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The Granville Historical Society Oral History Project 2001 - 2002
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35) Green Space and Land Conservancy
School children on
a nature walk through the Spring Valley forest, part of the
45 acres acquired
by Granville Township in Spring 2007 with the help of a
state grant and
other monies, 2007.
The Granville Sentinel
Comprehensive Planning and Green Space Funding (Eric Jones) More development, no doubt, lies in Granville’s future. But I think we’ve done the right things in comprehensive planning to assure that the basic things that we all like about Granville will continue. The things I’m most proud of, what we’ve done in the township and as a community, is the green space funding. Whenever I think of it, I think of Central Park in New York City and how much foresight the people that set that park aside had. And when I look at the Quisenberry- Kent property, the Raccoon Valley property, Salt Run Park, and other properties that we’re talking about acquiring now, that should stay the same forever. The Licking Land Conservancy(Candi Moore) The goal of the Licking Land Conservancy is to try to preserve properties that are unique, as well as limiting development and growth. Their focus primarily is along Raccoon Creek, protecting property along each side of the creek so the creek area can stay pristine. But there are some other really very beautiful areas too that they would like to help preserve. And sometimes you really don’t know those places are there until you go out and tromp around a little bit. There is also interest in still seeing some agricultural land around here. A lot of people move out here because they like being out in kind of a rural setting. But the farms are disappearing pretty fast. So we need to find some ways to preserve some of that farmland. The Conservancy doesn’t have a very big budget. So its primary mode of operating has been in looking for land owners that would grant conservation easements on their properties. That’s how they’ve gotten most of the land -- most all of it is donated. At this point we have over 80 acres protected.
Green Space Tax Levies and Properties Purchased(Rob Drake) [ The first green space levy of 1 mill was approved in 1997. It was added to in 2000 with approval of a 2.5 mill levy. ] Granville is finally putting it’s money where it’s mouth has been for a long time about trying to preserve some of the green space by voting the tax levies on itself. And I think the community deserves an enormous amount of credit for doing that. Because there are so many people in so many areas that say “we want to slow growth and preserve green space” but they want somebody else to pay for it. And Granville has now twice passed tax levies and anybody who owns rural property is sharing part of their tax revenues to do that. 
Franchion
Lewis gave this property to the Village of Granville, 2008
William
Holloway
The green space money has been used to buy the wooded hillside on West Broadway just across from the Wildwood Park. They bought all of that deep wooded hillside. They have a contract to buy the property out on Burg Street that’s now going to be adjacent to where the new intermediate school is being built. The trustees have bought and built the park down on 16, and they have baseball fields and soccer fields down there. They own the land on the other side of 16 that’s still a field. They own what’s called the “Salt Run Park” off of 16. It’s not really open for public access yet, but they bought it. I don’t know how large it is, 85 acres probably. The back of some property up off of Jones Road has been preserved. That was a gift of a woman named Fanchion Lewis who was one of my teachers in high school and was [ at one time ] the vice president of the Historical Society . . . . So there have been several pieces that have been set aside in that way. I would be hopeful that the community will continue to support those sorts of levies. |
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