Middletown to designate Oakland neighborhood a historic district

A plan that will impact hundreds of homes and businesses in hopes of spurring development and investment in Middletown’s Oakland neighborhood continues in hopes of matching historic revitalizations in other neighborhoods in southwest Ohio. Earlier this month Middletown City Council approved spending $108,006 with developers Dan Barton and Dan Mayzum of the Oakland Renaissance Incentive District to cover the costs project’s second phase to revitalize the entire neighborhood designed to attract new residents, expand the tax base and increase property values. Last week, Mayzum came upon a house built in the 1880s in the 300-block of Garfield Street that was slated for demolition. He contacted city and Butler County Land Bank officials about purchasing the house for future redevelopment and prevent its demolition. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

A plan that will impact hundreds of homes and businesses in hopes of spurring development and investment in Middletown’s Oakland neighborhood continues in hopes of matching historic revitalizations in other neighborhoods in southwest Ohio. Earlier this month Middletown City Council approved spending $108,006 with developers Dan Barton and Dan Mayzum of the Oakland Renaissance Incentive District to cover the costs project’s second phase to revitalize the entire neighborhood designed to attract new residents, expand the tax base and increase property values. Last week, Mayzum came upon a house built in the 1880s in the 300-block of Garfield Street that was slated for demolition. He contacted city and Butler County Land Bank officials about purchasing the house for future redevelopment and prevent its demolition. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF
News
By Ed Richter
Jan 21, 2020
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The next step in the revitalization of the Oakland neighborhood will come Tuesday evening as Middletown City Council is expected to designate it as a historic district.

The council meeting starts at 5:30 p.m., and the public hearing on the district will be among the first items on the agenda.

ExploreMORE: Consultants ready to move on to next phase of this Middletown neighborhood project

Acting City Manager Susan Cohen said creating a historic district will help to open up historic tax credits and other funding in the redevelopment of the neighborhood. A final decision will come at the Feb. 4 council meeting.

The Middletown Historic Commission recommended that council create the landmark designation of the Oakland Historic District, which is approximately bounded on the north by First Avenue; on the west by Verity Parkway, which is the former Miami Erie Canal site; on the east by the Pioneer Cemetery property, Cohen Brothers Inc. property and the west side of Lamneck Street; and on the south by Calumet Avenue.

ExploreMORE: Middletown officials hope this historic neighborhood can be the next in southwest Ohio to see new life

Planning Director Ashley Combs in her report to Cohen said an application for historic district status for the Oakland neighborhood was submitted to the city Historic Commission by Dan Barton of Brainwave Historic Preservation Consulting, and Dan Mayzum of Architecture Renewal. Barton and Mayzum are the consultants who have been working on the Oakland neighborhood revitalization project with city officials since 2018.

Combs said the Historic Commission held a public hearing on Dec. 12, 2019 and that the commission voted in favor of the historic district designation. She said if council grants its approval, the proposed historic district designation will be forwarded to the National Register of Historic Places of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

ExploreMORE: Plan unveiled to revitalize Middletown’s Oakland neighborhood

Combs said the Middletown Development Code requires written notice be provided to the all property owners within the proposed Oakland Historic District 14 days prior to the City Council public hearing. As of Jan. 6, the city did not receive any comments from owners.

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Ed Richter has been a working journalist for 38 years, with the last 34 years working in various capacities covering Butler and Warren counties as a reporter and an editor. Richter covers local news and governments in Warren County focusing on Springboro, Lebanon, Franklin, Carlisle and Waynesville.