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| "Most
residents Jefferson Township live here because of the open spaces and rural
setting of our neighborhoods...." |
The Jefferson Township Land Conservation Association, a qualified land trust
capable of holding conservation easements, was formed specifically to help
protect this rural beauty. It is a sponsor-member of the Land Trust Alliance, a
national organization of land trusts.
Currently, the Association has 98 acres in conservation. A conservation
easement is a legal agreement between a land trust and a landowner that
permanently limits how the land can be used to protect its conservation value.
Owners who place conservation easements on their property may be able to
receive federal income tax benefits and can control forever how that property
is used. Future owners are bound by the terms of the conservation easement, and
donation of the easement to a qualified land trust like the Jefferson Township
Land Conservation Association is tax deductible.
Jefferson's land trust is a non-profit organization specifically created to
receive, maintain and enforce conservation easements on land that is in the
tributary areas of Blacklick and Rocky Fork Creeks. Leadership of the Jefferson
Township Land Conservation Association is provided by a 9-member board of
trustees.
Jefferson Land Conservation Association is a "public-private" partnership,
sponsored and endorsed by the Township government, but designed so that
property owners who are not affiliated with Township government make up the
majority of the Association's Board of Trustees.
Township Trustee appointees are Mike Rowan, former Trustee Steve Miller, and
Zoning Commission Member Hank Sherowski. Private sector board members are Joe
Jeffrey, Phyllis Boehnke, Ellen Tripp, Wib Smith, and Josiah Blackmore. Steve
Wittmann serves as president of the Board. Kathleen Bruns, a CPA, is treasurer,
and Rod Willcox provides legal assistance. Both are residents.
Dozens of your Jefferson Township friends and neighbors already belong to the
Jefferson Township Land Conservation Association. Membership is open to all
(voting limited to property owners) We hope you will make the decision to join
to help us keep Jefferson Township green. Your membership dues of $25 per
person are tax deductible. Click here to join.
More in this section coming soon. Be sure to sign up for the
Jefferson Township Newsletter to find out more about the Land Conservation
Association.
You may join the association by downloading and completing the
Membership Application Form. Follow the instructions on the application and
mail to:
Kathleen Bruns, Treasurer
3622 Mann Road, Blacklick, Ohio 43004
You may Volunteer with the association by downloading and
completing the Volunteer Application Form. Follow the instructions on the
application and mail to:
Kathleen Bruns, Treasurer
3622 Mann Road, Blacklick, Ohio 43004
For information on how to donate to the Land Conservation
Association, contact Kathleen Bruns at:
622 Mann Road, Blacklick, Ohio 43004
The Association, a local land trust, was formed to receive and maintain
conservation easements to protect the rural beauty of Jefferson Township,
keeping it unique and special. Preservation of permanent open space fits in
with the Township government's goal of keeping Jefferson Township as "green" as
possible.
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a
landowner and a land trust that permanently limits how the land can be used to
protect its conservation values. Owners of property with conservation easements
can continue to own and use their land and pass it on to their heirs. They need
not give public access, and they may allow limited development.
A land trust is a non-profit organization specifically
created to receive, maintain and enforce conservation easements. The Jefferson
Township Land Conservation Association, created in May 1998, is a qualified
land trust governed by your friends and neighbors and supported by your
Jefferson Township government. Voting membership is open to all property
owners, no matter how large or small their property is.
Placing a conservation easement on your property allows you
to control how your land will be used forever, may benefit your heirs, and may
provide you with tax benefits. Future owners are bound by the terms of the
conservation easement, terms which you have set. A conservation easement
removes development potential, and that lowers its market value for estate tax
purposes. This can be extremely important to your heirs. A conservation
easement donation that meets federal tax code requirements can qualify as a
tax-deductible charitable donation.
As you return home from the city after work or shopping and
turn onto a rural Jefferson Township road, remember that Bethel and Sawmill
roads once looked just like this. Imagine if views of countryside we now enjoy
from our roads and homes were instead housing developments, shopping centers
and the like. Imagine the value of your home if it adjoined land which could
not ever be developed. Like other tools in the Jefferson Township toolbox, the
land trust is a way -- a very important way -- all of us can work together to
preserve not just the rural character of our community, but the rural reality
of our community. With your active and financial support, the land trust
members can acquire conservation easements -- and even real property -- and
help preserve our green space forever.
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