Trending
We were pleased to see Lordstown Village council slow down consideration of legislation that would have frozen plans to grant new permits to companies operating trucking terminals in the village -- especially given that it would have adversely affected plans already in the works.
Now, we urge the council to say no to the plan all together.
If passed, this proposed moratorium could have an immediate impact on development being considered for a parcel of land on state Route 45 near the village's border and send a negative message for future development as well.
Frankly, we were disappointed that such an idea to limit business growth in any community even got this far and were even more bothered that it was supported for passage as an emergency measure by councilmen Robert Bond and Howard Sheely.
We believe no plan that could so drastically affect business development ever should be passed as an emergency, which would mean it would get only one reading rather than the traditional three and would take effect immediately.
Dan Crouse, a local commercial real estate agent, spoke out against the plan at the recent council meeting, questioning the need for emergency passage and raising concerns about the legislation's "nebulous" language that failed to define a "truck terminal."
"What is that?" Crouse asked the council. "Really, what is a truck terminal?"
While at least one resident, former mayoral candidate Mark McGrail, spoke in favor of the moratorium, we found it noteworthy that two of the three council members who had sponsored the bill for passage voted no on emergency adoption -- Terry Campbell and Lamar Liming.
Also voting against considering the issue as an emergency were Jamie Moseley and Ronald Radtka.
Before voting, Campbell admitted he had not been made aware that a business already had a parcel under contract and that the legislation could adversely affect those development plans. Based on that, he decided to put on the brakes.
Good.
Let's not forget that Lordstown is an extremely popular location for development because of its excellent highway access and proximity to large northeast U.S. cities. Statistics show that 19% of all U.S. freight truck traffic passes through the area.
Certainly, we should not be sending a message to any potential developer that Lordstown and Trumbull County are closed to new business that wants to capitalize on the value of our location. Rather, we should be sending a message that we are open to business and we welcome the opportunity to capitalize on our location.
We urge council to vote no on this issue when it comes up again for second and third readings.