REILY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Farmers or land owners who are considering selling their property to a park or other entity with the goal of preserving the land need to be very careful of what they sign, said Andy Dillhoff, who with his wife, Sarah, and other neighbors, have been leading an effort to bring attention to this situation, because of the late Stander family.

The Standers (Carl and Nell are long dead; their son, Tom, died in 2019) wanted the public to someday be able to enjoy the scenic 187-acre Dunwoody Road farm. The American Discovery Trail runs through it. The family sold the farm to Butler County MetroParks with the intent that it be preserved. And it was preserved, during their lifetimes.

For about 15 years a sign on the property declared it “The Carl and Nell Stander Preserve.” After Tom’s death in February 2019 and after making final payments on the property, MetroParks felt that they could better serve their constituents by selling it.

The purchase/sale agreement signed by Carl Stander was fulfilled. The terms of the sale did not bind MetroParks to a certain future for the property, said Kelly Barkley, supervisor, Division of Community and Enterprise Initiatives, Butler County MetroParks.

“The Board of Park Commissioners and the MetroParks believes the sale of the Dunwoody Road property was in the best interest of the public/park customer-owners (the taxpayers of Butler County) and serves the mission of the MetroParks,” Barkley said.

Neighbors were first aware of the pending sale when a public sale sign went up on the property in September 2020.

“They put notice of the sale in the Journal-News for a month and on their website that the property would be for sale in a sealed bid,” Andy Dillhoff said. “Why would we be looking on the website or in the Journal-News for a for-sale sign for a preserve? I drove by that sign for 15 years and it said ‘Carl and Nell Stander Preserve.’ We had one month to come up with a big amount of dollars to try to buy that or to try to do something that would have been what the Stander family wanted.”

The Dillhoffs and neighbors protested the sale. Roger Koch told the October 2020 MetroPark board meeting that 47 area residents had signed a petition. They were concerned that the sale, while not illegal, went against the interests of the Stander family; that the park board owed it to the Stander family to consider a conservation or agricultural easement for the property; and that the park should vet buyers to see what their intent was for the land.

“I truly believe if we had been given a year we could have come up with a way to save some of that farm,” Dillhoff said. “But we’re out of time. Conservation groups were interested but it takes too long to get grants.”

The Carl and Nell Stander Preserve is being split into 13 5-acre lots. The developers did agree to save the 1824 barn.

The neighbors have formed a Facebook group, Preserve the Stander Preserve, with the original intent of protecting that land. They quickly had 600 followers. Since the Stander land is already being developed, they hope to make other farmers and landowners aware of this type of situation. They are sending letters to the governor and area legislators.

“We had talked of a Stander Law, or something like that to keep this kind of situation from happening in the future,” Sarah Dillhoff said. “If a park is going to purchase land as a conservation entity they should have to sell it as a conservation entity.”

Sellers or donors should seek out experienced, competent legal representation that can assist them in the land transaction negotiation process, Barkley added. Counsel can help ensure that their intentions regarding future use, if any, are clear, permanent and legally enforceable. Sellers or donors might also wish to involve a land trust to assist with insuring the future they desire for their property if they have certain future use or uses in mind.