After nearly two years of legal arguments, a lawsuit regarding University Estates was settled this past May leaving a plot of land untouched while the City of Athens and local land developers eye the property.
Its previous owner defaulted on the land in question, about 600 acres near Ohio Route 682. As it currently stands, the Citizens Bank of Logan still owns the property after obtaining it in lieu of foreclosure.
However, according to Athens City Council members, talk of possible financial problems at the bank could potentially lead to a sale of certain assets, putting University Estates back on the market.
Citizens Bank of Logan could not be reached for comment.
During and prior to the lawsuit, local land developer Brent Hayes and City Council had both made attempts to purchase the property, Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
For the city, it was all about wellheads, said Councilwoman Chris Fahl. The Athens well field is the natural water source in the area, and its maintenance and protection is of central importance with regard to the University Estates, she said.
“Athens has a fairly vulnerable water source,” Fahl said. “Cities are always protective of their water supply, protecting the health and safety of its citizens. We saw this as an opportunity to protect our well fields.”
Currently, no wells are built on the University Estates land, although it is within the natural well field, Wiehl said. In the beginning stages of the lawsuit over the land, the city began making attempts to enter the deliberations in an effort to expand and further secure its water source.
Hayes has been criticized for his work on the clear-cut hillside south of Walmart, sometimes referred to as “Brent Hayes Hillside.”
The hillside land, once a stretch of forest, was carved and cleared and is now mined for clay.
Wiehl said that Hayes’ techniques amount to cutting up the land, extracting the dirt and selling it for profit. Wiehl added that the environmentally questionable feel to Hayes’ tactics is not what prompted the city’s response in the lawsuit.
“Public works don’t move as fast as private industry,” Wiehl said. “It’s not that we wanted to get Hayes out of the mix. We just wanted to make sure we were there too, to watch out for our own well-being.”
In terms of possible plans for the University Estates property as well as his methodology, Hayes had little to say.
“I just buy property,” he said. “We do what zoning says we can do.”
As for the city’s interest in the land, Wiehl said they are still interested in the University Estates property, although a resolution may be years away.
“It got really messy and it’s still messy,” Fahl said. “Someday, hopefully, it won’t be messy anymore.”
es394910@ohiou.edu
