Council chambers were packed with about 50 local residents on Tuesday, April 14, for the most recent regular Planning Commission meeting, when the group considered an application submitted by a local childhood education program to operate out of a home in a quiet neighborhood.

Specifically, Yellow Springs-based Open Air Village — an outdoor-based program, equal parts daycare and preschool — sought approval to headquarter and run the business at 1333 President Street.

After two and a half hours of discussion, by a unanimous vote of 5–0, Planning Commission members ultimately approved those in-home childcare plans.

Now, Open Air Village is permitted to host up to 12 children at any given time, operating Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Plans include a regimented drop-off and pick-up schedule, with no more than four cars coming and going from the residence in 20-minute windows in hour-long time slots at the beginning, middle and end of the day.

Additionally, per Planning Commission’s conditions for approval, no parking is permitted on the street and Open Air Village staffers must obtain a certificate of occupancy as well as Village approval for the installation of any signage.

All these operational logistics are consistent with the Village zoning code, particularly those outlined for R-A, or low-density residential districts, such as the President Street neighborhood.

Open Air Village has been around Yellow Springs since its founding in 2020 by local residents Nicole and Bryan Gay. It was first established in the former Children’s Montessori Cooperative space inside the Sontag-Fels building on Antioch College’s campus. Anticipating the eventual demolition of Sontag, Antioch moved Open Air to another, albeit temporary, campus space in McGregor Hall late last summer.

As previously reported in the News, the Gays’ solution came from a “For Lease” sign in front of the President Street house — the former home of the late George and Toshiko Asakawa, which sits on roughly an acre and has a large U-shaped driveway, as well as a finished basement.

According to the Gays’ plans submitted to Planning Commission, the only changes they intend to make to the home are to the basement to accommodate the infrequent and/or off-season indoor activities for the children under their supervision. A portion of the first floor will be used as a multi-use space for dining and parent group meetings.

All other activities will be in the backyard — in open air.

“Since opening, our work has been grounded in nurturing children to feel confident in themselves,” Nicole Gay told Planning Commissioners on Tuesday. “That is to learn self regulation, to resolve conflict and to build meaningful connection with the natural world. Our children aren’t behind screens. They’re not being drilled with numbers and letters, but they’re creating, becoming artists, leaders and small and capable versions of their future selves.”

It’s that outdoor-centric philosophy that drew the greatest concern from several neighbors who attended the meeting or wrote letters in opposition.

“I know what recess sounds like,” Marsha Sutherland, a former Mills Lawn teacher, said. “My patio is 30 feet from where these children will be playing. Gone will be the quiet morning cup of coffee. Gone will be the peaceful afternoons of gardening. And when I have to sell my house, I’ll have to explain I’m right next to an outdoor daycare with eight hours of yelling, screaming preschoolers.”

All told, 14 letters in opposition to Open Air’s plans were submitted to Planning Commission ahead of Tuesday’s meeting — most of which echoed Sutherland’s concerns over noise and property values, and which also articulated trepidation over traffic, pedestrian safety and liberal interpretations of the zoning code.

Support for Open Air Village’s plans, however, far outnumbered the opposition. Just short of 50 letters in favor of bringing operations to the President Street home were submitted to Planning Commission. A sizable portion of those who spoke at the meeting were current or former parents of children enrolled in Open Air.

“A lot of what I’ve heard [from opponents] is people reacting to what they’re afraid this could become, not what is being asked for right now,” villager and Open Air parent Jason Laveck said.

Regarding the fears of noise, Nicole Gay said she and her husband have every intention to mitigate any potential ruckus.

“Our children laugh — and we hope that’s not offensive to hear,” she said. “Sometimes they cry — and we comfort them through that. But the notion that they’re going to be outside screaming all day, running wild, going over fences and going into fish ponds is all just untrue.”

As additional balm to the detractors, Gay said that this home-based location is, in their best case scenario, a temporary situation.

“We hope this is a short-term solution for us,” she said. “If given the chance, we hope to be able to grow and save and one day, build a permanent space. But right now, that’s just not where we’re at.”

Over the course of the meeting, Planning Commissioners went back and forth in their attempts to address neighbor concerns — particularly over noise. Potential stipulations of having the Gays build fencing, plant foliage or take any meaningful steps to create a sound barrier between them and their neighbors were all options proposed, but were all rescinded in favor of the Gays’ reassurances to mindfully operate the childcare program.

“I have empathy for both sides,” Planning Commission Chair Susan Stiles conceded. “This was a very difficult decision for all of us.”

