Smart Growth News

Ohio

Legislative Task Force Revives State Focus to Improve Transportation in Ohio

Created by House Speaker Armond Budish and 20 other Democratic co-sponsors in March 2009, the bipartisan Compact with Ohio Cities Task Force has released its 20-point urban redevelopment and smart growth report. The report urges extra incentives to help cities regain residents and businesses and seeks a dedicated funding source for transit.

''We are saying that we need to start offering incentives that give preferential treatment to development that reuses our existing infrastructure, not building new greenfield development out in rural areas,'' said Task Force Chairman, Cleveland Representative Michael Foley. Cities, he pointed out, have long been at a disadvantage, with 87 of the state’s 88 counties offering tax breaks and other financial incentives for new development.

Westlake Republican Representative Nan Baker agreed with her Democratic colleague. ''Urban centers do need to succeed in order for the areas that surround them to succeed, so I do support that thought process,'' she said. ''We do need to make sure that it’s truly a genuine partnership between the cities and the suburbs and that everyone has a place at the table.''

The task force, note Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Aaron Marshall and Toledo Blade Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Provance, also stressed the need to advance related measures already in the pipeline. They include a six-month moratorium on home foreclosures and creation of county land banks, such as only Cuyahoga County has, to purchase vacant and foreclosed properties for redevelopment. Both bills are delayed in the Republican-controlled Senate. In addition, the task force called for renewal and expansion of the Third Frontier investment in high-tech and biomedical research and job creation, and recommended legislation to allow formation of multi-jurisdictional, public-private ''transportation innovation authorities'' (TIAs), which would raise revenue for key road, bridge, rail and other transportation projects.

Promising to make TIAs a priority in his caucus this year, House Speaker Budish emphasized that to discourage sprawl, they should be focused on areas with existing infrastructure, including roads, rail, water and sewer lines, utilities and other services. ''The preference is for jobs to come back to the urban communities,'' he reiterated. ''Getting people to their places of work and around the cities is really important.''   1/12/2010

Resource(s): http://blog.cleveland.com/ ; http://toledoblade.com

Ohio Land Bank Works with Fannie Mae in Troubled Neighborhoods

The Cuyahoga County Land Bank is working with Fannie Mae to acquire and restore foreclosed properties throughout the Cleveland metropolitan area, according to a Smart Growth America blog. The two agencies worked out an agreement allowing Fannie Mae to sell the Cuyahoga County Land Bank houses for only a dollar while also making available $3,500 for demolition if the home is unsalvageable. This deal presents a win-win for both agencies: Fannie Mae no longer need to pay maintenance for foreclosed properties and the land bank can prevent homes from being bought up by speculators, reducing market supply bringing it to a more sustainable level for actual demand. Housing prices would be able to stabilize, reducing the number of foreclosures and preventing further property value decline. If successful in Cuyahoga County, Fannie Mae hopes to expand this pilot plan to other distressed communities.   1/7/2010

Resource(s): http://blog.smartgrowthamerica.org/

Finding Local Solutions Is Key Theme at Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit

Though people and corporations around the world have begun to grasp the reality of climate change and its long-range threats, too many Americans remain just dimly aware of the energy and other tough adaptation problems they face, stated Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management Professor Peter Senge in a ''sobering'' lecture at last month's three-day Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit, saying, ''It's not surprising that that we ignore the future and go about our business.''

A consultant to governments and global corporations, reports Cleveland Plain Dealer writer John Funk, Professor Senge also decried the economy of waste and the habits of waste.

''We take. We make. We waste. We all live with blinders on. It's very hard to see the larger system,'' he pointed out. ''We have to do something about our way of life, how we live.''

And that's the idea also guiding Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and the 700 participants in his sustainability summit.

Divided into interest teams at 92 tables, the writer notes, they drafted proposals for and concrete steps to create or expand urban gardens and farms, grow and produce local food, generate renewable energy, advance green technologies, and implement dozens of other sustainability principles.

''I have never seen such creativity,'' said summit moderator, Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Business Professor David Cooperrider, who has held more than 500 of his Appreciative Inquiry (AI) forums in 70 countries. ''I didn't realize how in-depth this could go, this brainstorming phase.''

The AI approach, the writer observes, draws out the best concepts from forum participants, and demands specifics, a detailed implementation timetable, and benchmarks for measuring progress.

A team that proposed micro loans to entrepreneurs who start sustainability-minded small business, he adds, chipped in $219.29 as seed money and asked George Gund Foundation Director David T. Abbot, also at the summit, to set up such a micro-loan fund at the 16-county Fund for Our Economic Future he chairs.

Rounding up the seed money to $250 from his own pocket, Director Abbot turned it to the economic future fund, which will create and manage the proposed Fund for Sustainability. -- Plain Dealer   9/2/2009

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/

Columbus Expansion Slows as City Works to Balance Growth, Services

Having expanded from 42 square miles in 1950 to 146 by 1970 and 230 by now, despite annexation of just 14 acres this year, Columbus should make sure its internal policies complement, not weaken each other, said Greater Ohio smart-growth group Co-director Gene Krebs, former state Republican legislator, cautioning officials that not everything is fine when vacant and abandoned houses continue to hollow out the central city.

''You're stretching your services. As you're growing out from the middle, the core is starting to rot,'' he observed. ''It comes back to an efficient use of taxpayers' dollars.''

Officials, report Columbus Dispatch writers Mark Ferenchik and Elizabeth Gibson, are confident in their policies, including a ''pay-as-we-grow'' requirement for developers and property owners in new neighborhoods to bear some costs of city services.

Columbus Democratic Mayor Michael B. Coleman, first elected in 1999, ''recognized when he came into office that growing to grow is not a smart policy, just so Columbus can claim to have a larger population, a larger land mass,'' said his spokesman Dan Williamson, with mayoral Deputy Chief of Staff Greg Davies seeing the city policies on the right course.

Since former New York City deputy budget director Allen Proctor, a management firm principal sitting on the mayor's advisory economic panel in 2001, fears that too many new Columbus residents working elsewhere could mean higher city service costs while revenue slips, Deputy Davies pointed out that the city has been working with adjacent jurisdictions on the problem.

Its tax-sharing agreement with Dublin entitles Columbus to all taxes from workers whose jobs are moved to a 277-acre site Dublin plans to annex, and under a 2001 deal with New Albany, it will receive 15 percent of tax income revenue from a 2,000-acre business park which the village plans to expand by another 567 acres -- with Columbus getting the money once the business park area's payroll reaches $15 million.

According to City Auditor Hugh Dorrian, 53 percent of its income tax revenue comes from outside residents.

Still, experts think suburbanites may be ready to settle in the city, the writers note, quoting an urban land strategist, developer and scholar, Brookings Institute Metropolitan Policy Program Visiting Fellow Christopher Leinberger.

As gas prices rise and the green movement strengthens, walkable urban neighborhoods could become increasingly more attractive than the aged suburbs, with those that require long drives to jobs, services and entertainment likely to turn into the next slums. -- Columbus Dispatch   9/2/2009

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com/

Mayor Jackson Hopes Cleveland 2019 Summit Sparks Regional Change

Public sustainability compact, local food production, advanced energy research and generation, green building, vacant site reuse, green space and water supply protection, and social entrepreneurship in the urban core became the key topics for Cleveland Democratic Mayor Frank G. Jackson's recent Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit, with the mayor telling Plain Dealer writer John Funk that ''to create a sustainable, green economy, it has to be an integral part of what we do every day.''

Inspired by Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Business Professor David Cooperrider's innovative Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach, which puts all participants in a meeting on the same level, ''from students to chief executive officers,'' the mayor said, the summit should help spark a regional cultural change.

''It has to be what we do as a community. How we plan, how we invest, how we make money, how we spend money,'' he noted. ''Being green is not just about producing green products. It's about how we run our economy.''

Mayor Jackson continued the theme in his keynote speech at the summit, stressing that transition to a sustainable economy is inevitable, and that he wants Cleveland to lead.

''We will develop strategies that will reduce negative environmental impact and create healthier living and working environments,'' he pledged. ''I am determined to transform Cleveland's economy into a sustainable economy in a way that connects people and companies to jobs and profitability. The time to do this is now.'' -- Plain Dealer   8/12/2009

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/

ARRA Funds Help Jump-Start Cincinnati's Factory Square Redevelopment Project

Delayed for five years, first by an environmental issue then by recession and tight credit, redevelopment of the former American Can Co. factory site on the Cincinnati Northside into 8.5-acre mixed-use Factory Square -- featuring 96 loft apartments, 30 town homes, plus stores and medical offices -- will now get under way thanks to $1.6 million in grant money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), with visiting Vice President Joe Biden telling the crowd at a site event that the $22-million project will create 100 jobs.

One of the city's 14 projects benefitting from the federal stimulus block grant money, reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Jessica Brown, the Factory Square development is expected to revitalize the neighborhood, a need Vice President Biden noted while addressing opponents of stimulus spending, indirectly U.S. House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner, who represents the congressional district just north of Cincinnati.

''I say to those who are critics who say we shouldn't do this, or in the neighboring congressional district . . . I ask the rhetorical question, what would they do? Ladies and gentlemen, would they do nothing?'' the Vice President wondered. ''I didn't take this job, Barack didn't take this job, to do nothing. We took this job to rebuild America. That's what this job is about.''

In response, Representative Boehner accused the Vice President of disingenuity.

Claiming that a Republican plan, presented in the White House in January would have created jobs ''by encouraging investment and letting families and small businesses more of what they earn [sic],'' the Representative said in a statement, ''Democrats ignored that plan and took a go-it-alone approach to pass a trillion-dollar spending plan that isn't working.'' -- Enquirer   7/8/2009

Resource(s): http://news.cincinnati.com/

Marysville to Begin Utility Extension to ''Delayed'' Jerome Village Project

Describing his planned mixed-use Jerome Village of some 7,700 dwellings on 1,350 acres in the far northwestern reaches of the Dublin school district as ''smart growth,'' the ''next frontier,'' and ''cradle-to-the-grave housing,'' reports Columbus Local News writer Kevin Corvo, Highland Real Estate Development CEO Scott Mallory assured anxious district officials, who rely on the project for two new schools, that the economic slump did not derail, but only delayed construction for about a year.

He said that Jerome Township leaders have already approved all necessary zoning, that the city of Marysville will provide utilities, and that work to extend its water and sewer lines for almost two and five miles, respectively, will begin this summer.

Expecting to launch infrastructure preparation for the first new school on a 38-parcel in mid-2010, and to have both schools ready in the 2012-13 school year, he promised the Dublin City Schools Board of Education to reserve a 12-acre site within the development for a sale to the district whenever yet another school is needed.

Planned in three phases over the next nine years, the upscale village will include varied type housing -- with prices starting below $300,000 -- and inter-connected shops, offices and parks, the writer observes, noting that residents will be able to ''accomplish virtually all they need without leaving the development.'' -- Columbus Local News   6/2/2009

Resource(s): www.columbuslocalnews.com/

Annexation Slowdown Gives Central Ohio a Chance for Better Planning

To boost city tax revenue and pay for services, Columbus has for decades ''gobbled up cornfields like crows'' until the ever faster real-estate-market slide reduced its annexations from 2,133 acres in 2002 to about 100 acres both this year and last, reports Columbus Dispatch writer Mark Ferenchik, with smart-growth advocates urging central Ohio communities to seize the opportunity and make up for the slowdown and budget shortages through joint planning and regional cooperation.

''Economic conditions are ripe toward pushing people to think regionally,'' said Greater Ohio Co-director Lavea Brachman. ''We don't want to encourage sprawl. Cities have taken good advantage of annexation up to now, but it's not the wave of the future.''

Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute Senior Resident Fellow John McIlwain mentioned the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky as an example of efficient resource management and sharing services.

''We need to shift our thinking from the old pattern of cities versus suburbs and understand that they are all tied together into a holistic urban region,'' he pointed out, expecting the incoming Obama administration to encourage regionalism with housing and transportation funds. ''We still talk about cities and suburbs, but that's an outmoded way of talking about them.''

Ohio Municipal League President, Parma Mayor Dean DePiero, whose city received a $41,000 state grant this year to study consolidation of suburban emergency dispatches in a regional center, said the league may push harder for regional mergers, adding, ''What tough budgets will do is force more reluctant communities into the position of joining forces.''

Agreeing with the prediction, Hilliard Economic Development Director David Meeks noted that his city's initial concerns over some Columbus annexations because of potential increases in area traffic were eased through Columbus's ''pay-as-you-grow'' policy, under which developers had to help fund road and other improvements. -- Columbus Dispatch   12/15/2008

Resource(s): www.dispatchpolitics.com/

Akron Task Force Tackles Problem of Abandoned Properties

Job losses and foreclosures have worsened the vacancy problem nationwide, but especially throughout Ohio, reports Akron Beacon Journal writer Rick Amon, citing studies by the ReBuild Ohio coalition and the Policy Matters Ohio group, which found that more than 25,000 abandoned properties cost the state's eight major cities at least $63 million in 2003 services and tax revenue and that its rate of such property sheriff sales reached more than six per 1,000 residents, with Summit County responding to local community concerns by forming an Abandoned and Vacant Property Task Force.

The public-private task force will inventory such properties and recommend steps to reduce their number and their economic and psychological impact over the next six months, the writer notes, quoting Barberton Mayor Bob Genet.

''Even in some of our nicer areas, if you get one or two vacant houses, it can be detrimental to the health of a neighborhood,'' the mayor pointed out. ''It can tear down a neighborhood real quick.''

Officials are estimating the numbers of vacant properties at 200 to 600 in Barberton and at up to 7,000 in Akron.

Summit County leaders have just unveiled a program to stabilize neighborhoods by using $3.7 million in federal grants from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to acquire, rehabilitate and resell such properties, or to raze the irreparable and keep land tor future redevelopment.

They identified 25 neighborhoods in six municipalities so far as most affected and eligible for the program, excluding Akron, which got its own $8.5 million from the recovery act.

The program and the task force's study will proceed simultaneously, with the key task-force proponent, County Councilman Cazzell Smith saying, ''The abandoned and vacant properties are just skyrocketing.''

Columbus-based Greater Ohio smart-growth advocacy group Co-director Gene Krebs and Washington, D.C.-based National Vacant Properties Campaign Director Jennifer Leonard have commended Summit County leaders for their efforts as an example for others throughout the country.

''We'd like more people to be thinking about it at the county level,'' said Director Leonard. ''It's not just what happens in Akron. It's creeping out into the suburbs as well.'' -- Akron Beacon Journal   11/16/2008

Resource(s): www.ohio.com/

Report: Ohio Taxpayers Can't Afford State's Sprawl Cycle Any Longer

''Ohio's policies stack the deck against core communities at the very moment these places have a critical role to play in helping the state compete,'' said Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program Director Bruce Katz about its ''Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing Ohio's Core Communities'' draft report at a recent Columbus summit attended by Democratic Governor Ted Strickland and about 1,000 government, business and civic leaders, cautioning the audience that ''(t)he Ohio way -- in which resources get spread across the state like peanut butter and local jurisdictions proliferate -- is a luxury that Ohio taxpayers can no longer afford.''

With its 3,800 governmental units, many in hard battles over relocating companies to boost tax revenue, ''everyone is diminished,'' Director Katz noted, equally concerned about Ohio's ''addiction'' to expanding roads instead of transit or other alternatives as chiefly responsible for sprawl and deterioration of core cities.

''The Ohio way -- sprawling fast while growing slow, hollowing out older cities only to build new housing and retail facilities 30 miles away,'' he pointed out, ''does not make fiscal, environmental or competitive sense and must end.'' Both he and other speakers at the summit, sponsored by Brookings and the Greater Ohio smart-growth advocacy group, report Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Tom Breckenridge and Lima News writer Heather Rutz, also questioned the dependence on local property taxes to fund schools, with wealthier districts having more resources for their schoolchildren.

''The power of the status quo is absolutely enormous. Those who are doing well under the current rules of the game like it,'' Lima Mayor David Berger said later. ''They like it when shootings take place in downtown Lima and they go back to their homes and not have to worry about it. They like it when they can continue to support the well-to-do suburban school districts and criticize Lima schools, saying to get rid of teachers who don't know what they're doing and chastise children who are failling.''

To remedy those and other problems, summit participants backed key Brookings recommendations.

They said the state should move to revitalize its 32 core communities that function as regional economic, educational, medical and cultural centers, and government services should be consolidated and income taxes shared whenever a business moves across city borders.

The state's popular enterprise zone program -- under which localities offer businesses property tax breaks, with 200 such zones created so far, many in high-income areas -- should refocus on its original goal of helping depressed cities.

And the property-tax-based school funding system should be reformed.

''We've divested from the urban core and higher education,'' admitted Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher, who also leads the Ohio Department of Transportation, stressing that the state has already included some Brookings strategies in a new economic development plan launched a week earlier and that his department is working on a strategic plan whose provisions might allow assessment of road projects for their impact on urban core development. -- Plain Dealer, News   9/11/2008

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com ; www.limaohio.com/

Planners Call Central Ohio's Sprawl Slowdown Trend ''Temporary''

Despite the movement of young singles, couples and college graduates to Columbus, and despite the gas price impact on average household budgets, area planners and developers think ''the slowdown in central Ohio's outward growth is temporary,'' reports Columbus Dispatch writer Mark Ferenchik, with construction of several large projects well beyond the Outerbelt continuing and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) expecting 60 percent of another 500,000 area residents to settle on unincorporated land, largely outside Franklin County.

MORPC Executive Director Chester Jourdan said city and suburban developers need to build walkable neighborhoods, where people won't have to drive to shops, services or jobs, calling it a ''fundamental shift, like what we saw in the 1940s and 1950s'' when suburbanization began, but MORRPC regional development coordinator Matt LaMantia noted that the attitudinal contradictions present ''a huge challenge for community planning at any level.''

MORPC public and government affair director Laura Koprowski attributed the demand for big houses and lots to the societal compulsion to manifest success.

''Some of this is rooted in our culture,'' she observed. ''I don't think that is going away too quickly.''

