Townships Asked to Protest State-Controlled Zoning

May 29, 2024 by Ann Wishart

In an effort to get out ahead of state legislation that potentially could hobble or eliminate township zoning, a Claridon Township trustee has distributed a letter far and wide for other trustees to sign.

“Parkman Township was the first to get back to me,” said Trustee Jonathan Tiber in a phone interview May 27.

Parkman Township Trustees signed the letter Tiber penned at their meeting May 21 and mailed it back. He said he is hoping as the boards of the other 14 township trustees hold meetings over the next month, they will do the same.

Tiber has the support of a loosely-organized group of zoning inspectors and board members who have met twice, collaborating to fend off the potential power grab nurtured by the Central Building Industry.

The CBI wrote a white paper in December that supported removing zoning authority from local control and handing it to the state, Tiber said in his letter.

In previous discussions, he said the CBI finds local zoning to be an impediment to development of residential tracts needed around urban areas.

The grass-roots effort aims to persuade legislators to resist lobbying efforts by builders.

Of the four senate bills being proposed, none directly threaten township zoning, Tiber said, but one refers to the creation of “stability districts,” a term he said is open to interpretation.

It may be an effort to create zones or districts for affordable housing development, he said.

In the letter he emailed May 22, Tiber noted the Ohio General Assembly enacted local zoning in 1947 and zoning is the only area in which townships have any authority.

“It’s all we’ve got. Everything else we just manage,” he said.

Trustees are legally responsible to provide to their residents township road maintenance, fire protection and cemeteries.

Township voters have given their boards of trustees the authority to enforce the township zoning resolution everywhere in Geauga County except in Middlefield Township.

Zoning resolutions are living documents and can be amended to address changes in a township’s needs through a very specific process allowing for public input.

“The processes to amend local zoning codes include input from township citizens,” Tiber’s letter reads. “These include no less than two public hearings and/or voter referendum. Ohio is not a one-town-fits-all state because each township is unique.  Who better than local residents to ensure proper development, community needs, sustainability and economic growth uniquely tailored to the characteristics, dynamics, values, aspirations and demands of their individual community?”

Although the BCI white paper questions the willingness of township residents to serve on zoning boards, Tiber counters the argument.

“Townships exhibit great efficiency in zoning due to local knowledge and understanding of community needs, especially when residents themselves serve on their own local zoning boards. Approximately 800 Ohio townships have zoning, which means there are approximately 8,000 township citizens serving on boards of zoning appeal and zoning commission boards,” he said. “Many of these residents simply volunteer their time as a way to give back to the community in which they live to ensure residents have a strong voice in the local zoning process. State-mandated zoning will rob opportunity from these citizens, disrupt this efficiency and will hinder timely local decision making.”

The letter is likely to be circulated to townships in surrounding counties where trustees have shown an interest, he said, adding he plans to send the signed letters to legislators in Columbus as proof the townships want to retain their zoning rights.

Tiber has been vocal about the CBI’s lobbying, warning the zoning group and the Geauga County Township Association about the threat to local control.

“Centralized zoning decisions at the state level is an overreach and infringement of the democratic process and an assault on the lowest magistrate,” the letter read. “Anything other than local zoning authority will undermine the unique identity of each township, jeopardize property value and otherwise negatively impact the very spirit of individual communities.”