When you live in small town America, the sight of large dump trucks, demolition teams and equipment clearing trees and brush can instigate some pretty interesting rumors around town. The recent activity along Stine Road piqued the curiosity of the Enon Eagle enough to start making some calls and finding out just what is happening on the land so many of us drive by daily.

The house and land located at 6766 Stine Road was sold late last year to Hillside Creek Farms LLC. According to information available from the Clark County Auditor the parcel covers a little over 112 acres and includes land on the north and south side of Stine Road.

The property, when sold was listed with one acre dedicated to the “homesite” with 77.82 acres listed as “tillable” and a little over 19 acres as pasture land. There is a “right of way” on the portion of the property that runs along the south side of homes in the West Enon and Green Meadows subdivision. This is also the area where the Shellabarger Cemetery was recently rediscovered. This accounts for less than four and a half acres. The rest of the land is considered as “woodland or wasteland”.

The new owner spoke to the Enon Eagle earlier this year. He indicated at the time that the house and barn would be taken down to make way for farming the land. As speculation about development increased, the Eagle contacted the owner regarding any changes to the plan. He indicated in writing that “I have no development plans for what was the Wood Farm”. He explained that the clearing of the trees and the “dilapidated” structures are part of the plan to improve the property to allow for planting of crops on the land. Due to the delay in clearing the land, the owner stated that he believes that a crop will not be planted this year, but the plan is to improve the property and plant next season.

Records at the county show that Hillside Creek Farms LLC also owns property at 5779 Enon-Xenia Road which consists of a little more than 22 acres. An acre of the land is considered “homestead” with the remaining 21 acres being divided into “woodland” and “pasture” / “tillable”.

Property on the south side of the creek adjacent to where Hillside Creek Farms is clearing trees is listed on the county maps as an Enon-Xenia address. This parcel which extends from near the VFW Post west to the rear of the Creekside Condo complex was known as the Arthur Farm. The farm was purchased over a dozen years ago by Scott Owens, a developer out of the Columbus area using the name of White Oak Properties . This parcel was approved for Planned District Residential back in 2005 according to county records. Prior to the approval of the PDR, local residents formed a Political Action Committee known as Active Citizens of the Township. Their efforts encouraged Owens to reconsider his original development plan which was to build 8 homes per acre. The revised plan decreased the density of the subdivision and provided green space and trails for a walkable community linked to business locations along Dayton Road as well as the local schools in the area. The new plan met with approval of the citizen group and conformed to the County Crossroads Plan for development in the township.

When the economy went into decline, Owens was unable to complete the Creekside Condo complex which was the first phase in his development plan for the Arthur Farm. The condo complex was purchased a couple of years ago by Cal Hahn, the son of Charles and Martha Hahn. The Hahn farm was developed over the years by another contractor into what is now known as the Holiday Valley and Hunter’s Glen subdivisions. The condo complex is listed on county records as Creekside Condos LLC and is based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Hahn is also affiliated with Hillside Creek Farms LLC.

The remaining 166.21 acres of the Owens AKA Arthur Farm property was owned by Hillside Creek Farms LLC until January of 2012 when it was sold to the Wenrick Family Limited Partnership. According to Alan Neimayer of the Clark County Community Development office, over the years, owners of the property have continued to seek extensions of the approved development plan for this parcel. Mr. Neimayer explained that there have been no changes made to the original approval. Extensions were granted in 2011, 2013 and most recently an extension was granted for the current owner until December 29, 2016.  The approval of the extension for the PDR does allow for development of this parcel for at least the next three years.

The Partnership also owns 12.96 acres of land located along Speedway Drive. Maps on the auditor’s website indicate that this land is on the south side of the road which leads to the Speedway Headquarters. The land use is listed as “commercial vacant land”. County records indicate that two other commercial properties are owned by the Partnership in the New Carlisle area.