Columbus City Council approved an ordinance allowing the city to buy a 57-acre plot of land known as the "sheep farm" from The Ohio State University on Monday.
The land would cost more than $5 million. The city has been talking with Dublin City Schools and Upper Arlington about selling off the majority of the land.
Jimmy Loor bought his house next to the farm 13 years ago. He sometimes likes to feed the cows over his back fence.
"That was one of the reasons we bought the property,” Loor says. “They told us they were never going to sell that, there was no way it was going to be sold. Now, 13 years later, it’s like, nothing we can do about it."
Loor says he’s disappointed about the sale but hopes the land will be turned into recreational green space where people can play sports and enjoy the outdoors. His neighbor Wayne Smith agrees.
“I’m really hoping that they’re not going to develop that land for the sheep farm into some retail or strip malls or apartments or anything else,” Smith says.
Ohio State has owned the land since 1954. The university plans to use the money from the sale to build a new animal facility.
