From Suburban News Publications, 10/12/05:

 

Population boom in Darby's future under all scenarios

Residency in the watershed would balloon from 31,000 to 100,000 under all three considered plans.

By GARTH BISHOP

 

The population of the Big Darby watershed area would grow considerably under each of the three "scenarios" for development presented at last week's meeting of the Big Darby Accord.  The Accord group is dedicated to preserving and protecting the Big Darby watershed, promoting responsible growth, creating a partnership among the jurisdictions in the watershed and capitalizing on the results of other efforts.

 

The group is a cooperative planning effort among the 10 political entities affected by the watershed: the cities of Columbus, Grove City and Hilliard; Franklin County; Washington, Brown, Prairie, Pleasant and Norwich townships; and the village of Harrisburg.  "This is an historic process," said Paul Moyer, a member of EDAW, a Virginia-based planning group that is working as a consultant on the project along with EMH&T, a Gahanna engineering firm.  "Having 10 jurisdictions together to discuss this plan is huge," Moyer said.

 

More information on the Accord -- including a copy of the presentation notes from the meeting -- can be found at the group's Web site, www.franklincountyohio.gov/bigdarbyaccord. The project phone line for the accord is 614-462-5629.

 

More at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS10-12/10-12_allhlwnaccord.htm

 

From ThisWeek Hilliard, 11/17/05:

 

Trustees unhappy with Big Darby plans

Thursday, November 17, 2005

By PHIL BORGER

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

At their Monday meeting, the Norwich Township trustees expressed displeasure with the proposals currently being discussed as part of the Big Darby Accord and said they will not give any additional funds to the planning stages unless changes are considered.  Township trustee Chuck Buck has attended meetings concerning land development in the Big Darby Watershed and reported his assessment of those meetings to his fellow trustees, Durland Workman and Jim Rice.

 

The Big Darby Accord is made up of 10 government municipalities and its purpose is to develop a plan that can accommodate a growing Franklin County population while taking into account the environmental sensitivity of the area's waterways.  Buck's main concern dealt with how current landowners in the watershed would be compensated if they were restricted from selling their land to private developers.

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=Hilliard&story=thisweeknews/111705/Hilliard/News/111705-News-48142.html

 

BIG DARBY CREEK WATERSHED

City likely to add 6 months to development ban

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Columbus plans to extend its development moratorium near the Big Darby Creek by six months to allow more time to complete a development plan for the area.  Franklin County commissioners also will discuss extending the county’s moratorium.  City and county officials met yesterday with other government leaders to get an update on a revised plan for the Darby watershed.

 

The plan, heavily criticized in October, now calls for new development to be concentrated west of Amity Road between I-70 and Rt. 40.  To build there, developers would be required to purchase development easements from property owners in other Darby areas where development is limited or banned.  The idea is to compensate land owners in areas where the plan curtails development.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/12/07/20051207-E6-00.html

 

Slow Darby progress

Extending moratorium on development will let group finalize good plan

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Columbus Dispatch Editorial

 

The Big Darby Accord just might come up with something special for the Big Darby Creek watershed after all, but a lot of work remains.  After a disappointing set of proposals earned jeers in October, members of the multigovernment group charged with setting development standards to protect the water quality of the creek sent their consultants back to work.  The result appears to be truly innovative ideas for an area that desperately needs them.  The question is whether the ideas can be hammered into workable rules before property owners rise in revolt.

 

The centerpiece of the proposal is to concentrate high-density development between I-70 and Rt. 40 west of Amity Road and to compensate property owners outside that area by allowing them to sell their development rights to companies that would need such rights to develop inside the favored area.  The concept, called transfer of development rights, has been used near Seattle and in Maryland but is new to central Ohio and would require changes in state law to be used.  Columbus City Council President Matt Habash’s willingness to extend a 2-year-old development moratorium in the area suggests city leaders are serious about achieving something heretofore unknown in the Darby area: profitable development that doesn’t wreck the creek.

 

Full editorial at http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/12/14/20051214-A14-00.html&chck=t

BTW: The Columbus City Council approved the development moratorium extension.  Glad to see it.  The Big Darby and it's watershed are a rare treasure, but it has the unfortunate attribute of being a very attractive (in the scenic sense of the word) location for people wanting to build homes.  Why is it that we need to live almost on top of something like this to enjoy it? I'd rather just visit it and enjoy it for what it is.

Some important points about real estate and what you're "entitled to" as a landholder were made in this article, from the 12/15/05 Dublin Villager:

 

BIG DARBY ACCORD

Owners, environmentalists view proposal differently

Thursday, December 15, 2005

By PHIL BORGER

Villager Staff Writer

 

An environmentalist group has come out in support of the latest proposal for land development in the Big Darby Creek watershed, but landowners in the environmentally sensitive area remain wary.  "We're strongly supportive of this plan," said John Tetzloff, president of the Darby Creek Association, an environmental group.  That tentative plan calls for 24,000 acres of green space, some of which is already present in the form of public parks.  A large portion of new development would be concentrated west of Amity Road between Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 40.

 

Landowners in the area are concerned that the compensation plan being discussed will not deliver fairly.  "It assumes that these TDRs will have a market value that's fair," said Bruce Ingram, an attorney for property owners in the watershed.  "How could these credits possibly compensate the land owners for what their land would be worth if they sold to developers?" 

 

Tetzloff said property owners should know there are certain risks involved with real estate.  "Land is speculation. You're never guaranteed to make a killing," he said.  "The landowners think they are entitled to the city's sewer and water, but that's not the case."

