Sylvania Twp. Trustees approve zoning change for Sylvan Prairie Park

Sylvania Township Trustees have approved a zoning change for Sylvan Prairie Park that reflects the site's current use, rather than the housing and golf-course development once proposed there.

The township board's Nov. 20 vote changed the park's zoning to a special district, common in the township for public facilities, from planned-unit development. Sylvan Prairie, 8567 Brint Rd., is part of the Olander Park System, whose leaders realized the zoning change was needed when they applied for a permit to build a greenhouse on the property.

According to the township website, “the zoning department recommended that the zoning change be approved because it is "an appropriate classification for the existing use," and it will have no detrimental impact on the surrounding area.

Daryl Graus, the township's planning and zoning manager, told the trustees during the meeting that the zoning change made snese because the special district “is more for parks.”

A formal public hearing that preceded the trustees' unanimous vote elicited no comments from five citizens who attended the meeting.

A ditch widening project was recently completed at the park, which will promote stream restoration and will also help area flooding by creating a functional floodplain. Olander Park officials also have overseen plantings of native grasses and trees in the park to promote its restoration to a prairie eco-system since buying the site in 2005.