The Covington Board of Commissioners cast a split vote Tuesday night in favor of an easement for developers planning to build a roughly 270-unit mixed-use development at the Covington Central Riverfront site. The item did not appear on the meeting’s agenda and was instead walked on at the request of the city’s economic development department.
The easement essentially grants a variance to typical city regulations, allowing portions of the development’s footprint (including overhangs, canopies and similar structures in the air), underground elements and utilities to encroach upon the sidewalk. The easement agreement guarantees a minimum of five feet of sidewalk clearance.
“The reason for the walk on is we just came to terms on the final identification language yesterday, actually,” said acting Economic Development Director John Sadosky, “and we’re trying to get this approved ahead of the recess.”
The “recess” Sadosky mentioned refers to the fact that the board is not scheduled to meet again until July 14. The board meets on Tuesday, and June has five Tuesdays. The board usually meets for two caucus meetings and two legislative meetings every month. Plus, the subsequent week’s proximity to Independence Day means the board is skipping a meeting.
The area in question is found on the M and N blocks of the CCR site. A development agreement with an LLC called CCR-MN Investment Partners was approved by the board two years ago. The company is a patchwork of members from several companies, namely developer Silverman & Co., Messer Construction and architectural firm KZF Design. Silverman & Co. is behind several retail and office developments in Blue Ash and is spearheading a mixed-use development in Deerfield, Ohio, called The District at Deerfield.
Plans previously submitted to the board call for about 7,700 square feet of retail space, roughly 270 market-rate apartment units, and a 113-space parking facility, some of which will be underground.
The sudden nature of the request was one of the reasons the sole ‘no’ vote on the board was cast by Commissioner Tim Downing.
Although Downing thought the easement request was “nothing egregious,” he said, “I got it this afternoon [and] didn’t have a chance to review it until, like, basically 10 minutes before I got here.”
He elaborated that he worried that granting the variance would discourage walkability.
Vice Mayor Shannon Smith described the easement as very “boilerplate,” but asked City Solicitor Frank Schultz “if there’s anything that we want to revisit, we can have that conversation before any final decisions are made … Is my understanding correct in that?”
“Technically,” Schultz said, “the board has given approval for it tonight. So, this could be executed tomorrow by both parties.”
Downing, Smith, Sadosky and Schultz discussed the issue further among themselves after the meeting.
You can read the full agreement, including design documents for the easement, here.
