The Enchanted NIMBY Forest II: The Great Expressway Fight

Another installment in the continuing the saga of I-675 in the 1970s.

It took from the end of 1973 to December 1976 to have the draft EIS ready for review. In 1974 budget shortfalls resulted in ODOT saying the state would not be able to support its share of the interstate until 1980.

Also, during this period changes occurred in local government that would effect I-675.

Dayton elected its first black mayor, James McGee, in 1972, and it’s first female city commissioner, Pat Roach, in 1975. McGee and Roach were to play key roles in the upcoming controversy, becoming political allies in the fight against I-675

Roach apparently supported the DART light rail concept as she stated in the summer of 1976 that the line should be built instead of I-675, probably one of the earliest opposing statements not coming from the Oak Creek association. And it would turn out Roaches’ remarks were a harbinger of controversy as 1977 would be the year opposition widened beyond a suburban NIMBY movement to a regional issue.

1977: Winter & Spring: Building Opposition

The EIS opened for comment in December 1976, and widespread opposition quickly surfaced in the winter and early spring of 1977, with the Oak Creek residents being joined by political forces in Dayton city, Bellbrook, and elsewhere.

The Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC), a consortium of local officials coordinating highway construction in Greene and Montgomery counties, was the lead local group for the freeway, and even their citizens advisory group, the “Council of Citizens” stated the EIS was a mere “justification for I-675”, not seriously assessing public transport or secondary impacts.

Another citizens group the “Citizens Information Task Force”, recommended the highway be rerouted to swing further east and have only two interchanges, at OH 48 (Far Hills Road) and US 35, essentially killing the road as sprawl generator while maintaining the bypass concept. Of course as we know from the siting controversies in the 1960s the highway was never intended to be a true bypass.

A Kettering city councilman recommended a less drastic solution, swinging the highway south of the enchanted NIMBY forest and installing noise mitigation features.

Probably the most significant opposition came from Dayton city, where Pat Roach organized a hearing as a platform for bypass opponents, including former city manager Jim Kunde who opined the freeway was “blatant economic discrimination” as it would move jobs away from the city. Kunde was joined by the head of Citywide Development, who stated that I-675 would move “open the way to the suburbs at the expense of the city”.

The day after this hearing, February 9th, the city commission voted to delay endorsement of the EIS.

In March RAPCA, the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency, another local product of the 1960s environmental ferment, opposed I-675 on environmental grounds, and recommended a light rail system as an alternative. Also in March, the Oak Creek Environmental committee said it might seek an injunction against the bypass on environmental grounds.

1977: Summer: The Business Community & “Mitigation”

In June the local business community became more involved via the Chamber of Commerce, which included the head of the Dayton Newspapers.

The Chamber of Commerce acknowledged the adverse impact of I-675 on the city and proposed a set of mitigating measures:

1. Revenue sharing between city and suburbs
2. Task force to secure high-risk capital for city businesses
3. Support of center city housing
4. Expansion of mass transit.

This was the first appearance of a continuing theme of the I-675 controversy; mitigation of the adverse impact of the interstate on Dayton city via various forms of compensation, as a way to secure city approval of the bypass. The ongoing negotiation between the city, (in the person of Mayor McGee) and bypass proponents became a part of the controversy.

In the end no mitigations were adopted and Dayton city never shared in the economic benefit of I-675.

1977 Fall: Business and Highway Interests Twist Arms

During the1970s and perhaps earlier a shadowy private business group, the Area Progress Council, or APC, made up of “CEOs, industrialists, civic leaders, and businessmen” acted behind the scenes on local issues.

Perhaps a local example of a “community power structure” the APC attempted to co-opt local politicians, as they made campaign contributions to people like McGee, perhaps to put a black face on white power. It turned out McGee was more a Coleman Young than an Uncle Tom.

The APC public position was that I-675 was economic development issue. Dayton would be competitive with Columbus and Cincinnati by building a bypass since these cities were also building (or had already built) beltways. But there might have been a hidden agenda as well, one involving real estate investment.

In November the APC representative (NCR PR director) spoke at a commission hearing advocating for city approval of the interstate. When asked if the APC membership had real estate or business interests along the bypass route he answered “not to my knowledge”

This proved to be false, either a deliberate lie or he didn’t really know.

