COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A months-long battle described by some living along Raeann Drive as one between David and Goliath ended Tuesday with Steve Schnebeli storming out of a Colerain Township Trustees meeting to declare Goliath had won.
Schnebeli first invited us onto his property on August 11 to show us the huge earthen mound looming over his and his neighbor's properties, causing floods and mud flows since December 2024, when construction of the Colerain Avenue Wawa displaced the soil.
After a winding path of multiple township and zoning meetings, hope that the mound would be fully moved at the end of August and a legal review of the township's authority to force Wawa to address the mound, the Township's Trustees voted unanimously to approve the developer's Final Development Plan at Tuesday's special meeting.
WATCH: We're following the story to the end. Wawa, neighbors react to final approval
Trustees Dan Unger, Cathy Ulrich and Matt Whalert were unanimous in voting to approve the plan.
The public wasn't allowed further comment at the meeting after a marathon comment period last week, but we asked Schnebeli how he felt as he walked out.
"Terrible," he said. "Terrible."
The longtime Colerain Township resident said he felt it was an example of people in power being able to do whatever they want, despite the objections of everyday people. He felt township officials failed to back the people living in town.
"It should have been dealt with," he said. "They had the legal recourse to do so. They chose not to. It's wrong."
During the meeting, Unger and township administrators continued to point to Hamilton County's Conservation District as the regulator for earthen mounds, but the conservation district responded to our reporting in mid-August saying "the Conservation District only reviews whether a mound is stable and whether it may degrade water quality, not whether it is placed in a 'good' location, is aesthetically pleasing or is supported by the community."
A legal review by the township's own attorney determined the trustees had authority to regulate the mound if it wasn't "expressly permitted" as part of zoning approval. Development plans showing the earthen mound were not submitted to the township or approved during the initial 2023 review process.
Wawa's Real Estate Project Engineer Patrick Warnement said he felt "good" after receiving final approval.
"I think our discussion with the residents was positive overall," Warnement said. "I think it will work better for everyone than current conditions."
As part of final approval, Wawa agreed to several concessions to address neighbors' concerns, including planting extra trees, storm water controls, installation of a fence and retaining wall, light shields and more.
Warnement said additional soil would be removed from the pile to comply with an agreement to take 10 feet off of the pile compared with the plan initially approved by the county.
After the meeting ended, we asked each trustee to do an interview addressing the township's legal ability and responsibility to control construction variations after plans are approved, but each declined.
Wawa's developers will resubmit these newly approved plans to the Hamilton County Conservation District for approval. Warnement said the Wawa location is still on track to open before the end of the year.