BATAVIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A zoning commission meeting on Thursday was packed to capacity in Batavia Township as the board members considered two separate housing developments that, combined, would add more than 1,000 homes and 48,000 square feet of commercial space to the region.
People living in the township showed up to ask the board to reject one of the two developments that account for 808 homes and the commercial space named Stonelick Ridge along Olive Branch Stonelick Rd.
You asked us at our first Let’s Talk session in September to cover aggressive developments in Clermont County, and this meeting was one of the highest priorities brought about at that event.
Kim Sears said this was the first time she’d ever attended a Zoning Board meeting.
“Who’s going to pay for the new schools because that’s so much population? Who’s going to pay for widening the roads, and how long is it going to take to widen the roads? What are we going to do about the fire department and police department,” she said.
WATCH: We continue to follow development news in Batavia Township
Sears said she was willing to accept low-density housing in the area to lessen the burden on area services, but Township Trustee candidate John Harper said he was running to block significant developments from the area to keep much of the land wooded and agricultural.
“What’s going to be left? Once the land is gone, it’s gone,” he said.
A staff report pointed out 61 separate recommendations for changes in the massive project, some of which were either agreed to or partially agreed to by the developer, Daniel Griffin.
Griffin said he wanted to be a good steward for the region because he plans to buy one of the properties to live in.
"My wife and I are moving here, and I'm going to buy one of those houses, so I will be living here," he said.
After a lengthy, largely negative public comment period, Griffin announced he would scrap plans to build a commercial space on the property and instead donate the land where it was planned to go to the township for use by fire and EMS services.
That sudden announcement was met with a marked mood shift in the crowd.
With that change and a list of 62 others, the board voted 2-2 to move the project forward with a recommendation of approval. The tie vote effectively means it will come to the township's trustees with a recommendation that it be denied.
#NOW: You told us development was the most important issue to you in Batavia at our Let’s Talk event, and you weren’t lying. It’s a packed house at the zoning meeting for two proposed developments in Batavia Township, including one that would have 800+ homes.@WCPO pic.twitter.com/4Nf5YnkcQk
— Sean DeLancey (@SeanDeLanceyTV) October 9, 2025
The other development would have brought nearly 300 homes to the east side of SR-132 north of Judd Road, but the developer, Drees Homes, agreed to increase certain plot sizes, reducing the total build by between 15 and 25 homes.
The reduction brought that project within the suggested density under the region’s building plan.
The zoning board voted 5-0 to recommend the Drees development’s approval by Batavia Township Trustees, so long as the final development plan addresses the 29 concerns in their staff report.
The trustees will need to give formal approval to each project for construction to begin.
