Sedamsville wants demo delay on possible condo project

Residents of Sedamsville are in the dark about a possible condominium project, and they want the City's help in delaying any action until they have some answers.

Since mid-2007, Arlon Brown has been purchasing properties between 2500 and 2900 River Road (BIRD'S EYE)under both his name and under the name of Collins Riverside Development LLC.

In a letter to Councilmember Leslie Ghiz, Susan Feldman, co-chair of the Sedamsville Historic Committee, has asked City Council and its Economic Development Committee to delay any possible demolitions on the properties until a nomination proposal for the National Register of Historic Places has been reviewed.

No one in the community has seen a site plan or renderings since Brown presented a very early, generic foamboard mockup last July, though the historic committee has repeatedly made requests.

In a separate letter to City Council, preservationist and Sayler Park resident Betty Kamuf says that Brown has been paying inflated prices for properties in the area, often double what they're worth.

For a variety of reasons, many neighborhood residents were unable to turn the offers down.

A search of the Hamilton County Auditor's website shows that Brown has acquired 27 properties to date.

On December 1, the Sedamsville Historic Committee submitted the draft proposal for the Sedamsville River Road Historic District to the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, and they are scheduled to review it in August.

The historic committee spent four years compiling the 75-page proposal, which required monthly meetings, walking tours, neighbor interviews and the assistance of numerous preservationists, historians and consultants.

They also built upon the work of Gray and Pape, a historical surveying company hired to research and inventory all of the structures that would be impacted by the River Road relaignment project, and felt that they had the City's blessing.

Feldman says that with each demolition, their chances of getting on the National Register lessen.

Kamuf agrees.

"They qualified when the road was being built and now someone wants to tear them down to build $500,000 condominiums," Kamuf wrote. "Frankly nobody in their right mind would pay that for a house or anything else in this area."

Sedamsville was once a thriving, working-class neighborhood filled with homeowners and businesses.

The 1937 flood and widening of River Road into a high-speed roadway - along with years of municipal neglect - have eroded away most of that, making the preservation of what's left all the more important.

"Isn't there some way you can protect what is left of this community?" Kamuf wrote. "With the construction of River Road back in the 1950s the city devastated the community by tearing out its heart, about 80 properties. And people moved away to Delhi and blight set in and crime started rising."

Feldman wants to stress that she's not anti-development, she just doesn't like Brown's heavy-handed approach.

"I'm going to stay positive," Feldman says. "I'm just going to hope that there are enough people listening to at least get the report reviewed."

A report from the City Manager's office is due before City Council in early May.