By Tom O'Neill
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ANDERSON TWP. - A decision is expected today on bids for the sale of one of the largest tracts of developable land left in the township - the 127-acre Ingram property near Clough Pike, a family member said Tuesday.

The reason for the potential sale: the high rate of estate tax, according to Ken Ingram, one of five children of longtime owners Clyde and Emma Ingram.

"We would prefer it not be that way," Mr. Ingram said Tuesday, adding that the land, much of it at the end of Bruns Lane, has been in his family since the first part of the 1900s.

He said that as of Tuesday afternoon, the heirs had not decided whether to accept or reject the bids, for which today is a nonbinding deadline.

Developers have coveted the land for years because of its proximity to Clough Pike, and because it's largely flat and not heavily wooded.

The property, nearly surrounded by subdivisions, harkens back to a rural Anderson Township that is becoming increasingly rare.

As a kid, Mr. Ingram said, he remembers growing sugar corn in the summer, then selling it from a stand at Clough and Bruns Lane for 50 cents a dozen.

Now, subdivisions abound, including the most recent, the 90-home Landings development.

Township officials are convinced that if it is sold, residential development is inevitable.

But obstacles include adequate utility service and installing sewer lines that meet Metropolitan Sewer District requirements.

The land is zoned A- for single-family homes, and if a developer stays within current zoning, state law does not require public hearings, township officials said.

The bid amounts were not divulged. Similar property has sold in recent years for between $30,000 and $50,000 per acre, township Administrator Henry Dolive said.

"It's beautiful property, right off Clough," said Barb Heffner, township zoning inspector. "Our office has gotten a lot of calls about it."

The township had tried to obtain all or part of the property for undeveloped "greenspace," and still supports that use. But that seems unlikely.

Mr. Dolive said Clyde Ingram, who died six or seven years ago, once told him developers used to call him about once a week - for years - trying to convince him to sell. "That was quite an aggravation," his son said.

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