YELLOW SPRINGS In the winter of 1999 residents of Yellow Springs became alarmed by the impending auction of a 930-acre farm south of the village.Developers interested in the property planned to divide the farm for housing development. But residents feared their village of 4,000 would suddenly double in size and lose its small-town appeal. Through fund-raising, sales and benefit concerts organizers amassed a half-million-dollar war chest within four weeks. But they knew that would not be enough to purchase the entire farm and hoped instead to use the funds to form alliances with buyers to keep as much of the land in agriculture as possible. On Feb. 22, 1999 the farm went on the auction block, with 200 bidders and many others nervously watching. And in a storybook ending the entire 930-acre farm was purchased for $3.275 million by David and Sharen Neuhardt, who declared that the land would remain in agricultural use. The Neuhardts, both attorneys, own a house on the property and had originally intended to buy only the property surrounding their home. But after successfully bidding on the entire farm the Neuhardts said they would rent or sell the rest of the property -- after applying conservation easements to prevent non-agricultural development.
Selected Dayton Daily News storiesHISTORIC FARM UP FOR BIDS * Yellow Springs residents express concerns about land preservation, urban sprawl. By Lawrene Trump Cox News Service Published: 01/21/99 -- Page: 3B YELLOW SPRINGS
YELLOW SPRINGS STRATEGIES
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Above: Map shows how developers had proposed subdividing the farm.