In December, research by an African-American newspaper, the Dayton Black Press, and the Congregation of Reconciliation (an activist church group) proved that major local business interests, the Mead Corporation, NCR, and Beerman Realty, owned 749 acres of land along the right-of-way. (This misses the property owned by the Mead family, Oberer real estate, and other interested parties either near or adjacent to proposed interchanges)

The APC spokesman was adamant that there was no conflict of interest, but behind the scenes APC members where pressuring the city commission to vote “yes” on the bypass. Pat Roach reported to the press that APC members told her “the expressway will be build regardless of her position”. Other commission members and the mayor also reported pressure tactics but were more circumspect than Roach.

ODOT also weighed-in, telling the city commission that federal funding would be lost if the city opposed the bypass, and could not be redirected to other projects, including mass transit.

This proved to be false, and would play into later Federal level decisions on the bypass.

The city commission voted twice in December:

1. Dec 15. Compelte I-675 to US 35, but no further, and to put a higher priority on the US 35/Trotwood connector.

2. Dec 28. Complete I-675 to I-75 (full project), but with the understanding that the state and Feds would proceed with US 35 and Trotwood Connector.

During these votes McGee switched his vote, supporting I-675 in the final vote. McGee would reverse position in next two years as the controversy escalated.

Taking a quick look on the map, here are three alternative proposals mapped out:



First, the RAPCA light rail concept, which at this point would have been the DART starter line, but may have extended in other directions (including to the Dayton Mall on I-675 ROW)

Second: the completion of I-675 to US 35. This would have been the recommended rout of the early 1960s “immediate need” limited access proposal.

Third the US 35/Trotwood connector. But by the early 1970s these routes were being revisited into something less ambitious, as per this diagram from the 1970s.


In any case one can see a more balanced approach being proposed by institutions outside of the local power structure and highway organizations, one that would have opened west and northwest Montgomery County up to development, and the start of a rapid transit concept that would have focused on the center city, being an armature for transit oriented development out into suburbia. .

The Continuing Controversy

Though appeared the I-675 opponents were defeated events during 1978 and 1979 proved otherwise. The controversy moved to Federal level while locally the city sparred with the suburbs and business community in an increasingly bitter battle.

The Enchanted NIMBY Forest I: Early Resistance to I-675

Continuing the I-675 story into the 1970s. For the early history click here.

NIMBY means Not in My Backyard, and it was a backyard forest that kicked off a decade of controversy around I-675, ultimately involving two US Presidents.

Driving westbound at I-675 approaching Wilmington Pike one notices the freeway bisecting a woodlot.


….which backs up onto a few subdivisions, the southernmost end of Kettering.



This “enchanted” forest didn’t want to be cut down, and apparently cast a spell over the residents of the adjacent Oak Creek subdivision, causing them to organize the Oak Creek Environmental Committee in opposition to the interstate alignment through the woods.



The leader was a Mr. Mione, who lived in this house (circled in the maps)




We know it’s his house because the newspaper occasionally published his street address during the decades’ worth of reporting on the controversy, which involved the Dayton Newspapers inc. editors and publishers..



Yet why didn’t these residents provide input when the final alignment adjustments were made in 1966 and 67?

Because this subdivision wasn’t built yet. Miones’ house was built in 1972, as were most of the others here (some in 1973). Did the developer or real estate agent tell him about an expressway routed behind the subdivision when they sold him the house?

In fact the subdivision was sited to make way for the future freeway right-of-way, as one can see from this1970s aerial, with Miones’ house circled. We know this because the plat is included in the appendix for the Environmental Impact Statement.


Noted on the map is Pondview Park. The goal of the Oak Creek group was to add the forest to this park…



…and one of their arguments against I-675 was that the freeway would contaminate runoff leading to this pond, killing off the fish.



They were recommending that the freeway be realigned south of the forest, perhaps along a route similar to this:


The Oak Creek Environmental Committee appears to have organized in 1973, at least as early as 1972. They were successful in getting the ear of the Kettering City Council, who passed a resolution or ordnance requesting that the remaining portions of I-675 be subject to the then-new requirement of an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS.