She is echoed by developer Robert J. Weiler, who has lived on Columbus' East Side for 50 years but is building 1,300 homes about 20 miles farther north, in Delaware County.

''It's almost an elitist attitude or confidence level: 'OK. It's gonna cost me another five grand, But I'm getting away from the inner city,'' he told the writer. ''When people are buying some of these expensive (suburban) homes, that extra dollar, dollar and a half (per gallon) doesn't determine where people are going to live.'' -- Columbus Dispatch   6/15/2008

Resource(s): www.columbusdispatch.com/

New Albany Advised to Buy Open Space to Reduce Growth Pressure, School Overcrowding

Having grown from some 1,600 residents in 1990 to nearly 6,300 last year, the village of New Albany at Columbus's northeast edge is one of the state's fastest growing and most affluent communities, but the joint New Albany-Plain Township school district, including also the nearest Columbus neighborhood, already has 3,911 students -- 1,000 more than anticipated -- and the area's Smart Growth Coalition advised officials to buy as many of the district's 4,000 open acres as possible, to reduce residential pressures and the risk of further overcrowding of local schools, with dire consequences to taxpayers.

Last November, they rejected a $34 million bond issue for a new fifth-and-sixth-grade school, with the district accommodating student overflow in four trailers and worrying about classrooms and the cost of educating another 750 students expected in the next five years, reports Columbus Dispatch writer Jim Woods, quoting Smart Growth Coalition member Jon Yarger.

With the New Albany-Plain Township school district spending $10,738 per student a year, he said, his or her family house must be valued at $634,000 to return property taxes sufficient for covering the education cost.

Advising land purchases as an antidote against rapid residential construction, the coalition's report urged village, township and school district leaders to meet monthly and work together and study how the problem was handled in nearby Granville, where village and township voters became the first in Ohio to pass a land acquisition levy to protect their school district.

The report, the writer adds, also recommended upholding development standards to preserve local character and -- with 85 percent of the developed district land already residential -- suggested recruiting more business. -- Columbus Dispatch   5/18/2008

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com/

Developers Urged to Meet Growing Demand for Walkable Neighborhoods

''We are bored with suburbs,'' said Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program Visiting Fellow and University of Michigan's Graduate Real Estate Development Program Director Christopher Leinberger, a New Urbanism expert and developer, at the 2008 Historic Downtown Cleveland Luncheon Forum, estimating that on the nation's way to 400 million by 2038, singles and couples without children will make up 88 percent of new households over the next 20 years, and urging developers to meet their demand for walkable neighborhoods where everything can be found within 1,500 to 3,000 feet.

''It's all about mixed-use, transit-oriented development,'' he told the audience of more than 200 planners, developers, architects, journalists and others, writes Plain Dealer architecture critic Steven Litt, a key theme of his book ''The Option of Urbanism,'' published by Island Press last November.

After some five decades of sprawl, or ''drivable suburbs,'' the pendulum is moving the other way, the guest observed, a reversal energized by the current foreclosure crisis, but reflecting a deeper ''structural change (that) is under way in the housing market -- a major shift in the way many Americans want to live and work.''

As a prime example of the new trend, he cited Washington, D.C., with more than a dozen walkable, service-rich and residentially diverse neighborhoods, ranging from Dupont Circle to Anacostia.

He said Cleveland also ''should have 10 to 12 regionally significant walkable places at critical mass'' to accommodate those who may otherwise ''go to New York, Chicago and Munich,'' the writer reports, noting that Cleveland developers are turning in exactly that direction, with the Triangle, Flats East Bank, and Detroit-Shoreway projects.

Optimistic about downtown Cleveland's prospect for ''a critical mass,'' the guest speaker advised officials and builders to focus on water -- Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.

''Water is magic. Water is gold,'' he stressed. ''You've got one of the greatest resources in any city on the planet. But you gotta get to it, however.'' -- Plain Dealer 05.13.2008   5/13/2008

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/

Pickerington's Incoming Mayor Ready Wants Blueprint for Smart Growth

Troubled by road and school overcrowding, like most of his 14,500 fellow citizens in Pickerington -- the state's fastest-growing city, some 15 miles southeast of downtown Columbus -- Mayor-elect Mitch O'Brien has campaigned on those issues, reports Lancaster Eagle-Gazette writer Tierra Palmer, finding him eager to improve city parks and open space, and to implement a larger ''blueprint for smart growth,'' including various building and zoning changes.

Residents welcome the prospects.

''I (expect) Mr. O'Brien to work with Council to identify options for a better tax base to slow residential growth,'' said Tracey Conforti, a resident since 2002, who feels almost ''like a hypocrite saying, 'I'm here now. You can close the door behind me.''

Resident Carol Carter wants the mayor-elect to make sure the city retains its small-town charm, and she opposes a proposal to form a Joint Economic Development District with the Canal Winchester, Lancaster, Bloom and Violet townships, convinced that Pickerington tax dollars should be spend on local projects and services rather than fund them elsewhere.

And an avid cyclist, Father Jim Klima, who took over Seton Parish Catholic Church four years ago, hopes the mayor-elect will make the city more biker-friendly, which would encourage physical activity, boost tourism, and reduce gas consumption.

''Every time they build a road, they should install a bike path. If you build them, people will use them,'' he stressed. ''This is not about recreation. This is about planning our future.'' -- Lancaster Eagle-Gazette   11/11/2007

Resource(s): www.lancastereaglegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Greater Ohio Readies 2007 Candidate Briefing Book for Quality Growth

Last year, the Columbus-based Greater Ohio nonpartisan advocacy group's Candidate Briefing Book helped contenders for state offices and legislative seats tune into public hopes for smart land use, farmland protection, urban reinvestment and transportation options; this year, the Local Candidate's Briefing Book aims to do the same on the mayoral and council levels, said Greater Ohio Co-Director Gene Krebs stressing, ''The smart city concepts outlined in this briefing book include changes the voters are looking for and communities need -- changes that will bring the quality growth and development Ohio's cities and towns need to become great again.''

With the state's recent 49th rank in economic momentum and grade C in quality of life, the book makes it clear that these and related setbacks stem from wasteful land use patterns and that the remedy is smart growth.

''As metropolitan regions spread out, the new development at the edges requires new infrastructure that imposes costs on taxpayers and on local governments (especially burdensome if the region as a whole isn't growing much). Meanwhile, older infrastructure must be maintained. Older communities -- with their beautiful brick roadways, historic buildings, and walkable neighborhoods -- decline,'' the book points out. ''Smart growth is an alternative to urban sprawl, traffic congestion, urban decay and disconnected neighborhoods.''

Designed to match ''Ohio's traditions of local control and property rights,'' Greater Ohio's policy recommendations address those problems.

''For instance,'' the book reads, ''We need to construct walkable communities where people spend their money close to where they live, so that their communities' services benefit from the taxes paid. When people walk to local retail shops, they also limit gasoline consumption and enjoy the benefits of physical exertion. And the regeneration of cities and towns then helps preserve farmland, which provides substantial economic value for food and energy production.''

Noting that the book explains and documents the urgency of community reinvestment, tax reform and Main Street restoration as crucial to attract young, creative, educated workers, and to spur economic growth, Director Krebs invites local candidates and their staff to contact Greater Ohio at the resource link below for additional details or to obtain a copy online. -- Greater Ohio 10.02.2007   10/2/2007

Resource(s): www.greaterohio.org

Cincinnati Needs Walkable Neighborhoods to Attract Young Residents

Since Columbus-based Greater Ohio joined the national smart-growth movement three years ago and issued its landmark Candidates' Briefing Book before the last November election, people in his own southwestern region got a better grasp of interrelated land use, mobility and economic issues, said Greater Ohio State Director Gene Krebs, but they must respond faster to the fact that they live not only in the Ohio River watershed but also in the Greater Cincinnati ''commute shed'' by making communities less car-dependent and more compact, diverse and walkable, hence attractive to the young.

''The children of the suburbs have rejected the suburbs,'' said the seventh-generation Ohio farmer and former four-term Republican assemblyman at the capital's National Building Museum monthly Speaker Series event, cosponsored by the U.S. EPA and the Smart Growth Network. ''They find the suburbs repellent and instead want walkable communities that have nice restaurants and soccer fields close by.''

With Cincinnati's population down from 364,000 in 1990 to 332,000 last year, reports Scripps Howard News Service writer Hana Bieliauskas in The Cincinnati Post, Director Krebs stressed that the city needs young residents to regain full strength and to revitalize the Over-the-Rhine downtown neighborhood.

That's why Cincinnati and its commute-shed residents, including those who drive from nearby Kentucky and Indiana, he observed, ''need to look at some of their out-of-date government planning and say, 'this was good for the age of the horse, but is it really that good for the age of the computer chip?''

The same goes for developers whose business will increasingly depend on satisfying the needs and lifestyles of the young, he noted, glad that area legislators realize the importance of smart-growth initiatives for neighborhoods where people can walk.

''Have you ever tried walking to Wal-Mart?'' he asked. ''It makes your palms sweat and your feet hurt just thinking about it.'' -- The Cincinnati Post   8/2/2007

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Avon Officials Resent Unfavorable I-90 Interchange Economic Impact Study

Ready to pay for a new I-90 interchange, Avon officials resent the five-county Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency's (NOACA) economic impact study, whose draft predicts commercial overdevelopment, as unprecedented for a road project and marred by errors that could make the agency deny the necessary interchange approval and hurt Avon economic growth interests.

The officials, reports Lorain Morning Journal writer Alex M. Parker, cite a recent D.B. Hartt and Silverlode Consulting Corp. report, according to which the interchange would generate 6,945 jobs and $3.3 million in payroll taxes for Avon by 2030, and more than $1.1 million in annual property taxes for Lorain County.

Avon planning director Jim Piazza argues that the interchange would relieve congestion on a local stretch of I-90 and help the local economy, without sparking a construction boom. ''To say this is going to be a new mall area, that's just not going to happen,'' he said.

Mayor Jim Smith promises an Avon chapter amendment would protect current area zoning unless changed by a public vote, which he calls unlikely.

Although many fear that the intersection would ''hasten sprawl and draw dollars away from downtown Cleveland'' some 18 miles west, the writer observes, the mayor especially targets NOACA.

''I think Lorain County should break away from NOACA, and go over to the Huron and Erie and Sandusky areas. We're the little fish in the big pond, and we're just going to keep getting the stick over our head,'' he complained. ''Lorain County is not treated as fairly as the city of Cleveland.'' -- Morning Journal   7/15/2007

Resource(s): www.morningjournal.com/

Builder Ready to Turn Company Toward ''Green'' Urban Development

An astute watcher of consumer and stock market trends, National Community Builders CEO Joe Recchie has geared the company for a turn from standard suburban to ''green'' urban development ever since he bought the vacant, 41-acre postindustrial ''slab of Italian Village concrete'' north of downtown Columbus seven years ago for his meticulously planned Jeffrey Place neighborhood, which will be the densest in the city, with 27 acres slated for parks and public space, while its first-phase North Block will also become one of the most eco-friendly in Ohio.

''Proper environmental stewardship and good business practices are one and the same,'' Joe Recchie told Columbus Other Paper magazine writer Sara Smith. ''If you look at the Dow Jones Sustainability Index you see that businesses that have merged those two thoughts are the most profitable.''

Scheduled for construction next month, the writer reports, North Block street sections will be short and walkable, with plantable carport roofs, and all 72 residential and three commercial units featuring roof solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling, and rainwater reuse.

''We're looking at what will make this house much more valuable than a competitive house 10 years from now. We want to build high performance in for the long run,'' he said, convinced that energy costs ''are the most likely to face significant crunches in the future, as opposed to building prices, land value or any other component.''

Consequently, his ''green'' team, including a solar technician, a hydrologist and mechanical engineers, ensured that some North Block residents ''will have net zero energy consumption,'' he pointed out, hoping for the U.S. Green Building Council's platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Desigh (LEED) certificate. ''They'll produce as much power with their house as they're using. That's the essence of sustainability.''

What's equally amazing, the writer observes, the North Block housing will be largely affordable -- the prices will range from $159,000 for a one-bedroom to $259,000 for a three-bedroom townhouse.

Presented to potential buyers on Earth Day, April 22, the North Block plan received ''a fantastic response,'' prompting the developer to increase his first lottery-type offerings from 18 to 36 units.

''The North Block is where we tested every thesis on our energy management,'' Joe Recchie said. ''We set a template that others can use after us.'' -- Other Paper   5/10/2007

Resource(s): www.theotherpaper.com/index.html

Former ''Car Addict'' Outlines Life Without an Automobile for Dayton's ''Drive Less Live More'' Campaign

Noting that most Americans were born for and raised in cars, ''and just don't know any other way,'' a self-described former ''car addict'' and reformed ''autoholic'' since 2003, TV host and journalist Chris Balish, currently in Los Angeles, says, ''When you do go the other way, that's when you notice these interesting benefits that you would never have stumbled upon had you not done this.''

Author of the book ''How to Live Well Without Owning a Car,'' in Dayton for inauguration of the regional Drive Less Live More campaign on April 30, reports Dayton Daily News writer Ken McCall, says he was so car-dependent that sometimes he drove even to his mailbox, but when gas jumped to $1.75 a gallon in St. Louis, where he worked four years ago, he sold his Toyota Sequoia V8, willing to use the bus system until he was ready to buy a smaller car.

Reaching his news anchor desk at SKBK-TV in about 20 minutes, he also realized that his SUV had cost him some $800 a month and decided to make it without a car a little longer.

''I lost my love-handles. I was getting my exercise in on the way to and from work. I was sleeping better. I had greater self-confidence, and I had a heck of a lot more money,'' he says of his next three years in St. Louis. ''I felt better, I looked better, and I enjoyed riding my bike or taking the Metro to and from work every day.''

In Los Angeles, everyone told him he'd need a car to survive, a conventional wisdom he proved false.

Riding bike and buses, he can get everywhere for his freelance TV host assignments and he doesn't miss his car.

''Our cars are so constantly needy, we wouldn't accept that type of behavior from anything else in our lives,'' he observes. ''For some reason we accept it from cars.'' -- Dayton Daily News   4/27/2007

Resource(s): www.daytondailynews.com/

Ohio's First Suburbs Hopeful That Gov.-Elect Strickland Will Make Revitalization an Early Priority

Having felt neglected during the two terms of outgoing Republican Governor Bob Taft, Ohio First Suburb Consortium leaders see Democratic Governor-elect Ted Strickland as truly sensitive to urban revitalization needs and plan to ''welcome him with ideas to help them rebuild,'' writes Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Thomas Ott, quoting Consortium Chairman, Cleveland Heights Vice Mayor Ken Montlack, who promised to make policy recommendations ready by January.

Inner-ring area officials and advocates from around Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton are excited about the governor-elect, said Columbus activist Kimberly Gibson, telling the reporter at their policy session, ''If you look at his urban agenda, it's a First Suburbs agenda.''

Facing budget shortages, the reporter notes, consortium members want the state to repair their roads before funding road construction in outer areas, revise constitutional requirements for spending gas taxes only on roads while bus and rail projects lack sufficient funds, facilitate abandoned site redevelopment and ''keep cities from using state-sanctioned tax breaks to pirate businesses from each other.''

Despite recent Ohio Supreme Court restrictions on eminent domain, they also stress their need for its use since their areas have little open land to accommodate future growth. But the nonprofit Greater Ohio growth-management group's director, former state Republican Representative Gene Krebs, believes a conciliatory stance on the use of eminent domain for economic development will serve them better; otherwise they could provoke opponents to push for a state ballot on a general eminent domain ban. -- Plain Dealer   11/16/2006

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Greater Ohio Candidates' Briefing Book Provides Politicians With Smart Growth Talking Points and Action Items

''Do you want to win? Read this and find out how,'' writes Greater Ohio State Director, former state Republican Representative Gene Krebs, in his preface to nonpartisan Greater Ohio Candidates' Briefing Book, entitled ''If Sprawl Meant Jobs, Ohio Would Have Full Employment: Policies for Redeveloping a Great State.''

Confident they are running for office to improve the state and their communities, director Krebs tells them they can win ''by endorsing policies that create jobs, support the redevelopment of existing cities and towns, slow the loss of farmland and green space, and make the state a more attractive place to live.''

With many briefing data presented in a county-to-county format for easy use in local speeches and campaign literature, the former legislator recalls his own first race in 1992. ''I hungered for this type of information to set myself apart from the other candidates,'' he writes. ''I ran from the small county in a multi-county House seat and was outspent by $300,000 to $90,000. I won against a campaign designed by James Carville by talking about the issues, knocking on over 10,000 doors, and working at the grassroots. You motivate the grassroots with ideas.'' And that's why in Virginia last year, enough Republicans, especially in the outer suburbs of Washington, D.C., voted for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Timothy Kaine and secured his solid win over Republican Jerry Kilgore.

Director Krebs cites experts. Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute Director Robert Lang and researcher Dawn Dhavale found an almost six percent shift in the 2005 state election toward candidates promising to deal with development problems. And Campaigns & Elections analyst David Weigel wrote: ''Census data showed many likely Kaine supporters were in suburban and exurban counties that had gone for Bush. Noting the concerns about traffic reflected in the poll and long commute times reflected in the census, the campaign approached those voters with Kaine's message on fighting suburban sprawl.''

Director Krebs considers a similar shift possible in Ohio. Greater Ohio polls across the state, he writes, indicate that ''the GOP voters could discriminate and choose a Democrat that embraces smart growth virtues.''

The briefing book formulates 11 ''winning policies.'' It advises the coming leaders to reinvest in historic cities and towns; slow the tide of tax-dead properties; fix eminent domain problems; reduce state reliance on local property taxes for schools; restore Main Street economic activity to help school districts; develop a more balanced transportation system; invest in priority growth areas; promote healthy farms, families and cities; restore Lake Erie and protect rivers and streams; promote energy independence by linking smart land use and alternative energy sources; and curb soaring health costs by making the state walkable.

