Planning Commission – February 13, 2024
Meeting: The Geauga Planning Commission met in Regular Session on February 13, 2024 at 7:30 AM at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in person with no virtual attendance 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 in 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. No public comment is solicited or offered. See brief discussion about public comment later in the meeting.
Board Attendance: Present were Chair Nick Gorris, as well as Members Dennis Bergansky (Vice-Chair), Walter (Skip) Claypool, Caterina Cocca-Fulton, Jim McCaskey, Dan Mille, and Gary Neola (Secretary/Treasurer). Commissioner James Dvorak was present, and Commissioners Ralph Spidalieri and Tim Lennon were absent. There is one vacancy on the Board, which was filled at the February 13 Board of County Commissioner meeting.
Staff Attendance: Linda Crombie, Planning Director, Allyson Kobus, Planner II, and Pamela Irizarry, Administrative Assistant.
Others Attending: This Observer and shortly before the meeting ended, one member of the public came in. No members of the press were present.
Minutes - Minutes are available online here. Scroll down until the section on Minutes and Agendas.
Pledge of Allegiance, Roll Call
Approval of Minutes - Minutes for the January 9, 2024 meeting were approved.
Approval of Agenda/Addendum Items - Approved with no changes.
Financial Report and Approval of Expenses - Approved
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Expenses - $22,593.09
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Balance as of date of the meeting: $221,116.91
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Fees received year to date: $1,760
Carryover expenses have been paid as of the date of the meeting
Director’s Report
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There are five new buildable lots, with none over 20 acres.
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The Director worked with Claridon Township on their Land Use Plan for 121 hours in January.
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The Director met with the Geauga Growth Partnership and the Farm Bureau.
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The Director attended the Township Association meeting
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Proposed Annexation - Hartville Hardware has 25 acres in Middlefield Village that will be annexed into Middlefield Village. See Board of County Commissioners Observer Report for January 4, 2024 for more information.
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Director and Ms. Kobus, Planner II, made a suggestion regarding the hiring of a floater for the County office building to cover lunches and absences so that a new part time position would not be necessary for several of these departments. There was a brief discussion of this idea, and it was decided that the Director would bring it up at the County Director’s meeting. It was noted that the Administrative Assistant for the Planning Commission works only 3 days a week and, if Ms. Kobus is absent, that leaves only the Director, which is sometimes difficult. Mr. Bergansky asked if there was money in the budget to pay Ms. Irizarry a few extra days a year. Ms. Crombie said that they have a small cushion that could be used for 4-5 extra days a year.
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The office assisted Geauga Public Health with some mapping and also assisted Chester Township with a map question.
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Total Solar Eclipse Planning for April 8th. It was noted that four school districts will be closed, Chardon Schools will have a ½ day, and, as of this date, Cardinal School District will be open. Kent State Geauga will also be open. The eclipse viewing event at the Fairgrounds will be the focus for Geauga Park District, with all other parks being closed so that staff can be present at the Fairgrounds. The Geauga County Library said they have 2,000 glasses for each of their locations and have events planned.
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Commercial Buildings - In Russell Township, there is a 2,700 sq ft community center proposed; a building in Middlefield Village and a Cold Storage facility in Newbury are also proposed.
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Senate Select Committee - Director and Mr. Bergansky attended the hearings held locally and sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation. There was testimony for 7 hours. No new legislation was proposed yet. The focus was on affordable housing. Mr. Claypool said that he believes that there will be legislation introduced and opined that “Legislation always makes it worse.” Testimony is available here.
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CEDS (Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy) - The Planning Commission had sent a letter to the Board of County Commissioners asking that the County not be part of the NOACA (Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Committee) CEDS plan. This letter was sent in November, and there has been no response from the Commissioners to date. Director will follow up. See the Planning Commission Report for October 12, 2023 for more details.
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Township Zoning Inspector’s Quarterly meeting - Ms. Crombie said that this group had stopped meeting in 2019 but have started talking about meeting again. Mr. McCaskey said that Munson is excited to be meeting again.
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Sign-in Sheet - It was suggested (not clear who made the suggestion) that there should be a sign in sheet for meetings as has been done with other Boards. Ms. Crombie said it would be helpful in preparing minutes and also if someone wanted to speak. This Observer (as the only member of the public who usually attends) stated that I would be happy to sign in and also pointed out that I had a name badge.
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Public Comment - It was mentioned that there is a new House bill (HB211) that has been introduced regarding comment at public meetings. Mr. Gorris said that there is no listing for public comment on the Planning Commission Agendas, but that it was up to the Chair if he/she wanted to recognize someone who had their hand raised for public comment at the end of the meeting.