Yet the EIS text makes no mention of the local activity, saying the EIS came about via agreement between the Federal Highway Administration and National Wildlife Federation.

Press reports say further construction was halted in October 1973 pending completion of the EIS.

The 1970’s energy crisis started the same month with the Arab oil embargo.


Opposition to I-675 in Context

The EIS was a requirement of the National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA, signed into law in 1970. NEPA was part of a wider environmental movement emerging during the 1960’s from various sources and events, resulting in various Federal laws regarding model towns, endangered species protection and clean water protection, as well as advocacy groups like Friends of the Earth (which split off from the Sierra Club). The concept of environmental or ecological planning also was part of the movement.

The movement even impacted the states, leading to state laws on environmental protetion, conservation, and planning (like Oregon’s’ land use control laws)

The later 1960s and 1970s was also an era of the freeway revolts, arising at first from citizen opposition to urban expressways disrupting neighborhoods, but later being led, in some cases, by members of the environmental movement. One of these revolts, the Mount Hood Freeway controversy in Portland, Oregon, was to have an indirect impact on I-675.

One can see the Oak Creek Environmental Committee as part of the environmentally-driven part of the freeway revolts.

A timeline of the emergence of the environmental movement, with Dayton and I-675 activity included:

(this graph is an eye-chart, so click on it to enlarge)

The above chart notes some activity in the Dayton area. In the 1960s open space preservation was an issue, leading to the formation of Metroparks and the first reserve acquisitions. Ecological planning principles were adopted for Newfields, a federally funded new town being developed by the Huber interests, and some early mass transit concepts surfaced via a Federal busway demonstration proposal and a local light rail concept.

Some of the proposals (like light rail and the River Corridor) operated on a regional scale as shown on the following map. The light rail line might have been a starter line for a larger scheme, but this is unclear as the original proposal “DART, A New Way To Go” is lost.



Early design work for Newfields also indicated a light-rail line from the town center running down the median of a proposed expressway into Dayton, akin to the Chicago CTA mid-freeway lines.

During this period RTA was established, permitting a tax subsidy for mass transit (which could have included a DART light rail system).

Taken together the various Dayton region proposals indicate a different way for transportation and land development. A way not taken.

One should note that the first part of I-675 was under construction from I-70 to Fairfield road, let as two contracts. There was an unexplained (in the press) delay between the 1967 final alignment and the letting of the first contract.

I-675 was to end at Fairfield Road until the mid 1980s, and the story of that delay will be the subject of the nexpost.

Fall Almanac Second Week

Its stain is everywhere.
The sharpening air
of late afternoon
is now the colour of tea.
Once-glycerined green leaves
burned by a summer sun
are brittle and ochre.
Night enters day like a thief.
And children fear that the beautiful daylight has gone.
Whoever has no house now will never have one.
From "Autumn", --PK Paige


Changing scenes and times, earlier in the afternoon, Grant Park. This is a remarkable place, surrounded by suburbia, and actually inside the I-675 loop. A forest preserve rather than a park, though its best feature is not forest but a large prairie in the heart of the park.


This past week it was getting cold, with the early morning low dipping to near the 30's. We are into cooler times this past week, the mildly cooler days, 60 degree range.
Dropping the sunrise/sunset chart for the time-being, and looking more at the weather, how we are entering a time when there's more overcast, a few days that couldn't make up their minds if they wanted to be sunny or cloudy, but it was glorious today and yesterday.
We also got some rain this week, too, around the time the weather turned cooler.

The Dayton Regions' Robust Festival Culture

This weekend was one of festivals, a reminder of the strong festival culture in the Miami Valley.

Some of the big ones.

1. Minster Oktoberfest. Up in the northern part of the Miami Valley. This is a very well attended event, drawing visitors up from Dayton. Live German music and a lot of beer. This has been going on since 1974. According to their website it draws 80,000 people! And it is pretty crowded, but very well organized.

2. Spring Valley Potato Festival. Also a product of the 1970s, Spring Valley celebrates fall with a huge street fair. Visit here. (For another German foodway, visit nearby Waynesville for the Saurkraut Festival). A scenic drive throught the hill country and river bottoms beyond Bellbrook takes you there.

