Huber Heights moving forward with Brandt Pike study

The study will cost about $75,000 and take nine months.

The city of Huber Heights is close to contracting with a consultant to conduct a a comprehensive study of a two-mile stretch of Brandt Pike.

City officials are recommending that Burton Planning Services be awarded a contract to do the study.

“We were able to see that they really did their homework,” assistant city manager Scott Falkowski said. “They’ve come out and analyzed the city a little bit already, and they’ve done similar projects.”

The scope of work for Brandt Pike — from Kitridge Road to Longford Road — includes: existing conditions analysis; stakeholder and community engagement; economic and market analysis; revitalization plan and implementation strategy.

The city has set aside $75,000 to help pay for the study. The money comes from a $50,000 grant received last year from the Montgomery County Land Bank and an additional $25,000 authorized by the city. The study is expected to take nine months.

Some residents want to see the entire city developed, not just north of Interstate 70 in The Heights, which includes the new Rose Music Center.

“We need to feel more like a community,” said Frank Loll of Huber Heights. “Everyone’s disenfranchised. … It’s just become a blight on Huber Heights driving past so many empty buildings and then seeing something new and wondering, ‘Why did we leave the old just standing here?’ It’s terrible. You have to even out the new buildings with the dilapidated.”

Short-term initiatives for the Brandt Pike area could include incentives to help commercial owners improve the exterior of their properties. Longer-range projects could include streetscape improvements, zoning district or code changes and removing blighted properties.

In addition to property owners choosing to reinvest in their own structures, Falkowski has said available dollars could come from tax abatements, grants and special assessments.

“There’s been talk of town center concepts,” Falkowski said. “There’s a lot of residents that live in that area who want to stay in the center and want to be able to walk, be able to bike, be able to use any facilities in the area.”

Included in that concept could be a new library. The Huber Heights Branch library is in Huber Centre at 6160 Chambersburg Road.

Construction of a new $10 million library that will be “substantially larger” is expected to begin in 2017, Dayton Metro Library executive director Tim Kambitsch has said.

The new library will likely be near the current location because of the appeal of being in the center of Huber Heights, Kambitsch has said. Public meetings will be scheduled this year to get community feedback.

The Brandt Pike corridor has an average daily traffic count of about 21,000.

Staff writer Lauren Clark contributed to this story.

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