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=Dublin&story=thisweeknews/121505/Dublin/News/121505-News-65938.html

 

BIG DARBY WATERSHED

County extends development ban

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Development will be on hold for another three months in Franklin County’s western townships as officials continue work on a development accord in the Big Darby watershed.  County commissioners yesterday approved an extension of a yearlong development moratorium around Big Darby Creek over the objection of area landowners, who said their property rights are threatened.

 

Commissioner Dewey Stokes said he fears both the environment and Franklin County property owners will lose, though, unless communities in Madison and Union counties are part of any future accord.  The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has proposed development rules covering Franklin, Madison and Union counties, as well as areas of Logan, Champaign and Pickaway counties that are in the Darby’s 555-square-mile drainage area.  The local accord, however, would cover just Franklin County.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/12/21/20051221-C2-02.html

Big Darby solutions unfair, landowners tell trustees

Those with property in watershed fear they won’t get back full value of land

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Michelle Simakis

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Brown Township property owners say a plan that would eventually open up parts of the Big Darby watershed to development would prevent them from profiting from the sale of their land.  While they want the moratorium on development to end, about 15 landowners told local government leaders last night that the solution being discussed by local governments isn’t good enough.

 

This month, Franklin County and Columbus both extended a moratorium on development in the area by three and six months, respectively.  Ten local governments are working toward a long-term agreement to protect the Big Darby, which holds 37 rare and endangered species of fish and mussels, while allowing property owners whose land can’t be developed to make money.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/12/29/20051229-C3-01.html

People have never had the right to do whatever they want with their property.  I'm not quite sure what these residents are trying to argue.

Officials seek to shield Big Darby Creek

Under permit plan, developers must not crowd tributaries

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Spencer Hunt

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The state plans to make it more difficult for developers to build near Big Darby Creek.  The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is proposing changes that would force developers to build hundreds of feet away from Darby tributaries, use better methods to divert rainwater, and take other steps to protect the endangered stream and the rare wildlife that call the waterways home.

 

The restrictions would be tied to storm-water permits that limit runoff problems at construction sites. The permits also would help unlock a state building freeze for areas of western Franklin County that the Darby drains.  While builders want that moratorium to end, many say the restrictions will increase their costs and the price of new homes.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/08/20060108-D4-01.html

Transfer of development rights might save land, placate owner

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

One way to protect Big Darby Creek would be to outlaw building anything on the thousands of acres in its watershed. But that would not sit well with landowners who are counting on selling to developers some day.  A change in state law could allow them to get their money anyway.  State Rep. Larry Wolpert plans to introduce legislation this month that allows a so-called "transfer of development rights" between government jurisdictions.  It also would permit counties and townships to set up a program; cities already have that right under home rule, Wolpert said.

 

Landowners in areas where building is forbidden would sell credits to developers, who would use them to pack more houses onto land where building is allowed.  It would be a tool for governments in western Franklin County, where Columbus, the county, Hilliard, Grove City, Harrisburg and five townships have formed the Big Darby Accord to protect the biologically diverse creek.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/08/20060108-D4-00.html

More on the Columbus Metropolitan Club luncheon re: Darby Creek...

 

Wednesday,

January 11, 2006

Growing Smarter Series

Chattahoochee River Country: Model for Darby Watershed?

Noon - 1:15 p.m.

At the Columbus Athletic Club, 136 E. Broad St.

 

Stacy R. Patton

President and Executive Director,

Chattahoochee River Country Alliance

 

The Chattahoochee Hill Country conservancy, southwest of Atlanta, has a plan to balance conservation and development on 65,000 acres that have not yet been suburbanized.  Under conventional zoning, the waterways, farmland and rolling hills would eventually have 30,000 homes that gobble up 80 percent of the land. Under the conservancy's proposal - with broad support but little money - the area could have 38,000 homes on less than 20 percent of the land. The development would primarily be in three clusters of "conservation development."

 

The area is comparable in many ways to the 56,000-acre Darby Watershed area in western Franklin County in that it is beautiful, under development pressure and near the city.  Under conventional zoning, the area would accommodate more than 30,000 homes and take up almost all the land. But many people involved in a planning group that includes Franklin County, Columbus and eight suburbs and townships would like to see pockets of denser development and preservation of the remaining land.

 

Chattahoochee Hill Country President and Executive Director, Stacy Patton, will outline the process and plans for the Chattahoochee and discuss the parallels with the Chattahoochee Hill Country and the Darby Watershed.

 

Presented in Partnership with: 1,000 Friends of Central Ohio

 

RSVP

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Growing Smarter Series

Chattahoochee River Country:

Model for Darby Watershed?

Noon - 1:15 p.m.

At the Athletic Club of Columbus, 136 E. Broad St.

(Reservations made by email will receive a confirmation within 24 hours by the CMC staff via email.  If you do not receive a confirmation, please call the office at (614)464-3220 to verify that your reservation has been received.)

To sign-up for a forum, simply reply to this e-mail. 

Please provide us with your name, any guests names, a method of payment, and your phone number.

Wednesday, January 11

Regular Entree:

Iceberg Wedge Salad

Chicken Breast Dijon

Oven Roasted Potato Wedges and Broccoli

Vegetarian Entree:

Steamed Veggie Plate

Fruit and vegetarian plates must be pre-ordered.  Please let us know in advance if you require an alternative entree. 

Pre-registration and pre-payment by AmEx, Visa, MasterCard, check or cash is required no later than noon on the day before the forum to be guaranteed

Call the CMC reservation line at (614) 545-3220, or for more information call (614) 464-3220.  All prices include lunch. 

Individual Prices:

$15 for CMC members

$25 for guests of CMC members

$30 for the public

(Reserved table prices

(includes sign with your company's name)

Table of 8 - $144 for CMC members, $188 for the public. 

