May Election: Kil-Kare Speedway zoning change up to voters

The question of a zoning change for land near Kil-Kare Speedway will be on the May 8 ballot in Greene County’s Xenia Twp.

Voters will be able to affirm or reject a Xenia Twp. trustees’ vote that last August rezoned land near the speedway and drag strip. (The trustees’ vote last summer was 2-1. Trustee Susan Spradin was the dissenting vote.)

The raceway last year sought a zoning change for nearly 23 acres of land to build a storage facility. In an application to the township, Marshall Foiles, operations director at Kil-Kare, said he wanted to change the zoning to build a “store and locks” type of facility.

But David Reed, a Dayton attorney for Nutter Enterprises, said residents in the area were concerned that the re-zoned land could be used for other types of businesses, including possibly “adult entertainment.”

“They (some residents) don’t like the unknown, that it was passed without explanation on how the 22 acres would be used,” Reed said Friday.

A citizen referendum to place the question on a ballot was seen as a distinct possibility, Reed said last summer.

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After the trustees’ vote, the attorney said Friday, “I was approached by some citizens about what it takes to take it to the ballot.”

The ballot language briefly describes the zoning change approved last year, and then simply asks: “Shall the zoning amendment as adopted by the Xenia Township Board of Trustees be approved?,” followed by a “yes” or “no” response.

Opponents say the zoning reclassification would open the land to an array of possible business uses. Principally, they feared an excess of noise and light, Reed has said.

The land in question is just north of Dayton-Xenia Road, about 50 feet west of that road’s intersection with Hawkins Road near Kil-Kare.

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Said Reed, “Now it’s on the ballot, and it’s in the citizens’ hands … We remain concerned that Kil-Kare is not telling the whole story.”

Only township voters will vote on the matter.

The petition to put the question on the ballot drew just shy of 400 signatures, Reed said.

“It’s a big process,” he said.

A message seeking comment was left with Kil-Kare. A message was also left for Alan Stock, administrator of Xenia Twp.

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