DaytonDailyNews.com

The proposed Bellbrook-to-Spring Valley bike path took a small step toward reality last week, but some property owners remain opposed to the development.

The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission last week included the bike path among seven projects it is pushing for federal funding. The MVRPC recommended $4.7 million in funding for the $6 million project and will lobby the region's congressional delegation in March, trying to get it included in a federal spending bill.

The off-street bikeway would link Bellbrook (at Sackett-Wright Park) with the well-established Little Miami Scenic Trail in Spring Valley. Local government and business officials are in favor of a bike path connecting Bellbrook with the bigger trail, but there are details still to be worked out, including the exact route the trail would take.

"The bikeways are regional amenities that do draw people, and the Dayton area needs those kinds of things," said Sugarcreek Twp. Administrator Barry Tiffany.

But some local property owners say what they need is respect for their private property, which the bike path would have to cross.

While there are multiple options for the trail route, all of them cross Doug and Dawn Dyer's land at Ohio 725 and Penewit Road. Doug Dyer cited a number of concerns, including privacy, the ability to safely hunt and shoot on his land, and asking more of Sugarcreek Twp. land owners, who already pay the highest property taxes in Greene County.

Dyer said many of his neighbors are opposed to the bike path plan, but he fears the county parks department will use eminent domain to put the project through anyway.

"Eminent domain is always a tool in the toolbox," said Greene County Parks director Chrisbell Bednar. "But we have not used it in the past (for recreational projects) and we hope not to use it here."

Until there's a decision on federal funding, the bike path is far off. But Dyer said multiple property owners may sue for compensation if they lose some use of their land, and Dyer said he might sell his property.

"To me it just seems like this is one of our basic rights — how you use your land," he said. "As far as big government coming in and taking our rights away, I understand it for a hospital or a needed road, but for a bike path purely for recreation? That doesn't make sense."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@daytondailynews.com.