City Ordinance Negatively Impacts Business, Property Values: 8 Real Examples

The Dayton Water Department has consistently said that the Well Field Protection Program (WFPP) does not negatively impact property value or the ability to conduct business. While both statements defy common sense, as well as factual materials presented by property owners, the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) has consistently supported the Water Department's position regardless of the facts. The BZA rulings allow the Water Department to use the cost of litigation to do as they wish, with virtually no concern for the property owner.

The City of Dayton Water Department advocates that the ordinance is scientifically based and is needed to protect the aquifer; yet there is no science to justify the area they are regulating or support that the ordinance provides any protection to the aquifer. The facts do not seem to matter. The Water Department just wants to regulate as they wish, and is allowed to do so for the reasons I noted in a previous post.

While studying this topic I have come in contact with many companies that have been negatively affected by the ordinance. Below are a handful of examples that show that the ordinance DOES impact property values and the ability to conduct business.

1. Recently a trade-show products company had extreme difficulty refinancing a facility located in the WFPP area because the lender was concerned about being able to sell the property with the existing restrictions should the borrower default. 
2. A national service provider was forced to move operations, and almost 50 jobs, when the BZA refused to grant them a variance. The company wanted to install a fuel tank to service their own trucks, but was not allowed, even though the company offered to construct containment barriers, which would essentially remove any risk. 
3. A thriving manufacturing company, employing 40 people andlocated in the WFPP area, was forced to move because of the restrictions. Not surprisingly, Water Department documents show that the move was a direct result of this ordinance. 
4. A major distribution company was forced to move from the area because of the ordinance. This resulted in a significant capital improvement project and 150 jobs leaving Dayton. 
5. A local manufacturing business that has operated for over 70 years in the WFPP area is concerned that they are going to have to relocate because the current pound limits established by the City will not support their growing business needs. 
6. A Water Department official noted at a public hearing in 2006 that the regulations are so restrictive that not even a doctor's office could be placed on a conforming (undeveloped) site. I'm not sure why anyone would think that this would be a good thing. 
7. Real estate brokers are now listing pound limits on listing sheets because the pound limitations severely restrict the number of potential buyers. Here's one example. In many cases realtors will not list "conforming" properties, which have only a 160 pound limit. I have also seen properties, like this one, near the WFPP area, clearly state that the property is not in the WFPP. 
8. And in an example that hits very close to home, my family purchased some industrial-zoned property long before the WFPP ordinance came into existence. Once enacted, the unfair regulations resulted in making our land, that originally cost over $40,000 per acre, virtually worthless. Brokers refused to list the property because they believed it was not marketable. 25 years later the property is still for sale and still vacant. 

These are just a few factual examples that clearly refute the statements that the ordinance does not negatively impact property values or jobs. Hopefully the Dayton City Commission will do what other communities in the WFPP area have done by adding a dose of common sense to an ordinance that destroys both property values and job creation. City residents and property owners should not continue to bear the cost of an ordinance that does not achieve its intended purpose; protecting the aquifer and continuing economic development.

Many people like you understand that the Well Field Protection Program ordinance kills jobs and hurts economic development for the Dayton Region and have asked how they can help. Stay tuned, I'll be outlining that for you soon!

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Steve Staub is a Dayton native and an avid manufacturing industry supporter. He is the President of Staub Manufacturing Solutions and serves on the board of OhioRobotics.org, a non-profit student workforce development organization.