3. Dayton Art Institute Oktoberfest. Another festival with a German theme. This is a pay-event, but has microbrews, music, and a craft fair. On the grounds of the DAI in beautiful Grafton Hill.
4. Gearfest. Billed as the Adventure Capital of the Midwest, this is a new festival held at Eastwood Park, with live music and an exhibition of various outdoors things. Also the only one with camping (as befits the outdoors theme). Here's the website.

5. Dayton Music Fest. Unlike the others this is a one day (one night) event. See my post below.

So at least five major festivals this weekend, demonstrating what a great place this is if you want to go out and have a good time, both day and night.

No Merger: The New Suburban Politics

Centerville has been pushing merger with adjacent unincorporated Washington Township and is proposing a merger commission as a stepping stone. The question on the merger commission is before the voters as Issue 48.

In previous similar cases the citizens of townships actively sought to be annexed or merged: Mad River Township with Riverside, Madison Township with Trotwood, and Randolph Township with Clayton. In these cases the townships feared annexation by either Dayton or a neighboring incorporated area (Englewood). What makes this controversy different from recent suburban political battles is that the citizens of the township don’t want t merger, and have organized a group against it: Washington Township Forever

Apparently Centerville can’t afford municipal government without raising taxes, due to maintaining duplicate services (the city runs parks and recreation facilities independent of the local parks district) and labor costs (such as maintaining a separate police department and sanitation department), which raises the question of cutting services to remain within revenue.

Instead Centerville tried to expand the tax base by annexation, leading to a big zoning and jurisdictional fight when it attempted to annex into Greene County (Sugarcreek Township) to grab the site of a proposed mixed-use development (generating more city income tax).

The new attempt to grow the tax base is to merge Washington Township into Centerville. The attempt isn’t convincing as it means an additional layer of tax (city income tax) with a minor benefit in services.

Which brings up the question of why incorporation is even necessary. The township has police service from the county sheriff and maintains nearly the same level of service as the city of Centerville, but without the additional tax burden. Presumably Centerville residents would save some tax money if they de-incorporate, turning police protection to the county sheriff, public works to the township and parks & recreation facilities to the park district.

And the fewer incorporated suburban areas there are the more likely are regional approaches to shared services. Already the county sheriff could be seen as a “metro police department” as it provides law enforcement across multiple townships. One can see a similar approach to public works.

Paradoxically it seems merger would be a step away from regionalism and a victory for suburban self-aggrandizement.

Echoes Dayton @ South Park Tavern

Dayton started to have poetry slams and singer/songwriter things back in the 1990s. This quasi-cabaret tradition continues today with Echoes Dayton, which started at the old Jasper Wall Cafe in the Oregon, now relocated to the South Park Tavern on Wayne Avenue.



As Meltones says over at Bhudda Den, in Dayton "Thursday is the new Friday", and this is an example as the show starts at 9 PM Thursday. But a good deal at the ridiculously low cover f $1.00.

PosterTastic + Dayton Music Fest (Saturday)

A Saturday night in the October city.

Yer humble host is a fan of scene epherma, things like posters and flyers announcing events and shows. This goes back years and is part of the American scene, with a longtime (since the 1970s) printer of this in Nashville, Hatch Show Print, being a national landmark.
A lot of this is happening online nowadays, but hard copy still can be found. And you can catch a sampling of Dayton's best at PosterTastic!, at the Derailed hair salon in the Oregon. Hosted by GladGirl, (follow the link for more detail) it will feature musical guest Drexel.



That very same evening is the Dayton Music Fest. This is the third (or is it fourth?) year, with the festival reaching a sort of stability. Seven venues with a $10 blanket cover, so not a bad deal. There's been some critique at the DDN music blog on the festival being limited to indy/alternative rock of various types, and thats fair, but it is what it is (and the promoters are starting to do a bluegrass festival, too, so are branching out).

Follow the above hyperlink to the festival website to plan your evening (& it does require coordination) The big deal this fest will be Robert Pollard of GBV fame and his new band, Boston Spaceships, at Gillys. Boston Spaceships' first release apparently got a very good review from UK music mag Mojo.

So, go see one thing Dayton does good, out of porportion to a city of it's size and rank: original music and live music.