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NEWTON -- Township residents will be able to provide their input on the community's first comprehensive plan as a public hearing has been set at 6 p.m. March 10 at the township hall.
Trustee Chairman Pete Augusta said at Wednesday's meeting the public will be able to ask questions and provide input before trustees make an official decision on whether to approve the plan, which was prepared by Youngstown State University's Center for Urban and Regional Studies at a cost not to exceed $15,000.
Township trustees and a 15-member citizen committee have spent time reviewing the final draft.
Rachel McCartney, economic development analyst with Government Relations and Economic Development at Youngstown State University, met with officials and residents to get input prior to the plan being put together.
"This final public hearing is required to make the plan legal," Augusta said.
Officials said they want residents to have the opportunity to provide input to see what the plan includes. Trustees said the plan will serve as a guide for future land use and development in the township. The township has never had its own comprehensive plan, but was included in a western Trumbull plan for several communities completed 10 years ago.
At previous meetings on the plan, residents expressed interest in having park and recreational areas in the township with walking and bike trails, and along the river for kayaking and canoeing
Officials said having a plan in place will be beneficial when the township seeks grants for projects.
Augusta said when the plan is completed, it will help officials identify areas for future land development.
Trustees had YSU send out surveys to residents on what they would like to see the township be in the future. More than 835 surveys were completed by residents, who identified areas they could see being used as residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial over the next 10 years.
The survey results showed residents want to maintain the rural and agricultural aspects of the township and the family friendly atmosphere; have condemned and structurally unfit homes torn down; see residential and commercial development; improve roads and maintain infrastructure; attract commercial and retail businesses; increase services for youth and seniors such as a community recreation center; and want a community van or bus service.
Trustee Doreen Lutz said the committee of residents that worked on the plan originally targeted a public hearing to have been held in 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it could not be held until this year.
In other business, trustees approved a zone change request from manufactured home/ business zoning to residential on a 15-acre vacant property off Salt Springs Road to allow for the construction of a home.
The request was made by Gerald and Kathleen Apel.
Zoning Inspector Rod Hedge said the Apels want the zone change to allow for purchase of the land for prospectve buyers who want to build a single-family home there. Hedge said R-1 zoning allows for single-family and and two-family homes.
The property in question is adjacent to a mobile home park, officials said.
Augusta said both the township zoning commission and the county zoning commission recommended the zone change be approved.
Dean and Suzanne Carr of Salt Springs Road said they own 16 acres nearby and are in favor of the residential zoning change since it is the most strict on what can be built there. Dean Carr said he was upset a letter about the public hearing on the zone change dated Jan. 30 did not arrive at his home until Feb. 19, nine days after the hearing, because of late mail delivery.
He said he had to get the meeting minutes to see what happened at the public hearing.
bcoupland@tribtoday.com