Chamber Music in Yellow Springs has announced the two finalists in its 41st Annual Competition for Emerging Ensembles: Trio Timia and Trio Caspar.

The two ensembles, selected by a panel of professionals, will each perform Sunday, April 26, at First Presbyterian Church. The event begins at 4 p.m.

The competition is one of the signature programs of the all-volunteer nonprofit CMYS, and is designed to recognize and support new talent. Following the performances, three judges will choose the winner of the $4,000 first prize and the recipient of the $3,000 second prize. While the judges decide, attendees will vote for the $500 Audience Favorite prize.

Trio Caspar was the first group to be named as the Colburn Conservatory’s inaugural Honors Chamber Music Ensemble. Founded in 2024 by clarinetist Andrea Caputo, violinist Jason Moon and pianist Bogang Hwang, Trio Caspar’s name pays homage to the German painter Caspar David Friedrich, whose exploration of the complexity of individualism inspires the trio’s distinctive sound. For the competition, they will share works by Stravinsky and Schumann as well as several 20th century pieces.

Trio Timia was formed in Montréal and takes its name from the Greek word timia, which means “truth” and “honesty” while also serving as a playful echo of the Korean phrase “we are a team.” The ensemble features pianist Itamar Prag, violinist June Lee and cellist François Lamontagne. In line with their dedication to exploring a wide array of repertoire, from classical masterpieces to contemporary works, their competition pieces include Mendelssohn and Bohuslav Martinu.

Tickets are $30 general admission, available at the door and online; online sales have an additional processing fee. A few seats are also available for the post-concert dinner with the performers and judges.

As always for CMYS performances, students aged 25 and younger can attend at no charge. A limited number of free tickets will also be made available at the YS library the week before the concert on a first-come basis.

At its Monday, April 6, meeting, the Miami Township Board of Trustees covered a wide swath of business that began with officially welcoming on-board a new Township official.

Cyndi Pauwels was formally sworn in as Miami Township fiscal officer at the start of the meeting, following her appointment last month to fill the remainder of former Fiscal Officer Jeanna GunderKline’s term. Pauwels had previously served as fiscal officer assistant and has been working alongside GunderKline during the transition period. Pauwels’ term began April 1.

Following the swearing-in, Fire Chief James Cannell reported that MTFR has received two grants from the YS Community Foundation.

One grant, a $6,000 award, will support the department’s community paramedicine program, which launched earlier this year and provides ongoing care and check-ins for residents outside of emergency calls.

Cannell said the program, led by Steffinie Brewer, is averaging about five visits per week, with more participants expected in the coming weeks.

“[Brewer is] constantly on the phone and talking with people, getting referrals on a regular basis,” Cannell said, adding that he believes the program “is going to be very successful.”

Another grant will fund a firefighter cadet position through the Antioch College co-op program, covering wages for Antioch student Nicolas Rivera, who began work with the department this month. The cadet position was previously approved by trustees at their March 16 meeting.

Rivera, who is from Delaware, Ohio, is expected to work about 32 hours per week with the department.

“He came in very positive and eager, and we’ve been keeping him busy and getting him some gear and teaching him the firehouse way,” Cannell said.

Antioch College and Miami Township Fire-Rescue have a long-running shared history: From at least the mid 1920s to the mid 1990s, the college maintained a student-run fire department, colloquially known as Maples, which worked in coordination with the then largely volunteer MTFR, sharing calls and resources between the two institutions. Notably, former MTFR Fire Chiefs Colin Altman and Dennis Powell were both Maples fire chiefs before serving full-time at MTFR.   

That shared history is apparent in a new logo for MTFR, debuted by Cannell at the meeting; the logo, Cannell said, was developed by a MTFR staff committee to help distinguish the department from “the [four] other Miami Townships in Ohio.”

“It’s got a lot of history in it; that was one thing we requested,” Cannell said. “It shows our beautiful wilderness, our waterways; it still has the Antioch towers in the background.”

Zoning amendments move forward

During the meeting, Trustees opened a public hearing on the first phase of proposed amendments to the Township’s Zoning Resolution, reviewing seven of a planned 15 updates.

As the News has reported in the past, the amendments have been in development since last year with support from the Greene County Regional Planning and Coordinating Commission and funded through a state grant. Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas has said the revisions are intended to simplify language, eliminate inconsistencies and align the code with current state law and land-use practices.

