“I think it’s a great step in the right direction,” said Alexis Faust, executive director of Aullwood Audubon, which has pushed to preserve the prairie. “The answer to any of these things is to look at the science.”
Dayton officials said the city has offered to sell 40 to 45 acres of the roughly 110 acres of prairie land to Five Rivers MetroParks to preserve it.
The cities of Dayton and Union recently approved a settlement agreement that ends a multi-year legal dispute over prairie land Dayton wants to sell for commercial redevelopment but that conservationists and others want preserved.
Dayton wanted to sell about 110 acres of the Knoop Prairie, located at West National Road and Frederick Pike, for a redevelopment project that city officials said would have created 600 to 700 new jobs and led to $250 million in new investment.
But the company backed out, and Dayton sued Union and its City Manager John Applegate, claiming they “cast a cloud” over the property title and wrongfully interfered with the deal.
The settlement agreement between the cities rescinds a legal affidavit Dayton took issue with and resolves the litigation and it states Union can construct maintain and control some roads and rights-of-way near the Dayton International Airport.
The agreement fosters regional cooperation, allowing both jurisdictions to add more commercial development around the aviation facility, said Mark Charles, Dayton’s sustainability manager.
Also under the agreement, Dayton also says it will pay for a water and environmental study for the Knoop prairie property.
The study will assess the potential adverse impact redeveloping Knoop prairie would have on surface and ground water, as well as on the site and surrounding area, Charles said.
The goal is to identify potential issues in order to try to avoid or reduce them when the property is ultimately redeveloped, Charles said.
The city will soon solicit bids for the assessment, Charles said, and the city currently does not have potential developers lined up who are interested in the prairie land.
The settlement agreement says the city will share the results of the water and environmental assessment with Union, as well as Five Rivers MetroParks and Aullwood Audubon.
Aullwood and MetroParks were among the most vocal opponents of the city’s redevelopment plans.
Between late spring and late summer of 2019, dozens of people, including MetroPark and Aullwood supporters, for months attended Dayton City Commission meetings to voice their disapproval of commercial development at that location.
Many people said any projects would threaten a watershed that begins on the prairie land that feeds into Wiles Creek, which is a small stream that travels south through the Aullwood Audubon Farm and Aullwood Garden MetroPark.
Many people said the prairie is a vital part of a thriving habitat for wildlife, birds and insects, and it has a diverse collection of native plant species.
Five Rivers MetroParks remains very concerned about the potential of future development on the Paul E. Knoop Prairie property, said Becky Benná, Five Rivers MetroParks CEO.
But she said, “We appreciate that the city of Dayton will conduct an impartial environmental and water study. ... We look forward to the opportunity to review and discuss the study and results.”
An environmental and water study should show what the potential runoff issues would be of a commercial project at the property and how it might affect Aullwood Farm, said Faust, executive director, of Aullwood Audubon.
“I personally think that it may show that the prairie is not developable because the prairie, as we’ve said for a long time, absorbs so much water fall,” she said. “It drinks 9 inches an hour in a big rainfall event, and that’s hard to duplicate with some type of remediation strategy.”
Faust said she looks forward to seeing what the science says and hopes the city will follow it.
Dayton has offered to sell some of the prairie land to MetroParks to preserve it, but the city also wants to develop some of the property because the city needs new investment and jobs, said Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein.
The city faces significant income tax losses due to remote working during the pandemic, she said.
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