Some Good News in Bainbridge
I like to complain. Just ask my wife. So when I read the recent news announcing Industrial Commercial Properties’ plan to redevelop Geauga Lake, my first inclination was to complain.
For those who want Bainbridge to remain the green and rural community that it is, with excellent public services and schools, the news that the developers want to bring in more housing, more apartments and more people is dispiriting. After all, contra the motto that growth is good, unrestrained population growth is a major threat to our township, as every acre paved and built up is a slow, irrevocable erosion of what makes Bainbridge great.
Although complaining was my first inclination, a better angel of my nature said to instead look to the facts first. So I did, by sending an email to the three township trustees. Imagine my surprise when within 24 hours all three trustees personally reached out to me to lay out the facts on the Geauga Lake development and listen to my concerns.
My takeaway? The township trustees are very much aware of the risks that come with such a massive redevelopment. Instead of finding a group keen on development for the sake of development, my conversations with the trustees revealed an active trio of public servants that were on top of things. They shared my worries about overextending our public services and ensuring that public access remains a key feature of any redevelopment.
We live in a society that allows for extensive property rights. That means that on occasion, groups such as Industrial Commercial Properties will develop land that is not in accord with the personal wishes of an individual land owner.
Zoning can act to restrain the worst impulses of these developers, but it is a limited tool. Within these contours, I feel confident that the three trustees “get it” and are not blind to the risks of redevelopment on such a large scale. They are working hard within their power to ensure that Bainbridge remains protected and for that reason they get my thanks.
For readers in Bainbridge and surrounding areas who are concerned, don’t just complain but get involved. Public involvement and pressure may not be able to stop the development of Geauga Lake, but it may result in an outcome that is more to our liking, allowing the property to be redeveloped while also protecting the Bainbridge community.
Active involvement beats idle complaints every time (or so my wife says when it comes to the household chores!).
Dane Davis
Bainbridge Township
Officials Have Lost Their Way
As a former chair of the Chester Zoning Commission, I believe the Zoning Commission members and the Trustees have lost their way in at least two recently enacted zoning amendments.
The first of these has to do with garage sales. Most township zoning regulations limit garage sales as a temporary use, typically no more than three days in length and no more than three or four times a year. The newly enacted regulations recommended by the Zoning Commission, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, have no limits, meaning that people can now have garage sales 24/7, 365 days a year.
I believe this change is unwise since undesirable abuses could easily occur in a residential area. I doubt that anyone would like the equivalent of a retail store operating in their neighbor’s garage, yard or driveway five or six days a week throughout the year.
The more recent example of the problems created by the seemingly single-minded and unwarranted focus on reducing or eliminating regulations has to do with the changes in the rules regarding Farm Markets
Ohio law, set forth in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC), provides that farmers who open a Farm Market (commonly a roadside stand) do not have to meet any zoning requirements other than those related to public health and safety. However, this is only true when at least “50% or more of the gross income received from the market is derived from produce raised on farms owned or operated by the market operator in a normal crop year.” If this 50% rule is not met, the market becomes a “Farmers’ Market,” which has entirely different laws and regulations. (It is unfortunate that the two types of markets have such similar names.)
The Zoning Commission and the Trustees (with the exception of Trustee Mazzurco) decided to ignore the distinctions and allow a commercial Farmers’ Market, which could be selling produce from anywhere, to operate as if it were an agricultural Farm Market, which primarily sells its own produce and protects local farmers. This is contrary to the ORC since there is no reference to the 50% rule in the new regulations. Both markets have their place, but commercial Farmers’ Markets do NOT belong in residential districts.
The members of the Zoning Commission (Jonathan Oswick, Anthony Nastasi, Andrew Chess, Michael Lauro, Sergey Kats, Anthony Peto, alt.) and Trustees Walter Claypool and Ken Radtke, guided ex officio by Cathy Cotman, are responsible for these approved changes in the Farm Market regulations in the township’s Zoning Resolution — so is county Planning Director Linda Crombie who recommended them.
Trustee Joe Mazzurco voted to deny the changes.
I urge our residents and voters to pay close attention to the actions of the Zoning Commission members and the Trustees, to ensure that their indefensible push to eliminate zoning regulations does not result in damaging, commercial intrusions into residential districts.
Margaret Muehling
Chester Township