The first batch of changes addressed projections into yard setbacks, parking and storage of recreational vehicles, swimming pool regulations, cemetery standards, private airstrips and updated rules for parking, loading and signage.

Additional hearings for the remaining amendments will be held during upcoming regular meetings, after which Trustees will vote on the amendments’ approval.

To read all 15 proposed amendments in full, go to miamitownship.net/zoning-resolution.

Insurance policy change approved

At meeting’s end, trustees approved a resolution to discontinue reimbursement of health insurance premiums for elected officials who opt out of the Township’s group health plan. The resolution was brought forward by Trustee Chair Marilan Moir, who cited concerns that the existing practice was not properly authorized and may not comply with state and federal requirements.

“This resolution is not codifying anything,” Moir said. “It is stating that we’re not in compliance with the state laws.”

According to the resolution and discussion, the Township had been reimbursing premiums for some officials without a formal policy in place and without clearly defined limits, eligible benefits or administrative procedures. Moir said that any reimbursement program must be formally adopted and applied consistently between elected officials and staff.

“To have an opt-out reimbursement program, it has to be a policy that’s offered to all — everyone in the organization,” she said.

Trustee Chris Mucher raised concerns about the personal financial impact of passing the resolution, noting that he had accrued about $6,700 in unreimbursed health insurance costs for his family so far since last year as part of the opt-out practice. He added that the reimbursement practice had been in place “for the last 20 to 25 years.”

Moir noted that the resolution includes language directing the Township to consult with insurance benefit compliance professionals and tax and payroll experts to “pursue the possibility of a healthcare premium reimbursement policy that is consistent with state and federal laws.”

Following discussion, trustees agreed to request that Greene County Prosecutor David Hayes review the situation and identify any legal options for reimbursing Mucher for premiums already paid in 2025 and 2026.

The next regular meeting of the Miami Township Trustees will be Monday, April 20, at 5 p.m., in the MTFR meeting room.

The following information is from DarkSky International, submitted by the YS Habitat Team.

Over the past 100 years, humans have transformed the night, erasing the natural darkness with which we evolved. While artificial light at night is crucial to our modern world, it comes at a cost. Artificial light has contributed to light pollution which is increasing at a global average rate of 10% a year.

Light pollution includes components of:

• Glare — excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort;

• Sky glow — brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas;

• Light trespass — light falling where it is not intended or needed; and

• Clutter — bright, confusing, and excessive groupings of light sources.

Growing scientific research indicates that artificial light at night has detrimental effects on human health and well-being. Circadian disruption occurs when our internal clock is out of sync with the day-night cycle. Circadian disruption has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, mood disorders, reproductive problems and cancers.

Plants and animals also depend on natural light cycles to govern life-sustaining behaviors such as reproduction, nourishment, sleep and protection from predators. Scientific evidence suggests that artificial light at night has deadly effects on many creatures, contributing to the decline of biodiversity worldwide. Artificial lights can cause migrating birds to wander off course toward dangerous nighttime landscapes and cities. Millions of birds die colliding with needlessly illuminated buildings and towers every year.

We are just starting to understand the effects of artificial light on wildlife. Each year, new research adds more wildlife to the list of affected animals, including monarch butterflies, moths and other insects, bats, owls and even aquatic species.

DarkSky estimates that 30% of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. is also wasted, mostly due to unshielded or excessively bright lights. This adds up to $3.3 billion dollars annually. Installing quality outdoor lighting could cut energy use by 60% to 70%.

In the U.S. alone, unnecessary lighting produces 21 million tons of carbon dioxide each year — 875 million trees would need to be planted annually to offset this waste.

Studies like one out of the city of Chicago are revealing that brighter light does not always equate to increased safety. Poorly designed, misdirected and ineffectively shielded light can actually cause glare and shadows, while overly bright lights can potentially reveal more potential targets for crime. Outdoor lighting should be fully shielded and directed downward where it is needed. Fully shielded fixtures can provide the same level of illumination on the ground as unshielded ones, but with less energy and cost.

Unnecessary indoor lighting — particularly in empty office buildings at night — should be turned off, preventing leakage of that light into the night sky. Warm-light LED and compact fluorescent bulbs can help reduce energy use and protect the environment.

Dimmers, motion sensors and timers can help to reduce average illumination levels and save even more energy.

During spring and fall bird migration periods, close curtains or reduce light on second-story floors in residential homes at night, and do not shine spotlights upward toward the sky.

For more information, visit local chapter DarkSky Ohio’s booth at the YS Earth Day & Community Habitat Celebration on Sunday, April 26, 1–4 p.m. on the lawn of the John Bryan Community Center.

