DEERFIELD TWP. - The township has spent about $7 million for parkland in the past three years, and some residents are beginning to question if it's too much of a good thing.

        “We've spent all this money for land, and we aren't assured that it's being put to good use,” said Lee Speidel, chairman of the zoning commission and a frequent critic of township trustees.

        When Deerfield Township began its park system in 1997 with the purchase of Schappacher Park, the goal was to purchase three main parks, he said. In conjunction with Landen-Deerfield Park, which is owned by Warren County, residents would then have four parks distributed through the major sections of the township.

        “The township has been buying up a number of miscellaneous properties all over town and calling them park properties,” Mr. Speidel said. “It has diverged from the plan that had been put into place five or six years ago.”

        Properties acquired by the township include:

        Cottell Park: 48 acres at 5847 Irwin-Simpson Road, including 24 acres of ball fields.

        Schappacher Park: 11 acres off Old Irwin-Simpson Road.

        Fleckenstein Park: 50 acres on Bethany Road.

        20-Mile Stand Park: 7 acres on Montgomery Road at the Nantucket development.

        Carter Park: more than 90 acres at Kings Drive in Kings Mills.

        Foster's Crossing: 3 acres on the Little Miami River.

        The township also owns a number of “passive” areas that are not yet in use as parks, including 5 acres on Socialville-Fosters Road and 5 acres by the Conservancy Apartments.

        “According to the input we've heard, green space is a priority for the residents here,” said Tony Lavatori, director of parks and recreation.

        Some believe, however, that it's costing too much green.

        “I think it's great to buy green space, but I'm concerned about expenditures,” said resident Julie Jamieson. “It bothers me that we haven't seen any plans for this space, and we don't know the cost.”

        The most recent acquisition occurred in July, when the township bought property at 2338 Socialville-Fosters Road. Known as the Farmer property, the 20 acres came with a $560,000 price tag.

        While that land might be developed into park space, it could also be used to divert traffic from Socialville-Fosters - between Columbia Road and Foster's Bridge - to Western Row Road.

        “The chance of that happening is 20 percent, but if you didn't have that property, it would be zero,” said Bill Morand, township trustee. “Without new roads, the increase in population is going to be too much of a burden for the other roads to carry. This property gives us the potential to help with that.”

        Mr. Morand said he doesn't understand concerns some residents have raised about green space being transformed into thoroughfares.

        “We're going to be taking traffic off the roads going in front of their houses,” Mr. Morand said.

        The township brought in the Poggemeyer Design Group of Westerville to study and create ideas for park development. The firm is in the second month of the six-month project.

        “We've walked all the sites; done site analysis; identified such things as views, topography, existing vegetation, what's good and what's bad,” said Emil Diener, landscape architect and senior vice president of the company. “We will then apply that data to design criteria the township will want to include in their plans, though at this time, we haven't decided anything for any one park.”

        The Deerfield Township Parks and Recreation Department will hold a public meeting on township parks at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Snyder House in Cottell Park.

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