December 22, 2005

By Diane Chiddister

At their meeting Monday, Dec. 18, members of the Yellow Springs Village Council voted to use all of the proceeds from the recent sale of Glass Farm property to replenish the green space fund.

Council unanimously voted to put $57,500, the entire proceeds from Council’s sale of one acre of the Glass Farm to Phillips-Brown Homes, into the fund. The fund currently has in it about $38,500, according to Council President Jocelyn Hardman. The green space fund has been almost depleted in recent years and monies from it were recently earmarked for the construction of a detention basin on the Glass Farm.

The action signals Council’s interest in replenishing the fund and thereby strengthening its ability to act on green space acquisition, according to Bruce Richenbach.

Using the Glass Farm funds for green space is “especially appropriate since the Glass Farm was originally purchased as open space,” Rickenbach said, adding that the action is valuable even if “nothing more than as a signal that we want to make the fund a viable option in dealing with the western edge” of the village.

The move took place after Council heard a presentation from Krista Magaw, director of Tecumseh Land Trust, who had been invited to speak. Magaw gave an overview of the organization’s past and present efforts to preserve green space, and encouraged Council to take action to be ready to act on green space acquisition. Land prices are rising rapidly, Magaw said, and it will be to Council’s benefit to replenish the fund if it is serious about preserving green space.

“Readiness is key,” Magaw said. “This is a timely issue.”

Yellow Springs was one of the first communities in the nation to plan for green space, according to Magaw in her overview. The Village Council developed a Comprehensive Plan in 1969, then passed a 1 percent income tax for green space acquisition. Council proceeded to purchase several large parcels of land which currently comprise open space around Yellow Springs.

The earlier Village planners envisioned a “green necklace” around Yellow Springs, Magaw said. Called the Jacoby Green Belt, the area was intended to keep development at bay, especially on the village’s western edge, where sprawl from Fairborn seemed likely, according to Magaw.

However, according to Magaw, there are large gaps in the “green necklace,” especially on the west edge of the village. And Yellow Springs remains vulnerable to sprawl, she said

While the Village in the early 1970s acquired some significant properties, the green space acquisition effort then stalled, according to Richenbach, a former Village manager, who said the village lacked the “political will,” for green space preservation until the preservation of Whitehall Farm in 1999. Since then, according to Magaw, other Village financial needs have trumped land preservation as a priority.

The Village continues to face financial challenges, according to Hardman, who said that “We are still cash-strapped. But we will have to plan now when it hurts so we’re ready when something comes up.”

The land trust wants to work with the Village, Magaw said, and will attempt in the next six months to identify parcels on Yellow Springs’ western edge which are considered priorities for preservation. Because of rising land prices, the land trust is now taking a strategic approach to preservation, she said, and attempting to work with farmers who own properties most vulnerable to sprawl rather than all farmers in a given area.

The village now seems ready to focus on green space again, according to Judith Hempfling. When Hardman asked Council members how much of the Glass Farm proceeds they would like to contribute to the green space fund, Hempfling said she would like to use all of it.

“I’m encouraged by the conversation tonight,” Hempfling said. “I think there is a deep wanting in the community to commit to this. I think we could find the political will.”

Rickenbach, Wintrow, Hardman and Kathryn Chase, who was sworn into office on Monday, all stated that they also supported putting all of the Glass Farm purchase price into the green space fund, and voted for the move.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com