A Columbus Dispatch editorial said the candidates' briefing book offers ''coherent plans'' for smart growth throughout the state.   10/10/2006

Resource(s): www.greaterohio.org/ ; www.mi.vt.edu/

Liberty Township Will Use Zoning Freeze to Create Long-Term Development Plan

As commercial construction overwhelms narrow Cincinnati-Dayton Road in Liberty Township a few miles east of Hamilton, making some homeowners flee and list their lots for sale, township trustees voted 2-1 at an urgent special meeting to freeze new zoning requests in a 1.5-mile, 415-acre stretch along the road for four months, to push through tougher standards and draw up a long-term development plan, with many residents agreeing Liberty is growing too fast and must aim for smart growth.

The township's population has tripled to 33,000 since 1990, and is expected to reach almost 87,000 by 2030, reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Jennifer Edwards, observing that the trustees divided the corridor into three segments for different mixes of businesses, but all three would ban new gas stations/convenience stores, sex-type businesses, tattoo parlors, car washes, truck and trailer sales, kennels, bars, cocktail lounges and storage facilities. Parts of the corridor would have gas street lights, sidewalks, landscaping and brick building exteriors on three sides.

''We have to do this right,'' said Trustee Patrick Hiltman. ''We only get one shot and this is it.''

Trustee David Kern voted against the moratorium, calling the restrictions too drastic for his ''strong Libertian bent,'' but he joined his two colleagues in a vote to start the related public process, which will include separate hearings by Butler County's planning commission, Liberty's zoning commission and the trustees.

Although some Cincinnati-Dayton Road residents applauded the proposed higher standards, the writer reports, they also worry the moratorium may scare developers away from their land. She adds that a dozen of those homeowners have recently put up their lots for sale as a group, asking $6 million for a total of five acres. -- Enquirer   7/31/2006

Resource(s): http://news.enquirer.com/

Columbus Light-Rail Plan Fails FTA's Cost-Benefit Test; Transit Authority Will Focus on Expanded Bus Service

Unable to qualify them for the expected 50 percent in federal aid, the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) gave up a long-intended and four-years planned 13-mile light-rail line between downtown Columbus and the North Side, bus rapid transit and city streetcars, all three failing the Federal Transit Administration's cost-benefit test, under which the agency weights money funding requests against projected ridership, travel-time savings and other factors.

The state and COTA were each prepared to pay 25 percent of the light rail's estimated $500 million to over $600 million cost, reports Columbus Dispatch writer Tim Doulin, quoting COTA Board Chairman William Porter, who said, ''The reality of any light-rail project is that it cannot go forward without federal funding.''

Since area voters turned down the agency's proposal to fund light rail in 1999, this time it plans a November ballot on a levy exclusively for expansion of bus service, which was cut six months ago by 11 percent due to increased operational costs.

The agency will still consider acquisition of land for future light rail, said COTA President and CEO William Lhota, but he stressed that buses ''will be the dominant way we move people.'' At the same time, he expressed readiness to cooperate with Mayor Michael B. Coleman's task force that is studying the possibility of downtown streetcars. -- Columbus Dispatch   7/11/2006

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com/

Green Homes Are Coming to Northeast Columbus Neighborhood

Shepherded along by Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, redevelopment of an 11-acre former apartment-complex site some four miles northeast of downtown into 30-home Green View Estates will give the city its first energy-efficient, environmentally conscious neighborhood and increase home ownership in that largely deprived area, reports Columbus Dispatch writer Matt Zapotosky, quoting the mayor, who stresses, ''We're not only building homes, but we're building green homes.''

With local residents invited to visit the construction site and seek financial advice from mortgage professionals on July 22, the mayor says the home prices will range from $130,000 to $180,000, the buyers will get 100 percent property tax abatement for 15 years, and they will save about $900 a year on utility bills, thanks to energy conservation features.

''Basically, you want to make sure you seal the building properly,'' explains project coordinator Meera Parthasarathy. ''As you seal the building, you have to improve ventilation and improve indoor air quality.''

To make the homes affordable to local residents, points out housing administrator Bill Graves, the city not only donated the site to the community-development arm of Living Faith Apostolic Church -- MiraCit Development Corp., which is doing the work with several other developers -- but will also pay $390,000 for roadways and sidewalks, and $850,000 for a detention pond to improve area drainage.

Local resident Mary Mathis calls the project ''absolutely wonderful,'' happy that other nearby infills boosted her property value by about $20,000, and Compass Homes builder Mark Braunsdorf expects the ''green'' construction trend to expand to all homes in 10 years, as energy costs escalate.

Green View Estates, he says ''will help change the development community perception of what green building is.'' -- Columbus Dispatch   7/8/2006

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com/

Regional Cooperation, Land Use Issues and Strategic Use of State Resources Are Focus of Greater Ohio Smart Growth Strategy Session

''We no longer live where we work, shop where we live or work where we shop,'' said former state Republican lawmaker, now Greater Ohio State Director Gene Krebs at the nonprofit's third regional smart-growth strategy session in Columbus, concerned that the ''existing systems have not adjusted to that reality'' but also determined to shore up public and institutional support for a state law reform to promote planning and more compact, mixed-use and walkable communities.

The session organizer, Greater Ohio research director Lavea Brachman, pointed out that the three-year-old Columbus-based organization's primary goals are to stem traffic, protect water supplies and remove redevelopment barriers, which would ensure better farmland conservation and greater urban revitalization.

Accordingly, reports ThisWeek community newspapers writer Michael J. Maurer, the session's four working groups focused on promoting regional cooperation, creating a vision for state land use policy, investing state resources strategically, and enabling wise land use planning at the local level.

Their issues included watershed governance, tax-base sharing, multi-jurisdictional planning, creation of regional governments and a state office of planning, empowering the Ohio Department of Transportation to consider public health factors while dealing with congestion, air pollution, Third Frontier/Job-Ready Site development and state funding for schools.

They also addressed the need to modernize zoning and state planning, reform building codes to facilitate redevelopment, and augment local bylaws with a ''general welfare'' clause to give counties and townships more growth-management power. -- ThisWeek   6/22/2006

Resource(s): www.thisweeknews.com/

Youngstown's Comprehensive Plan Embraces ''Shrinking Cities'' Strategy by Shedding Nonessential Infrastructure, Reclaiming Green Spaces

While other rust belt cities crippled by the steel industry departure in the 1970s-80s scrambled to grow their way back to prosperity, Youngstown -- its earlier population of some 170,000 now more than halved -- became the nation's first to reposition itself with a comprehensive plan to reduce nonessential infrastructure, convert freed tract into green space, eliminate blight and once again attract business, an effort initiated by the city's planning department and Youngstown State University in their Youngstown 2010 partnership, and helped along by Kent Sate University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) and its Shrinking Cities Institute.

''You had all of this excess infrastructure and a declining tax base'' but also ''these legacies that a typical city of 80,000 would never have,'' said Urban Strategies expert Oliver Jershow, instrumental in crafting the Youngstown 2010 plan, reports Metropolis magazine writer Belinda Lanks, noting that the legacies include varied cultural venues, a 140-acre university campus, and the five-mile-long Mill Creek Park.

At an October 2005 charrette, held by the city and the Shrinking Cities Institute, four teams of design students, Kent State faculty and CUDC staff focused on the Oak Hill neighborhood -- one of Youngstown's most blighted, with a 60 percent vacancy rate -- reconfiguring many of its parcels as green spaces. ''We wanted to take the vacancy and turn it into an asset rather than the liability it is now,'' explained CUDC senior planner Terry Schwarz, calling local demand for housing or other infill practically nonexistent.

But in adjacent regions housing demand is high, and Youngstown may eventually become ''a bedroom community for Cleveland and Pittsburgh, each about 70 miles away,'' the writer observes, quoting last year charrette's participant, University of Toronto architecture professor Charles Waldheim. ''To the extent that northeastern Ohio has a market for housing,'' he said, ''it seems that Youngstown's future is making itself available for the garden living of the suburbs.'' -- Metropolis   5/17/2006

Resource(s): www.metropolismag.com/cda/index.php

Rebuild Ohio Consortium Gives Citizens a Chance to Help Shape Future of Their Communities

Following their statewide Vacant Properties Forum last October, the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition (CNDC) and the Columbus-based Greater Ohio citizens network -- both instrumental in creation of the jointly led Rebuild Ohio consortium of local governments, nonprofit organizations and civic groups -- invite all those interested in helping prevent site abandonment, facilitate property redevelopment and spur community revitalization to get involved in its subject committees, including communication, advocacy, education, research/study, resources, outreach, and Ohio Vacant Properties Forum II.

With the initial Rebuild Ohio organizational phase overseen by CNDC Director of Policy Development Mary Helen Petrus and Greater Ohio Director of Research Lavea Brachman, the consortium is focusing on the need to improve code enforcement, land use, data collection and other abandonment prevention methods, and to formulate new state and local policies for prompt acquisition and reuse of vacant properties.

Under its 2006 program, the consortium will launch a major study of the state's current property laws and measures to outline specific reforms, while another in-depth study will document and quantify related problems and estimate their economic costs for the state, communities and individuals.

On its web page, Rebuild Ohio asks visitors to write to Senate President Bill Harris and Ways and Means and Economic Development Chairman Ron Amstutz in support of House Bill 294, which would expedite tax foreclosures for vacant and abandoned properties. Written in Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis' office and sponsored primarily by Representative Sally Conway Kilbane, the bill would greatly help in property reclamation and redevelopment efforts.

For info on how to participate in Rebuild Ohio work, please contact Director Mary Helen Petrus at maryhelen@cndc2.org.   2/14/2006

Resource(s): www.cndc2.org/index.htm

Growth Could Prove to Be Swing Issue at the Polls for Fast-Growing Ohio Counties

A coveted political prize, Ohio's 10 fastest-growing counties, including four just north and west of Columbus, voted 67 percent Republican in the past four gubernatorial races and 65 percent in the last presidential election, but they might go the other way this November if a winner of the May 2 Democratic gubernatorial primary taps the pent-up resentment of sprawl-related gridlock and pushes for smart growth, writes Columbus Dispatch senior editor Joe Hallett, pointing out that last fall in Virginia this strategy won gubernatorial office for Democrat Timothy M. Kaine even in the outer Washington counties, where President Bush took more than 58 percent of the vote in 2004.

Refusing to be dragged by his Republican rival ''into debates about abortion, same-sex marriage and other wedge issues,'' the editor writes, ''Kaine tailored a 'smart growth' message to voters in the five counties and successfully tapped into their frustrations about unchecked sprawl despoiling their quality of life by overcrowding schools and roads and requiring higher taxes.''

The call for change comes across party lines. A well-known conservative Republican, former state House member and now nonprofit Greater Ohio director Gene Krebs, also stresses that a gubernatorial candidate who brings Kaine's smart-growth message to Ohio will reap votes throughout the state, but especially in the fastest-growing areas, like the southern part of Delaware County north of Columbus.

''For all those folks who work in downtown Columbus and who moved to Sunbury, it used to take them 35 minutes to get home and now it takes an hour and 35 minutes,'' the editor quotes director Krebs. ''They look at their schools being constantly overcrowded, and every time they think they're getting ahead with road construction, then a developer builds another housing subdivision and suddenly they're back to square one.''

With Greater Ohio promoting state land-use policies to revitalize older urban areas, strengthen regional cooperation and conserve farmland and natural resources, the editor notes, director Krebs and his staff have written a gubernatorial campaign ''playbook,'' presenting it to the four major candidates -- Republicans J. Kenneth Blackwell and Jim Petro, and Democrats Ted Strickland and Eric Fingerhut. The playbook ''lays out coherent plans for smart land use and energy independence, livable cities and towns, preserving farmland, ending schools' reliance on local property taxes and restoring Lake Erie,'' the editor observes, once again quoting director Krebs.

''If you're Republican and you want to win the primary, you need to start formulating where you are on the issues,'' he said. ''If you're a Democrat and you want to fish in the Republican voter pond, you'll want to take a look at these issues.'' -- Columbus Dispatch   2/12/2006

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com/

Candidates Differ on How to Cope with Warren County's Approach to Smart Growth

Reaching northeast from Cincinnati and south from Dayton, development has already made rural Warren County the state's second fastest-growing, and both Republicans in the party's May 2 primary for the November commissioner election, Commissioner Mike Kilburn and Mason ex-mayor Peter Beck, stress the need for smart growth, but with one crucial difference: the first wants to impose hefty impact fees for schools and infrastructure; the other prefers to cooperate with developers.

Calling the next few years ''critical,'' the former Dayton mayor says the county should update its comprehensive plan and work with the industry to balance commercial development with residential, infrastructure, and parkland, without impact fees.

''If you tip the scale in one direction or another,'' he adds, ''it's not fair to anyone.''

Commissioner Kilburn, whose ''aggressive anti-growth stance'' included the use of zoning to restrict new subdivisions and a push for bigger lots and green space, reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Jessica Brown, is more direct.

''We only have so many square miles. When it's eaten up, it's gone,'' Kilburn points out. ''It's just a matter of if we're going to grow smart or grow at the whim of the developers and homebuilders.''

In the 2002 race, the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati put its money behind his rival and is likely to do the same this year, the writer notes, quoting its spokesman Dan Hendricks, who thinks ex-mayor Beck will ''bring about some needed change in the way Warren County plans for growth.'' -- Enquirer   2/9/2006

Resource(s): http://news.enquirer.com/

Historic Downtowns Benefit from ''Mall Backlash'' as Americans Seek Less Stressful Shopping in Traditional Town Centers

The nationwide expansion of mall retail space from about five to 20 square feet per person since 1970 has triggered a ''mall backlash' that ''helps old-style downtowns'' like the historic one in Lebanon, some 25 miles northeast of central Cincinnati, reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Janice Morse, quoting New York's Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Eugene Fram, who said ''America is 'over-stored' and 'over-malled','' and people increasingly seek less stressful way of shopping, in new ''lifestyle'' open malls and traditional town centers.

With its many antique shops, specialty stores, lodging places, coffee shops and small restaurants, including the Golden Lamb, the state's oldest inn -- established in 1803 and visited by 12 U.S. presidents -- downtown Lebanon, pointed out Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network Director Scott Usitalo, ''offers a point of distinction'' for the 15-county Tristate region of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

''It's a quality-of-life type thing,'' observed Copperfield Cafe-Dickens Book Shop owner Vicki Tappy. ''People want service. They want atmosphere. It's the new Norman Rockwell.''

The city has invested in more landscaping, brick sidewalks and vintage lampposts, and although small shops everywhere face stiff competition from national discount chains and on-line stores, the writer notes, downtown Lebanon holiday shopping was brisk.

As gas prices inched back from their recent record highs, the number of shoppers from across the region went up, said Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sara Arsenau, with the Christmas Festival and Horse-Drawn Carriage Parade on December 3rd bringing in about 67,000 visitors, despite freezing rain.

Downtown shopkeepers, added Mayor Amy Brewer, have also made shopping more convenient for city residents, 70 percent of whom commute to outside jobs, by extending store hours to 8:30 or 9 p.m. at least one day a week. -- Enquirer   12/19/2005

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Citing Groundwater Pollution Concerns, Developer Seeks City, State Help for Streetsboro Smart Growth Project

To save Streetsboro -- Portage County's small but fastest-growing city, some 15 miles northeast of Akron -- from random development and an ever-larger ''mass of big-box stores, chain restaurants and parking lots'' along Ohio 14, local horse-farm co-owner and property manager David Gross seeks state and city help to acquire 1,200 acres near Lake Rockwell for his planned 800-acre public park and 400-acre mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, which would reduce future car dependency and contaminated storm water runoff.

Having spent tens thousand of dollars for environmental studies, writes Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Steve Luttner, David Gross learned that parking-lot and lawn runoff hurts streams and lakes with pollutants and pesticides, while wetlands, bogs and woods function as a natural filter for groundwater supplies. Thus, he fears that more current-type development would not only pollute Lake Rockwell and the Cuyahoga River, but also taint groundwater that feeds area wells.

''If we don't do this,'' he says about his traditional neighborhood plan, ''it's probably going to cost us tens of millions of dollars down the road'' in drinking water treatment charges.

Ohio EPA's Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance Director Gregory Smith wrote to David Gross that his project would ''protect important natural resources'' and help plan growth in the area, adding in an interview that the state could lend him $16 million for the land purchase if the city guaranteed the loan.

But City Councilman Chuck Kocisko was doubtful, saying ''everyone is a little apprehensive about this.'' Another big obstacle, the reporter notes, is the tract's ownership by about 10 individuals and entities, including the Streetsboro Land Group, which wants to use its 340 acres for a 650-unit Del Webb senior housing project.

A unit of Pulte Homes, Del Web doesn't allow children to live full-time on the premises, telling city officials its project would give them tax revenue without increasing school enrollment.

Nevertheless, David Gross thinks the city should help him acquire the land, if necessary through eminent domain, stressing, ''There's a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to do the right thing now.'' -- Plain Dealer   12/13/2005

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/

Developer's New Urbanist Visions for Cleveland Gaining Support

Tired of generic malls he has built for years, developer Robert Stark made a mid-career switch to New Urbanism, put $420 million into his 37-acre mixed-use Crocker Park project, which created ''an instant downtown'' in suburban Westlake, and now is winning potential allies for similar multi-block redevelopment of the Warehouse District and nearby areas in Cleveland, to avert its further deterioration.

Lenders are eager to fund such transformation projects, he tells Cleveland Plain Dealer architecture critic Steven Litt, stressing, ''They know the answer to bums and pigeons and whistling winds and perceptions of a wasteland is active neighborhoods where people work and live, that are self-policing, urban and safe.''

Owning no city land himself, the New Urbanism advocate has been talking to Cleveland leaders, Cuyahoga County officials and other developers since February, expecting to convince Warehouse District parking-lot owners that they would make even more profit by letting builders fill the lots with high-end shops, hundreds of upper-floor apartments and some office space.

One of these parking-lot owners, Solon-based Weston Management Co. President T. J. Asher, likes the idea and appreciates that it comes from someone with no land downtown. ''People will listen to him,'' he notes, ''and can't say he's doing this for his own good.''