Table of 10 - $180 for CMC members, $235 for the public.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

DARBY ACCORD PANEL DISCUSSION

 

THE DARBY CREEK ASSOCIATION INVITES THE PUBLIC TO MEET WITH A PANEL OF

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT EXPERTS RELATED TO THE DARBY ACCORD

 

Date and Time:  Thursday, March 16, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:00 p.m.)

 

Location:    Darby House (on the Darby Dan Farm); 925 Darby Creek Drive (south of Route 40)

 

Contact:    Don Eckhart (Email: [email protected]; Phone: 878-5416)

 

The Darby Creek Association, in cooperation with the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio and 1000 Friends of Central Ohio, will sponsor a panel presentation and discussion for landowners, residents, and other stakeholders of the Darby Creek area.  The panel will discuss ways to protect landowners’ economic interests, while at the same time protecting the Darby Creek watershed, including answering questions on the minds of local residents related to the Darby Accord.

 

The meeting is being presented as a public information forum in cooperation with the Darby Accord jurisdictions, which include the City of Columbus and local governments in western Franklin County.  The Darby Accord was initiated to find ways to preserve the ecological character of the Big and Little Darby Creeks with responsible governmental and private action.  The Darby Creeks contain unique aquatic habitat, and the creeks are considered a valuable natural resource worthy of being maintained and enhanced.

 

The meeting will take place at the Darby House (on the Darby Dan Farm) at 925 Darby Creek Drive, south of Route 40.  The doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and people may view informational displays.  Presentations will begin at 7:00 pm.

 

The panel will include individuals with a wide range of expertise related to balancing conservation with the economic interests of landowners in the watershed.  To help answer questions and be resources to property owners and the public, a panel of experts has been formed.  Panel members will include representatives from The Ohio State University, MSI planning consultants, Metro Parks, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and other experienced legal and development professionals.

 

The session will begin with each member of the panel making individual comments related to the Darby Accord’s recommendations for balancing development with water quality protection in the watershed.  The remainder of the panel’s time will be devoted to addressing questions and comments from the audience. Information will also be available about upcoming opportunities to participate in the Darby Accord process.

$262,600 more to be spent on Darby Creek plan

Landowners furious that more money will be funneled to consulting company

Friday, March 10, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Taxpayers will fork over $262,600 more to a consultant to finish a development plan for the Big Darby Creek watershed.  That infuriates landowners who have been unable to sell or develop their land while the consultant, EDAW Inc., tries to come up with a plan on which the 10 governments in the Big Darby Accord can agree.  "EDAW has spent a half-million dollars of the taxpayers’ money on three plans which have now been thrown into the trash by the accord," Bruce Ingram, an attorney for some landowners, said yesterday.

 

But an aide to Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman said the money will be well spent in developing a plan that the accord members will approve.  "I feel very confident we’ll have a recommended plan that reaches consensus among all jurisdictions," Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Reese said.  He said Columbus has some ability to influence the other accord members because it controls water and sewer lines.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/10/20060310-B3-00.html

Groups object to Big Darby plan

Builders and landowners tell state that proposed protections go too far

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Spencer Hunt

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

New state-proposed protections for Big Darby Creek are illegal, a coalition of property owners and developers says.  The group of western Franklin County landowners and the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio filed comments with the state last week that say an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency plan to tie Darby safeguards to construction permits would unfairly restrict many property owners’ rights to develop their land.

 

Mark Mann, manager of the Ohio EPA’s Surface Water Division, said the proposal to protect the Darby is legal. The creek is a nationally known haven for 37 rare species of mussels and fish.  The EPA proposal, unveiled in January, would keep developers hundreds of feet away from the Darby and its tributary streams.  It also would make developers use better methods to divert rainwater from new homes and parking lots in order to receive mandatory storm-water permits.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/22/20060322-C3-00.html

From the 4/5/06 Dispatch:

 

Questions remain in plans for Darby

No guarantees creek would stay pristine after buildings go up

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The question was a simple one to the officials assembled last night: Does the most-recent version of a plan to develop land near the Big Darby Creek protect the environmentally sensitive stream?  After all this time, no one really knows whether the effort to protect the Darby will work.  The latest draft that consultants and officials presented to the public yesterday at Westland High School would leave current zoning regulations as they are.  That could mean another 40,000 to 50,000 residents moving into the area over the next 20 or 30 years.

 

That’s less than the 100,000 residents that earlier plans would have allowed, a population that was too high for conservation groups and some public officials.  But it still means more septic systems because Columbus would provide sewers to limited areas, including a town center to concentrate development between I-70 and Rt. 40, west of Hamilton Ditch.  There, 3,000 to 6,000 homes could be built.  A new interchange and road would connect I-70 to Rt. 40.

 

To see the maps, go to www.franklincountyohio.gov/bigdarbyaccord and click on documents.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/04/05/20060405-E1-02.html

 

Darby planners reassure landowners

Thursday, April 6, 2006

By PHIL BORGER

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

About 200 people filled Westland High School auditorium Tuesday night to listen to a presentation and ask questions about the newly updated draft plan for the Big Darby Accord.  Representatives of EDAW, the consulting firm hired by the 10 municipalities participating in the accord to help draft a land-use plan, presented the new map and provided a detailed explanation of the reasoning behind their suggestions.  EDAW representatives were quick to assure -- and reassure -- that the plan will not strip landowners of any current development rights.  "This plan maintains current property rights that are in place now," said Andrea Sweigart, an associate with EDAW.

