It's a strategy which bucks the trend of urban sprawl.

Most companies and individuals buy vacant land with plans to put something on their property.

Granville Township buys land with plans to put nothing on it.

The Granville Township Trustees announced Thursday plans to buy two tracts of land with money from the open space levy passed in November 1997.

Voters approved a l mill levy for five years, providing a total of $865,000 for the township to prevent "scenic or high visibility" areas from being developed.

Paul Treece, chairman of the open space committee which made recommendations to the township trustees, said he's proud of the result of their efforts.

"I feel real good about these purchases," Treece said. "As far as we know, it's the only time this has ever been done in Ohio. It's kind of exciting to pioneer this. We hope the taxpayers are happy with it."

Jim Havens, chairman of the township trustees, said the trustees selected the two locations from a list provided by the committee.

"It fulfills our mission of preserving the rural character of the township by allowing us to take areas and set it aside as open space," Havens said.

One of the sites has already been purchased by the township. For a price of $100,500, the township bought three lots on West Broadway across from Wildwood Park in Granville Village.

Lisa Minklei, a village councilwoman and a member of the open space committee, was happy with the selections.

"We had a big list we sent to the township trustees and both were on the list," Minklei said.

"The Broadway lots provide a beautiful view when you drive into town. It's a great feeling to drive past the woods there."

The other piece of property is the 128-acre Paul Kent Farm across from Spring Valley Pool in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Ohio 16 and Ohio 37. The $485,000 purchase will be finalized before the end of the year.

Sixty percent of the acreage will be bought with funds from the levy and will remain open space, while 40 percent will be bought by the township and may be used for township facilities, recreational or community activities.

Havens was excited about the potential with the Kent farm property, which was formerly the Quisenberry property.

"It preserves the wooded areas, watershed areas and it helps with the scenic vista along the 37-161 corridor, which will probably become more of the focus of the entryway into Granville," Havens said.