Warren County approves Kroger Union Village Special District 3B PUD Stage 2

Warren County commissioners approved the Kroger Union Village Special District 3B planned-unit-development (PUD) Stage 2 at an administrative hearing, clearing the way for a Kroger marketplace and fuel center to be sited on a 15.4-acre portion of a 27-acre district, county staff said.

The approval came after Regional Planning Commission (RPC) staff presented the applicant’s Stage 2 plans and recommended approval subject to 19 conditions. Hadil Lababidi, planner with the RPC, told the board that staff and the RPC Executive Committee recommended approval and that the next step will be a PUD stage administrative review.

The Kroger proposal calls for a roughly 122,000-square-foot store, a fuel center with a kiosk and multiple pumps, a double-lane pharmacy drive-through, two detention basins for stormwater management, 15 pickup spaces, three truck docks and interior parking landscaping that the applicant says will exceed the zoning-code minimum. Lababidi said the applicant proposes 14.4% interior landscaping where the code requires 10% and that the site plan shows a total of 22 signs across the marketplace and fuel center.

The plan includes two private access drives through Special District 3B, two access points on State Route 63 for the district, and a future access on State Route 741, as well as a rear truck access. Lababidi read aloud key conditions attached to staff’s recommendation, including compliance with Union Village PUD Stage 1 standards established by Resolution No. 14-1669, review and written acceptance of internal traffic circulation by the Warren County Engineer’s Office before Stage 3 approval, written approval of landscape plans adjacent to Station Creek by the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District, and adherence to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) access requirements and the ODOT memorandum of understanding dated 06/19/2023.

Township and developer support, buffers and topography were the focus of discussion. Turtle Creek Township submitted a letter supporting Stage 2 conditional on a 4-foot earthen mound between the fuel center and the eastern boundary; staff and the applicant provided an updated landscape plan showing a 4-foot-high mound with screening east of the fuel center. Anne McBride, Kroger’s zoning consultant with McBride Dale Clarion, said, “Trustee Sams did request the addition of the mound that we've been discussing on the east side of the fuel center, and some additional . . . trees in that area to better screen the fuel center, which we've done.”

Representatives of Union Village Development Company described the site topography and existing buffers behind the store footprint. A development representative said Kroger’s building and truck access will sit “4 to anywhere from 4 to 8 feet lower” than the neighboring alley and residential lots, and added that existing tree lines along the creek and a future pond will provide additional buffering. The board’s discussion repeatedly returned to whether the high-profile corner — described by one commissioner as a gateway for the new village — would retain the community character originally envisioned in the master plan.

Commissioners also noted that any required roadway improvements identified by a comprehensive traffic impact study approved per the ODOT MOU must be installed by the responsible developers, and that staff added a footnote defining the study area. Lababidi said a comprehensive traffic impact study approved by the auditing authority must be submitted prior to PUD Stage 3 approval and that the site plan may need revision to accommodate any required roadway changes.

After public testimony and applicant comments — the applicant stated it had provided the required Stage 2 documents and updated landscaping plans — a motion to approve Kroger Union Village Special District 3B PUD Stage 2 subject to the conditions read into the record was made and seconded. The board took a roll-call vote: Mr. Grossman — yes; Mr. Young — yes; Mrs. Jones — yes. The measure was approved.

Next steps identified in the hearing record include submission of the comprehensive traffic impact study and written acceptance of internal circulation by the Warren County Engineer’s Office before the project can proceed to PUD Stage 3 review, and completion of any roadway improvements required by that study or by ODOT.