CLAYTON — Voters in the city of Clayton overwhelmingly defeated Issue 4, a plan to redevelop 43 acres of farm land into a residential subdivision along Phillipsburg-Union and Haber roads in the rural area in the northeast sector of the city.

Residents in that area, Precinct 1-A, gathered enough signatures to place a referendum on the March 19 ballot. Some members of council urged the city to withdraw its plans for the new subdivision, but a majority of city council opted to keep the plan in place.

Issue 4 was defeated by a wide margin in all 10 precincts. Residents cast 2,423 no votes with only 715 voting yes.

Dr. Doug Bias, a resident living in the area that would have been directly impacted by the proposed development, headed the ‘Keep it Rural’ campaign.

“Obviously, we are very pleased with the outcome,” Bias said. “We were very excited to see that the entire city was in agreement. There were a few people that suggested that was just us up in the northern end of Clayton that wanted to keep it rural.”

Bias said he was relieved and pleased to see people in subdivisions throughout the city aligning with the effort to keep rural preservation in place.

“I was just looking at the breakdown in the voting results and it looks like we actually won by a significant percentage in all 10 precincts throughout the city,” Bias stated. “I was very pleased to see that the rest of the city sees the importance and value in having a portion of town that is rural.”

Bias said he believes that people living in the city’s existing subdivisions like to drive out into the country in the northern area of Clayton and having a rural area to enjoy.

“One thing I’ve heard repeatedly is that a lot of people are concerned about us someday becoming like Huber Heights with all the traffic and congestion,” Bias added.

Vice Mayor Tim Gorman warned council that leaving the development plan in place could result in Issue 5 also being defeated, a prediction that proved to be correct.

“If I am mad at the city for one reason, I’m not going to help them on the other side, it’s that plain and simple,” Gorman stated during the city’s Feb. 15 council meeting.

Gorman noted that, “You can’t have somebody mad at you and expect them to vote for your levy.”

Issue 5 sought a 1 percent increase to the city’s existing 1.5 percent income tax while restoring a 100 percent tax credit. Issue 5 was defeated by 133 votes with residents in Precinct 1-A voting 262 against, and 141 for the income tax, which ultimately led to the failure of the income tax issue.

The income tax issue also failed during the Nov. 7, 2023 general election with 3,203 voting no and 2,177 voting yes. That result led to the city cutting services.

The fall leaf pickup program was eliminated for 2024 along with community events, including the Labor Day fireworks, Easter Egg Hunt, and Sweep Clayton Clean events where residents can dispose of yard waste and unwanted household items free of charge.

The city is now looking at more cuts. The police department is currently two officers short and according to Chief Matt Hamlin, those positions will not be filled.

Fire Chief Brian Garver fears losing personnel to other area fire departments when raises cannot be issued to retain current staff. A vacant battalion chief’s position will not be filled due to the levy failure.

Fewer training hours for both police and fire will result in potentially longer response times for emergency services. The Student Resource Officers might also be removed from both Northmont High School and Middle School.

The city would abandon its “soft billing” for transporting patients by ambulance to area hospitals, which currently costs residents $350, raising the rate to $1,000.

Council planned to discuss at its March 21 meeting when to place the income tax back on the ballot. The next available ballot would be the Nov. 5 general election.

“Over 70 percent of Clayton residents voted this past election to keep it rural,” said Councilman Ken Henning, Jr. “Ward 1 is predominantly rural land and citizens want smart developments they agree with. Every single Clayton precinct stood up in support of the citizen referendum.”

Henning noted that the group that ran the ‘Keep it Rural’ referendum were great citizens.

“Council could have worked with the ‘Keep it Rural’ group, but four council members worked against residents which led to the failure of the tax levy,” Henning stated. “A city can’t push a tax increase at the same time a major citizen led referendum is on the ballot.

“Citizens will vote ‘no’ and ‘no’ when they aren’t being listened to,” Henning continued. “Vice Mayor Tim Gorman and I predicted the levy would fail due to four members of council who refused to listen to residents.

“The residents of Clayton appreciate and support our police, fire, and service departments but they don’t support when council ignores residents,” Henning added.

Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].