The developer not only urges mixed-use city overhaul, but also cautions against developer Mitchell Schneider's proposed suburban-style Steelyard Commons shopping center on a former steel-mill site in the industrial Flats as contrary to attracting retailers downtown.

''The answer for urban America,'' he points out, ''is not to create its own sprawl, like Steelyard Commons, but to make the city more urban.'' -- Plain Dealer   5/1/2005

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

''Greater Ohio'' to Make Suburban Sprawl a Key Issue in 2006 Gubernatorial Race

Formed in January 2004 after two years of preparation, to rally the public and lobby lawmakers for ''intelligent land use'' and smart growth, the Greater Ohio advocacy group will make suburban sprawl a key issue in the 2006 gubernatorial race, stressing the need for city revitalization, a ''fix-it-first'' road and bridge policy in the context of other transportation options, and less dependence on property taxes for school funding.

Having secured almost $500,000 from the Cleveland-based Gund Foundation and other donors, reports Akron Beacon Journal writer Bob Downing, Greater Ohio steering committee chairman and EcoCity Cleveland founder David Beach says the next governor must take a firm anti-sprawl stand and lead as former or present governors in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania have done.

His diverse 26-member steering committee represents a whole spectrum of interests. It includes Ohio Environmental Council leader Vicki Deisner, Scenic Ohio head Christine Freitag, AFL-CIO Cleveland Federation of Labor representative John Ryan, Catholic Diocese Commission on Catholic Community Action representative Len Calabrese, Greater Cleveland Growth Association member David Goss, Home Builders Association of Dayton and Miami Valley official David Bohardt, and retired Akron public relations expert David Meeker.

But, the writer notes, the committee is more than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless, Columbus-based Ohio Home Builders Association executive vice president Vincent J. Squillace calls Greater Ohio little more than EcoCity Cleveland's lobbying arm, noting that only 14 percent of Ohio land is developed and denying sprawl economic and land-use impact. He agrees that the state needs better planning and urban revitalization, but he also argues for more growth, and cautions against burdensome restrictions on development.

Gund Foundation staffer and national Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities board chairman Jon M. Jensen points out that Greater Ohio has done ''a very thorough job of scoping out the political climate in Ohio ... and planning what to do,'' and the group's Cleveland office head Pat Carey adds, ''Some say that Ohio has taken a thousand bad positions. Now we're trying to reverse that -- one decision at a time.'' -- Akron Beacon Journal   4/23/2005

Resource(s): www.ohio.com/

Toledo Working to Rebuild City with Mixed-Use, Pedestrian-Friendly Neighborhoods

''In our country since the Second World War, we seem to have forgotten how to make great places, and smart growth is a challenge to raise the bar and to do better,'' said Chicago-based Farr Associates urban design and planning firm founder Douglas Farr, appearing with Toledo Mayor Jack Ford on the ''Editors'' TV program, hosted by Toledo Blade vice president-editor Thomas Walton.

The city hired the Chicago firm last year to help it envision mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly redevelopment of central neighborhoods, in conjunction with Toledo Public Schools' 12-year school construction program. ''Essentially,'' said Mayor Ford during the TV program, ''we're trying to change the look of Toledo and our neighborhoods in a reasonable, perhaps fashionable, way, also taking advantage of a unique period of Toledo history, where we're rebuilding or building 57 schools. All these things are just once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We can do it, we just need to find how to do it right.''

Part of doing it right, observed Douglas Farr, involves ''green buildings and green schools,'' calling Toledo's move ''to anchor its new and redeveloping neighborhoods with healthy and green schools'' a powerful signal from city officials ''that they're leaders.''

A day earlier, the Blade reports, the Chicago expert led the ''Smart Growth in Brownfield Communities'' forum, part of the city's redevelopment planning project, funded with a $50,000 EPA grant. Most of the 70 officials, educators, planners, civic activists and others in the audience agreed that city threats include sprawl, infrastructure deterioration and suburban competition, while seeing its opportunities in linking the parks with walking and bike trails, redeveloping the Maumee riverfront, and making the city a tourist destination.

''We aren't offering a rich urban experience,'' said Department of Public Utilities' Administrative and Environmental Services Commissioner Ford Weber.

To help change things, he added, the Chicago firm, aided by Woodlands Consulting, will use local public input to refine a set of smart growth criteria, ranking development types, densities, walkability, proximity to transit and other features. Douglas Farr will return to Toledo in a few months, to assess specific sites and draw up more detailed plans. -- Blade   1/21/2005

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/home

Growth and Land Use Committee Fails to Create Report for Curbing Ohio Sprawl

Having held eight hearing across the state and gathered a lot of public input on ways to curb urban sprawl, the state House's seven-member subcommittee on growth and land use failed to write a report by its December 31 dissolution deadline, and although its Republican chairman Larry Wolpert released his personal recommendations, the lawmakers should be ashamed of this ''doing-nothing mentality'' and ''wasting everybody's time,'' said Cleveland State University Urban Studies Professor Tom Bier, one of the subcommittee's more than 100 witnesses.

While Democratic subcommittee member Kathleen Chandler said she wanted the group to reach a consensus, chairman Wolpert noted members' preoccupation with their re-election campaigns and denied the waste-of-time charge. He said the group has learned that people were leaving the state's eight largest cities, prompted mostly by concerns about education and crime. Consequently, reports the Associated Press, he promised legislation to let these cities -- Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown and Canton -- designate ''urban homestead zones,'' where residents could send children to private schools at state expense and tap property taxes to pay for private police.

Chairman Wolpert's legislation would also offer state tax credits for historic building renovation in urban areas and let townships impose development impact fees to help pay costs of increased public services.

Calling several of the Republican's ideas ''worthy of discussion,'' Cleveland Heights Democratic Vice Mayor and First Suburbs Consortium Chairman Ken Montlack said, ''The fact that he sat down and thought it out is a hopeful sign.'' -- The Beacon Journal   1/10/2005

Resource(s): www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/

Columbus Builders Warn of Backlash Against Impact Fees as Low-Density Fringe Development Continues

As Columbus and several municipalities on its metro edges step up their efforts to have residential builders pay adequate shares of new service and infrastructure costs, mainly through specially created community-development authorities, builders say they understand the budgetary need for impact fees and similar charges, but caution against their seductiveness and potential backlash, since they will have to pass on the increases to new home buyers.

''Down the road, in tough times,'' says Building Industry Association (BIA) of Central Ohio consultant Malcolm Porter, ''folks in those communities may not be willing to support future tax levies of any kind.''

Columbus development director Mark Barbash stresses the city's sensitivity ''to driving up the cost of housing in these (residential) growth corridors.'' He points out that the city's 2004 strategy doesn't place the entire cost of new subdivisions on builders and home buyers, looking instead for tax-increment financing, which allows use of a portion of non-school property taxes to fund road and utility extension.

Hilliard economic development director David Meeks is adamant. ''We're doing community-development authorities on everything from here on out,'' he tells Columbus Business First writer Brian R. Ball. ''You need residential to grow, and community-development authorities are part of the process.''

Their fee range, the writer reports, may extend from 2-mil and 4-mil levies on new houses in newly annexed Columbus areas to its southwest and southeast, to a 10.25-mil levy in Delaware, some 10 miles north of the metro area, while the BIA's 2003 suit against a 10-mil levy proposed in Pickerington, near the metro southeast fringe, is still in court.

The levies follow Columbus' likely upfront fees of $6,000 and $1,300 per home in two of its growth corridors, and the expected increase of Hilliard's $500 fee up to $1,500 this year. Utility companies also want builders to pay for lines to new homes, including electric, gas and cable services.

At the same time, many suburban communities, seemingly oblivious to the costs of extending roads and services into the countryside, shun higher-density development, with several limiting densities to no more than two homes per acre. BIA consultant Porter expresses frustration. ''It seems to us,'' he says, ''for local governments to deliver services effectively, reasonable densities are essential.'' He notes that ''all those things added to the cost of a house'' may affect housing supply ''all the way through the market, from existing homes to rentals.'' -- Business First   1/3/2005

Resource(s): http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/

Rail Plan Could Bring High-Speed Passenger Service to Ohio-Lake Erie Region

The Ohio Rail Development Commission is proposing a $3.5 billion Ohio and Lake Erie Regional Rail Hub plan, under which agencies would use present railroads rights of way wherever tracks could be added or rehabilitated to build a statewide network for improved freight and eventual high-speed passenger service.

According to commission spokesman Stu Nicholson rail passengers could get from the proposed Cleveland hub to Columbus or Pittsburgh, PA, and Buffalo, NY, in about two hours -- much faster than cars.

Such a high-speed rail network could be launched in about nine years, but the problem is, notes the Associated Press, that it would require federal funding not yet envisioned for such projects.   11/21/2004

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Study Shows New Development Costs More in Services Than Farms and Industrial, Commercial Projects

Alarmed by the loss of 18 percent of farmland in Butler, Warren and Clermont counties around Cincinnati's north and west, and by similar agriculture erosion in Kentucky's Kenton County to the city's south, the Smart Growth Coalition for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky has just received its commissioned American Farmland Trust study showing that Butler County residential development requires $1.12 in services for each dollar in taxes and fees, while farms cost the public 49 cents, and industrial and commercial projects 45 cents.

Although it's a little smaller than the gap trust researchers have found in another 100 counties nationwide -- where the median for farm and industrial-commercial service cost is 36 and 28 cents, respectively -- the residential growth still costs Butler County more than twice as much as anything else.

Smart Growth Coalition project manager Liz Brown tells Cincinnati Enquirer writer John Kieseweter that the Butler County study, along with a similar Kenton County analysis expected next month, will be distributed among the region's officials and planners, to make them more aware of the need for land preservation and compact, pedestrian-friendly development.

Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati president Tim Hensley criticized the study as missing the total economic effect of residential growth. ''The residential-construction industry,'' he said, ''contributes $1.5 billion to the Greater Cincinnati economy each year, and employs over 30,000 people, but (researchers) discount that.'' -- Cincinnati Enquirer   11/16/2004

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Athens Smart Growth Groups Loses Bid for 18-Month Commercial Development Moratorium

Placed on the ballot by the Athens Initiative for Smart Growth so the rural area's city can complete its comprehensive plan, an 18-month moratorium on commercial development was rejected by 69 percent of voters (some 3,200 to 2,500), with one group member, Heather Cantino, attributing the loss to skewed media coverage and to money opponents put into their disinformation campaign.

''We spent about 17 cents per vote, and they spent about $4 or $5 per vote,'' she said, expressing readiness for a dialogue with the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, which formed a business-based Citizens for Jobs and Progress coalition to fight the moratorium.

During the campaign, reports Athens News writer David Laber, Chamber CEO Jennifer Simon and President Larry Payne stressed that they, too, see the importance of the ballot's call for ''economic, social, health and safety, and environmental benefits, from a position of smart growth,'' but differ on the best way to reach these goals. The city, they argued, can neither raise a red flag to outside business nor block present businesses from expansion.

The moratorium defeat, said Simon, lets Diagnostic Hybrids Inc., Holzer Health Clinic and O'Bleness Memorial Hospital proceed with their expansion plans. She added, ''The voters realized there were real jobs on the line.'' -- News   11/4/2004

Resource(s): www.athensnews.com/

Hudson Voters Reject Zoning Change; Massive Shopping Center Proposal Defeated

Fought by Smart Growth for Hudson and the grassroots Hudson Tomorrow committee, but backed by the recently formed Hudson Citizens for Tax Relief group, a proposed $60-million 350,000-square-foot shopping center, about 10 miles northeast of Akron, lost by some 67 percent of votes on election night, with Hudson Tomorrow co-founder Dave Schuellerman crediting ''hundreds of resident volunteers'' for ensuring the growth-management victory.

''We are gratified,'' he said, ''that Hudson voters have affirmed their commitment to growth and economic development based on our city strategy in our land development code and our comprehensive plan.''

Current zoning, notes Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter April McClellan-Copeland, allows retail stores of up to 5,000 square feet, while prospective area developers wanted to build stores of 15,000 to 50,000 square feet.

Samstel Investment Group representative Howard Beder argued the future Promenade of Hudson center would give the city more than $2 million in taxes a year, half of it for its schools. But most voters recognized that the project would breach the comprehensive plan, weaken downtown redevelopment efforts, and undermine local character. -- Plain Dealer   11/3/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

''Greater Ohio'' Group Launches Statewide Coalition to Bring Smart Growth to Forefront of 2006 Gubernatorial Race

Dismayed by the state's loss of 45,000 rural acres in the last 20 years and by the decline of city cores and older suburbs, activists from the newly formed nonprofit Greater Ohio group will build a broad high-powered coalition for the 2006 gubernatorial race to press for curbing sprawl, boosting urban areas, adopting a ''fix-it-first'' transportation policy, and generally following states like Maryland, Michigan or Pennsylvania in their varied smart-growth initiatives.

''With slow growth of population and jobs,'' says one of Greater Ohio founders, EcoCity Cleveland executive director David Beach, ''there's not a lot of excuses for tearing up countryside for new development.''

Selected as Greater Ohio director, former state Republican Representative Gene Krebs combines political connections with practical land-use knowledge he gained earlier as himself a farmer, write Cleveland Plain Dealer reporters Thomas Ott and Tom Breckenridge. He foresees a tough process, telling the reporters that rural legislators from development-hungry districts must also gain something to support growth-management reforms.

''We got to this through a thousand pieces of unwise planning,'' he observes. ''It has to be undone with a thousand little pieces.''

But a state Democratic Representative from the inner-ring Euclid suburb, Edward Jerse, is frustrated that many of those issues were already ''being talked about five to 10 years ago'' and fizzled in the absence of leadership in the state capital.

A special House subcommittee that studied ways to curb sprawl may recommend some measures next month and its Republican chairman Larry Wolpert backs suggested tax credits to renovate historic buildings, along with tuition and other vouchers for home buyers in possible ''urban homestead zones'' in the eight largest cities, priority funding for regionally planned projects, and local infrastructure impact fees.

Still, Representative Jerse is concerned that the Republican chairman ''may pass some of his things and say, 'See, we're doing something about sprawl'.''

The reporters note that both Northeast Ohio Center for Farmland Preservation director Amalie Lipstreu and Greater Cleveland Partnership (chamber of commerce) official David Goss support investment to boost urban cores. -- Plain Dealer   10/24/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Moratorium Would Halt Commercial Development Until Enactment of Athens' Comprehensive and Wellhead Protection Plans

Forced on the November ballot by the Athens Initiative for Smart Growth group, to let the city finish and enact its comprehensive and wellhead protection plans, an 18-month moratorium on commercial development, including rental housing, is being fought by the city administration, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, the City School District, and O'Bleness Memorial Hospital as not only detrimental to their push for economic expansion and new jobs, but also unnecessary since the city already has other ways to pursue smart growth.

Worried about some business closures and the loss of income-tax revenue last year, writes Athens News associate editor Nick Claussen, Mayor Ric Abel said at their joint press conference the city can't take such moratorium risks, also asking, ''Where are people going to live, and what is the quality of the housing?''

Chamber of Commerce CEO and its Economic Development Council president Jennifer Simon said the ballot measure itself is affecting the city's prospects and ''(t)he moratorium will stop us dead in our tracks.'' These concerns were echoed by City School District Superintendent Carl Martin, University of Georgia's Student Senate off-campus housing representative Kristin Mazgaj, and Memorial Hospital President Rick Castrop.

Smart Growth activists were astonished. The moratorium, they pointed out, neither precludes new business to locate in present buildings, nor people to build their own houses or renovate homes and businesses. ''It's not this catastrophic thing,'' said resident Muriel Grim, noting that with the university's enrollment down, rentals proliferate all over town. -- News   10/7/2004

Resource(s): www.athensnews.com/

New Report Shows How Big-Box Retail Can Drain Municipal Budgets

Not all growth is always good for communities, since much coveted big retail usually drains municipal budgets, warns the new ''Understanding the Fiscal Impacts of Land Use'' report by Randall Gross of Washington-based Development Economics, who found that seven of the eight studies in central Ohio between 1997 and 2003 showed an average annual community tax gain of $0.62 per square foot from industrial facilities, $1.34 from office buildings, and some from housing, but a loss of $0.44 from retail space -- $44,000 per a 100,000-square-foot big-box store.

Done for the Mid-Ohio Planning Commission, the report explains that industrial and office growth costs much less in public services than retail development. Also, in states with local income tax like Ohio, municipalities benefit fiscally from higher-income jobs created by industrial and office uses.

''Retail does not generate sufficient income or property taxes to overcome the substantial traffic-related costs that result from the higher number of road trips generated,'' the report states, noting that a similar 2002 study in Barnstable, Massachusetts -- a state without a local income tax -- also showed that big boxes cost $0.47 per square foot more in services than they generate in revenue.

The report points out that communities can reduce or eliminate big retail's fiscal drain by building traditional neighborhoods with homes and small stores, which allow residents to walk or make shorter car trips instead of driving to big shopping centers farther away. -- The New Rules Project   10/1/2004

Resource(s): www.newrules.org/index.htm

Toledo Leaders Advised to Work Together for Revitalization Funding

''I don't want to see suburbs in Toledo left out of the statewide (revitalization) loop,'' said Metro Toledo Smart Growth Partnership chairwoman, University of Toledo's Urban Affairs Center research associate Donna Hardy Johnston, at a meeting of leaders from five area suburbs with their Columbus area counterparts, who urged them to work together in their common interest.

Working together, stressed Central Ohio First Suburbs Consortium member, Upper Arlington city manager Virginia Barney, makes it easier to lobby state lawmakers and to succeed in getting more money for neighborhood improvements, including home, road and utility repairs.

The audience seemed receptive to the advice, though Sylvania City Council president and Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACG) first vice-chair Barbara Sears was concerned about duplication of efforts, not sure whether a coalition of suburbs would work best independently or as part of the TMACG.