 

A lot of the concerns about the preliminary map, presented in February, came from landowners whose land was designated as "green space."  EDAW first pitched the idea of Transfer of Development Rights, or TDRs, as a way of compensating these landowners for their lost development.  The idea was not well received by many landowners and some of the participating jurisdictions.  This, combined with the fact that such a system would need approval from the state legislature, led EDAW to scrap the TDRs idea.

 

The new map still calls for green space, but much of that green space is contingent on what the landowners in those areas ultimately decide to do with their land.  Ideally, Metro Parks or some other government entity would prefer to acquire this green space land with funds raised from bonds, state and federal grants, and fees in lieu of land donations from developers in other ares of the watershed.

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/040606/Hilliard/News/040606-News-128516.html

Big Darby plan concerns residents

Brown Township homeowners lobbying government coalition for changes

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

They look like election signs, and they’re popping up like dandelions along the roads of Brown Township.  "Brown Township Trustees — Support Your Voters — No to the Big Darby Accord."  "Mayor Coleman, Don’t Let Big Darby Accord Take Our Lands."  "Brown Township Trustees, Don’t Sell Us Down The River."

 

A group of landowners remains unhappy with the latest development plan proposed for the land near the Big Darby Creek, and with the direction the coalition of 10 governments is heading.  The signs started going up about a week ago, trying to persuade trustees to vote against a final plan this summer.  A negative vote could hurt the accord’s goals. But the campaign doesn’t appear to be swaying trustees.  Trustee Pam Sayre said she doesn’t appreciate absentee landowners trying to influence her.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/04/15/20060415-C6-02.html

From the 5/17/06 Dispatch:

 

Big Darby plan coming into focus

Consultants suggest fees for homebuilders, taxes for buyers; proposal due next month

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

If homebuilders want to develop on land near the Big Darby Creek in Franklin County, it could cost them $2,500 per house to do so.  That’s one of several ideas consultants came up with to help pay for development and other costs near the environmentally sensitive creek.  Representatives from the 10 governments of the Big Darby Accord, an effort to forge a plan aimed at protecting the creek while allowing development, met yesterday to hear the latest from consultants from EDAW, the company hired to create the plan.

 

Developers should pay their fair share, consultants said. They would be charged $2,500 per rooftop. That would raise an estimated $18 million over several decades.  That idea is similar to Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s "pay as we grow" program to pay for public improvements as Columbus expands.  In December, the City Council approved an agreement calling for developers to spend $2,300 per home as they build in northeastern Columbus near New Albany.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/17/20060517-B3-00.html

 

BTW: If you've never had the chance to canoe, bike or hike along the Big Darby, I highly recommend it.  You don't really get a grasp for what we could lose until you see it up close.  It is especially stunning in the Spring and Fall.

Darby plan completed

Now, members of accord have to agree on development guidelines

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The draft plan to guide development near the Big Darby Creek is finally done, with a finished product expected by June 30.  Now, how long will it take for the 10 communities making up the Big Darby Accord to vote on it?  And can they all agree?  Officials in Hilliard, for one, have their doubts.  Just ask Mayor Don Schonhardt, who wants his city to control how the plan is implemented within Hilliard.

 

The mayor’s stance worries John Tetzloff, of the Darby Creek Association.  "Every jurisdiction, they want to have freedom," he said. "That defeats the purpose of the accord," namely, to work toward a common goal.  Officials say the plan will guide development in western Franklin County’s 84 square miles in the watershed over the next three decades while protecting the environmentally sensitive area.  The members of the accord are Columbus, Franklin County, Hilliard, Grove City and Harrisburg, and Brown, Norwich, Pleasant, Prairie and Washington townships.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/14/20060614-C1-01.html

 

It would require developers to pay $2,500 per unit; builders usually pass those costs along to homebuyers. It also calls for a community authority, where residents would pay additional property taxes for municipal services, and taxincrement financing, where nonschool property taxes on new development pay for public improvements.

 

The community authority sounds a bit like what was proposed for that 1970s era Newfields New Community near Dayton.  The Newfields authority was set up to provide parks and other services, and was funded by a sort of income tax.  In this Big Darby case the authority would be funded by property tax.

 

Also, the Newfields authority required special state legislation.  I'm not sure if this would be required for the Big Darby version.

 

Other aspects of this also remind me of that Newfields proposal, such as the "town center" concept and the open space set-aside via "conservation developement.

 

 

 

 

Darby moratorium ending; no vote on plan

A few local governments still have some problems with watershed proposal

Friday, June 30, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A temporary measure to slow development in the Big Darby Creek area expires Saturday, but 10 governments involved in a long-term growth-management accord for western Franklin County have yet to vote on the plan.  Columbus and Franklin County had placed moratoriums on the extension of sewer service, a key ingredient to development.  Although today is the last day for the moratoriums, developers aren’t expected to rush into the area anytime soon.  Officials say development likely won’t occur until the state addresses how to keep the Big Darby area protected.

 

The delay in approving the plan is in the details.  Governments in the Big Darby Accord aren’t in agreement on everything in the plan to guide development near the national scenic river.  Here who’s apparently in: Columbus, Franklin County, and Brown, Pleasant, Prairie and Washington townships.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/30/20060630-D1-01.html

 

Darby safeguards

Friday, June 30, 2006

 

Some key provisions of a plan to protect the Big Darby Creek, along with some recent changes:

 

• The plan identifies an additional 20,000 homes in the area, with about 100,000 residents living in the watershed in 30 years.

 

• It recommends permanent easements for areas intended for conservation, including stream corridors and land set aside for development with open space.

