Trustees, however, rejected a zoning proposal for a four-story, 273-unit apartment building on the Liberty Center site.
The Shake Shack and Torchy’s Tacos restaurants — both new to this region — now have the township’s approval to proceed with development as does Optima Dermatology in a nearby, two-story structure.
Trustees unanimously approved the restaurants and dermatology facility in line with the township’s zoning commission’s recommendation.
The three officials also all agreed with the commission’s recommendation in rejecting the proposed apartment development.
Trustee Todd Minniear described the restaurants and doctors’ facility — grouped closed and visible from the Liberty Way roadway that runs along the southern edge of Liberty Center — as “bringing great value to the residents of Liberty Twp.”
“We are trying to make gains as it relates to the commercial presence in Liberty Twp. so these are all value-added (additions) and it’s a commercial property that is helping to our tax base in the township,” Minniear said.
The trustees’ rejection of the new apartment plan, which would have also been located fronting Liberty Way but farther west in the southwest corner of the Liberty Center grounds, was necessary, he said, because hundreds of new apartments are already approved around the I-75 and Liberty Way interchange.
Last month the Butler County Planning Commission voted 4 to 3 in favor of the apartments but its decision was not binding on township trustees.
The major development plan departs from the Liberty Center’s original plans in part because mixed-use center has been hit hard financially in recent years.
To add to that coming, local apartment projects already online for this year and next — without first seeing what their collective impact on traffic, township services and other community impacts — would not have been prudent, Minniear said.
“There is a lot (of apartment development) coming in and we need now to be cautious and see how it unfolds in the community.”
Staff Writer Denise Callahan contributed to this story.
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