The five suburbs' leaders decided to continue discussions on cooperation, hoping their colleagues from the other ten invited jurisdictions will attend the next meeting, hosted by Ottawa Hills village manager Marc Thomson on October 27. -- Toledo Blade   9/30/2004

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/

Smart Commute Program Makes a Stop in Greater Cleveland Area

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and two local lenders, Huntington National Bank and Countrywide Home Loans, have announced that the Smart Commute program is now available for Cuyahoga County. Offered in 25 cities nationwide, the mortgage program qualifies potential home buyers to borrow an additional $5,000 to $10,000 if they purchase a home within a quarter-mile of a bus stop or a half-mile of a train station.

Under the program, the down payment can be as low as 3 percent or as little as $500. Fannie Mae, which buys mortgages written under the Smart Commute rules from the local lenders, projects that this program will help home buyers save money and afford a more expensive home. The program theorizes that people who take public transportation to work spend less money maintaining a car -- money that could instead be used to cover a larger monthly mortgage payment. However, buyers are not required to commit to taking public transit.

RTA will offer free passes to every worker in the qualified households to encourage transit use, and perhaps the proximity of the new home to transit will act as a major incentive. A similar program was launched in Columbus in April 2004. According to RTA, most homes in Cleveland and about 60 percent of the homes in Cuyahoga County are close enough to transit stops to qualify for the Smart Commute loans. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer   7/20/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Cleveland Could Save $66 Million By Renovating, Not Replacing, Historic Schools

Under its 2002 Master Plan, the Cleveland Municipal School District wants to demolish and replace 23 schools eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, even though their rehabilitation would save the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) more than $66 million, while providing up to 1,900 more local jobs, writes Cleveland Restoration Society executive director Kathleen H. Crowther in a Plain Dealer column entitled, ''Scrapping old schools is an expensive mistake.''

She illustrates the mistake with John Hay High School in the Murray Hill neighborhood, whose rehabilitation and mandatory asbestos removal costs would be $31.6 million, versus $36.6 million for demolition, asbestos abatement and new construction. ''The rehabilitation of well-built, older schools typically offers the best economic alternative,'' she stresses, noting that as with all older buildings, ''the mechanical and electrical system can be replaced and state-of-the-art methodology installed.''

The reason for ''throwing away our legacy of historic schools'' is OSFC's ''two-thirds'' guideline, according to which the districts should replace old schools if their rehabilitation may cost 67 percent more than construction. This guideline reflects the throw-away attitudes of the 1950s, she writes, pointing out that this year ''the Council of Educational Facility Planners International will abandon its old standards, also rooted in that era, and publish new guidelines for school construction that acknowledge the potential of older and historic schools.''

Crowther urges OSFC to ''discard its outmoded policies and enter today's age of sustainability.'' -- Plain Dealer   7/1/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Cleveland Development Council Hopes Renovation of Older Home Becomes Model for Neighborhoods Seeking to Improve Existing Housing

Having bought a decrepit 83-year-old duplex two blocks from Cleveland Heights City Hall a year ago, the Cleveland area's 14-city First Suburbs Consortium Development Council arranged the building's complete overhaul into two modern four-level townhouse condos, hoping this cost-efficient rehabilitation will become a model across depressed neighborhoods, to help improve their housing stock and offer people a choice other than the far-flung suburbs.

The council will put the condos up for sale in the $165,000-$170,000 price range this month, writes Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Frank Bantayou, quoting its executive director Lou Tisler, who says, ''It's basically a new building inside and out.''

The buyers will also benefit from the city's partial 10-year property-tax abatement and may qualify for some low-cost financing.

Converted by Cleveland contractor John Lee, together with Cleveland Heights architects Marc Ciccarelli and Ryan Schmit, the building required a lot of work, including ''structural remediation,'' the reporter notes, stressing that the first-ring suburbs have whole sections of such neglected homes which can be profitably revamped for buyers or renters. ''We'd like to see,'' says director Tisler, ''this idea spread all around the region.'' -- Plain Dealer   6/13/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Investing in Older Neighborhoods Made Easier as Lawmakers Clarify Ohio Tax-Increment Financing Plan

Held in check by Ohio Tax Commissioner William W. Wilkins' opinion that creation of tax-increment financing (TIF) districts requires consent of all included property owners, Cincinnati and other municipalities can finally increase investment in older neighborhoods, as state lawmakers clarified they never intended to make them seek all such signatures and assured concerned county officials the districts won't affect their tax revenue shares.

State Democratic Senator Mark Mallory, reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Debra Jasper, attached the clarification to a jobs bill that passed his chamber in April, but lagged in the House, because Hamilton County officials feared loss of some tax revenue. This was successfully addressed by state Republican Representative Bill Seitz, who engineered a compromise, under which the county will get half the taxes raised by a standard reappraisal in TIF districts, before improvements push property values up, the other half and the full amount of the subsequent incremental property tax increases going to the city, to be reinvested in the districts.

Cincinnati wants to create at least 11 TIF districts, projecting a property tax windfall of $150 million for downtown, riverfront and other projects over 30 years, the writer reports, quoting a ''very happy'' investment proponent, City Council Finance Committee Chairman John Cranley, who says, ''This gives us an unprecedented opportunity for urban revitalization.'' -- Cincinnati Enquirer   5/29/2004

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Tensions Rise Between Developers, Officials in Warren County

In an escalating tug-of-war over Warren County's efforts to slow down its rapid residential growth, Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati president Tim Hensley blamed commissioners for ''a lack of planning'' in the past 20 years and cited an association-sponsored statistical study showing that growth pays for itself.

''No growth is not the solution. Smart growth is the solution,'' he assured Cincinnati Enquirer writer Erica Solvig and other reporters in his office, arguing that the revenue from residential construction will outweigh service costs in four to five years, and that the county's building moratorium and minimum township lot-size increase would deprive it of those returns.

''Did you think a study that they did would say anything but that they're doing the best thing since sliced bread?'' retorted Commissioner Mike Kilburn, who three days later definitely convinced the Warren County Regional Planning Commission to approve only one, 290-home subdivision in Hamilton Township, and reject two others, totaling 570 homes. ''We can't just continue being an approval body,'' he told some members concerned about a developer lawsuit, stressing, ''We have got a school system that is in serious trouble, and we've got to find a way to help them,'' and noting that even if the rejection goes to court, ''we won't be any worse off then than we are now.''

With some 60 township leaders, school officials, residents and developers in the audience, and the application approval part of the session taking over five hours, commissioners postponed the scheduled presentation by an outside growth-management expert until June 10. -- Cincinnati Enquirer   5/28/2004

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Cleveland Developer Embraces New Urbanism With Mixed-Use Crocker Park Project

The most extensive experiment with New Urbanism in northeast Ohio, the $420 million, 70-acre, mixed-use Crocker Park being built by developer Robert Stark in affluent Westlake, 15 miles west of central Cleveland, ''will be a boon if it adds to the region's economic strength and inspires other suburbs to rethink zoning that encourages sprawl,'' writes Cleveland Plain Dealer architecture critic Steven Litt, but a setback if it ''damages downtown Cleveland and further divides the region by race and class.''

The developer agrees Crocker Park will be a magnet for shoppers and home buyers, but he hopes it will also ''jolt'' Cleveland into action to improve its downtown and attract more residents.

A developer of ''typical strip shopping centers'' over the past two decades, the writer notes, Robert Stark turned toward New Urbanism when he realized how a small outdoor garden in his 30-acre Promenade became its ''soul,'' drawing in people tired of parking lots and highways.

In partnership with members of the Carney family, Stark is building his pedestrian-friendly Crocker Park with amazing speed. Scheduled to open October 29, its first phase will include nine major buildings with offices, ground-floor shops and 160 apartments. The second phase, within tho years, will add six large buildings and 450 housing units along the outer edges.

The center Crocker Park Boulevard will be 1,000 feet long and 120 feet wide, with a median offering chess tables, benches, canopies, snack and drink pavilions and other amenities. The two main streets will have 18-foot-wide sidewalks and extensive landscaping.

Regardless of how Crocker Park affects Cleveland, the writer applauds Stark's determination to avoid ''slapping down big boxes amid oceans of asphalt, '' and to ''create an urbane environment that feels like a real place to live and work, not a stage set for ritzy chain retailers.'' -- Plain Dealer   5/23/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Redevelopment Brings Affordable Homes, Rentals to Cleveland's Central Neighborhood

For years Cleveland's core of poverty, unemployment and crime, the Central neighborhood is finally regaining some hope and sense of community, as two blighted public-housing districts are being redeveloped into several mixed-use villages that offer affordable home ownership and affordable rentals.

Ward 5 Councilman Frank Jackson anticipates ''well over a $300 million investment'' in this 93-percent African-American area, but he cautions that new housing is not enough for a complete change, that people also need jobs, schools and other help to remedy years of neglect.

One redevelopment project in the so-called home-ownership zone, where over half of the buyers can't make more than 80 percent of the region's median income, writes Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Frank Bentayou, includes six New Urbanism-style villages with 465 new and renovated homes on small lots, nearby stores and offices, parks and other community areas, all within easy walking distance.

Mostly in the $125,000-$165,000 price range, the homes require low down payments, with buyers entitled to the city's 15-year or 10-year property-tax abatement on new or renovated homes, respectively, and present Central residents eligible for $10,000 grants.

''All that means people can buy some of these houses with, really, no money down, then pay as little as $400 to $500 a month,'' says one of the developers, Rysar Properties president Ken Lurie.

The other redevelopment project, in nearby Arbor Park, is replacing 820 brick apartments with 629 mostly two-to-three bedroom rental townhouses, a community center offering day care for children and apartments for the elderly, and a new park, while an adjacent retail plaza will feature a supermarket and a number of other stores sorely needed in the area. -- Plain Dealer   4/25/2004

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

Greater Ohio Plans Public Education Campaign for Smart Growth

A new nonprofit Greater Ohio group is launching a three-year public campaign to educate state residents about the need to reverse the decades-long sprawl-oriented policies and to focus on community redevelopment, regional cooperation and quality-of-life improvements. Its director, former state Republican legislator Gene Krebs, states the goal is to make policy changes an electoral issue and a priority for candidates in the 2006 gubernatorial race, since ''It takes a governor willing to burn political chips to get this done.''

Rooted in the 1930s, Ohio policies of funding roads, school and utilities in fringe areas left the state economy lagging and residents burdened with high taxes, notes Youngstown Vindicator writer Roger Smith, quoting director Krebs, who believes the situation can be remedied by overhauling the tax code, channeling development to older areas and other growth-management measures.

This requires awareness of the issues ''at the state and local level,'' observes Greater Ohio steering committee member and affordable housing expert, Common Wealth Inc. executive director Pat Rosenthal of Youngstown, pointing to Ohio's many urban centers with divergent interests.

Another committee member, County Commissioners Association of Ohio executive director Larry Long, also stresses the importance of winning municipal governments to smart growth, because they are as dominant in Ohio as counties are in other states and may consider regionalism a threat to their zoning and other decision-making power.

Ohio Home Builders Association executive vice president Vincent J. Squillace doubts the business community will back policy changes, saying the state should drop regulations that hinder business, not seek new ones. -- Vindicator   4/4/2004

Resource(s): www.vindy.com/

Knox County Smart Growth Group Focuses on Outreach to Raise Awareness of the True Costs of Sprawl

Knox County in central Ohio would do well to resist sprawl and save farms and open space, since for each dollar from their respective tax revenues it had to spent $1.05 in services for subdivisions but only 29 cents for rural land, pointed out Knox County Citizens for Smart Growth member John Martin in his ''Growing Smart in Knox County'' draft report, writing, ''Trees don't call the police, and corn stalks don't drive on county roads.''

The fledgling Smart Growth group, including several Kenyon College students, reports Mount Vernon News writer Aly Ark from its recent meeting, hopes to increase its outreach and local awareness of true sprawl costs, while working to protect the county's natural resources.

So far, the group and the Regional Planning Commission's Farmland Preservation Committee have moved to promote new state laws that allow creation of agricultural security areas, transfer of development rights and establishment of local impact fees. They both also expressed support for amending the state's Current Agricultural Use Valuation Program, to make farmers return their tax abatement fees for five instead of three years if they sell land for a non-agricultural use. The extra revenue would go into a farmland preservation fund.

The group's members Linda and Larry Tucker, the writer adds, expect to launch its Smart Growth web site in about six weeks. -- Mount Vernon News   3/25/2004

Resource(s): www.mountvernonnews.com/

No Room for Parks in Cincinnati's Outer Suburbs

In contrast to Cincinnati residents who enjoy plenty of city and neighborhood parks, young families flocking to the outer suburbs soon find little parkland and few playing fields for their kids, the nearby open space fast gobbled by new subdivisions and nothing left for recreation. Experts blame this on poor planning, report Cincinnati Enquirer writers Reid Forgave and Erica Solvig, quoting University of Cincinnati urban planning professor Carla Chifos, who says, ''All the growth in Cincinnati's suburbs is driven by developers for money-making purposes.''

Yet, open space is ''an amenity,'' she stresses, adding, ''We need more than just houses and yards. We need communities.''

As in many other metro areas, the writers observe, officials all around Cincinnati scramble to keep up with the parkland demand and to prevent a situation in which kids couldn't play certain sports because lack of fields. Northeast of Cincinnati, Warren County's city of Mason saw school enrolment up from 2,653 students in 1990 to 8,600 this year, with 2,300 signed to play ball and many new soccer, baseball and lacrosse teams squeezed in tight practice spaces.

Southwest of Cincinnati, Kentucky's Bone County used to have one league for boys and one for girls, but now has five leagues, with nearly 3,500 members and only 38 playing fields. In the Liberty Township, Lakota Sports Organization president Tom Lowe says it the township ''keeps growing the way it is, and if our membership keeps rising, you'll see us have to limit the number of teams.'' -- Cincinnati Enquirer   3/15/2004

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Editorial Urges Greater Cincinnati to Attend Opening Lecture at Smart Growth Symposium

An avid observer and a force in the Greater Cincinnati debate on sprawl, or ''the seemingly endless march of people and new development to the suburbs,'' The Kentucky Post urges the public to attend the opening lecture for the 2004 Segoe Symposium on Smart Growth, entitled ''Cost of sprawl: Who is paying for current growth patterns'' and held January 21, with presentations by New Jersey's Rutgers University Professor Robert W. Burchell and the chairman of the Washington-based Cato Institute, William A. Niskanen.

Organized by University of Cincinnati's School of Planning as part of a long-standing series under grants from the Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Family Foundation, says the daily's editorial, the cost-of-sprawl lecture is pertinent to the region's most pressing issues. Among them, the editorial lists proposals to link downtown Cincinnati and the suburbs with a light-rail line and to widen I-75; a $1.5 billion consent decree to make the Metropolitan Sewer District upgrade its overflow-prone system in central Hamilton County; a fight between Sanitation District No. 1 and Cincinnati Water Works over the location of a proposed sewer treatment plant's discharge pipes in Kentucky's Campbell County; and an expansion plan for the clogged Kentucky 16 in the Taylor Mill area.

The smart growth and sprawl questions, the editorial notes, are also pertinent to the protracted legislative debate in Columbus about school funding, which really hinges on a question about ''how to allocate limited resources between inner-city schools, rural districts and those in the wealthy suburbs.'' -- The Kentucky Post   12/29/2003

Resource(s): www.kypost.com/index.shtml

''Tour de Smart Growth'' Reveals Popularity, Variety of Higher Density Housing in Cleveland Metro Area

The half-day ''Tour de Smart Growth'' ran by the Smart Growth Education Foundation, with bus stops at several residential construction sites in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties, helped officials, builders and realtors visualize the various dimensions of higher-density smart-growth housing increasingly sought near the metro core, with developer Peter Rubin, who has projects under way in Cleveland Heights, saying, ''Cleveland is just beginning to see the strength of this demand.''

Although many think ''builders care only about profit,'' writes Plain Dealer reporter Frank Bentayou, this hardly applies to the builders on the tour, all showing projects that can help slow urban sprawl. Developer Joe Scaletta confirms that building such projects is ''really not as profitable'' as ''a typical subdivision,'' but he builds his Avonbury Lakes in Avon for mostly empty-nesters anyway, offering 355 homes in a $180,000-$300,000 price range, with 45 percent of the 147 acres left for open space, walking trails and stocked ponds that reduce runoff.

A group led by Rysar Property's Ken Lurie and backed by the city and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is building the Villages of Central, with 465 single-family homes, townhouses and multifamily units -- priced from $125,000 to $165,000 -- in the poorest and most crime-ridden public housing neighborhood, selling them as fast as they go up. Heartland Developers' Mark Premier is introducing high density and vertical design to Shaker Heights, selling 46 two-to-four story townhouses for $290,000 to $500,000-plus to eager newcomers and empty nesters ''tired of big houses.''