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Leadership Geauga - Ms. Crombie said that she was going to apply for Leadership Geauga, which would cause her to be occupied mostly on Fridays from September-June.
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Ohio Guide to Planning - Ms. Crombie said they had purchased this Guide at a cost of $30 and that townships could come to the office to review it. See Ohio Planning Association website for more information.
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Northeast Ohio Planning and Zoning Workshop - Ms. Crombie said this is the local one which they have either hosted (last year) or attended. It will be held Friday June 28.
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Legislative update - HB 391 has been introduced; it would amend handicapped parking regulations. The language was taken from the Ohio Township Association suggestion.
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GIS (Geographic Information System) User Group met - They meet every other month. This is for all those in the County who utilize GIS.
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ODOT is updating some maps prior to work being done at the intersection of 422 and Rapids Road.
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Year End Inventory - This is required every year.
Other Business: 2023 Financial Summary
The Planning Commission used overall 97.94% of its Budget. It was commented by several board members that this was very tight budgeting. Mr. Neola asked about the $4,000 that was not spent and Ms. Crombie said it went back to the County General Fund.
Major subdivisions to be Reviewed
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Hickory Dale Allotment - Replat of sublots 65 through 67 and part of sublot 64, Newbury Township - Final Plat. There were no comments from the staff and no other issues raised. The property owner wanted to do this because of plans to build and the necessity to have septic on one property. It was noted that a septic system cannot span two separate lots. Approved.
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Punderson Lake Development - Replat of sublots 117-119 and 140-141, Newbury Township, Final Plat. Property owner would like to build in the future. There were no comments or objections. Approved.
Township Zoning Amendments to be Reviewed - None
Correspondence - None
Old Business - None
New Business
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Monthly Financial Report - Ms. Crombie mentioned that the reports she has been preparing are for the period ending the day of the Planning Commission Board meeting, which makes for a tight timeline on getting the report generated. She said that it would be easier to prepare if they could do the report on a monthly calendar basis. This was approved.
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2020 Urban Area Map - There was a discussion of how the Census Bureau has changed the definition of what constitutes an urban area. Ms. Korbus showed maps that indicated the changes, mostly eliminating Chester as an urbanized area, as the Census Bureau defines an urban area now as over 50,000 population. Bainbridge now has a larger urban area on the Census map.
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2023 Year End Report - This report will be available in a few weeks here. Major report items include the following:
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- Staff is working on updated County Subdivision regulations. The Director hopes to complete them in 2024.
- 108 new lots in 2023 compared to an average of 50 in prior years. The Director stated that a lot of these were from the Canyon Lakes subdivision.
- Thompson Township has requested help updating their land use plan, and the office will be assisting in 2024.
- Staff is assisting Claridon Township in Updating their Land Use Plan.
- Staff has been working on a Standard Operating Procedures Manual.
- The Planning Commission implemented a Compensation Plan and Salary Schedule approved by the Board.
- The Land Use Map was updated.
- There were many GIS Mapping Projects.
- Staff helped to coordinate and attended the Northeast Ohio Planning and Zoning Workshop.
- Staff is working to complete the Guide to Updating Land Use Plans.
- Staff completed three Info sheets this year and will continue working on Info Sheets in 2024.
- Ms. Crombie said that there has been good interoffice collaboration.
- In 2023 the website was updated.
- There has been a Temporary Suspension of Large Lot Septic Inspections as the Subdivision Regulations are being updated.
- Census Data has been updated as it has been released from the Census Bureau.
- A new logo was designed and implemented for the Planning Commission, with Board approval.
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NOACA - Mr. Claypoll stated that NOACA is doing a regional transit study. Observer Note: As of the publishing of this report, this Observer did not find a survey available on the NOACA Transit website.
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La Due Reservoir - Mr. Neola said that he heard that Akron is no longer using La Due Reservoir for water. No one else confirmed that, and this Observer could not find any information regarding this.
Meeting adjourned (approximately 9 am)
Following the Adjournment, Mr. Claypool made an announcement urging people to explore information from the Butler County Sheriff. Mr. Claypool said that the Butler Sheriff said that the FBI is encouraging citizens to defend themselves from immigrants. There is information here in which it appears that the Butler Sheriff was quoting the FBI as talking about terrorism and disaster preparedness.
Next meeting: March 12, 2024 at 7:30 am.
More Information about the Geauga Planning Commission is available online.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submitted: 2/18/2024
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