HUBER HEIGHTS — The city of Huber Heights is close to obtaining a former rest area along Interstate 70 between Ohio 201 and 202 from the Ohio Department of Transportation at no cost and without any deed restrictions.

The city’s Public Works Committee will discuss acquiring the land — which is 11.6 acres — at tonight’s meeting and a decision to accept the offer from ODOT is expected, City Engineer Russ Bergman said.

“It will give the city more available land for future use,” Bergman said. “We just don’t know how we’ll use it. It’s an open space for the city. I doubt we’ll do much with it right away.”

Currently on the land — located between I-70 and Stonehurst Drive south of the interstate — are trees, shrubs and some concrete remains.

The rest area, built in the 1960s, closed and was torn down about 15 years ago, said Wayne Callahan, a real estate administrator for ODOT.

“By ODOT giving it to Huber Heights, it’s a win-win situation,” Callahan said. “We relinquish the responsibility of maintaining it and Huber Heights will then gain some use from it to serve the public.”

City officials said options for the land include leaving it as it is, converting it into a small park or using it to advertise city-related events.

“With it being on 70, the visibility is really good and we could get some marketing use out of that,” City Manager Gary Adams said.

The area is landlocked, and an entry to the property would need to be created off of Stonehurst, Bergman said. A water tower is adjacent to the land, with access to it from Stonehurst.

“This property has a very low value because it is landlocked,” Callahan said.

A year ago, ODOT offered to sell the land at its appraised value of $23,000 to the city without any deed restrictions or give it to the city at no cost with deed restrictions. A public auction was held last summer and ODOT did not receive any bids.

“We told them we’d take it for free without deed restrictions,” Bergman said. “We figured we’d wait it out, and we assumed that eventually they’d just give it away.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2281 or smatthews@coxohio.com.