Zaremba, which started its city Beacon Place townhouses in the early 1990s as the region's first smart-growth-type development before the term itself emerged, is building the adjacent townhouse and single-family Woodhaven project, while quickly selling similar 400-plus units -- ranging from $160,000 to more than $300,000 -- along the Black River in Lorain, all near downtown and with easy river access to Lake Erie. -- Plain Dealer   11/30/2003

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/

After 30 Years, Maumee's Smart Planning Pays Off

Even though Lucas County has lost nearly 30,000 residents in the last 30 years, Toledo's suburban expansion south and west recently made area officials spend $10.5 million to widen Airport Highway and earmark $3 million to widen Central Avenue next year, writes Toledo Blade columnist Russ Lemmon, relieved that the current ''phenomenal growth'' along Dussel Drive comes after ''some smart planning'' by Maumee officials back in the 1970s, thanks to which the nearby Arrowhead Park area is ''an example of urban sprawl done right.'' With ''nothing haphazard about it,'' the columnist writes, ''(t)here was a commitment to quality from the beginning, some 30 years ago, and it still exists today.'' He hopes that Maumee officials will show the same ''forward thinking with the next sprawl spurt'' down I-475, about two miles south of Dussel Drive, and that developers will rediscover Southwyck Shopping Center a mile to the north, whose only problem is the neglect it has suffered for years. -- Toledo Blade   11/23/2003

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

First-Tier Cleveland Suburb Suffers from Draw of Newer Fringe Development

Having once been a new first-tier suburb, Lakewood drew the Cleveland middle class and thrived until becoming older and victimized in turn by fast-growing Avon some ten miles farther west, writes Thomas Bier of the Cleveland State University's Levine College of Urban Affairs in The Plain Dealer, pointing out that Lakewood can only be saved and the cycle of urban decline and outward sprawl rectified ''by changes in state laws, policies and programs that now heavily favor the development of new communities over the preservation of old ones.'' The numbers tell the story of Avon, rich in developable land, and Lakewood, with none. In the past two decades, Avon's industrial property value jumped 550 percent and commercial real estate 323 percent, while Lakewood's declined by 29 and five percent, while residential property value increased by 330 percent in Avon, but only by 22 percent in Lakewood. Since 1990, Avon gained 5,700 people, or 77 percent, while Lakewood lost 4,400, or seven percent. The old suburb faces yet another problem, the writer notes. Aware that they ''must expand the tax base'' and ''get more people with more money to invest in, live in and spend in Lakewood,'' its officials proposed a $151 million mixed-use project in the depressed West End, planning to buy and bulldoze 68 properties, including about a dozen whose owners refuse to sell and sue the city to block its power of eminent domain. ''If suburbs like Lakewood cannot use eminent domain, they are trapped in decline,'' he stresses, pointing out that opponents should ''direct their anger at state government rather than the mayor and council,'' since ''Lakewood and other aged suburbs are victims (as Cleveland was first) of state government's one-sidedness.'' -- The Plain Dealer   10/14/2003

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/othercolumns/index.ssf?/base/opinion/106612399359250.xml

Support for Smart Growth Rising Everywhere, Glendening Tells Cleveland Audience

In his travels throughout the nation to explain and advance smart growth, former Maryland Governor and current Smart Growth Leadership Institute president Parris N. Glendening told listeners at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland that people may not know the concept by name, but they feel its absence by getting stuck in traffic, having their tax money squandered on roads and sewers for distant suburbs, and seeing once-dynamic urban cores deteriorate, with Plain Dealer writer Thomas Ott summing up his message: ''Stop urban sprawl, preserve farmland and rebuild old cities -- or suffer the consequences.'' The sprawl costs are ''difficult to quantify,'' the former governor said, ''but equally important is the sense of community we lose as we move further and further out there and further and further away from each other.'' Guest of the Cuyahoga County Regional Area League of Women Voters, the speaker said cities must remove barriers to redevelopment, states have moral and constitutional duty to improve urban schools, and the federal government should help steer growth by putting its buildings in strategic locations, spending more on transit and making land use a factor in small-business loan decisions. Despite obstacles, he stressed, public interest in and support for smart growth is rising everywhere. This, the writer notes, was just confirmed locally by two other events, an Ohio House subcommittee land use hearing in Cleveland and a presentation on the plight of older suburbs by former Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut in Cleveland Heights. -- Plain Dealer   10/3/2003

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/

Urban Renewal Experts Find Strong Potential for a 24-Hour Downtown Cincinnati

Despite downtown Cincinnati's reputation as a ghost town after work hours, urban renewal experts at the annual National Town Meeting on Main Street found its 24-hour potential strong, impressed by the city's recent strides in ''adaptive reuse,'' or the conversion of post-industrial, retail and other buildings into apartments, with Iowan guest Mary Ann Sherman of Story City saying, ''It's a creative way to bring people downtown again and make use of the space.'' The experts visited five such converted buildings redeveloped with the help of historic place tax credits, writes Cincinnati Post reporter Tony Cook, among them the 59-apartment Emory, a previous university student dorm, and Shillto's Lofts, a former Lazarus department store. Emory redevelopment team member and current resident Jim Moll said ''(s)chools make the best conversions,'' pointing to such features as high ceilings and big windows rare elsewhere. Shillito's Lofts, with a multi-story atrium featuring a fountain and old photographs of the buildings, also exemplifies a certain character that suburban apartments usually lack, the reporter observes, quoting Norwood city planning director Susan Roschke, who told him a place's character is crucial for drawing residents back to urban cores. Pointing out that Cincinnati has ''some of the most unusual collections of historic buildings,'' with most of those downtown already saved, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. adviser Kathy Schwab said the city can serve as a model of adaptive reuse for others nationwide. -- Cincinnati Post   5/22/2003

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Warren County Commissioner Criticizes Unchecked Growth in Cincinnati Region

With concerns over suburban growth on the rise across the tri-state Cincinnati region, Warren County native and Republican Commissioner Mike Kilburn -- first elected in 1982, opposed by homebuilders last November, but reelected by 70 percent of voters -- became its growth-control leader, telling officials at a recent countywide summit on proposed developer impact fees, ''I don't want to turn Warren County into one solid sheet of concrete.'' Besides pushing for such fees to help pay for new schools, reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Jennifer Edwards, he is also urging commissioners to refuse new subdivisions in townships under their zoning authority, increase lot sizes and save open space. He warned one homebuilder, ''You've taken all of Warren County you're going to take'' and repeated in the writer's interview that developers ''don't run this county'' and that growth should ''pay for itself.'' But builders call the criticism undeserved and Commissioners Pat South and Larry Crisenbery warn against an arbitrary halt of new subdivisions, stressing the need to work with builders for the common good. Also, Hamilton Township Republican trustee Clyde Baston says Commissioner Kilburn shouldn't think ''he represents the silent majority,'' arguing that he ''got 70 percent of the vote because it's a Republican county'' and that ''doesn't mean you can just shut the doors'' for the coming growth. -- Cincinnati Enquirer   5/12/2003

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Cincinnati-Area Council Proposes Tax Deduction for Companies That Contribute to Road Project Costs

As budget shortfalls wreak havoc everywhere, the Ohio-Kentucky- Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) is seeking a congressional sponsor for a proposed federal tax code change that would let private companies contribute to road project costs and claim such contributions as tax deductible business expenses -- which could speed up often delayed second-tier projects, explains OKI executive director Jim Duane, saying, ''We're looking to produce cash, plain and simple.'' Public-private transportation partnerships aren't new, observes Cincinnati Enquirer writer James Pilcher, noting that developers often donate land for roads to their sites and truckers recently contributed to an exclusive freight toll lane in West Virginia. But OKI's proposal would usher such partnerships into neighborhoods, he writes, quoting National Association of Regional Councils transportation director Fred Abousleman, who says, ''This is something that is completely original and should spur a lot of debate.'' Kenton County Judge- executive Richard Murgatroyd thinks it could help urban redevelopment. Others are cautious. The deputy director of the smart growth and transportation program in the Natural Resources Defense Council, Deron Lovaas, says private contributors' influence could bias a project against transit and Sierra Club's Midwest representative Glen Brand worries about aiding sprawl. -- Cincinnati Enquirer   5/12/2003

Resource(s): www.enquirer.com/

Light Rail Along I-75 Would Provide Best Return on Investment

The 68 percent of Hamilton County voters who sunk a $2.6 billion plan to build light rail and expand bus service for Greater Cincinnati as too costly last November won't find vindication in a just-released cost-benefit study of five congestion-relief options, which concludes that light rail along I-75 would be the best investment, offering more than $900 million in 30-year public benefits -- including shorter commutes, driver cost savings and property value increases -- or an 8.5 percent rate of return. Conducted by Consultant HLB for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), reports Cincinnati Post writer Bob Driehaus, the study ranks a combination of light rail and widening I-75 to four lanes in each direction as the second best option, with $720 million in benefits, or a 6.5 percent return. The next two options -- widening I-75 alone and freeing it from trucks for morning and afternoon rush hours alone -- would bring in even smaller benefits and return rates. And the fifth option, widening the highway to four lanes in each direction, with one line on both sides reserved for high occupancy vehicles, would cost the region $167.3 million in net loss. Commenting on the study, its OKI oversight panel chairman, University of Cincinnati professor Haynes Goddard, pointed out that since almost all the area's transportation funds have always gone to highways, ''We've got a system that's out of balance, and we don't have the right mix of highway and public transportation.'' Cincinnati Sierra Club head Glen Brand said he expects the OKI to look into the study's numbers and draw the right conclusion ''that we need to bring about balanced transportation in our area,'' calling the returns on light rail ''quite extraordinary.'' The writer also quotes from the study: ''Intracity rail is a dependable, non-polluting form of transportation that makes suburban communities more attractive for business and residential growth.'' -- Cincinnati Post   4/29/2003

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Cincinnati Pools Funds With Banks for New Home Construction, Neighborhood Renovations

Having lost ten percent of its population to the suburbs last decade, Cincinnati is pooling $15 million with $100 million from Fifth Third Bank, Provident Bank and U.S. Bank, in a ten-year revolving loan fund for home construction and renovation in depressed neighborhoods, expecting every public dollar to leverage at least $18 in private investment. The most ambitious local initiative of its kind, spearheaded by City Councilman Pat DeWine, reports Cincinnati Post writer Kevin Osborne, the new fund will be managed by the nonprofit Cincinnati Development Fund Inc., which will help developers unable to find financing with a variety of loans for market-rate housing, including two-year construction loans below prime lending rates. Calling the fund a model for the city's other revitalization efforts, Councilman DeWine said, ''It takes the development decision out of the hands of bureaucrats and gives it to people who have the expertise in making these types of projects succeed.'' The writer adds that Cincinnati's 38 percent home ownership rate is far below the 58 percent rate in similar cities and the national average of 66 percent; that the fund's first loans should be made within 30-45 days; and that the city may put another $7 million into the fund next year, while securing participation by other area banks. -- Cincinnati Post   3/7/2003

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Cincinnati Streetcar Proponents Look for Local Money to Secure Federal Funds

Supporters of the defeated $2.6 billion MetroMoves transit plan for Greater Cincinnati confirm that Hamilton County's vote against a half-cent sales tax raise shattered its prospects for federal funds from the pending five-year transportation bill, but aware that other metro areas failed repeatedly before winning tax-for-transit approvals, they will renew the push for a countywide light-rail system sometime before 2008, while proponents of streetcars as a replacement for shuttle buses on the four-mile loop from downtown Cincinnati to Covington and Newport in Kentucky feel unaffected and continue their search for local money to secure federal funding. They expect federal dollars to cover 50 to 80 percent of the $130 million streetcar cost, writes Cincinnati Post reporter Bob Driehaus, noting that the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments recommended streetcars as the best option for replacing the loop's buses and relieving both congestion and air pollution on both sides of the Ohio River. The streetcar project is in the hands of Southbank Partners and Downtown Cincinnati Inc., with their joint planning committee leader, Wally Pagan, expecting local funding to include ''some creative tax, maybe on autos using roads and parking lots near the loop,'' adding, ''It would have to be some way to eliminate cars on the road.'' -- Cincinnati Post   11/8/2002

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Voters Reject Measure to Fund Light-Rail in Greater Cincinnati

Despite strong support by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority and a diverse coalition of civic, business and environmental groups, 68 percent of Hamilton County voters rejected a half-cent sales tax increase, which would have raised about $60 million annually over 25 years for the $2.6 billion MetroMoves plan, to build a Greater Cincinnati light-rail system and expand regional bus service. The plan's supporters argued, writes Cincinnati Post reporter Barry M. Horstman, that the tax increase would cost the average family only $68 a year, with 50 percent of the MetroMoves cost covered by federal government and another 25 percent by the state. They cited estimates that the plan would not only relieve congestion, cut air pollution and provide transportation for poor residents, but also create 36,000 jobs and pour $5 billion into the local economy. Governor Bob Taft was receptive to paying the state share of the plan's cost, but days before the election admitted that the expected budget deficit might obstruct this commitment. Opponent used it as an additional argument. After the plan's defeat, the leader of the Alternatives to Light Rail Transit group, Stephan Louis, said: ''I think a lot of people felt this was a good idea that just didn't pencil out. There was uncertainty about the financing, no specificity about exactly what would be built and no definite timeline on when it would be built. That's just not enough to ask people to give you $60 million a year for the next 25 years or so.'' -- Cincinnati Post   11/6/2002

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/2002/11/06/atransit110602.html

Smart Growth Education Foundation Presents First Smart Growth Community Excellence Awards

''Smart growth means land use planning that involves such issues as availability of land for housing, building to higher densities, reviewing and revising outdated zoning laws, preserving open space and environmentally sensitive areas, and redeveloping cities and older suburbs,'' said R. J. ''Buz'' Buzogany, the executive director of the Smart Growth Education Foundation, honoring six area residential developers with its first Smart Growth Community Excellence Awards. Funded by the regional lending and real estate industry, the awards went to BFR Partners, Cleveland; Heartland Developers, Shaker Heights; Maschek Construction Company, Hiram; Pulte Homes of Ohio, Solon; Scaletta Development Corp., Avon; and Zaremba, Inc., Cleveland. Additionally, BFR Partners received the ''Best of Show'' award; City Architecture, Cleveland, won in the Development Proposals category; and Zaremba, Inc. and the nonprofit Neighborhood Progress, Inc., Cleveland, were recognized as Precedent Setters for their early 1990s' smart growth efforts to revitalize urban neighborhoods. ''It is important that we recognize organizations that are making the best use of our land and our natural resources to develop our residential areas,'' said Foundation chairman Chris Majzun. ''There is only so much land, and it has to be used wisely for housing, farming, retail-commercial, business, recreation and natural preservation purposes.'' Created to present ''a unified voice'' for area builders and related industries on Smart Growth issues, the foundation sees its mission in educating Northeast Ohio communities about development options, seeking consensus and forming links ''with organizations that have the same goal -- growing smarter in the new millennium.'' See www.hbacleveland.com/growth.html -- PR Newswire   10/23/2002

Resource(s): http://www.prnewswire.com/news/

Governor Cautious on Funding for Cincinnati's ''MetroMoves'' Transit Upgrade and Light-Rail Plans

Less than three weeks before Hamilton County votes on a half-cent sales tax increase that would raise $61 million a year as its 25- percent funding share for a proposed $2.6 billion Greater Cincinnati ''MetroMoves'' light-rail system and bus transit upgrade plan -- with another 25 percent expected from the state and 50 percent from the federal government -- Governor Bob Taft said he is ''receptive,'' but delivering the state's money may be difficult, because of the enormous budget deficit and efforts to rebuild the ''entire interstate highway system.'' Nevertheless, the governor told The Cincinnati Post editorial board, the approval of the county sales tax increase on November 5 would show that voters consider light rail ''a priority'' and would send ''a strong message that would get some attention.'' Opponents of the proposed five- line, 61-mile light-rail system as too costly and likely to exhaust federal funds sought for other needs, focus on the governor's cautionary remark as playing into their hands, with Alternatives to Light Rail Transit leader Stephan Louis calling its funding ''a giant Ponzi scheme on a cosmic level.'' On the other hand, proponents stress the importance of the coming vote, reports Cincinnati Post writer Barry M. Horstman. Downtown activist John Schneider says no state or federal money is needed to get started, because increased local tax revenue could be used earlier than projected. Reduction or cancellation of the state share could at most stretch the construction of the Hamilton County portion of the system from 23 to 30 years, he thinks, adding, ''No city that has ever voted to build light rail has failed to attract federal money.'' -- The Cincinnati Post   10/17/2002

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Greater Cincinnati Begins Collecting Data for Long-Term Comprehensive Plan

Alarmed by projections that further Greater Cincinnati sprawl will outstrip local means to provide services -- and told by federal transportation officials to avert the threat with a long-term comprehensive plan -- the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments is gathering data on area zoning and exploring community views in a series of eight meetings focused on questions of concentrating housing, business and varied activities to optimize land use and support transit; spurring redevelopment and urban infill; promoting mixed-use projects; and preserving ''key green spaces.'' Absent a land-use change, ''we're facing a 3.5 billion shortfall over the next 30 years for needed projects,'' says OKI regional planning manager Bill Miller. He points out that the current visioning process will allow the group to identify the region's priorities and eventually offer localities policy guidelines, hoping for their implementation in local planning and zoning decisions. Cincinnati Post reporter Bob Driehaus notes that the Metropolitan Growth Alliance, formed to promote regionalism, strongly supports the OKI effort. He quotes alliance executive director Patricia Timm as saying ''We have been desperate for intergovernmental cooperation on land-use planning.'' -- Cincinnati Post   9/14/2002

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

$39.7 Million in Brownfield Reclamation Funds Announced in Ohio

In the first distribution from the $200 million, four-year Clean Ohio Fund approved by voters in November 2000, Governor Bob Taft announced $39.7 million in grants and loans for 16 brownfield reclamation projects in 12 communities statewide, expressing his confidence that ''the cleanup and reuse of those properties'' will bring economic success both to those communities and to the state, while enhancing their environment. The winners were selected from among 25 applicants by the Clean Ohio Council, which is chaired by State Development Director Bruce Johnson and includes representatives of counties, townships, municipal corporations, business and development entities and environmental groups. To qualify for state brownfield cleanup aid, applicants must cover at least 25 percent of project costs. Final approval of the awards belongs to the State Controlling Board, expected to review them next month. The council will be accepting applications for the next round of awards in October and will select new winners by July 2003. -- Ohio Department of Development   7/15/2002

