Clinton County RPC decision on proposed Cuba store is appealed

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WILMINGTON — A developer for Dollar General, who has proposed a Cuba, Ohio store, is appealing a local body’s decision to not grant a waiver from site guidelines that relate to access — a waiver that would permit the proposed project to go forward.

In appealing the decision of the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission (RPC), the developer Cross Development is taking the RPC’s decision to Clinton County Common Pleas Court to review it.

The judge may affirm, reverse, vacate, or modify the decision, or remand the cause back to the RPC with instructions to enter a decision consistent with the findings or opinion of the court.

By a vote of 10-0 with one abstention, RPC members denied the developer’s request to get a waiver from access management regulations to build a store at the junction of U.S. 68 and S.R. 350 in Clinton County.

The junction of Routes 68 and 350 has two two-way ramps. The proposed access driveway to a new store would be on one of those ramps.

In a letter to the developer after the vote, RPC Executive Director Taylor Stuckert cited “reduced driveway separation and reduced sight distance from the intersections” as reasons for the denial. In other words, there are public safety concerns relating to vehicle traffic.

Richard T. Lauer, attorney for Cross Development, states in his Notice of Appeal that the RPC’s final order “was unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, and unsupported by the preponderance of substantial, reliable, and probative evidence on the whole record.”

The case file in the Clerk of Courts office does not contain any paperwork filed by legal counsel for the RPC. However, Stuckert wrote in his letter to the developer, “I am confident that the Commission [RPC] gave this request a thorough review and considered the merits in their decision.”

Dollar General is one of America’s fastest-growing retailers.

Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.

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By Gary Huffenberger

[email protected]

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