A duplex constructed across from the Washington YMCA will now be habitable after a zoning issue was passed around between city and county boards.

The duplex owned by developer Matt Lepic on West 5th Street was found to not meet the city zoning requirements of having at least 5,000 square feet for each dwelling. The property sits just north of the county-owned Kewash Nature Trail, so upon request the Washington County Conservation Board could release or sell their easement in order to give the developer the proper amount of green space. The board denied the request last July, which led Lepic to apply for a variance from the city board of adjustment to review the issue. The board ultimately denied the request, which brought an easement request back to the conservation board this month.

Conservation Director Zach Rozmus says after lengthy discussion the board decided to sell a portion of the easement at a price of $10 per square foot for 2,830 square feet, totaling $28,300, “This is a large sum of money associated with this. The conservation board’s goal wasn’t to make money, we’re not marketing that we’re selling ground, we’re not in the real estate business when it comes down to it. But this is a circumstance where if we decide to sell, which is what the board decided, we wanted the precedent to be pretty clear that, ‘Hey, this is a one-time event is what it’s going to be.’ And just based on the actual asking price is pretty abundantly clear that we did not want to sell this. It’s a very large amount of money for a very small amount of property.”

Rozmus believes there was somewhat of a “community care taking” approach to the board’s decision, as he prefers to not have a residential dwelling sit empty especially across from the YMCA. Rozmus says the sale will not cost the county any money in legal fees, and funds will go toward continued improvements for the trail.