Resource(s): www.connectohio.com/newsroom/releases/590.asp

Cul-de-Sacs Still the Rule in Ohio's Warren County

Three decades of Warren County fast growth -- characterized by the spread of tree-shaped cul-de-sac subdivisions that live by cars and often choke on them at single exits -- have long impressed on county planners the need to restore grid streets and traffic sanity, but not much yet on residents who so love their suburban dream houses that 95 percent of the 120 area subdivisions under construction still feature dead ends. The county's regulations still read ''the street pattern shall discourage through traffic in the interior of a subdivision,'' reports Cincinnati Enquirer writer Cindi Andrews, quoting county engineer Neil Tunison, who says ''To get people to change their attitude ... is going to be a great education process.'' He thinks changes should come ''rather quickly,'' because the situation is deteriorating fast. Cul-de-sac residents think differently, focusing on what they like. They emphasize that families from nearby lanes often party together unconcerned about traffic and noise and that their kids play ball and bike around not threatened by speeding cars. ''It's like having your own little playground,'' says Deerfield Township resident Michele Weaver about her cul-de-sac. Nevertheless, local and national data show that besides increasing car dependency and the related hardship of gridlock, especially during rush hours or accidents, the one-outlet subdivisions pose an access problem for emergency personnel and discourage walking and neighborhood social interaction. Part of a remedy for all that, says Congress for the New Urbanism spokesman Steven Bodzin, are interconnected streets. Noting that the Deerfield Township Fire Department now insists on at least two entrances to all subdivisions, as do many jurisdictions across the country, the writer finds neo-traditional neighborhoods emerging around Cincinnati in the past year, with initial response deemed good by planner Jim Obert of the Great Traditions Land & Development Co., which is building a ''Grandma's house'' subdivision in Lebanon. -- The Cincinnati Enquirer   6/13/2002

Resource(s): http://enquirer.com/

Smart Growth Is Effective in Columbus Mixed-Use Neighborhoods

Contrary to the opinion Samuel L. Staley and Matthew Hisrich of the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions -- self-presented at its web link as ''Ohio's Only Free Market Think Tank'' -- smart growth does live up to its name, writes Amy M. Kobe to the editor of the Columbus Business First on behalf of her American Institute of Architects (AIA) Columbus chapter in response to their earlier column, assuring the critics that ''the verdict is in: Smart growth policies make housing more affordable, reduce government expense and support economic growth.'' She tells them to look around the city and see people ''flocking in'' to several mixed-use neighborhoods ''either revitalized or developed using some elements of smart growth.'' She cites studies and annual real-estate trend forecasts by New York's LendLease Real Estate Investment Corp. showing investors that ''recognized current suburban development patterns are inefficient and offer only a short-term rate of return.'' She also points out that several prominent developers are taking advantage of Columbus' new and nationally-praised Traditional Neighborhood Development (TDN) code and building more mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly communities throughout the city. ''Through zoning codes and the public process,'' she writes, ''the uniqueness of districts within our city can be protected or created considering the desires of those who live and work in them.'' Rejecting the critics' contention that ''smart growth means less choice because of excessive regulations,'' the AIA writer reminds them that ''One isolated development after another, with little regard for context, will only create more of a drag on the limited resources of our government support systems.'' -- Business First   6/3/2002

Resource(s): http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/

Shaker Heights Buying Blighted Apartments for Resale to Development Company

Following a redevelopment example of three other Cleveland area communities, the Shaker Heights City Council is buying blighted apartment buildings near the slated for upgrades Towne Centre district, to sell them to HeartPoint Deveco company, which will build 157 condos and townhouses in a $175,000 price range. Mayor Judy Rawson says the tax revenue from new housing will repay the city the $7 million going for street and other improvements in the construction area. Finance director Frank Brichacek points out that while the old apartments are giving the city about $60,000 in annual property taxes, the planned units will return $800,000 a year, along with 1.75 percent of new occupants' income taxes. The city will pay tenants $2,000-$3,000 relocation allowances and will help them find other low-rent units, 32 of which have already been located in its school district. But Plain Dealer reporter Ebony Reed finds tenants split on the issue. Howard Polk, who also manages one building, tells her: ''This is about class. The uppity people don't think we are in the same class as them because we make less. We deserve education and housing. They are trying to wipe us out like the dinosaurs.'' His counterpart from another building, Andre Mann, represents a different approach, saying, ''You can never fix old things like you can do something new. The problem is that people don't like change. Once you are here, you are settled. But you have to be prepared for change.'' The reporter notes that the Willowick City Council, some ten miles to the northeast, will keep a close eye on Shaker Heights events as it ponders a purchase of cottages near local shopping center and their replacement with condos, which also requires the relocation of residents. Council president Richard Bonde understands that the cottages are their homes, saying, ''It's a difficult emotional situation, but we have to move forward.'' -- The Plain Dealer   5/30/2002

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/

Cincinnati Metro Area Urged to Begin Regional Planning and Resource Sharing to Solve Development Woes

Hurt by land consumption five times faster than population growth and by political fragmentation into 235 jurisdictions in three states, the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan region should start remedying its wide sprawl-related racial and economic disparities, and community and school instability, through improved regional planning and resource-sharing, recommends national growth- management expert, Minnesota state Senator Myron Orfield in his new book, ''American Metro Politics.'' Interviewed in Cincinnati before several area presentations, Orfield told Cincinnati Post reporter Barry M. Horstman that the region's wasteful growth is affecting quality of life both in poor core neighborhoods and in wealthy suburbs and that area leaders need to start ignoring jurisdictional boundaries and start treating their problems ''as shared challenges and shared opportunities.'' During his analysis of comprehensive data for the nation's 25 largest metro areas, Orfield found that in contrast to the usual split into a weak city and upscale suburbs, Greater Cincinnati includes four community types, each facing different problems. The central city, or the ''historical heart of the region,'' now hosting only 23 percent of the metro's population, can't compete efficiently for jobs and residents because of its segregation, pockets of poverty and troubled schools. ''At risk'' communities of inner suburbs, with 33 percent of the population, lack sufficient tax revenue and ability to meet social needs or to upgrade deteriorating infrastructure. ''Bedroom-developing communities'' have 39 percent of the region's residents -- mostly middle-class families with children -- but limited employment and commercial centers, which often results in school overcrowding and strained infrastructure, while long commutes to jobs affect traffic, infrastructure and the environment in contiguous communities. And ''affluent job centers'' that accommodate a mere 5 percent of the population offer upscale housing and shopping, but pay for the privilege, Orfield says, with ''congested roads and loss of valuable open space that attracted people there in the first place.'' Then he concludes, ''Cincinnati will rise or fall as a region. Any community that thinks it can carve out its own little world is deceiving itself.''   5/22/2002

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

First-Ring Suburbs Feeling Strain of Cincinnati's Growth

As Hamilton County steadily loses more land to Cincinnati's sprawling suburbs and sees their first ring deteriorate, the Planning Partnership of area officials and experts heard a passionate dispute on what happens to funds that could be better used for infrastructure improvements in older suburbs, with County Auditor Dusty Rhodes saying, ''The city has been taking all the money and they're still hitting the wall'' and a guest national expert, Minnesota state senator Myron Orfield countering, ''The developing edge suburbs are consuming resources, putting tremendous strain on the first-ring suburbs.'' A Delhi Township resident, auditor Rhodes said 75 percent of his taxes stay in Cincinnati, where he gets his paycheck but spends only 25 percent of his work hours. He argued that people should pay taxes to their home, not their work jurisdictions, and blamed the city for confused priorities, adding, ''If something isn't working, don't come to me and ask me to do more of it.'' Senator Orfield pointed out that the Cincinnati region's suburban sprawl rate -- the fifth-highest nationwide -- exceeds five times area population growth and stressed that local money ''could be going to rebuilding and recycling the interior suburbs, rather than urbanizing farmland.'' Nevertheless, reports Cincinnati Post writer Craig Garreston, they agreed that water, sewer and other services should be controlled by regional boards, with small municipalities entitled to equal representation with big cities. The writer adds that the area Planning Partnership brings together representatives of the Hamilton County Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission and county municipalities.   4/9/2002

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com/

Toledo Suburb Considers Placement of Big Retail Stores

Worried that the payroll taxes on low-paying jobs in big-box stores likely to be proposed for the Maumee-Toledo joint development zone won't cover growth-related service costs, the Maumee planning commission may soon enter ''a growing nationwide trend to restrict or halt retail expansion by limiting building size,'' which could make developers of larger-than-30,000-square-foot stores leave out this Toledo suburb, reports Toledo Blade business writer Jon Chavez. Developers oppose size limits as undercutting their property values, but residents applaud them as curtailing traffic congestion and sprawl, he writes, stressing the effectiveness of such ordinances and their resistance to legal challenges elsewhere. He quotes a planning expert for the Washington-based Urban Land Institute, Maureen McAvey, who points out that rather than barring big retail -- which usually results in ''leapfrogging'' that burdens communities with through-traffic and congestion, while denying them ''taxes and control'' -- municipalities should embrace ''smart growth,'' which regulates retail development and often channels it to older urban areas. Maumee residents expressed strong support for such a course at the planning commission's meeting last month, the writer reports, also quoting a senior researcher at the American Planning Association, Marya Morris, who observes that communities working with big-box retailers to secure common interests have fared much better than those trying to ban them.   3/25/2002

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/

Townhouses to Replace Downtown Akron Brownfield

In another move to spur and diversify downtown Akron, the City Council unanimously voted to create an urban renewal district for a 5.4-acre blighted site, where the NRP Group plans to redevelop vacant and ruined buildings into 100 two-bedroom townhouses with monthly rents in a $630-$950 range. The district provisions, reports Bacon Journal writer Julie Wallace, will make it easier for the group to get financing, acquire the properties and possibly start construction by fall. The city Planning and Urban Development director, Warren Woolford, says the townhouse project ''will give us a 24-7 downtown with work, entertainment and living'' and became ''a catalyst for the areas in close proximity.''   3/5/2002

Resource(s): www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/

Toledo Revitalization Plan Includes Mixed-Use Riverfront, Pedestrian Thoroughfares

The Toledo City Council and Mayor Jack Ford's staff are considering a new downtown revitalization master plan, which would cost the city $19.2 million, but could leverage $126 million to $151 million in private investments, creating ''outstanding'' mixed-use riverfront, ''world-class'' pedestrian thoroughfares and a ''Main Street'' in the Warehouse District. Unveiled last month by Downtown Toledo, Inc. (DTI), the plan depends on revenue from two proposed special improvement districts, reports Toledo Blade writer Tom Troy. He quotes DTI president Peter Gozza, who says such taxing districts worked well in Akron and cities in other states, noting that his first priority is to get ''waterfront developed and back to the community.'' Another top goal is to draw 10,000-12,000 people regularly to downtown events, including ''Shakespeare in the park'' shows. The writer adds that the special improvement districts would have to be approved by 60 percent of local property owners, with district members deciding next how much to assess themselves for area promotion, security and streetscape improvements.   2/12/2002

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/

Debate Continues on Buckeye Institute Pro-Sprawl Report

Praising The Toledo Blade for ''exposing the flawed logic that underlies the Buckeye Institute's report championing urban sprawl,'' Citizens for Civic Renewal executive director Greg Harris writes from Cincinnati that sprawl ''amounts to a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars'' and that communities across Ohio ''are beginning to learn that smart growth translates into smart economics.'' As the Cincinnati region is ''coming to grips with the socioeconomic and environmental ramifications of sprawl,'' he writes, a Metropatterns study done by Minnesota lawmaker Myron Orfield shows that the region is developing land five times faster than its population is growing, which requires the costly expansion of services and infrastructure, while urban cores and older suburbs struggle to maintain their assets. Another writer, Ohio Environment-Growth Alliance Director Gregory S. Payne, points out that the Buckeye Institute's report ''re-emphasizes the need to implement pro-active policies that address the difficult issues of land use, economic development, housing, transportation, and the environment while best serving the interests of Ohio's urban and rural communities.'' Urging all to agree that quality growth means ''meeting the needs of our changing populations,'' he concludes, ''Quality growth is not a yes/no choice. It's a community's mission and an infinite investment in the future.'' But a Buckeye Institute policy analyst, Matthew Hisrich, asserts in his letter that as a ''peer-reviewed study that relies on research, rather than rhetoric,'' the report reflects the truth about sprawl. ''It was our hope,'' he writes, that it would allow papers such as The Toledo Blade to ''shift the discussion away from rhetoric and scare tactics and toward addressing issues of substance.''   1/9/2002

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/

Rebuttals to the Buckeye Institute's Pro-Sprawl Report

Astonished by claims that Ohio faces no threat from sprawl, farmland loss and other changes -- made by the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions in its ''Urban Sprawl and Quality Growth in Ohio'' report, based on 1990 census figures -- a Toledo Blade editorial can hardly imagine ''a more shortsighted'' view of sprawl and more bias against the Ohio Sierra Club as an advocate of smart growth, ''a quality all too often lacking in the networks of real estate development that spread outward from every large and medium-sized city'' in the state. The editorial sides with the club in questioning the report on several points and noting that although the institute generally dislikes subsidies, it pays scant attention to huge multi-level governmental subsidies for ''motor vehicles, especially the SUVs and trucks, usually carrying only one person, which require road improvements and larger parking lots, just for starters.'' The editorial stresses that while sprawl impact is ''particularly acute where large cities fade into suburban development,'' strips grow ''at almost any point where two or three motorists meet,'' which ''amounts to unplanned strip-mining of America's landscape, as anyone who drives between Toledo and Columbus can attest.'' But the editorial finds one set of figures sobering, even if outdated, since they indicate that mass transit ''is more widely preached than practiced.'' The 1990 figures show that about three percent of Ohio commuters used public transit and fewer than seven percent walked or telecommuted, with only Cleveland and Cincinnati doing better. The fact is, the editorial ends, that ''the automobile, with one person in it, is the unchallenged king of commuting'' and that no matter what Buckeye experts say, ''we will all pay the cost of sprawl in the future.''   1/3/2002

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com/

Cleveland Considers Moving I-90 from Lake Erie; Sees ''Chance to Reinvent the City''

As the Ohio Department of Transportation plans a $200 million overhaul of Cleveland downtown's Inner Belt after 2006, the Greater Cleveland Growth Association and a Cleveland Tomorrow group of business executives are proposing to expand future work on the Shoreway section of I-90 -- to move it south from Lake Erie and clear the reclaimed lakefront for an eight-mile boulevard with trees, a parallel bike path and new connections to older city neighborhoods. The move, writes Plain Dealer architecture critic Steven Litt, would also free more than 350 lakefront acres for housing, commercial and park projects. He quotes Cleveland Tomorrow executive director Joe Roman as saying, ''If we can't use the Inner Belt process to expand our thinking about the lakefront, we've blown it.'' The Greater Cleveland Growth Association's president and CEO, Dennis Eckart, says at a time of city economic and population decline, ''We can't afford not to think about it ... we have to embrace the chance to reinvent the city.'' Members of state transportation civic committee studying the Inner Belt overhaul options and Cleveland Mayor-elect Jane Campbell couldn't agree more, notes Plain Dealer reporter Rich Exner. A committee member, Cleveland Waterfront Coalition president Genevieve Ray says the business leaders' proposal ''turns Cleveland's water affront into a waterfront.'' A mayoral statement promises ''to engage our governor, our local elected officials, the local business community and other resources to identify the capital needed to bring the most sensible plan for the Inner Belt, our Shoreway and our lakefront to fruition.''   12/13/2001

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com/

Ohio: Conservationists in Wayne County Seek New Ways to Fund Farmland Preservation

Upset that 60 percent of Wayne County voters rejected a purchase of development rights (PDRs) initiative -- which would have added a quarter-cent sales tax over ten years to raise $2.3 million a year and get $1.7 million in state matching funds -- proponents are looking into other ways of funding rural conservation to help farmers resist lucrative developer offers and save land permanently from urban sprawl. The deputy director of the state Office of Farmland Preservation at the Department of Agriculture, Joe Dubenmire, believes that farmland preservation can work, but doubts if "any sales tax-driven funding source is ever going to happen in Ohio" and suggests such alternatives as added taxes on cigarettes, cellular phones and perhaps fast-good carryouts. "The key," he says, "is to educate people on how PDRs work and who benefits." Wayne County Planning Director Betsy Sparr notes that farmers may try to participate in the state's PDR program and that other local options could include setting up land trusts, scenic byways or conservation development policies. A member of the county Rural Land Preservation Advisory Committee, Maryanna Biggio, cites an example of 12 residents of Wayne, Holmes and Coshocton counties who have recently formed the nonprofit Killbuck Watershed Land Trust, which will be preserving donated land, offering donors some tax advantages.   11/19/2001

Resource(s): www.ohio.com/bj

Governor Bob Taft announced the allocation of ...

Governor Bob Taft announced the allocation of more than $31 million in Community Housing Improvement grants for 62 communities, to maintain and improve affordable housing for their low-income residents. Awarded annually on a competitive basis, the grants are administered by the Department of Development's Office of Housing and Community Partnership. For grant applications, the office requires communities to conduct so-called Community Housing Improvement Strategy studies to identify the most pressing local needs. The grants must be spent accordingly, unless the office approves other uses.   8/16/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

If home ownership is part of the ...

If home ownership is part of the American dream, then its disreputable descendent, urban sprawl, is our national nightmare, its ugliness evident along U.S. 23 at the northern edge of the state's capital city of Columbus, grieves The Toledo Blade in a forceful opinion entitled "Ugly road to urban sprawl." The area is "a soul-less suburban environment -- mile after cluttered mile of shopping centers, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, and car dealerships scattered haphazardly along the roadside, with little apparent thought or planning. A wasteland of visual pollution, with endless stop-and-go traffic stretching from light to light." But Columbus, which recorded enormous population growth in the last decades and "spilled out" of Franklin County over the edges of Delaware, Licking and Fairfield counties, isn't the only area "where local officials are selling out to the cause of runaway development." Lucas, Wood, Fulton and Ottawa counties, the daily says, are losing 14 acres of farmland every day, a figure put at about 75 acres for the 88-county state as a whole. The lessons of paved-over Franklin County are especially relevant in the Toledo area, the daily stresses, urging local governments to heed calls by Minnesota state lawmaker Myron Orfield and "build the regional coalitions" that he credits for making such a difference in his state.   6/22/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

With the rate of land loss in ...

