October 21, 2004

Village Council business—
First step of land rezoning approved

By Diane Chiddister

At its meeting Monday, Oct. 18, the Yellow Springs Village Council approved the first reading to rezone the G. Stanley Hall property from Education to Residence A. The eight acres are located at the corner of Allen and Corry Street.

Council announced it will give the zoning request its second reading at its Dec. 6 meeting.

The land, owned by Antioch University, abuts the Antioch School and has previously been undeveloped. Antioch officials requested the zoning change several months ago, stating that Antioch College needs the financial revenues that the land’s sale could bring. Since the university announced its plans, Antioch School officials have expressed concern about how the presence of houses on the property would affect Antioch School students, who now use the land as an outdoor extension of the classroom. The land also includes the Antioch School’s current driveway.

Last week the Village Zoning Commission approved the university’s request for rezoning and recommended that Council also approve it. That approval came after the zoning group postponed the issue for a month in order to further study the request in light of the Village Comprehensive Plan.

The zoning group concluded that there was no reason not to approve Antioch University’s request, according to George Pitstick, Council’s representative to zoning commission.

“We reviewed the Comprehensive Plan extensively. There was nothing there that would not conform to the uses this land would be put to,” said Pitstick, who stated the zoning group expressed concern that the university consider the Antioch School’s need for utilities and a driveway when planning to subdivide the property.

Several Antioch School representatives who attended Monday night’s meeting discussed the negative impact the land’s sale and development could have on the school.

“If you could envision Mills Lawn School with houses on the south side of Elm Street and the east side of Phillips, that’s exactly the impact this will have on the educational program at the Antioch School,” said Peggy Erskine, the school’s former manager.

Erskine and Antioch School teacher Chris Powell also stated that the school has tried several times to buy a lease for the driveway from the university, and university officials repeatedly said they had no plans to sell the land. Powell also cited concerns for Antioch School students’ safety if the school’s driveway is relocated to the Allen Street side of the property, which abuts the school’s playground area.

While several Council members expressed discomfort approving the rezoning request due to the effect on the Antioch School, they stated that they had no reason to deny it, since Antioch University owns the land.

“As owners we cannot deny them the use of their land,” said Pitstick, who added, “It’s good that the Antioch School had use of this land over time, but the university isn’t obligated to continue that.”

The vote to approve the first reading passed unanimously.

In other business, Council stated it will address the request for the Fogg farm property annexation, which was recently approved by the Greene County Commissioners, at its Dec. 6 meeting.