 

• In addition to the proposed Town Center and an area west of Hilliard, centralized sewer service would be provided to an area east of Alton & Darby Creek Road and south of Roberts Road. There, 1,400 homes could be built.

 

• New on-lot septic systems would be allowed, but the plan also calls for community-based systems, such as those where small plants treat waste and the leftover water is sprayed on fields.

 

• A community authority that would charge new homeowners a 10-mill tax to pay for services and new water and sewer lines, was extended from 20 years to 30 years.

 

• Fees of $2,500 per new home, plus money raised through taxincrement financing districts, are to raise $430 million over 30 years to pay for public services and improvements, and to compensate landowners to preserve open space.

 

Source: Big Darby Accord

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/30/20060630-D2-07.html

 

The plan is available for download, so you all can read it.  I have, and it looks pretty good.

 

Of course, this being Ohio, it will probably not be adopted.  But there is always a first time.  If it is this would probably be a landmark in te history of controlling sprawl in this state.

 

 

 

 

From the 7/11/06 Dispatch:

 

City wants to expedite Big Darby development

Coleman shifts position on septic tanks near scenic waterway

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Putting more septic systems near the Big Darby would be bad for the creek, Mayor Michael B. Coleman and City Council President Matt Habash said two years ago.  Now, they have a plan for development that allows such sewage-treatment systems near the creek that both the state and federal governments consider a scenic waterway.  The Big Darby Accord, on which the 10 governments involved have yet to vote, would allow individual septic systems but recommends clustering houses and connecting them to community systems that treat wastewater and then spreads it on fields.

 

Coleman’s spokesman, Mike Brown, acknowledged a "slight shift" in the mayor’s position because Franklin County officials pledged to monitor the systems.  He called it a small compromise to keep the parties at the table as they tried to hammer out a plan acceptable to all.  The types of soil in the Darby watershed will limit where septic systems can be placed, said Tim Lawrence, program director for land-use and waterquality programs run by the Ohio State University Extension, which helped consultants prepare the Darby plan.  But land application sewage systems are the best alternative short of centralized sewers, he said.  "There’s a reasonable expectation that can protect the Darby, if they follow the plan."

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/11/20060711-B4-00.html

 

COLUMBUS CITY COUNCIL

Big Darby Accord approved

Columbus is first to adopt environmental plan

By Mark Ferenchik and Jodi Andes

The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 12:26 AM

 

Columbus is the first community to adopt the complex plan to guide development near the Big Darby Creek in Franklin County for decades to come.  Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman has called the plan historic.  The approval of the Big Darby Accord was one of several significant pieces of legislation the Columbus City Council passed in its nearly five-hour session yesterday before a six-week summer break.  Habash called the Darby Accord master plan, which the council unanimously passed, the most significant environmental legislation he's approved in his 14 years on the council. 

 

"We need to do our best to urge the other nine to pass this," Councilwoman Maryellen O'Shaughnessy said, referring to the other communities making up the Big Darby Accord.  The Franklin County commissioners, or at least the two Democrats that make up the majority, along with the Prairie, Pleasant, Brown and Washington township boards have agreed in principal with the plan.  The four other entities, including key members Hilliard and Grove City, were still ironing out concerns.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=202398

Nine other jurisdictions now must review Big Darby pact

Six of 10 affected jurisdictions are on record in support of the plan to develop in the watershed.

By ROSEMARY KUBERA

 

Ultimately, Columbus officials expect all jurisdictions to sign the Big Dabry Accord.  As of last month, officials in Hilliard, Grove City, Harrisburg and Norwich Township expressed reservations and were not prepared to accept the master plan.  Officials from five entities are on record in support: Franklin County as well as Brown, Pleasant, Prairie and Washington townships. 

 

Jurisdictions that don't adopt the plan won't benefit from its provisions, including installation of water and sanitary sewer service by Columbus in high-density areas.  "If they don't follow the whole process they could lose central sewer services," said Habash.  Providing sewer and water service in designated areas in the Big Darby watershed, without requiring the land to be annexed to the city of Columbus, is a "major change in policy" for Columbus, he said.

 

More at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS8-2/8-2_allBigDarbyside.htm

Hilliard sees squeeze in Big Darby Accord

Suburb fears effect on schools, growth

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Dean Narciso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Hilliard officials agree that a regional plan to protect environmentally sensitive areas is essential.  But they take issue with the details of the Big Darby Accord, which is designed to do that.  Last night, the City Council members shared their views and responded to questions from the public about the plan that would affect development in western Franklin County.

 

In July, Mayor Don Schonhardt told fellow accord members that he wasn’t ready to sign off on the plan and wouldn’t do it "against a backdrop of coercion."  Hilliard officials have been concerned that Columbus might withhold extending water and sewer into land annexed by Hilliard in the future if the city doesn’t sign on.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/03/20061003-D2-00.html

 

From ThisWeek Hilliard, 10/19/06:

 

Norwich Township Trustees have problems with Accord

Thursday, October 19, 2006

By JEFF DONAHUE

ThisWeek Contributor

 

Norwich Township Trustees Chuck Buck, Jim Rice and Larry Earman sent a clear message to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners Monday night.  They have big problems with the proposed Big Darby Accord.  Following a brief update from Franklin County planners Lee Brown and Benjamin Weiner, the township trustees left no room for doubt on where they stood on the proposed land use plan.  Buck called the plan "totally un-American" and told the planners "Not everybody out here is ready to hold hands and sing Kumbaya on this thing."

