Springfield Township's Streetscape and Zoning Overlay Plan Wins Ferris Planning Award!

The Winton Road Streetscape and Zoning Overlay Plan was honored with the 2005 Frank F. Ferris II Award presented by the Planning Partnership of the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission (HCRPC). Springfield Township Trustees accepted the award at HCRPC's Planning Partnership Annual Meeting on April 11, 2005.

The Frank F. Ferris Award is presented annually by the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission to a public or private business, group, municipality or township in Hamilton County for a project that demonstrates planning excellence, and civic, economic, aesthetic or environmental significance. The nominated projects are judged by their strengths in several areas. The project must show a strong support for planning and the planning process. It must demonstrate significant results through successful implementation and/or creation of a plan and must adequately address the problem it was designed to solve. The project must be original, innovative, high-quality, comprehensive, and a strong example to others in its design. The project must also demonstrate strong civic qualities through consistent use of citizen participation, collaboration and community building.

The Winton Road Corridor is the primary thoroughfare for Springfield Township and is critical to the Township's overall vitality. The Winton Road Streetscape and Zoning Overlay Plan established not only a vision for this corridor but also the tool for implementation of its revitalization. The corridor is comprised of diverse mixed-use developments that serve the residential neighborhoods that adjoin it as well as the region, due to its proximity to Ronald Reagan Highway. As with many aging corridors located within a first ring suburb, the Winton Road Corridor was showing signs of decline and under-utilization.

The streetscape plan consists of beautification elements such as street plantings and furniture, improved decorative lighting, gateway features, stamped-colored sidewalks, and various interpretive stops. The Zoning Overlay Regulations and Guidelines provide the regulatory framework necessary to assist and nurture private redevelopment efforts while achieving community goals.

The flexible approach to the development approval process, combined with the Township's promised investment into the streetscape, has already been a catalyst for private investment into the revitalization of the Corridor. New Plan Excel Realty (owner of Brentwood Shopping Center), Kroger and Panera Bread are only a few of the users that have recently invested millions of dollars into the re-development of the corridor. This has been done, primarily, as a result of this plan and the Township's financial and political commitment towards its implementation.

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