FORT WAYNE – The man who was at the heart of a bitter dispute with conservationists over land along Cedar Creek has made a donation to the ACRES Land Trust.
ACRES announced the gift from Chuck and Sharon Bodenhafer on Thursday.
The 8-acre property is home to heron nesting and breeding sites and is adjacent to an existing ACRES nature preserve. In a statement, ACRES called the donated property environmentally significant and said 100 to 125 nests can be found there.
The land is to the west and north of the controversial housing development known as Canyon Cliffs that was proposed on 139 acres the Bodenhafers owned between Richey Lane and Coldwater Road near the DeKalb County line.
More than 20 houses are planned to the southeast of the donated property and four sites are already under construction. Seven lots have been sold, Chuck Bodenhafer said.
In 2008, Bodenhafer partnered with Jeff and Mike Thomas to develop a 28-home luxury subdivision on the property. The proposal generated debate from neighbors and conservationists who wanted to see the land preserved, not developed.
The use of a new land subdivision ordinance complicated the process further and resulted in a lawsuit filed against the county plan commission by the developer.
A subsequent version of the housing development called for fewer homes before the developer withdrew that plan in early 2009 in the midst of another lawsuit filed by opponents.
“It was always our intention to ensure the preservation of the most environmentally sensitive areas. Mike and Jeff Thomas shared our goal of preserving the heronry and allowed us to keep this land separate from the residential development,” Bodenhafer said in a written statement.
In an interview, Bodenhafer said if he had made the donation to ACRES before or during the approval process for the housing development, opponents of the plan would have said he was trying to influence the outcome.
“We’re doing it for all the right reasons. We want to protect that area for all perpetuity,” he said.
ACRES had wanted to buy the ground and turn it into a nature preserve. But from the beginning, Bodenhafer mentioned the possibility of donating some land to the non-profit, executive director Jason Kissel said.
But ACRES and the Bodenhafers didn’t begin talking more specifically about a donation until recently, Kissel said.
Because of the heron nests, ACRES has no immediate plans to provide public access to the site. If the herons were to leave, that could change, Kissel said.