 

Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/index.php?sec=hilliard&story=sites/thisweeknews/101906/Hilliard/News/101906-News-243320.html

 

From ThisWeek Hilliard, 10/26/06:

 

 

Accord headed to commissioners

Thursday, October 26, 2006

By JEFF DONAHUE

ThisWeek Contributor

 

The Big Darby Accord Master Plan has only one major hurdle to clear following the Franklin County Rural Zoning Commission's unanimous recommendation of approval on Oct. 19.  Having previously received the support of the Franklin County Planning Commission, the land use master plan designed to regulate future development and preserve the Big Darby Creek watershed now moves on to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners who will review the plan at their meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

 

Ten area entities, including Franklin County, Columbus, Hilliard, Grove City, Harrisburg and Brown, Norwich, Pleasant, Prairie and Washington townships make up the Big Darby Accord. Officials in Hilliard, Norwich Township, Grove City and Harrisburg have expressed concerns with various aspects of the plan and have not signed on.

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/index.php?sec=hilliard&story=sites/thisweeknews/102606/Hilliard/News/102606-News-247017.html

 

ODOT wants some Big Darby rules nullified

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

One group opposes the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules to protect the Big Darby Creek.  It’s not developers, property owners or environmentalists.  It’s the Ohio Department of Transportation, which says the rules are illegal and will make it much more expensive to build roads.  The Ohio EPA issued rules in September to regulate storm water in the 555-square-mile Big Darby Creek watershed, which covers parts of Franklin, Champaign, Clark, Logan, Madison, Pickaway and Union counties.  To build a road under the new rules, ODOT spokeswoman Lindsay Komlanc said, the transportation department would have to buy a comparable amount of land within 2 miles that wouldn’t be developed.  But ODOT has no legal authority to purchase property outside the roadwork area, Komlanc said.

 

ODOT’s appeal called the rules "unlawful and unreasonable."  It asks the state Environmental Review Appeals Commission to nullify them, but only as applied to roads.  ODOT filed the appeal last month.  The commission held a hearing last week, but a final hearing isn’t expected until May.  The attorney ODOT hired to file the appeal is Christopher Jones, former director of the Ohio EPA.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/18/20061118-B2-00.html

Lowering of levee aims to help Darby

Built for protection of limestone quarry, it’s now a hazard

Monday, December 18, 2006

Dean Narciso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH 

 

A levee built as a short-term fix to protect a limestone quarry from flooding left a generation of potential problems for the Big Darby Creek.  Beginning next month, Metro Parks aims to correct some of those problems by removing the levee built by Olen Corp.  Quarries are typically located near rivers and streams, where land is cheaper to buy, unattractive to developers and easier to mine.

 

Olen operated its 196-acre quarry in Brown Township for more than 30 years beside a sharp turn in the Big Darby at 2709 Amity Rd.  Olen built a 2,000-foot-long earthen mound to keep the Darby’s rushing waters at bay.  Five years ago, Metro Parks purchased the quarry and transformed it into part of Prairie Oaks Metro Park, with lakes, trails and picnic grounds.  On Tuesday, the Metro Parks board of trustees approved funding for the partial removal of the levee and a smaller 200-foot section of another levee nearby.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/18/20061218-B1-03.html

Here are a couple of older articles.

 

---

Franklin County on board with plan

Pact to safeguard Big Darby Creek now OK’d by 6 of 10 communities

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Franklin County became the sixth local government yesterday to sign on to the Big Darby Accord, the plan to control development along the environmentally sensitive Big Darby Creek.  Although Hilliard and other holdouts are trying to address concerns about the pact, officials noted that communities where it has been approved represent 95 percent of county residents living in the Darby watershed. 

 

Franklin County joins Columbus and Brown, Pleasant, Prairie and Washington townships as accord signatories.  County commissioners approved it, 3-0.  The accord has yet to win approval in Hilliard, Grove City, Harrisburg and Norwich Township.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/15/20061115-C4-02.html

 

---

From ThisWeek Hilliard, 12/7/06:

 

 

Working group will suggest Darby Accord compromises

Thursday, December 7, 2006

By JEFF DONAHUE

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Hilliard City Council's newly established Big Darby Accord Working Group will pursue revisions to the planning document via a spirit of compromise according to Councilman Brett Sciotto, who headed up up the group's first meeting Nov. 29.  Sciotto said the group has two duties, to review the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's 208 Plan and to suggest revisions to the Big Darby Accord.

 

"The second mission is to navigate the concerns that the administration and Council share about the Accord as currently written, to see if we can counter propose alternatives and changes that we hope the group will then accept," Sciotto said.  "Pending that acceptance, we could probably join the Accord, without that acceptance, we would probably go our own route.  The third mission then being, if our counter proposals are not accepted, navigating what we need to do to write policies and procedures that protect the environment of the Big Darby, separate and distinct from the Accord."

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/index.php?sec=hilliard&story=sites/thisweeknews/120706/Hilliard/News/120706-News-273267.html

 

POST-ACCORD GUIDELINES

M/I plans 266 homes in Darby watershed

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

After waiting three years, M/I Homes is ready to build near the Big Darby Creek again.  The home builder plans 266 houses in Prairie Township adjacent to the Westpoint subdivision and near Lake Darby Estates.  It filed preliminary plans Dec. 19 for the Prairie Run subdivision, which the Franklin County Planning Commission will take up in February.

