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Meeting:  January 10, 2023 at 7:30 am Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, OH 44024.  This meeting was in person with no virtual option.

Board Attendance: Present were Dennis Bergansky (arrival at 8:03), Walter (Skip) Claypool, Caterina Cocca-Fulton (2022 chair), Nick Gorris, James McCaskey, Dan Miller, John Oros and Gary Neola. County Commissioner Lennon was present.   Geauga County Commissioners Dvorak  and Spidalieri were absent.

Staff Attendance:  Linda Crombie, Planning Director, Allyson Kobus, Planner II and Pamela Irizarry, Administrative Assistant

Election of Officers for 2023:  There was discussion especially about the chair position.  Ms. Cocca-Fulton stated that she had indicated that she did not want to be chair again as she would like to use her time to assist the Director in the area of Model Zoning. After some discussion, there was unanimous approval for the following:

• Chair:  John Oros (abstaining)

• Vice Chair: Nick Gorris (abstaining)

• Secretary/Treasurer:  Mr. Neola (serving for a second term)

At this point in the meeting the new chair, Mr. Oros, took over his duties as Chair.

Minutes: The minutes from the December 13,  2022 meeting were approved (after noting one typo had been corrected). As of 01/14, Planning Commission Approved Meeting Minutes  are available online through Nov 15, 2022.

Financial report and approval of expenses - approved

There is a balance of $203,950, which is the total appropriation budget for 2023

Expenses were approved and included mileage and copy machine expenses.  Mr. Neola asked about the carryover and it was stated by Ms. Irizarry that they spent down their carryover on various office expenses.

Director’s Report - the following topics were discussed:

• Director attended the County Planning Directors meeting.  It was reported that the Guide to Planning in Ohio will be updated.  The American Planning Association stated that they intend to focus more on rural areas, which has been a request for a while.  

• There is a need for more clarity on large solar facilities. Large solar and wind facilities can be banned by County Commissioners either completely or only in some areas under recently enacted Senate Bill 52.  Mr. Lennon questioned what happens in agricultural areas.  Ms. Crombie acknowledged that this is somewhat unclear.

• Ms. Crombie mentioned House Bill 563 ( removing the ability of local township zoning boards to regulate Airbnb’s.  She said it appears that this bill will be reintroduced

• Two new building lots in Burton Township

• Mr. Claypool questioned whether there was any tracking when a business switches from being retail to a different model (such as happened to Mape’s Garden Center in Chesterland)

• House Bill 501 (passed) authorizes counties and townships to regulate small solar facilities.  There was some discussion about the definition of small and whether townships could regulate something attached to a home (answer seems to be no).

• House Bill 698 (introduced) would make changes to eminent domain (government taking of private property).  There was no discussion.

• The Planning Commission received information regarding 10 conservation easements that were filed in December.  Nine of these were with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and one was with the Ohio EPA.  The largest was in Parkman (Soltis Farm) which will conserve 570 acres. 

• There were 83 total actions performed by the Planning Commission:  21 lot splits, 49 inquiries and 13 easements.  On average over 3 years there have been 90 inquiries a month.  The Planning Department  also answered an inquiry from Russell Township.

• Director attended the Farmland Leasing webinars - she stated that these leases serve a good purpose for both owners and tenants but often they are verbal and not written.  

At this point Mr. Claypool led a discussion about ODOT and NOACA.  He stated his opinion that these organizations should stop wasting funds on investigating electric cars and bicycle lanes.  Mr. Neola mentioned that there is an extra charge for licenses for electric cars. Observer Note:  There is a $100 extra fee for hybrids and $200 for all electric.  See BMV fees. 

Mr. Claypool mentioned that there will be a climate action program put on by NOACA on January 10th at the Middlefield Library.   He also stated that he had presented a program to detail the dangers of NOACA to the Lake County Liberty Coalition.  He offered to share the program with anyone who wanted it, but it is a private link that he would have to send. 

OTHER BUSINESS

A. 2022 Accomplishments and 2023 Goals

The Director spoke about the following Accomplishments and Goals:

1. County Subdivision Regulations Update  (commenced October)

2. County Model Zoning Resolution Update  (acted on Article I, II, VII, and X)

3. County Land Use Map Update  (completed May)

4. Housing Inventory  (commenced January, draft presented in December)

5. Series of Information Sheets  (commenced May, drafts presented in July and December)

6. NEO Planning and Zoning Workshop  (completed June)

7. Conservation Easement mapping  (updated in December)

8. Township Land Use Plan  (not started)

9. Planning Commission Webpage Update  (ongoing updates as needed)

10. 2022 Submittal Deadline and Meeting Date Schedule (completed May)

11. Census Data (ongoing research)

12. Staff Training  (ongoing)

13. Transition to the new County Building  (completed July)

14. Standard Operating Procedures Manual  (ongoing; created various checklists)

Goals of the staff for 2023 include the following:

1. County Subdivision Regulations Update - This goal commenced in 2022 and should be completed in 2023.

2. County Model Zoning Resolution Update - Continue review of the Model Zoning Resolution for statutory updates, additional sections, deletions, re-wording, or formatting related issues.

3. County Land Use Map Update - Decide upon any changes to the methodology in which the map is prepared.

4. Housing Inventory - Finalize the inventory for presentation in the early 2023.

5. Series of Information Sheets - The first two info sheets, How Do I Split My Property? and “What Approvals Do I Need for a New Home? There are a number of others that are being considered.

