Oxford Village officials have decided to seek voter permission to sell a small, vacant piece of publicly-owned land located in the municipality’s northwest quadrant.

Last week, council voted 3-2 to place a question on the November ballot concerning a 0.589-acre parcel near the Polly Ann Trail.

Voting to put the issue on the ballot were council members Joe Frost, Erik Dolan and Dave Bailey. Voting against it were village President Sue Bossardet and Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth.

Currently zoned for single-family residential use, the property is located at the southwest corner of Dayton and Maple streets.

“Any vote on this is not to sell the property,” explained village attorney Bob Davis. “It’s just to pocket the right to sell the property. If you don’t do it now, you will not have an opportunity for two years to gain the right (unless the village conducts and pays for a special election).”

“If approval is given by the voters, is there an expiration (date) on that approval?” Frost asked.

“No,” replied Davis.

Voter-approval is required by the village charter “to sell any property of value in excess of five dollars per capita, according to the last preceding U.S. Census.”

Based on the 2010 Census, which counted 3,436 residents in the village, any property worth more than $17,180 requires a vote of the people to sell it.

The parcel is one of three pieces of land in that area donated to the village in 1995 by the Oxford Housing Corporation. According to a letter dated Oct. 28, 1994, the parcels were given to the municipality in “the hope” they could be used for “community activities or development.”

“No taxpayer money was spent on that land,” Bossardet said.

In the November 2016 election, village residents voted 805 to 738 to authorize the municipality to sell two of the donated parcels (1.46 acres and 0.645 acre), if it ever so chooses. Those two pieces are also zoned for single-family residential use.

The 0.589-acre piece was supposed to be on the ballot with the other two, but it never made it to voters.
“It was an oversight at the time,” said former village Manager Joe Young in his explanation to council in March 2017.

The former manager, who was fired by council, told officials that when they passed a motion authorizing the ballot question, the parcel identification number for the 0.589-acre piece was not included.

Bossardet voted against placing the parcel on the November ballot because she believes more investigation needs to be done regarding the 1995 land gift and whether or not there are any restrictions regarding the property’s use.

“I was always under the (impression) that property was to be used for senior housing,” she explained. “I feel uncomfortable putting it out to a vote when I’m not really sure if it was given for senior housing or something (else) for the community.”

“The flip side of that is if somebody came along right now and wanted to buy it for senior housing, you couldn’t (sell) it and we can’t do it for two years unless (voters give the village) the right to do it,” Davis noted.

While Dolan sees it as “beneficial and pertinent” for the village to continue researching the history of this land and any strings that may be attached to it, he also doesn’t believe the investigation should stop the issue from going to the voters.

“We’re not voting on selling the property at this moment,” he said. “We’re simply solidifying the ability to sell that in the future after we’ve done our due diligence (and determined) what the original intent was.”