Newbury Shows Support for Township Zoning

June 12, 2024 by Allison Wilson

Newbury Township joined the ranks of others across the county when Newbury Township Trustees signed a letter for the Ohio Legislature in support of township zoning authority during their June 5 meeting.

Newbury is far from the only township to show their support, with Munson, Troy and Russell township trustees also recently signing.

Newbury Township Trustee Bill Skomrock read a correspondence sent by Claridon Township Trustee Jonathan Tiber, who penned the letter. According to Tiber’s correspondance, the letter will be sent to every member of the Ohio Senate Select Committee on Housing, as well as Geauga County’s senators and representatives. It will also be sent to seven other county associations for signatures.

A motion to sign the letter passed to the sound of audience applause.

“Basically, they (the Ohio Legislature) want to take quite a bit of autonomy away from local townships and centralize it at the state level,” Fiscal Officer Lindsay Pollock explained to the audience.

Skomrock emphasized he did not want to lose the township’s rights.

“Right now, I don’t want the state or the county taking any more of our control. We have this little minute portion of our community that we can do a little bit of control. And I don’t wanna ever lose that,” he said. “We lose that, we’re (up a creek without a paddle).”

Pollock explained the issue did not come out of nowhere.

“The impetus for it is the fact that there are some major developers and also need for housing in certain areas due to certain companies coming in and building headquarters and so forth,” she said. “But, obviously, their needs in a city circumstance does not translate to township ones.”

Audience member Linda Retych echoed Skomrock’s fears and expressed gratitude for the trustees’ unified face.

“If we lose control of our little place, you know, to somebody that is sitting behind a desk hundreds of miles away, who knows what will happen,” she said.

Trustees Combat Vandalism

The meeting also saw trustees taking a hard stance against vandalism.

“We had one of the port-a-potties trashed at Oberland Park,” Skomrock said.

With the trustees currently considering permanent restroom facilities, the act disturbed him.

“I start thinking about putting in a $300,000 restroom facility, having the same schmucks come in and do the same thing to that, I would not be very happy,” he said. “And I’ll go on record saying if we catch anybody doing any vandalism to any township property in Newbury, you get caught, we’re gonna prosecute to the full extent of the law.”

The Oberland bathroom was not the only victim of vandalism.

“They also trashed the press box in the stadium,” Skomrock said, noting the trustees will probably have to bring that up to their insurance company.

Trustee Greg Tropf said a chair had been put through the ceiling tiles.

The press box and stadium themselves are only a few years old, Skomrock added.

Township to Enforce ‘No Engine Brake’ Signs

In other news, resident Jim Lang provided an update regarding the enforcement of Newbury’s “no engine brake” signs.

Newbury trustees passed a resolution banning the use of engine breaks within the township Sept. 21, 2022. Signs, which had to be put up by the Ohio Department of Transportation, were finally posted before the Feb 24, 2024, meeting.

Before beginning his story, Lang emphasized he had been transparent across the course of his investigation that he was acting on his own accord and not on behalf of the township.

“I was initially on a fact-finding mission,” he said, noting engine breaks had been brought up at trustees meetings for at least a year before the resolution was composed.

The resolutions and signs had become a joke over time, he said.

“If anything, the noises have increased,” he added. “I’m in one of the zones where it drives us crazy.”

The thing that sparked his investigation was the excessive use of an engine break while he was trying to enjoy his evening, Lang said.

“Here comes like two or three trucks in a row. And I even counted one, I think the guy downshifted 11 times,” he said.

Lang visited the Ohio State Highway Patrol office in Chardon. Though post commander Lt. Larry Jones was not there at the time, he was able to speak with an officer he described as “very interested” in the issue.

Following a later phone conversation with Jones, Lang learned the highway patrol has no authority to enforce township resolutions. However, they have the ability to enforce traffic control signs.

“Because that sign is an official sign on the highway that says ‘no engine brake,’ if they catch a guy using the engine brake, he can stop that vehicle and say, ‘Hey, you passed me and I heard you use your engine brake. There’s a sign back there, a traffic control device.’ They issue a citation for failure to comply with a traffic control device,” Lang explained.

Jones put the word out to the officers, who are now apprised of the situation, Lang said.

He also spoke with Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand, who he said was also receptive to the issue.

“I’m not sure how many officers even knew about what is going on,” Lang said.

Lang said action will be taken now that they’re fully aware. Since speaking with the officials, he noted, the amount of noise has dropped.

“It’s not total, but I think if the word gets out that the residents of Newbury are fed up with this, the state highway patrol and the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office, both commanders of both posts have been informed, and they are receptive and actually eager to help out where they can,” Lang said. “And they’re gonna write citations.”

Though both the sheriff’s office and highway patrol were contacted for comment, neither replied.