Antioch College’s Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom will host a banquet and fundraiser later this month in Springfield, aiming to both honor Coretta Scott King’s legacy and strengthen support for the center’s work.

The Coretta Scott King Legacy Fundraising Banquet will be held Sunday, April 26, at the Springfield Museum of Art, with doors opening at 5 p.m. and the program beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The program will be hosted by Dr. Queen Meccasia Zabriskie, director of the Coretta Scott King Center, and honorary co-host John Gudgel, president of The 365 Project board of directors.

Speaking with the News last week, Zabriskie said the CSKC has traditionally held celebrations in honor of King’s April 27th birthday, and this year’s banquet is designed to both continue that tradition and reflect the center’s current priorities and create space for community engagement.

“We’re not focusing on a particular aspect of her legacy, except for giving the college permission to create a center named after her that focuses on social justice education and diversity education,” she said. “So it’s celebrating that history, but also talking about the contemporary work and the future work of the center.”

The evening’s program will include dinner, a 20th anniversary presentation and a panel discussion titled “Forging a Way Forward: Facing Contemporary Human Rights and Civil Rights Challenges.” Panelists include Chad Dion Lassiter, executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission; Denise Williams, president of the Springfield NAACP; Valerie Lemmie, senior advisor for state and local government at the Kettering Foundation; and Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center.

Zabriskie said the panel is intended to center current issues affecting the region — particularly in Springfield, which has been at the center of both regional and national attention after the attempted removal of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in that community by the Trump administration.

“When we talk about Springfield, we have to think about the current administration and the attacks on Springfield and on the Haitian community, in particular — that’s one of the issues that’s at the forefront of everyone’s minds,” she said. “It’ll give us a chance to talk about contemporary issues, but really, to talk with people who are engaged in the work of addressing and facing these contemporary human rights and civil rights challenges in this moment.”

The choice of the Springfield Museum of Art for the banquet, Zabriskie said, is both an acknowledgement of the ongoing social justice work in the city and a reflection of the museum being “mission-aligned” with the Coretta Scott King Center. And hosting the event in Springfield also offers a direct connection to King’s history, she added.

“Coretta Scott King’s first public solo [vocal musical] performance was in Springfield at the Second Baptist Church,” Zabriskie said. “So it gives us an opportunity to highlight that aspect of her legacy.”

Banquet attendees will also have access to museum exhibitions during the event, including “Black Lives as Subject Matter III” and a display of Haitian metal artwork. The banquet will conclude with a jazz performance by Cuban American pianist and composer Fabian Almazan, whose work explores themes of musical innovation and environmental justice.

Zabriskie said the event is part of a broader effort to strengthen connections between the center and communities across the region. To that end, in the weeks leading up to the banquet, the center hosted a series of smaller conversations during Women’s History Month in Columbus, Dayton, Springfield and the village. Those gatherings, Zabriskie said, were intended to invite community input and begin building a wider network of support that could inform the center’s next phase of work.

“We really wanted to have a conversation with people in the audience about what kinds of things and what kind of work they would love to see come out of the center,” she said.

Participants, Zabriskie said, expressed interest in expanded voter education efforts, while also raising the possibility of a more formal “friends of the center” network to support programming and outreach. Others pointed to opportunities to build on existing education initiatives; in particular, she noted positive feedback to the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day event, which launched locally in 2024 and is held in November in collaboration with YS Schools. The event honors Bridges who, at age 6, was the first Black student to desegregate the previously all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1960.

Zabriskie said the upcoming banquet and fundraiser is also expected to include discussion of the development of a Coretta Scott King Humanitarian Award, which she said would recognize those who are “engaged in work that forwards the legacy and vision that Coretta Scott King worked so hard to create.”

Ultimately, Zabriskie said, the banquet is about building new connections and reinforcing existing ones in a time when antiracism and social justice work are being challenged at the highest levels of governance.

“The only way to navigate this is to support each other, to build this network of support,” she said.

And the best network, she said, is a “net that works,” an idea she credited to the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond.

“Already I can see in the conversations we’ve been able to have, and the possibilities for the work moving forward, the power of that kind of connection,” she said, nodding to the words of Coretta Scott King herself: “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”

“The people who came before worked so hard to get us to this point, and we’re still working,” Zabriskie said. “So all is not lost.”

More information on the Coretta Scott King Center Legacy Fundraising Banquet is available at http://www.antiochcollege.edu

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