Present at the June 16 Village Council meeting were, from left Trish Gustafson, Brian Housh, Carmen Brown, Gavin DeVore Leonard and Kevin Stokes. (Video still)
Village Council talks apartments, property tax levy
- Published: June 22, 2025
The following items were discussed at Council’s Monday, June 16 regular meeting:
Apartment plans get first readings: Council members gave first readings to four separate ordinances regarding Columbus-based real estate developer Windsor Companies’ plans to build two apartment complexes near and on the Antioch College campus — a 43-unit, senior-based apartment in the Charles F. Kettering building, as well as a 96-unit complex on the site of the former Student Union.
Two of the four ordinances regarded the rezoning of these two sites — redesignating them from E-1, or educational, to PUD, or planned unit developments. The other two ordinances regarded the planned unit development plans.
At the most recent Planning Commission meetings, commissioners voted unanimously to recommend Council approval for both the Student Union and Kettering apartment projects. Windsor had initially sought to build 128 units at the Student Union site — following the derelict building’s planned demolition — but, in response to sizable public push-back against the density of the project, crafted a new site plan for 96 units.
Village Council will give all four ordinances a second reading and hold public hearings at the group’s next regular meeting, Monday, July 7.
Property tax levy: In November, local voters will decide whether or not to renew a local property tax levy after Council passed a 5–0 resolution to “proceed with election on the question of a renewal tax in excess of the ten-mill limitation.” Villagers originally passed the levy in 2010 by one vote, renewed it in 2015 and then again in 2020 by wider margins.
The ballot language will likely read as follows:
“A renewal of a tax for the benefit of the Village of Yellow Springs for the purpose of current expenses, that the county auditor estimates will collect $855,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 8.4 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $168 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for a period of five years, commencing in 2026, first due in calendar year 2027.”
Local voters will choose “for” or “against” the tax levy renewal.
As previously reported in the News, this operating levy funnels taxpayer money into the Village’s General Fund and supports activities such as parks, recreation, streets, the Gaunt Park pool and the John Bryan Youth Center.
TLT fund availability extended: Last year, Village Council granted local farmland preservation nonprofit Tecumseh Land Trust, or TLT, $113,000 from the Village’s Greenspace Fund.
At the time, TLT representatives were unable to publicly state what those funds would go toward, but in the months since, the nonprofit has sought to use that money and more to purchase conservation easements on 184 acres of farmland to the west of Yellow Springs — informally called the “Welch Farm” after the family selling the land — thus keeping that land agricultural in perpetuity.
As the News has reported in the past, TLT aims to work with interested farmers to purchase easements that prohibit development on the land — a cost totalling around $860,000, or the appraised value of the entire 184-acre farm.
As those buyer discussions continue, and with the Village’s grant set to expire June 30 of this year, Council agreed unanimously on Monday to extend their $113,00 offer until Dec. 31, 2025.
Village affirms Pride celebration: To applause from those in attendance of Monday’s meeting, Council passed a resolution that “encourages marching louder, celebrating bolder and standing stronger on June 28” — Yellow Springs’ planned, villagewide Pride celebration; read more on page 2 — “to recognize the rich cultural and societal contributions of the LGBTQ+ community and to fight for justice, equity and inclusion.”
The resolution stated that Council takes “PRIDE in the diversity of our community and commits to ensuring the equal treatment and protection of all Villagers & Visitors [sic], regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, ethnicity, economic status, mental/physical ability or religious affiliation.”
‘Growth’ work session planned: Council briefly reviewed the agenda for a forthcoming work session that will “consider population growth” in Yellow Springs, with the intent of answering the question, “What kind of community do we want to be?”
The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held Monday, June 23, at 3 p.m., in the Bryan Center’s second-floor meeting space in Rooms A&B.
According to the agenda, which is published in full on page 9 of this week’s issue of the News, Council members will sketch their priorities and concerns regarding the village’s population growth and development, what the municipal and infrastructure capacities are to accommodate this potential growth, how existing and future zoning regulations may inhibit or facilitate growth, and more.
In holding this discussion, Village staffers and Council members will rely on the outlines of the 2018 Bowen Housing Study, the most recent Comprehensive Land Use Plan and a “visioning” document from 2010.
The next regular Village Council meeting will be Monday, July 7, at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, on the second floor of the John Bryan Community Center.
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