February 10, 2005

Zoning board, trustees differ over land use plan

By Lauren Heaton

When it comes to the issue of comprehensive land use planning, Miami Township’s Board of Trustees and its Zoning Commission have a common purpose, but the two groups are not on the same page in how to accomplish their goals.

The trustees say the Township needs a comprehensive plan to guide and support zoning decisions, and they would like to have one completed in one to two years.

Zoning Commission members say they have addressed land use goals as long as the board has been in existence and they will continue that process in their own time.

According to Lamar Spracklen, the president of the Board of Trustees, the trustees have identified the completion of a Township land use plan as one of their goals for the past four years.

“Having a Township land use plan is a goal, not a requirement; however, we need a document to base our zoning on,” he said. “Without one, we’re more vulnerable in defending our zoning decisions and changes.”

Because the Ohio Revised Code dictates that the Township Zoning Commission recommend a plan for the trustees’ approval or denial, the trustees appropriated $15,000 for the task and charged the Zoning Commission with writing the plan.

But according to Zoning Commission chairwoman Alicia Caulfield, the commission can’t suddenly be charged with a task it has always been responsible for doing. The commission has never stopped evaluating and revising the Township’s Zoning Code, the main tool used to guide land use decisions, she said.

Though the commission has been “encouraged” by both the Greene County Regional Planning board and the Miami Township trustees to write the land use plan, the Township already has direction under the county’s land use plan to help guide zoning decisions, Caulfield said.

Commission members have confidence in the Township’s current zoning laws, Caulfield said, and feel no pressure or reason to rush to create a new land use document.

“Our Zoning Code is a land use plan,” she said. “A comprehensive plan is not a save-all, end-all. Our zoning is working, and though we acknowledge there are development pressures, a comprehensive plan would only be a guide.”

Township trustee Chris Mucher said that a comprehensive plan is not only necessary, but somewhat urgent. A good plan identifies areas in Miami Township that are most desirable for business and residential growth and also for open space and farmland, he said. With these areas identified, when a request arises to rezone agricultural land, for instance, the Township has some justification for the denial of such a request, Mucher said.

“The more I’m in office, the more I think a comprehensive plan is needed to provide direction for the people of the community,” he said.

Caulfield and Zoning Commission alternate Joe Staggs agreed that their role in establishing a comprehensive plan would be to find a balance between providing guidance to land use and respecting land owners’ rights.

When asked if a land use plan would be useful or if it could threaten the rights of township residents, Caulfield said that the commission members were working on a plan because they were asked to.

“I don’t see the land use plan as threatening because it can’t take away property rights,” she said. “We don’t have the authority to control land owners by law through this process.”

Spracklen agreed that balancing land owners’ rights with the needs of the community is a tricky task.

“A comprehensive plan should not damage the value of people’s property,” he said, and the public will have many opportunities to express their needs in this process. “The Zoning Commission is working hard to achieve this balance,” he said.

The Zoning Commission plans to spend its next few monthly meetings bringing its two new members, Don Cooper and Fred Legge, up to speed on what they’ve been working on. They will join commission members Caulfield, Staggs, Bonnie Hoagland and Dale Amstutz in collecting maps with information on soil, green space, wellhead protection, development zoning and recreation areas, and then identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each area. The next step will be to hire a planning consultant to help the commission address the issues pertaining to the township.

The commission is not operating on a timeline, Caulfield said, but on the thoroughness and care with which they approach their responsibilities.

Its meetings are open to the public, and commission members invite anyone interested in hearing how plans are coming to attend.

A land use plan will eventually be spun, but it won’t be a drastic departure from the zoning regulations that already exist in the township, Caulfield said.

“It’s naive to think that any one [plan] is going to solve everything,” Caulfield said.