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June 3, 2004
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June 3, 2004 |
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EDITORIAL Lessons from Whitehall auction apply to challenges of today Five years ago, Yellow Springers banded together to preserve Whitehall Farm, the 940-acre farm, when local residents David and Sharen Neuhardt purchased the entire farm and placed a conservation easement on the property to keep it green. Back in 1999, the Neuhardts, with farmer Lamar Spracklen, wrote the checks that bought that farm, but it was the community’s effort that made it possible, when a public/private endeavor raised more than a million dollars in two months. The idea that a large chunk of the Yellow Springs greenbelt could be gobbled up by faceless developers galvanized this town in a way that no issue in the years before and after the auction have. People held meetings, formed coalitions, allocated public funds, donated money from their own pocketbooks, organized rallies, wrote letters, marched and made signs — all in support of an idea, a goal the community believed in. Back in 1999, Yellow Springs united to “save Whitehall Farm,” as the slogan went, to preserve a feeling of small-town life, to keep our small village special. The Whitehall Farm auction became a significant achievement in Yellow Springs’ history, and this weekend Tecumseh Land Trust, which played a major role in helping to preserve Whitehall, will honor that victory. During its annual meeting, the land trust will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Whitehall Farm auction. Several key factors made the Whitehall victory possible, including cooperation between the Village and Township governments and private citizens and organizations; an inspired community willing to get behind a goal; and a group, the Farmland Preservation Task Force, that was able to focus people’s attention on realistic solutions. In 2004, Yellow Springs is confronting a long list of challenges: affordable housing; job losses and a sluggish local economy; the possible move by Antioch McGregor; the Village’s tight financial situation; a reduction in population and a decrease of diversity; environmental pollution; financial concerns at Antioch College. Progress is slowly being made. For instance, Community Resources, a group focused on economic issues, is working with the Village, the Township and the school district to get a commerce park built. Calls for Yellow Springs to grow moderately continue to gain support. A Community Round Table, which was formed at a strategic planning conference that the Yellow Springs Men’s Group organized in March, has been charged with, among other things, addressing the community’s declining population and promoting Yellow Springs as an education village. Today’s challenges may be different from what possible threat the Whitehall Farm auction posed. But some of the experiences from 1999 can be applied to the village in 2004: a broad-based coalition of public and private entities and individuals has the ability to draw up plans and generate needed funding; and building community buy-in is vital to gaining Yellow Springers’ support. The Whitehall auction was a major challenge, and the farm, as Tony Bent, an influential former Village Council member, called it, was like the sword of Damocles hanging over Yellow Springs. Today, Yellow Springs is again facing numerous challenges, and it will take a community effort equal to the spirit of Whitehall to tackle them all.
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