 

It’s the first large-scale development to be proposed in the creek’s watershed since Columbus and Franklin County lifted moratoriums on water- and sewer-line extensions.  M/I’s plans for the development have been shelved since 2003. Since then, they’ve been revamped to comply with the accord, said Stephen Caplinger, M/I’s vice president of land operations.  The plan calls for open space on 86 of the development’s 157 acres, or 55 percent.  It also would preserve a little more than 2 acres of wetlands in the northern part of the development while creating a series of wetlands as a southern buffer between homes and railroad tracks.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/01/06/20070106-C1-02.html

Plan would pay rural landowners to stay put

Legislation aims to curb urban sprawl while preserving farms, woodlands

BY MARK FERENCHIK | [email protected]

April 10, 2007

 

Out in the townships, some landowners sit on their precious property, their retirement nest eggs, waiting for developers to buy it, subdivide it, and sell it off to folks fleeing the city for a quieter lifestyle.  But there's now a bill pending at the Statehouse that would allow those same property owners to be paid to keep their land as is, while helping keep a lid on urban sprawl.  And it could be used as a tool to preserve land near the Big Darby Creek, although developers say it would add to their costs.

 

The legislation would create a "transfer of development rights" program for counties and townships.  Developers would buy the right to build at higher densities in one area while agreeing to preserve farms, woodlands or other open space elsewhere.  The bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Larry Wolpert, R-Hilliard, hopes to have the bill ready for a vote by July 1.  Hearings are scheduled to continue next week.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/10/TRANSFER.ART_ART_04-10-07_D6_2N6BCQ6.html

JOIN THE DARBY CREEK ASSOCIATION,

IN COOPERATION WITH METROPARKS…

TO HELP KEEP CENTRAL OHIO’S ONLY “NATIONAL SCENIC RIVER” SCENIC

 

WHEN:  Saturday, May 19, 2007 @ 9:00am to 11:00am

WHERE:  State Route 665 Bridge over Big Darby Creek

WHAT TO BRING:  1 friend, sunscreen, water, hat, gloves, and lots of energy to pick up trash.

(AND YOU CAN BRING MORE FRIENDS IF YOU WANT)

 

Directions

 

From the west side of Columbus, take Norton Rd south to Darbydale, turn right on Rt 665.  Rt 665 is on the north side of the Trapper John’s Canoe Livery property.  Take Rt 665 west about ¾ mile to the bridge over Big Darby Creek and continue 150 yards past the bridge and turn left into the road/parking lot.  This parking lot is the staging location for the clean-up.  We will be under the Rt 665 bridge and along the creek banks picking up trash.

 

 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CALL TRUDY STEWART @ 614-562-8317 OR

E-MAIL [email protected] TO RSVP

 

From ThisWeek West Side, 5/13/07:

 

 

Other jurisdictions to share cost

Prairie to aid search for Accord consultant

Sunday, May 13, 2007

By CARLA SMITH

ThisWeek Contributor

 

Prairie Township trustees approved a participation agreement to aid in the selection of a consultant charged with the creation of the Big Darby Accord Town Center Master Plan.  The action took place at the May 9 board of trustees meeting where the board approved spending no more than $4,167 of the $25,000 cost of a facilitator.  The facilitator will help a steering committee choose the consultant to design the Town Center Master Plan.

 

Township administrator Tracy Hatmaker said four jurisdictions -- City of Columbus, Brown and Prairie townships along with Franklin County -- are pitching in to help pay for the cost of the facilitator.  The cost has been split four ways with Columbus and the county each paying one-third of the amount and the townships picking-up the rest, he said.  All four jurisdictions recently adopted the Big Darby Accord plan which is designed to protect the water quality and natural resources of the watershed area.

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/051307/West/News/051307-News-354301.html

 

From the 6/13/07 Dispatch:

 

Panel rejects first bid for Darby Creek development

Wednesday,  June 13, 2007 3:25 AM

By Mark Ferenchik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Steve Rainey clearly wasn't happy that his plan for luxury homes was the test case for the new panel reviewing developments near Big Darby Creek.  Especially when the group voted 7-0 against his plan for 18 homes between Amity and Walker roads in Brown Township. The proposal, the first considered by the Big Darby Creek Advisory Panel, called for homes costing at least $500,000, most on lots of at least 5 acres. Rainey's Walker Amity LLC is in contract to buy the property.

 

Although the board's decisions are advisory, he'll return with something he hopes it will recommend.  "We take the accord panel very seriously," said Kevin Kershner, a consulting engineer with R.D. Zande & Associates, which represents the partnership. Yesterday's meeting was the first for the new panel to review plans to make sure they conform to the principles of the accord, which is to guide development while protecting the creek and its tributaries.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/13/DARBY.ART_ART_06-13-07_B3_1370O9H.html[/b]

City gets tough on Darby pact

No water, sewer line until Hilliard signs

Friday,  September 7, 2007 3:35 AM

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A year after Columbus, Franklin County and four communities approved a plan to guide development near the Big Darby Creek, four more communities still have not signed on.  And it's about to hurt Hilliard, the largest holdout.  Columbus officials have said the city won't extend water and sewer lines to 125 acres southeast of Scioto Darby and Alton & Darby Creek roads that Hilliard plans to annex -- unless the Hilliard City Council adopts the Big Darby Accord.

 

Columbus sent Hilliard a letter July 12 saying it doesn't want to oversee development in the suburb.  But it won't approve water and sewer line extensions for Skilken's development or others in the watershed unless Hilliard adopts the accord, which spells out ways to protect the waterway.  "We've been concerned that development doesn't impact the Darby," said Susan Ashbrook, Mayor Michael B. Coleman's environmental steward.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/09/07/DARBYTRIP.ART_ART_09-07-07_B5_U87R640.html?sid=101

Way to go Columbus!  Hilliard has never seen a development it didn't want to approve.  It's the prototypical "growth-at-any-cost" suburb - but it's the worst in Central Ohio. 

 

Maybe this will get Hilliard to grow up and join the rest of Central Ohio in preserving the Darby Creeks.

