October 6, 2005

Village Council on Monday approved the second reading of an ordinance officially declaring as green space about 14 acres of the eastern portion of the Glass Farm. The ordinance also expresses Council’s commitment to place a conservation easement on the eastern part of the farm, which the Village owns.

Council unanimously approved the ordinance during its meeting on Oct. 3. The ordinance follows Council’s adoption of a resolution in July placing the eastern part of the farm in the Village’s open space program.

A document titled “Declaration of conservation area easement,” which is attached to the ordinance, prohibits residential and commercial buildings from being built on the 14 acres of the Glass Farm, off King Street. The document also states that the area could be used for stormwater drainage and detention purposes.

The Village plans to build a two-acre detention basin along the stream that runs through the eastern part of the Glass Farm, a project that Council members cited when they declared their support for the ordinance last month. Council members have said that they wanted to set aside part of the farm, in case the Village needs more land on which to expand the detention basin. The basin will handle stormwater runoff caused by additional development in the western portion of Yellow Springs. The project also includes restoring the streambed to its natural state.

Council members also have described the decision to set aside the 14 acres as a sort of compromise with their July decision to sell one acre of the farm to Cathy Phillips and Jonathan Brown for their housing development, Thistle Creek. The development is being built on more than eight acres of land, also off King Street, that Brown and Phillips purchased from the Catholic Church. The church property abuts to the south the one acre of the Glass Farm that Brown and Phillips purchased.

The ordinance Council approved on Monday indicates Council’s willingness to consider developing the rest of the Glass Farm. The ordinance states that “development is planned adjacent to the center and western portions of the Glass Farm that will make” these parts of the farm “more accessible for future development.”

The legislation instructs interim Village Manager Phil Hawkey to finalize the conservation easement on the 14 acres of the Glass Farm.

Local resident Sue Abendroth told Council that she appreciated Council’s decision on Monday, noting that “many months ago” she had asked Council to proceed with putting in a “legal form” a structure for the use of the eastern part of the Glass Farm.

The Village has asked the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District to hold the easement. In August, Tecumseh Land Trust told Council that it could not work with the Village on creating the easement until the stormwater basin project is complete. Council members instead decided to pursue an easement with the Greene County agency.

At the end of Monday’s meeting, Council and Hawkey discussed in executive session the easement for the farm. On Tuesday, Hawkey said that they discussed the steps the Village needs to take to create the easement. He said “no real conclusion” and “no direction for action” was agreed upon during the discussion.

Hawkey also said that Council and Village administrators typically start discussions of real estate matters in executive session.

Contact: rmihalek@ysnews.com