September 23, 2004

Council supports request seeking to annex property

By Robert Mihalek

Village Council on Monday approved legislation consenting to a request to annex a 39-acre parcel of farmland into Yellow Springs.

The annexation request now proceeds to the Greene County commissioners, who must also give their approval before the farmland, which is often called the Fogg property and is located on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, is annexed into Yellow Springs.

At its meeting Sept. 20, Council unanimously approved two emergency resolutions lending support to the annexation request. As emergency resolutions, both pieces of legislation become official immediately.

The first resolution expressed the Village’s commitment to provide services to the property, including Village utilities (potable water, sanitary and storm sewage, electricity and solid waste collection). The resolution notes that gravity sanitary sewer service will not be available for the property until the Dayton Street sewer project is completed. The last phase of the project is expected to take place next year. The project involves upgrading the sewer line on Dayton Street.

The second resolution officially expressed Council’s consent to the annexation request.

The resolutions do not commit Council to approve development plans for the property, Council president Tony Arnett indicated.

Earlier this month, the owners of the property, Doug Miller of HRI Commercial Realty in Beavercreek and Harold Fogg, co-trustee of the Lucy Van Ness Fogg Living Trust, issued a petition for annexation under the state guidelines for a “type two” expedited process. They hope to create a mixed-use development on the land.

Under a state law passed in 2001, the type two annexation process gave Council less than a month to respond to the annexation request. Council’s response to the petition on Monday came in just under the state-mandated wire.

At its previous meeting, on Sept. 7, when Council first discussed the annexation request, Council members indicated that they needed more time to consider the matter.

During Monday’s meeting, Miller estimated it would be another 60 to 90 days before the property is officially annexed.

In a report on the annexation request, Village Planner Phil Hawkey said that the new state annexation regulations do not provide the Village enough time to conduct a study of the effects of development on annexed land, as required in the Village’s annexation policy, which was created in 1992.

The Village Comprehensive Plan designates the Fogg property as a “special planning area,” and says it is a likely site for development. “Any development should be closely reviewed with regard to the effective use of land — such as clustering of residences and limiting curb cuts along Dayton-Yellow Springs Road,” the plan states.

Arnett said that local residents would be able to provide input on the use of the Fogg property when it goes through the Village’s rezoning process and when the Village considers actual development plans. The property is currently zoned Agriculture.

Miller said the property would likely be developed under the Village’s planned unit development regulations.

In a statement he read at the meeting, Miller said that his plans for the property include building a motel and restaurant, housing suitable for people 55 and older and apartments. He noted that his plans at this time are conceptual, saying that he “will work closely with the Village planner and manager before any formal rezoning applications are submitted.”

Miller said that he hopes to link part of the development to the commerce park that is planned for across the street, at East Enon and Dayton-Yellow Springs Roads, on a 46-acre parcel owned by Community Resources, the local community improvement corporation. Antioch University McGregor has proposed relocating its campus to the commerce park.

Council has not yet received a formal annexation request from Community Resources, Arnett said.

“What is [known] as the Fogg property can become a valuable part of the community of Yellow Springs, serving the needs of the proposed McGregor campus, offering housing alternatives for those already in the community as well as those wishing [to] become part of the community,” Miller said in his statement. “There will certainly be an increase in the tax base of the community and increased opportunities to attract businesses and jobs, all of which I think can be accomplished in an attractive manner.”

The motel and restaurant could serve students, staff and visitors at Antioch McGregor, Miller said.

The development’s 55-and-older community would include four to five units per acre, Miller said. He said that the community would provide housing for a large segment of Yellow Springs’s population and “should also result in opening up housing currently in the village for younger families with children, which should help the schools.”

In addition, he said that he would like to build a market-rate apartment complex, with a density of about 10 units an acre.

He said that based on his understanding of what Community Resources plans for the commerce park, he would not add office or warehouse space to the Fogg development.

The Fogg property is one of three parcels identified for possible development in the Cooperative Economic Development Agreement, or CEDA, under which Council and the Miami Township trustees agreed to promote business development. In the CEDA, the Township agreed to provide fire and paramedic services and snow plowing, and the Village said it would provide public utilities and police protection.

Commercial development of the Fogg property could be developed under terms of the CEDA. This means the Township will support the property owners’ request for annexation. The Township would also receive property tax revenue equivalent to the amount of revenue the Township would have gained had the property remained in Miami Township. The Village would receive income taxes and utility revenues from businesses on the property.

Land developed as residential cannot be included in the CEDA.