I see it, the choice here is really that simple."

Collins said Schneider has not fulfilled promises under the 2006 development agreement. He said Schneider has also frustrated residents by placing a shipping container in the middle of a street he built connecting his Red Dog Pet Resort & Spa to Red Bank Road. Nearby residents and visitors now have to travel through the Red Bank-Madison intersection instead of being able to avoid traffic.

"I think everybody wants his site to be developed, but I think we'll need (the developer) to fulfill his existing commitments before we can take his promises as more than a wish list," said Luke Brockmeier, president of the Madisonville Community Council.

Brockmeier said the community council was initially supportive of the development because it helped further a plan – Red Bank Industrial Plan – that was adopted to help guide the neighborhood's future. He said the community council is open to an argument why it should be abandoned, but a stronger case from Schneider has yet to be made.