Fish shouldn't even know of 1,800-student school:

Goal is zero impact on nearby Big Darby Creek

By Spencer Hunt, The Columbus Dispatch

Monday,  September 17, 2007 5:43 AM

 

The first major project built under new state protections for the Big Darby, Hilliard Bradley High School is more than a home for 1,800 students. It's the latest in stream conservation.  Rainwater that will run off the building's roof and parking lots will be channeled into a sinuous string of 22 shallow basins that surround the school.  These basins will help slow runoff, filter pollutants and let water soak into the soil at rates equal to the farm fields the school replaced.  "Hopefully, the water that comes off this land will be better than when it was a farm field," said Scott Sonnenberg, a landscape architect who designed the school's storm-water system.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2007/09/17/DARBY.ART_ART_09-17-07_B3.html?sid=101

Builders warn against Darby housing levy

Group considering 10-mill tax to pay for improvements, creek protection

Saturday, October 6, 2007

By Mark Ferenchik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A working group of the Big Darby Accord is finalizing ways to pay for public improvements and protect the Darby, a state and national scenic waterway.  The accord developed last year calls for creating a community-development authority that could tax property owners up to 10 mills for larger housing developments in the Franklin County section of the Big Darby watershed.  Ten mills would cost $306.50 a year per $100,000 of house value.  The money would be used to buy land to preserve open space and to put in such things as roads and sewers.

 

Read more at http://dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/10/06/ZONE0625.ART_ART_10-06-07_B1_8S7373P.html

Set-aside plan a trickle for Scioto's scenic tributaries

Wednesday,  November 14, 2007 3:44 AM

By Spencer Hunt, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

When the state and federal governments decided to pay farmers to plant prairie grasses instead of crops along the Scioto River and its tributaries, Les Imboden signed on for about 500 acres.  The program seems successful; officials hoped to enroll 70,000 acres -- a tenth of the eligible watershed -- and have reached 75 percent of that goal after three years. But fewer of the environmental set-asides in 31 Ohio counties are in areas that drain to Big Darby Creek and the Olentangy River, scenic streams that flow to the Scioto.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/11/14/SciotoCREP.ART_ART_11-14-07_B1_MJ8FIIJ.html?sid=101

Delicate watershed

Groups buy land to guard Darbys

Thursday,  December 13, 2007 3:27 AM

By Spencer Hunt, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

In a race against development, the Nature Conservancy, Columbus Metro Parks and the state are buying up land to protect the Big Darby and Little Darby creeks.  The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced this week that it paid $968,000 for 214 acres of forest and grasslands that bracket the Little Darby near Plumwood in Madison County.  The deal is the latest in a series of purchases that will preserve 572 acres along both waterways at a cost of $4 million.

 

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/13/DarbyBuy.ART_ART_12-13-07_B1_0D8OSOO.html?sid=101

Zoo will spotlight Big Darby Creek

New exhibit will focus on rare species

Monday,  January 14, 2008 2:57 AM

By Dean Narciso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Zoos typically showcase the exotic: rare or unusual species that people generally would never encounter.  But a meandering central Ohio creek will be the focus of a new Columbus Zoo and Aquarium exhibit and first-time partnership among local organizations.  The Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Metro Parks and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, along with other financial backers, will sponsor a Darby Creek Watershed exhibit that is expected to open early next year.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/14/darbyzoo.ART_ART_01-14-08_B4_SM926AU.html?sid=101

Hilliard relents, will sign Big Darby accord

Development rules only a guideline, Columbus tells suburb

Monday, April 28, 2008 

By Dean Narciso, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

After months of wrangling with Columbus over development of the Big Darby watershed, Hilliard is expected to sign an agreement that would encourage future cooperation.  The Hilliard City Council likely will approve the Big Darby Accord Master Plan tonight, ending more than a year's stalemate.  Columbus had threatened to withhold water and sewer service to any Hilliard development in the Darby area if the city didn't sign the accord, a framework for development that emphasizes environmental protection and responsible growth.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/28/darbysign.ART_ART_04-28-08_B5_9HA23H7.html?sid=101

Big Darby, two tributaries to get $5.1 million upgrade

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 3:10 AM

By Spencer Hunt, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/06/24/Darbyrestore.ART_ART_06-24-08_A1_BFAIOMM.html?sid=101

 

 

Board compares Big Darby Accord past, future

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 

By CATHY WOGAN, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Maps for a general land-use plan and a conservation strategy allowed members of the Hilliard Board of Education to look at the past and to get a glimpse into the future of the Big Darby Accord. Assistant Superintendent Tim Hamilton wanted to share with the board members during a June retreat the growth pockets for interest areas in Hilliard. The Hilliard City School District, he said, is in the upper one-third of the region and includes Bradley High School.

 

Benjamin Weiner, a planner with the Franklin County Economic Development & Planning Department, and Adrienne Joly, who works in long-range planning with the city of Columbus' planning division, shared information about the Big Darby Accord with the board, the district's three high school principals and a community member.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/hilliard/stories/2008/07/02/0703hidarbyaccord_ln.html

Hilliard annexation a milestone for city, Big Darby Accord

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - 1:17 PM

By JEFF DONAHUE, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Property owners have filed a petition with Franklin County commissioners to annex 493.6 acres from Norwich and Brown townships into Hilliard.  David Meeks, Hilliard economic development director, told members of city council's Planning, Projects and Services Committee on Monday night that the property owners had filed the petition with the commissioners Sept. 4.  That filing set in motion a process under which the city has 20 days to adopt a resolution defining the services that will be provided to the property owners by the city upon annexation.

 

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/hilliard/stories/2008/09/10/annexation.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=104