NORTH BEND, Ohio — A developer asked North Bend's planning commission to reconsider a 48-unit housing project on a 26-acre hillside that commissioners unanimously rejected in February 2025. Thursday, in a 4-1 vote, the commission once again denied the request.
Neighbors say the new proposal is similar to the 2025 plan but features an even shorter treeline that partially blocks sight of the development from homes on St. Annes Drive. They said the project could make an already unstable hillside even more dangerous, and they fear it could trigger landslides.
"It was an important victory," Rebecca Simpson, an attorney representing a coalition of North Bend residents, told WCPO after the hearing. "The fact is, since this planned unit development was accepted many years ago, a lot has been learned about this area. A lot has been learned about landslides. There are a lot of neighbors who have learned that lesson after many expensive fixes to their properties. As you saw, it's been over a million dollars that the neighbors who've said how much it cost have had to pay."
Neighbor Tom Mendel said the reduced treeline raises additional concerns about water runoff.
"You take the trees out, the runoff's going to be a whole lot more," Mendel said.
WATCH: Controversial housing project proposed once again. What's different this time?
The public hearing, which started Thursday at Miami Township Hall at 6 p.m., lasted over 4 and a half hours.
The proposed development sits 100 feet above Saint Annes Drive, where residents say they already deal with shifting ground and cracks in some of their homes.
While Hamilton County GIS data indicates the area has a high susceptibility to landslides, developer John Niehaus has said his consultants ran tests showing the land is stable. A letter Niehaus sent to homeowners last year stated: “when the track hoe test bores were done, they showed the existing slide was 2-3 feet down, and then there was bedrock.”
Residents say neighbors living downhill have already spent a combined $1 million on home repairs tied to unstable ground. Terry Snider is among those who have felt the impact firsthand, spending around six figures on fixes to his home.
"All of the testing that they're going to show is significant, and it's going to be okay. It wasn't okay," Snider said. "I had an issue. All of a sudden, my neighbor had an issue. The end of the street have an issue."
Attorneys for Niehaus have also previously said the project can be done safely. A developer employee said Thursday the final development plan is essentially the same as 2025, but their approach has been tweaked. They did not elaborate.
“He has a very detailed plan to stabilize the hillside," an attorney for Niehaus said during the hearing Thursday. "It involves bedrock benching and that his plan has been submitted to the village engineer; the village engineer recommended approval.”
Eric Russo, executive director of the Hillside Trust, said the lack of specifics concerns him.
"Our playbook has now been exposed, so now they've got complete ability to now go in there and try to find ways to get around it and address some of the concerns that we have raised," Russo said. "Hillsides like this were generally left undeveloped for a reason."
An attorney for Niehaus said that if the planning commission denied the request, it could lead to legal action.
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