July 3, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 27

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

'Willow Grove'

Big Catch

OHS alumni Kevin Jones and Jamie Greer entered the second annual Pirates Cove Tuna roundup fishing tournament three weeks ago and won. Kevin Jones’ fish was a Bigeye Tuna that weighed 106.5 lbs. It won the tournament and set a new record for the tournament. The pair, along with were in the Outer Banks on Roanoke Island North Carolina. The rest of the catch that day were Yellow Fin Tuna. Over the next three days, the group brought home over 1400 lbs. of tuna. This past weekend Greer and Jones shared some of the tuna with their classmates as they celebrated their 25th High School reunion from Oakwood at the Miami Valley Hunt and Polo Club. Everyone who attended said the fish was delicious and hoped they would go fishing again some day and have another get together.

Hawthorn Hill zoning appeal passes 4-0

By Lance Winkler

The special use zoning appeal that would open public tours of Oakwood landmark Hawthorn Hill went before the Oakwood City Council on Monday night and, after a five-hour stemwinder of opposing views, speeches, opinions and appeals, passed 4-0 with Councilmember Carlo McGinnis abstaining.

“We’re very pleased this has come to an end. It’s been a long process,” said Stephen Wright, great grandnephew of the Wright brothers and co-founder of the Wright Family Foundation.

“I think they’ve come up with a proposal that has limited and controlled access and is respectful of the neighborhood,” said Rob Connelly, a lifelong Oakwood resident and chair of Dayton History, the organization the Wright Family Foundation is tentatively
partnering with. Tour buses taking visitors to Hawthorn Hills will be based at Carillon Park and tickets will be purchased there as well.

The first proposal made by the Wright Foundation called for three tours a day of Hawthorn Hill, 45 minutes in length, four days a week, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This was initially rejected by the Oakwood Planning Commission, city council officials and most vocally, by nearby neighbors as being too frequent. A second proposal was then brought before the OPC on June 6. The modified proposal asked for two tours a day, two days per week, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Another part of the proposal included the stipulation that no more than eight special events per year would be allowed. This also was denied by the Oakwood Planning Commission on June 6 by a 2-2 tie vote with commission member Jeffrey Schulman recusing himself as he is a close neighbor of the estate. The proposal then went on appeal last night before the Oakwood City Council.

After a overview was given by Deputy City Manager Jay Weiskircher, Wright Foundation member Stephen Wright was invited up to the podium and gave a heartfelt, eloquent and at times emotional speech to the “full house” audience gathered there. He outlined the purpose of the special use request as the desire to open up his great grand uncle Orville Wright’s home, Hawthorn Hill, to the public in general and make it a place to visit for those who would like to tour the home. The second intention is to make such an opening the public view as unobtrusive as possible to neighbors in the area.

Oakwood Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jeffrey Shulman came forward and began an exhibit-laden cross examination of Amanda Wright Lane, extracting from her an admission that when the Wrights received the deed to the home from NCR, there was a verbal agreement that the Wright Foundation would make “a good faith effort” to have the property go to the National Park Service. Concerning partnering instead with the City of Oakwood or the Hawthorn Hill Neighbors Association, Schulman asked Ms. Lane “You’re not interested in any other possibilities,” to which Ms. Lane said “Yes.”

Other twists in the story had the Wrights presenting a draft on Feb. 26, 2007 to a number of Congressmen and written up by the Aviation Heritage Foundation for passage as bill before Congress. It was also disclosed that the Wrights had filed an application with UNESCO to make Hawthorn Hill a World Heritage Site in the future.
Just prior to the appeal coming to a vote, Schulman approached the podium again and warned, “Once this is done, Oakwood loses control to the federal government. If this step is taken, Oakwood no longer has its ordinances and zoning laws protecting it.”

In response, the city council also passed a motion requiring that all prior conditions and restrictions written out concerning the special use appeal be applicable in the future.

The ordinance passed 4-0.

The next meeting of the Oakwood City Council will be held on Monday, July 16.

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