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Another important set of stakeholders in this saga are the folks who own large parcels of farmland in the townships. They have become very vocal at the Brown Township meetings, as well as at recent sessions sponsored by the Big Darby Accord group. Few of these landowners actually farm the land. In fact, many don't even live in the area. The land has been in their families for years, and these folks are the current heirs. They rent the land to professional farmers who operate on thousands of acres because that's the kind of scale it takes to have a shot at making money in farming these days. While a little income is generated for the landowners from such rent, the big payoff most have been waiting for is the sale of the property to residential developers (or to the school system). Some folks in the community are judgmental of these landowners -- calling them greedy and disrespectful of their ancestors' legacy by wanting to sell the family farm, as though that farm is some kind of sacred ground. I think no one has the right to make that judgment. In fact, I would observe that virtually everyone who has a home in our school district is living on land that was once someone's family farm. That has certainly been true for each of the two homes we have owned in the area. With residential development finally reaching the eastern frontier of Brown Twp, I can understand why the landowners, many of whom are in their retirement years, are finally seeing the chance to cash in, and are eager to do so. That being said, the landowners don't automatically have the right to enhance the value of their land by diminishing the value of mine, or by causing my cost of continued living here to skyrocket. We were, after all, invited into Brown Twp by someone who had land to sell. It's not like we rode in guns ablazing and took the land by force. The land was put on the market by one of the landowners, and we bought it. I certainly knew that some day, the land around us would likely be sold for development. In fact, Homewood bought the property at Roberts and Alton-Darby not long after we built our house, nearly 20 years ago. Let me use that fact to make one thing clear -- the landowners in Brown Twp have never been told that they can't sell their land. There are already large parcels in Brown Twp owned by developers. As I understand it, this Homewood parcel was owned by a lady who gifted it to a charitable organization when she died. The organization soon afterward sold the land to Homewood, apparently deciding that cash in the bank then was a better choice than waiting for a better offer. According to the appraisal by the County Auditor, the value of my land has increased about 5.8% per year over the past two decades (from $4,980/acre to $13,780/acre). Seems like making 5.8%/yr on your money would not have been that hard in the past 20 years with the way the stock market has boomed. I guess the current landowners thought they could do better. Once a landowner makes the decision to hold his land in hope of a better price later, that landowner ceases being a farmer or landlord or anything so noble. He becomes a land speculator, and I have no obligation to make his bets work out in his favor. There's nothing wrong with being a speculator, but it's a high risk business and things don't always turn out as planned. As described by lawyer and land investor Ben Hale, Jr (see "Landowners Get Insight from Panel"), the value of land for development is determined to a great extent by the availability of Columbus water/sewer service. That can mean a windfall for landowners in the right place, and a disappointment for everyone else. Where those lines eventually get drawn is speculation (and maybe a little manipulation). The landowners say their rights are being abridged by the Big Darby Accord, and they are vocal in their opposition to the Big Darby Accord effort. I would remind them that as one of the residents who would like to stay where I live now, some of my rights have been taken away as well. I'm speaking of the ability to participate in the annexation discussion. The developers pulled off a major coup in the Ohio Legislature when they managed to get the "expedited annexation" procedure made into law. I now have no voice whatsoever in annexation actions which take place around me. I don't want to stop all annexation, I just want the officials I can vote for to have a say in the matter. With the expedited annexation procedure, only the officials of the annexing city have a voice, and I don't get to vote for them. How did this happen? I wonder if it would stand up if challenged in court, but then who has the money to fight the developers? Remember that once the landowners sell out, they'll care little about what happens to Hilliard City Schools. Once the developers build their last house, they won't care either. Long after Mayor Schonhardt and the Hilliard City Council have achieved their goals and moved on (or have been voted out of office), most of us will still be here, paying substantially higher property taxes (see School Funding). Superintendent Dale McVey will have retired, and new folks will be sitting on the School Board trying to figure out how to keep the lights on. What's that going to do to your property values? |
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