October 12, 2006

By Diane Chiddister

At its Oct. 16 meeting, members of the Yellow Springs Village Council will address a request to annex into the Village the 39-acre Fogg farm property on the western edge of the village near the intersection of East Enon Road and Dayton-Yellow Springs Road.

At Council’s Oct. 2 meeting, Village Manager Eric Swansen announced that the Village had received a request for an expedited annexation process from the property’s owners, the Fogg Family Trust and realty company owner Doug Miller, which was dated Sept. 29. According to Village Planner Phil Hawkey, Council must within 20 days of the filing request pass a resolution listing the services the Village would provide and the approximate date they would be provided, and within 25 days of filing Council must pass a resolution consenting or objecting to the annexation. Due to time constraints, both actions should take place at the Oct. 16 meeting, Hawkey stated in a memo to Council.

Annexation of the Fogg property was first brought to Council two years ago. At that point, Miller, of HRI Commercial Realty, proposed both commercial and residential development on the property, which is located across the street from the Center for Business and Education. That action, especially an initially proposed commercial area, prompted resistance from many villagers and led to the formation of the Smart Growth Task Force. Miller later withdrew the annexation request.

In an interview Tuesday, Miller stated that he could not be specific but that he plans to seek residential zoning for the property.

“At this point in time, I’m not saying anything but that I’m willing to limit the use to residential because the citizens were concerned that commercial would hurt downtown,” Miller said. Miller said he had met with Smart Growth members and had attempted to listen to their concerns.

He also stated that he is bringing the annexation request to Council at this time because he believes Yellow Springs is now more open to growth than it was two years ago.

“I think the community now has a mindset that residential development could only benefit the city,” he said.

Asked about the number of units, Miller said that given zoning restrictions, “you would be hard pressed to do more than four homes an acre,” and that there would probably be around 150 single family homes, although some may be multi-family dwellings. He also stated that he envisioned the “primary focus” of the development to be housing that is affordable, which he defined as within the $120,000 to 170,000 range. Miller also stated that he will not develop the property himself, but will sell the land to developers.

According to Community Solutions Executive Director Pat Murphy, that group is interested in purchasing five to eight acres of the Fogg farm property for the development of Agraria, a development of 20 to 32 housing units. Agraria would feature cluster housing, gardens and homes which are constructed to use about one fourth the amount of energy of an average home. Murphy stated that the start date for Agraria has not been determined, and that Community Solutions must first address fund-raising for the project.

In other Council business
• Council postponed a continuation of the discussion of 2007 Village goals due to the illness of Council member Judith Hempfling, who was not at the meeting. Council will address its 2007 goals at the Oct. 16 meeting.

• Council unanimously approved a resolution to secure a lockbox with US Bank for utility payments for the Village utilities, and also to outsource the invoice process. The move will make the utility payment process more efficient, Swansen said, and will save the Village about $52,000 yearly in reduced employee costs. The Village utilities window will operate on reduced hours, open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The savings could be used for capital projects in the utility sector, Swansen said.

• Council unanimously passed the second reading of a supplemental appropriation ordinance. The ordinance added $15,074 to the Village’s General Fund, due to the postponement of a public works project which the Village will not complete this year, Swansen said. The appropriation raised the General Fund budget for 2006 to $2,667,597 from $2,652,523.

• Council passed the first reading of an emergency ordinance to repeal the existing Village law on driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and add a revised law. The change, according to Police Chief John Grote, helps Yellow Springs keep in line with a recently updated state law.

• Council heard a report on the proposed public health services levy on the November ballot. The 0.5 replacement levy would replace the Greene County Combined Health District’s current levy, which expires December 2007. Without the levy, that agency’s funding would be cut by 34 percent. The levy would cost a homeowner $2.76 per year per $100,000 valuation of a home.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com