Residents urge Beavercreek council to adopt managed-native-plant ordinance

Residents urged the Beavercreek City Council to adopt a new ordinance recognizing managed natural landscapes and native-plant gardening during the council's public-comment period.

Supporters said the change would help restore habitat for birds, butterflies and pollinators, reduce stormwater runoff and lower maintenance costs for homeowners and the city. The residents' group provided council with a draft ordinance modeled on existing local rules and said it had met with city staff to refine the language.

During a roughly 27-minute public-comments segment, a resident identified on the public record as Bills (2948 Terra Trail) described the concept and the group's proposal. "What is a managed natural landscape? It's a planned, intentional, and maintained planting of predominantly native plant species," Bills said. She reviewed scientific and civic arguments for the change, including steep declines in birds and insects and the role of native plants in supporting specialized caterpillars and pollinators.

Other residents recounted neighborhood experience and local benefits. "It's been a rewarding, educational, and even entertaining endeavor," said Debbie Carr, who described two decades of native-plant gardening in Beavercreek. Several speakers said native yards improve stormwater absorption and reduce erosion, noting technical points such as deeper root systems compared with turfgrass.

Speakers cited national- and state-level data during their remarks: the group referenced a reported loss of about 3,000,000,000 birds in North America since the 1970s, steep monarch-butterfly declines in parts of the country and Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists showing increases in threatened and endangered species on the state list. The presenters also provided local cost comparisons, saying published figures show native prairie landscaping can cost less to install and maintain over time (the group cited a 56% lower install cost and an annual savings figure presented as $34,100 per acre).

The speakers said their draft ordinance was based on language from other Ohio cities, including Oakwood, and that volunteers and local nurseries supported the work. They thanked two city staff members—Randy Burkett and Matt Funk—for meeting with representatives of the citizen group to discuss the draft and local application.

Council members and the mayor acknowledged the presentation and thanked the volunteers. Mayor Don Adams said he appreciated the public input and that staff and council had already been working with the group. "I'm sure that we'll come up with something here that will hopefully be satisfactory to everybody," Adams said as he closed the public-comment period.

No formal ordinance vote was taken at the meeting. The matter remains in the discussion stage; residents asked the council to move toward written rules that explicitly permit managed natural landscapes and provide guidance to homeowners and HOAs.