Yellow Springs hears resolution on utilities supporting annexation

0

YELLOW SPRINGS — Yellow Springs has taken the next step in pursuing annexation of nearly 34 acres of Miami Township that would support a new residential development.

During the Monday council meeting, the Yellow Springs Village Council heard a presentation detailing services and utilities that would serve the proposed housing development south of the village. Yellow Springs’ water, sewer, and electrical public works are easily accessible to the potential annexation.

The council first heard the annexation proposal during its Sept. 8 meeting. The 34 acres in Miami Township are part of a 51-acre parcel of land currently owned by Kenneth and Betheen Struewing, currently listed for nearly $1.9 million. Development company Oberer Homes of Middletown is under contract to buy the land.

Of that parcel, 17.6 acres are located in the Village of Yellow Springs, in addition to the 34 acres in Miami Township. The development will bring a total of 134 new homes to the village if the land is annexed, as well as an estimated $54,000 in yearly utilities revenue.

Estimated income tax revenue from construction totals nearly $250,000 with the annexation, as opposed to $61,000 without. Annexation would also increase estimated property tax income for the village over the course of 10 years. Without annexation, estimated revenue sits at $423,948. If the parcel is annexed, estimated revenue is $1,720,729, given a 2 percent inflation rate.

During the Sept. 21 council meeting, Village Manager Josue Salmeron addressed concerns from the community that annexation would cause Yellow Springs to outgrow its village status. If the housing subdivision were to be filled, it would increase the population by about 400 people. However, since 1970, the village population has declined by 30 percent, meaning Yellow Springs is well under the population limit of 5,000 people.

“Our community has had significantly more residents than it currently has,” Salmeron said. “If [this development] were fully housed at its capacity, we would still be under our 1970 numbers.”

CEO George Oberer said during the Sept. 8 meeting that the properties will be either a “conventional, single-family detached home,” or “a patio home or a condominium unit.”

Many Yellow Springs residents have voiced concerns over the need for affordable housing in the area. Yellow Springs Schools Superintendent Terri Holden voiced her support for improved housing in the village, as long as that housing was accessible to families “at all price points.”

“A considerable number of our open enrollment families have indicated that they would choose to reside in Yellow Springs if they could obtain affordable family housing,” Holden said. “We have the capacity as a school system.”

By London Bishop

[email protected]

Reach London Bishop at (937) 502-4532

or follow @LBishopFDH on Twitter

No posts to display