6. Conservation Easement mapping and analysis - 1. Continue to map any new conservation easements and 2. Perform analysis of changes in property taxes owed and assessed value for a sampling of properties containing a conservation or agricultural easement. 

7. Continued use and advancement of GIS - Staff will continue to learn using ArcPro and ArcOnline for various projects.

8. Directory of Public Officials - Final updates will be made in early 2023 to the directory as numerous county offices relocated to the new County building on Ravenwood Drive as well as general update due to retirements, election results, etc.

9. Township Land Use Plan - Time can be devoted in 2023 to assist townships with updating their land use plans. It can be as basic as updating charts and maps with the most current census data to more comprehensive updates, as time permits.

10. Planning Commission Webpage Update - Continue to work with ADP to update the website as needed. As of February 2023, the current County website will be decommissioned.

11. Census Data - More 2020 Census data will be released in 2023 and the staff will prepare maps, tables, and charts as data is released. The goal is to compile a Census Data Book that includes multiple censuses for comparison of communities, in one easily accessible booklet.

12. Staff Training  - Staff will continue to attend seminars, webinars, or meetings related to planning, zoning, GIS etc.

13. Standard Operating Procedures Manual - The explanation sheets and checklists produced thus far will be inserted into a formal draft of SOP Manual that details all procedures relating to all office functions.

14. Interdepartmental collaboration - The Planning Commission staff has assisted the County Department of Community and Economic Development with various projects in the past, such as the Industrial Directory. Continued interdepartmental collaboration will continue to determine what projects are worthwhile pursuing as it relates to the relationship between economic development and planning. Additionally, the director of the Dept. on Aging requested the Planning Commission’s staff’s assistance with updating their 2011 senior population study.

15. Credit Card - Finish the process to acquire a credit card.

16. Housekeeping/Inventory - Now that we have been in our new office space, staff will continue to organize and/or archive materials and discard any obsolete equipment (auction, Govdeals.com). The staff will also create and finalize its Asset Value Inventory that lists all furniture, computers, filing cabinets,  tc. including the value of each piece.

17. 2024 Planning and Zoning Workshop - Assist with the preparation of the above referenced workshop, which will be held in one of the surrounding counties (probably Portage).

B. 2023 Meeting dates, holidays, and other agenda items 

Meeting dates and holidays were approved.  After some discussion there was a vote (which passed) as to whether to permit the day after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday.  Many of the commission members were opposed to this in principle but voted for it because the Commissioners had passed this and due to being in the County building they agreed that it would be best to follow the lead of the Commissioners.

It was decided to change the order of the Agenda items, perhaps by just stating at the beginning of the meeting that Agenda items will be reviewed in a different order.  The general idea was to move items that need a vote further up on the Agenda, and the Director’s report (which Commission members already receive) further down in the Agenda.  

C. Website Update – The draft website will be presented at the meeting and basically approved with a few changes, including a different way of presenting the board members, whether photos should be used,  and a different order for including Huntsberg and Troy (which do not have their own websites for Planning).

Mr. Lennon wanted to know if ADP has been helpful and whether they are charging for updating the website.  Ms. Crombie stated that they have been very helpful and they are not charging.  Mr. Lennon went on to say that there was a rumor that ADP would start charging departments for website updates.

8. Major Subdivisions -None

9. Township Zoning Correspondence —None

Old Business

A. Pay Grade Update - This is a continuing discussion and involves whether the Planning Commission will refer to Pay Grades or pay ranges.  Any change will need to be part of the Planning Commission Procedure Manual.  So this will be presented at the next meeting.

B. Derchar Subdivision (no new materials) - This Subdivision has been on the Agenda for many months, but Ms. Crombie stated that to have it removed the petitioner would have to file an application.  She is going to check with the Prosecutor’s office to see if there is any other way to remove this item (and those like it) without this type of application.

C. County Subdivision Regulations regarding Easements - There was a discussion as to how the Planning Commission could intervene in the process of Conservation Easements.  

• Mr. Claypool advocated a process that would require the property owner seeking such an easement to notify the Planning Commission, with a penalty of not filing such easements until the property owner appeared before the Planning Commission.  

• Mr. McCaskey stated that this type of procedure would necessitate a change to Ohio law.  

• Mr. Lennon stated that he would like a map of parks and conservation easements and also expressed his opinion that it would be important to understand the tax implications of conservation easements.  

• Mr. Claypool stated that he thought the Planning Commission should contact local Ohio representatives to investigate changing the law.

Ms. Cocca-Fulton suggested that an informational session for the public might be beneficial.

D. Geauga County Annual review of Land Use Plan - There were some minor changes discussed such as the way urbanized areas and urban areas were defined and also to add scooters to the types of transportation in the section on the Amish population.

E. Credit Card use - According to rules on credit card use, there is no provision to use a credit card for advertising for job openings.

F. Model Zoning Section 401.0(A) (NO NEW MATERIAL) No discussion

12. NEW BUSINESS:

A. County subdivision regulations update: Platting and other procedures.  There was a discussion of potential changes which will be brought back to the Planning Commission for a vote.

B. Mileage Reimbursement Rate 2023 - The Planning Commission agreed to increase the rate to pay the new federal rate.

Public Comment - not on the Agenda, none solicited or given.

Adjournment

Next meeting:  February 14, 2023 at 7:30 am.

More Information about the Geauga Planning Commission is available online.

Name of Observer:  Gail Roussey

Reviewer: Shelly Lewis

Submitted: 1-12-2023

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