Granville Township board holds off on zoning district vote after resident feedback
As Licking County continues to prepare for Intel's arrival, Granville Township heard more from residents about a proposed zoning change designed to protect the area from uncontrolled development.
On Monday, the Granville Township Zoning Commission held another meeting about the proposed overlay district, which would create stricter zoning regulations than the regular zoning code within defined areas of the township.
A local committee of township residents, township officials and a village of Granville representative spent months crafting the draft overlay with Crossroads Community Planning, a central Ohio consulting firm that has also worked with Jersey and Union townships as they too prepare for development.
Of the draft overlay district's 60 pages, 26 pages are dedicated to design and aesthetic standards about lighting, open space, landscaping, parking lots, setbacks, buffers, signage and more. Those detailed standards are what will control future development, so it matches Granville's existing character, said Susan Walker, chair of the zoning commission, to the standing-room-only crowd.
While no one wants the Granville area to change, Walker said development is coming because of Intel's semiconductor factories south of Johnstown.
She said the township has two choices: Do nothing or prepare for development. Walker said other areas of central Ohio that didn't properly plan for growth now have unsightly and uncontrolled development — and that's something no one wants in Granville.
"The overlay zoning proposal adopts reasonable zoning protections, and that keeps Granville the Granville that all of us know and love," she said.
The proposed overlay district, which has received conditional approval from the Licking County Planning Commission, can be viewed on the township's website.
The overlay district goes along with the a joint economic development district, or JEDD, that the township and village of Granville are finalizing. The JEDD includes the same properties as the overlay district.
JEDDs are an economic development tool that allow townships to partner with a municipality to collect income tax on commercial properties within a defined area. In this case, Granville Township is partnering with the village, and businesses in the area would be subject to the village's 1.5% income tax rate. Township residential properties are not impacted by the income tax.
The proposed district includes properties along River Road and Weaver Drive, Raccoon Valley Golf Course and properties along Columbus Road (Ohio 16). The latter is an area that has been slated for development for decades.
The overlay district would not replace a property's existing zoning but instead would give landowners another option if they choose to develop their land, said Holly Mattei, president of Crossroads Community Planning. If the overlay district is approved, the zoning does not automatically change. It would only change if a property owner opt to use the overlay district zoning.
To control future growth, the draft overlay district specifically outlines the permitted and prohibited uses in subareas of the district.
Some of the permitted uses include:
Subarea A1, which includes properties along River Road and Weaver Drive, allows for retail, small food and beverage businesses, parks, salons, barber shops, small businesses and more.
Subarea A2, which includes the former gas station on Columbus Road, allows for retail, small food and beverage businesses, drive-thrus, salons, barber shops and more.
Subarea A3, which includes properties along Columbus Road, allows for retail, small food and beverage businesses, automobile-oriented uses and more.
Subarea B, which includes the Owens-Corning Science and Technology Center and properties on the south side of Columbus Road, allows for advanced manufacturing, healthcare facilities, commercial recreational facilities and more.
Subarea C, which covers Raccoon Valley Golf Course, allows for golf courses and country clubs, agritourism and commercial recreation facilities.
But nearby residents, specifically those on Silver Street, said they aren't in favor of the overlay, fearing that it will destroy the area's rural character.
Dave Convertini, whose Silver Street property is only one removed from the overlay boundary, said as an avid outdoorsman teaching his children to hunt and fish, having large scale development nearby will make that experience impossible.
"Nobody wants a large manufacturing commercial building in our backyard," he said. "Nobody wants this. Find a way to make your extra dollars some other way without ruining where I live."
The township is partly preparing its southwest corner for development in an effort to create a larger commercial tax base for Granville Exempted Village Schools to lessen the residential tax burden. But Silver Street resident Scott Wagner said the trade off of development isn't worth it to him and other residents.
"We would rather pay more taxes than have all this stuff coming into our area," he said.
Other residents raised concerns over environmental impacts and increased traffic and questioned if those elements had been studied as part of the proposed overlay.
Walker said whenever a property would develop under the overlay district, developers would have to submit traffic and environmental studies as part of their application.
When it comes to the roads, Mattei said the Licking County Engineer's office would determine which roads would need studied for each development.
The commission members opted not to vote on the district, and Crossroads Community Planning staff members will update the draft based on resident feedback. For example, a couple said their home was included within the district and they didn't want it to be, so it will be removed.
The zoning commission scheduled another meeting on the topic for 7 p.m. April 1 at the Granville Township Service Complex. Commission members will have to vote at that meeting as they have to vote within 30 days of the original March 4 hearing.
Walker spoke with residents after and she said in an Advocate interview that those residents felt they had a better understanding after hearing more from Mattei about how the overlay will function. Walker added that the additional time before the vote also gives residents more time to digest the proposed district.
"It's a hard thing to understand, but it's important that everybody spend as much time with it as possible," Walker said of the district.
Once the zoning commission votes on the proposed overlay, it then goes to the township trustees, who will hold their own public meeting about it before a final vote. If approved by the trustees, the overlay will go into effect 30 days later, Mattei said.
mdevito@gannett.com
740-607-2175
Twitter: @MariaDeVito13
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville Twp. board holds off on zoning district vote after feedback
