Planning Commission –September 12, 2023
Meeting: The Geauga Planning Commission met in regular session on September 12, 2023 at 7:30 AM at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in person with no virtual option. The agenda was available online one week prior to the meeting. Observer Note: The website presents the Minutes and meeting dates, and the Agenda is included on that section.
Public Comment Policy: No formal policy but in practice, public comment could be permitted at the Chair’s prerogative. However, this does not happen.
Board Attendance: Present were Chair John Oros, Commissioner James Dvorak, as well as members, Caterina Cocca-Fulton (arrival at 8:05 am), Walter (Skip) Claypool, Dan Miller, Gary Neola and Nick Gorris. Dennis Bergansky and Jim McCaskey were absent as well as Commissioners Timothy Lennon and Ralph Spidalieri.
Staff Attendance: Linda Crombie, Planning Director, Allyson Kobus, Planner II, and Pamela Irizarry, Administrative Assistant.
Minutes - minutes are available online through August 8, 2023.
Financial Report and Approval of Expenses
General fund balance year to date is $72,810.84. Also there was a report that revenue for the year ($9,610)was mostly from lot splits. Year to date revenue is $10,970 with $1,360 for August.
Expenses this month were for mileage, supplies and Disaster Training - $181.43
Director’s Report- Discussion is included as noted.
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New Building Lots - Nine (9) new building lot proposals were submitted in July: 1 was minor, 7 were large and 1 was over 20 acres.
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Claridon Township Land Use
At the meeting on August 16 with Claridon, the staff facilitated a SWOT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and the group began discussion about the questions to ask in their community questionnaire. Staff time has been 32 hours in May - August which corresponds to $2,000 (not counting medical benefits for staff members).
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Legislative Update - A bill was submitted this week regarding virtual meetings. If passed, certain public meetings could be conducted virtually if the entity passed regulations and adopted a policy. Township trustees and the Commissioners’ meetings are not included, but the Planning Board would be included. Director will let the Board know about future developments.
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Township Association - Staff took a lunchtime shift at the Geauga County Fair to represent the Township Association. They spoke with 20 individuals and felt it was a successful effort.
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Construction Activity - There was little new construction, except for a pavilion at the Newbury Business Park.
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Interoffice Assistance - Staff shared age data from census with Office on Aging. They also mailed to all townships information on the newly developed infosheets. They also provided Russell Township police with a department road map.
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Employee Wellness - Mr. Oros (also Geauga Park District Director) took staff for a tour of the parks in the Geauga Park District and also took the staff out to lunch. Mr. Oros also shared with staff the 10 Principles of Servant Leadership, which is a resource from his church. Here is one explanation of the 10 Principles of Servant Leadership.
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Website Updates - There is a new home page. It doesn’t pop up under the new County home page, but you can get there from Google. Ms. Crombie will be following up with ADP.
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Legal update - Sackett vs. EPA. There was a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Court ruled in favor of the property owner. He had backfilled some wetlands in order to build a home, but these wetlands did not lead directly into a flowing stream. The Court ruled that the EPA had no jurisdiction over a wetland if there was no continuous connection between the wetlands and water that was flowing into an interstate river. The Soil and Water Director Carmella Shale told Ms. Crombie that there is a permit required now for isolated wetlands that would still be applicable in her opinion.
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General Plan - In October, the staff will review the General Plan as this is a yearly commitment.
Mr. Oros mentioned that he has reached out to maintenance due to the loudness of the HVAC unit.
Other Business - None
Major Subdivisions - Nottingham Woods Subdivision
This was a small replat in Subdivision in Munson Township. Owner, Mr. Skerl, divided 2.2 acres out of an area near Bass Lake Road. There were no comments except from Soil and Water. They worked out the language with Mr. Skerl and there will be language about a drainage easement.
Correspondence
There was correspondence from Mr. Claypool and he spoke about his letter. He was writing to protest that NOACA had formed a CEDS (Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy). He said that NOACA has no basis for being involved in Economic Development and he stated that he believes that NOACA will be detrimental to rural counties. He recommended that the Planning Commission write to the Commissioners and urge them to “opt out” of the CEDS plan.
Mr. Claypool discussed his proposal at length. Mr. Oros said that they had already written to the Commissions about the CEDS and asked Mr. Dvorak what happened to that letter. Mr. Dvorak said that no action had been taken on the letter.
Mr. Oros asked Mr. Claypool to draft another letter and they would consider it.
Old Business - Subdivision Regulation Update, Article 1 General Provisions
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Subdivision Regulations Update (Article 1 - General Provisions)
At a prior meeting, Ms. Crombie stated that last year they had talked about updating these regulations which haven’t been updated since 2010. These include the Major Thoroughfare Plan which hasn’t been updated since 1989. Here is a link to the current Subdivision Regulations. The current Thoroughfare Plan lists roads by category of arterial, collector and local. Staff has added buggy lanes and printed a full size map and had it at the meeting. They added the Buckeye Trail, which follows roads and is partially on the Maple Highlands trail (which was also shown on the map). The Buckeye Trail is 1400 miles long and is noted on the full size map.
There are inset maps for villages and the City of Chardon as well as ODOT and township facilities.
New Business
Census Data Update - The Director reported that the Census has released an update on age and housing. Median age is oldest in Russell, Bainbridge and Newbury and youngest in Parkman, Middlefield and Huntsburg. The Median Age for Geauga County is 45.8. Total population is 95,397. See more information on the Planning Commission Census page.
Guide to Updating a Land Use Plan - Ms. Crombie talked about her work with Claridon and that this work has led to the Guide to Updating a Land Use Plan.
Mr. Claypool objected to the Director spending time helping Claridon. Mr. Oros noted that when the Planning Commission first discussed this, they decided to go forward with other townships in a low-medium level of involvement.
Mr. Dvorak said it was a good exercise to find out how much time it would take to do this level of work.
Ms. Crombie said that this will result in a template that will be useful for others.
Public Comment - not on the Agenda, none solicited or given.
Meeting adjourned (Approximately 8:30 am)
Next meeting: October 10, 2023 at 7:30 am.
More Information about the Geauga Planning Commission is available online.
Name of Observer: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Anne Ondrey
Submitted: 9/20/2023
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