With the rate of land loss in northwest Ohio four times faster than its population growth, Toledo's best chance to remain a strong "core city" lies in multi-jurisdictional planning cooperation and battling sprawl regionally, said a national land-use expert, Minnesota Democratic state senator Myron Orfield, in a presentation sponsored by the Common Ground Coalition at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library. Drawing from his own and other urban studies, Orfield said many metropolitan areas "are fighting each other instead of working together," not realizing "that they are hurting one another" and not knowing "what the impact of their growth is on the other." He also pointed out that metropolitan areas whose major cities kept their centers robust enjoyed the strongest economic growth. Stressing the benefits of a dynamic urban center in Toledo for the whole region, he said governments can advance mutual cooperation by enacting tax reform to reduce their dependence on property taxes, harmonizing their land-use decisions and seeking more public input at regional forums. He elaborated on these subjects during The Editors television program, aired June 22 at 9 p.m. on WGTE-TV and June 24 at 12:30 p.m. on WBGU-TV.   6/22/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

Maumee area residents fiercely opposed to the ...

Maumee area residents fiercely opposed to the projected two-story, 1.2-million-square-foot mall near the historic Fallen Timber battlefield, presented the City Council with 522 signatures against a tax abatement sought by the developer, noting that should the council disregard the petition, they need only 18 more signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. With many handmade signs on home lawns calling "End the Sprawl! Stop the Mall!" neighborhood organizer Dave Westrick told the council that saying many residents dislike the mall proposal would be an understatement, because "they hate it." He expressed his confidence that voters would reject any tax incentive for the mall. Council President Kevin Olman encouraged residents to attend future hearings on the mall, assuring them that their concerns are important in the decision-making process.   6/20/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

Maumee area residents are beginning "to rethink ...

Maumee area residents are beginning "to rethink the costs of endless suburban sprawl," says The Toledo Blade in an opinion on their recent protest against the proposed mall near the Fallen Timbers Battlefield, also noting an emerging "hard truth" in Toledo and its suburbs "that retailing follows its customers," with many of the city's shopping centers "paying the price of that trend." The proposed mall, the daily asserts, would overwhelm the rural tract "over which the army of Gen. Anthony Wayne marched to join battle with an Indian tribal confederacy in 1794," clearing the way to Ohio statehood in 1803. It would also worsen traffic congestion, strain water and sewage facilities and increase river pollution, inviting further "unfavorable comparisons with areas more attuned to protecting their historical heritage, particularly Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania." With the battlefield site purchased with money from state and federal governments, Lucas and Wood counties and the city of Maumee, the daily calls the investment too costly to squander. It urges officials to ensure modification of any mall plan "to provide adequate and screened access to the park and strong protection from the intrusion of a modern commercial area." 05.22.2001   5/23/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

A Maumee city planning commission hearing on ...

A Maumee city planning commission hearing on the proposed 125-store, 1.2 million-square-foot mall near the Fallen Timbers historic battlefield site drew about 150 area residents, with three speaking in its favor, more than 20 voicing strong opposition and many in the standing- room only audience wearing T-shirts with the message "End the Sprawl! Stop the Mall!" Supporters stressed that a big shopping mall close to the Fallen Timber residential area reflects "good urban planning" and promises local jobs. Opponents pointed out that construction jobs will be temporary and sales jobs low-paid, but the community will suffer permanent disruption from increased traffic, noise, litter and possibly crime. Fallen Timber Battlefield Preservation Commission President Marianne Britt Duvedack expressed the dominant view, saying the historic site is "not a roadside rest stop, not a parking lot for Burger King." The developer, General Growth Properties, Inc., of Chicago, predicates the construction on the approval of a 20-year property tax abatement by Maumee and Lucas County. The commission expects to present its recommendation June 25.   5/16/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

With commercial projects chasing residential growth through ...

With commercial projects chasing residential growth through the Toledo area's suburbs and townships, land prices in its major road corridors have doubled and tripled in the last several years, to $50,000-$100,000 per acre along less traveled routes and to more than $1 million per acre paid by national drugstore chains, gas stations and restaurants for prime corner locations at busy intersections. Most of this land is rural, reports Toledo Blade writer Mary-Beth McLaughlin, quoting commercial real estate agent Dave Long, who says selling a family farm is an emotional issue for owners, "but their children have no interest in carrying on the traditions and they've got developers throwing millions of dollars at them, so they do it." Veteran local developer Doug Wamsher adds, "As open farm fields get hemmed in by rooftops and the land is zoned in a manner other than residential, the prices are going to start a moderate rise. It's the extension of the utilities that will bring the optimum level of price." The writer also notes skyrocketing land prices in Toledo's high-traffic locations. A building on a less-than-acre site next to Franklin Park Mall, which would have fetched $300,000-$400,000 five to three years ago, was recently sold for more than $900,000.   4/25/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

A Toledo Blade editorial entitled "Road to ...

A Toledo Blade editorial entitled "Road to 'sprawlscape'," criticizes the contemplated relocation of the two-lane, "truck-infested" and "increasingly undrivable" U.S. 24 between Toledo and Indiana's Ford Wayne, stressing the Sierra Club's arguments that the move, combined with turning the road into a major highway, would affect two dozen streams and 500 farms, destroy wetlands and woodlands, and "chew up 5,000 to 7,000 acres of fertile farmland in northwest Ohio." New highways, says the editorial "have become fighting words in rural areas, especially when relocations isolate farms or cut them in two, introduce traffic in hitherto lightly traveled areas, and inevitably promote the growth of new sprawlscapes as people seek larger parcels of land on which to place single-family homes." New roads, it continues, "do promote strip growth, usually ugly conglomerations of fast-food joints, gas stations, motels, discount malls, and big-box retailers," spreading "like weeds in a garden." To divert trucks from U.S. 24 and make it safer, the editorial suggest removing tolls from the Turnpike between Toledo and the Indiana state line and then from the stretch of the Indiana Toll Road up to the I-69 interchange.   4/25/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

Advancing grassroots involvement in growth and quality ...

Advancing grassroots involvement in growth and quality of life issues, a new Waterville group named Support Proposed Roadway and Waterville Loses, or SPRAWL, hopes to mobilize township residents against a U.S. 24 bypass or a four-lane throughway, both under consideration by the Ohio Department of Transportation, but opposed by the group as certain to attract big-box retailers, threaten small businesses, worsen traffic congestion and harm the local atmosphere. To prevent "induced sprawl," the group is advising improvement and widening of U.S. 24, an option also preferred by a similar group named Farming Americans Resisting More Unneeded Pavement, or FARMUP, in nearby Neapolis. However, another Waterville group, called Safety Means Alternate Route 24, or SMART, claims a bypass would not only best suit the area's transportation needs, but also help protect the town's historic buildings and its quality of life. Should a bypass induce sprawl, the group says, the responsibility for controlling growth would belong to Waterville Township trustees. 02.23.200   3/15/2001

Resource(s): www.toledoblad.com

The loss of open space in Ohio ...

"The loss of open space in Ohio is alarming," warn Cleveland lawyers Armond D. Budish and Kurt Karakul in The Plain Dealer, writing that forests and farmland are being sold for retail, industrial and residential development, while long-developed urban sites remain vacant due to old contamination. In a move to change the situation, Governor Bob Taft's office has put together "funding plans to save green space and help redevelop contaminated 'brownfield' areas and the state EPA released eligibility requirements for the governor's Clean Ohio Fund, which was approved last November. To qualify for funding, a project needs local government support and favorable resident input at public hearings. It also must open its financial paperwork to the public and leverage matching funds from other sources. Counties, townships, municipalities and nonprofit groups applying for funds from the proposed $25 million set aside for a pilot program on purchasing development rights, must contribute 25 percent of the price. Those applying for funds from the $175 million Brownfields Redevelopment Program over the next four or five years "must demonstrate that the cleanup will result in economic benefit for the community within one to five years." The state will give priority to projects in urban areas. For details, the authors direct those interested to the Ohio Office of Farmland Preservation at (614) 466-2732 and the Ohio Office of Urban Development at (614) 466-4211 PD, 01.27.2001   2/1/2001

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com

Ohio has grown stronger since he took ...

Ohio has grown stronger since he took office three years ago, said Governor Bob Taft (R) in his State of the State address, listing among his top accomplishments the investment of $800 million in school renovation and repair, voters' "passage of the Clean Ohio Fund to revitalize urban areas and protect our waterways and green spaces" and the purchase of 120 acres on Lake Erie's Middle Bass Island for the state park system. Also paying tribute to First Lady Hope Taft " for her tireless efforts to help families and young people," which will bring them 25 new Habitat for Humanity homes this year, the governor stressed the need to expand Ohio's prosperity to its urban centers and Appalachia. "We will use the Clean Ohio Fund," he said, "to reclaim urban brownfields and change our tax laws to revitalize whole neighborhoods, not just single parcels of land." Having doubled funding for Appalachia's economic development last year, the governor promised to "keep that commitment again this year" and to secure more federal funds for distressed counties. He also promised funding for the Appalachian New Economy Partnership "to increase information technology skills and to provide assistance for start-up companies in the region."   2/1/2001

Resource(s): www.nga.org

Calling last year mostly good for Greater ...

Calling last year mostly good for Greater Cincinnati, The Cincinnati Post is glad that its arguments for "putting 'smart growth' into the regional vocabulary" have won the day and "slowly, erratically, the notion is taking hold that we need better planning and land use decisions that reflect the public interest more than the profit motive." To make 2001 better, the daily's editorial urges stepped up efforts to expand the University of Cincinnati's medical and biotechnology research capabilities; advance a ten-year, $93 million empowerment-zone project for nine of the city's poorest neighborhoods; and finish downtown riverfront development. Advocating a "genuinely regional transit system," which seems to have everyone's support, but lacks a "local funding source," the editorial advocates an Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana light rail as an idea that should soon "come up for a vote."   1/8/2001

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com

In response to last month's series of ...

In response to last month's series of Plain Dealer articles on making the 110-mile, four-county Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor "a vehicle for historic preservation and economic renewal," Cuyahoga County commissioners committed $575,000 over two years to planning in their section of the Cuyahoga Valley and in Cleveland. Commissioner Timothy McCormack said the planning will let the area "catch up with strong actions" by communities in Summit, Stark and Tuscarawas counties for improving southern sections of the heritage corridor. The plan will seek public access to the Cuyahoga River and a six-mile extension of a bike-and-hike trail along the canal to downtown Cleveland. Creating a comprehensive vision for the valley, it will include a model zoning ordinance for the river, canal and trail side parcels; a river management project; a historic inventory; and a broad strategy for promoting the area's industrial heritage and ensuring its high environmental quality.   1/2/2001

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com

The nationally lauded Victorian Gate apartment complex ...

The nationally lauded Victorian Gate apartment complex in Columbus' Short North neighborhood was designed in 1989, but didn't get built until 1994, because developer Jack Lucks had to waste years seeking variances from the city's zoning code, writes Columbus Dispatch reporter Brian Williams. He quotes the developer as saying builders "had it right the first time, 100 years ago," creating mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods because of common sense, not zoning codes. The reporter notes that land-use zoning, which started more than 80 years ago to keep factories and other dirty plants out of residential neighborhoods, has been subordinated to the prevalent use of cars in the last five decades, focusing on traffic flow, wider streets and parking spaces. A longtime advocate of traditional development, Bill Bonner, says "zoning regulations were not written for people, they were written for cars," while an attorney helping developers navigate zoning codes, Harrison Smith, notes that segregating residential, commercial and industrial land use "has produced mostly mediocrity." He adds that zoning "as a tool for doing the best we can do, is an utter, complete failure." Their view is shared by the Columbus trade and development director, Mark Barbash, who in his nine months on the job has learned "how cumbersome this system can be." All four and many others, the reporter writes, are ardent supporters of a new Traditional Neighborhood Development Code, scheduled to go before the City Council next month. The code, says Barabash, encourages building neighborhoods, not just housing developments," offering "walkability and quality of life."   12/18/2000

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com

Cutting-edge companies are favoring old-style homes, report ...

Cutting-edge companies are favoring old-style homes, report Brian Williams and Jim Weiker in The Columbus Dispatch, predicting the emergence of a Main Street high-tech corridor as the focus of downtown Columbus revitalization efforts. The reporters quote an expert from a local company OnVentures, Colin Jones, who says that old buildings have a kind of flexibility of space that is really suitable for a group of startup companies. The reporters describe OnVentures as an incubator for fledgling Internet firms, noting that its co-founder and managing director Todd Mollenkopf envisions a vibrant Columbus core, with a strong economy based on intellectual capital. The vision, they add, is shared by Mayor Michael B. Coleman, one of 40 central Ohio officials who have recently visited Austin, Texas to learn how it became a technology hotspot.   11/28/2000

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com

Worried about Franklin County 's traffic congestion ...

Worried about Franklin County 's traffic congestion, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman and 11 mayors from the suburbs will hold a regional summit January 30 at Ohio State University's Fawcett Center, to discuss how to increase road and bus system capacity, improve traffic management, expand transit and promote land-use planning and smart growth. Noting that Franklin County already has 1,054,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles for 1,079,000 residents, Mayor Coleman pointed out that with 400,000 new residents projected by 2020, the area can't build enough roads to keep up with the growth. Reynoldsburg's development director John Brandt said traffic congestion, like other growth problems that spill across jurisdictional boundaries, requires joint solutions and makes area officials sense it's time to work together. Among the summit participants will be representatives of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the Central Ohio Transit Authority, the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and United Way.   11/28/2000

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com

Governor Bob Taft won approval for his ...

Governor Bob Taft won approval for his two-prong, $400 million open space protection and brownfield reclamation bond measure with a statewide vote of 57 to 42 percent. The measure had strong support from more than 180 diverse groups and both parties. Its backers included Ohio's best-known Democrat, former astronaut and senator John Glenn, state and local lawmakers, most city mayors, and many trade, business, nonprofit and conservation organizations. The opposition was led by Ohio Citizen Action, Rivers Unlimited and the Sierra Club. The action group's executive director, Sandy Buchanan, attributes the measure's success to a heavily financed TV ad campaign. The governor, she says, will now have a slush fund and we still have a failed Ohio EPA. There is nothing in the bond provisions, she adds, that safeguards how the money's spent.   11/22/2000

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com

Smart growth is about public policy and ...

Smart growth is about public policy and personal responsibility, Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening told a Columbus audience, pointing out that in spite of being frequently seen as liberal it is a conservative idea. Just think about the tax issue alone, said the governor at a development forum held by the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. With billions of dollars spent on new roads, sewers and schools to accommodate growth and billions more spent to revitalize older neighborhoods left behind, billions of dollars are being wasted. Explaining his Smart Growth program with a slide presentation, the governor said it simply opposes subsidizing the unplanned or poorly planned growth that is eating up our state. Governor Glendening spoke at the Columbus forum as a guest of Ohio State University President William E. Kirwan, who held the same post at the University of Maryland during the governor's tenure as political science professor. He described the governor's smart growth message as very relevant to Ohio State University, citing its agricultural extension's work on land-use and farmland preservation issues in the state's 88 counties.   11/22/2000

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com

The newest among the more than 180 ...

The newest among the more than 180 varied groups that have endorsed Governor Bob Taft's brownfield redevelopment and open space bond proposal are the Greater Cleveland Growth Association - the nation's largest chamber of commerce - and its Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE). The association's president and CEO, Dennis E. Eckhart, expressed both groups' strong support for the $400 million bond and stressed that the $200 million allocated to brownfields will stimulate economic development, enabling communities to clean up and redevelop key urban sites.   10/31/2000

Smart growth has entered the national vocabulary ...

Smart growth has entered the national vocabulary, with citizens and elected officials alike clamoring for strategies to put the brakes on the sprawl that is devouring our countryside and draining the economic life out of our older communities, writes Cincinnati Post guest columnist, National Trust for Historic Preservation President Richard Moe. We all pay for sprawl not only in lost open space, farmland and commuting time, but also in higher taxes for schools and infrastructure and, perhaps more importantly, he writes, in the steady erosion of our quality of life. Sprawl and its byproducts are the biggest livability threats, he continues, and in an era of global competitiveness, livability is a key factor determining which communities thrive and which ones wither. He points out that saving open space and farmland to stop sprawl is only half of the solution; the other half is reinvesting in communities. Reclaiming the towns, inner cities and older suburbs neglected so badly for the past half-century is smart growth, he stresses, because restored historic buildings bring in more taxes; because people can free themselves from constant driving only in traditional mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods, where they can live, work, shop and play; and because conversion of a warehouse or office building into 40 housing units saves ten acres of rural or other open land from development. The author concludes, We can chose to let highway engineers and sprawl-builders do our planning for us, or we can take a more active role ourselves.   10/19/2000

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com

Campaigning for his $400 million brownfield-green space ...

Campaigning for his $400 million brownfield-green space bond initiative, Governor Bob Taft said he would ask the legislature to spend $200 million for brownfield cleanups, $100 million for green space preservation, $50 million for stream and watershed protection, and $25 million each for farmland development right purchases and recreational trails' expansion. The initiative's brownfield provisions make environmental groups wary that the cleanup money may be diverted into the Ohio EPA's ineffective Voluntary Action Program (VAP), criticized for its weak enforcement mechanism by the U. S. EPA. Nevertheless, the Ohio Environmental Council, the Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation support the initiative, in contrast to the 150,000-member Ohio Citizen Action and the Sierra Club. The action group's director, Sandy Buchanan, says the VAP does not adequately protect the neighbors and allows contamination to remain on the properties; the club's lobbyist, Marc Conte, adds as long as the money goes through the VAP, we will remain opposed to it. According to Columbus Dispatch writer Michael Hawthorne, the Ohio EPA and the U. S. EPA may break the stalemate by creating a separate program that would offer federal immunity if property owners agreed to citizen involvement in cleanup plans and greater oversight by state regulators.   10/19/2000

Resource(s): www.dispatch.com

Endorsing Governor Bob Taft's $400 million bond ...

Endorsing Governor Bob Taft's $400 million bond proposal to reclaim brownfields and save green space, a Cincinnati Post editorial encourages voters to approve the measure, which helps worthy causes and is the most feasible at the moment. With Ohio problems, $400 million for brownfield clean-up and greenspace is just a drop in the bucket, the editorial says, while stressing that the state does expects to boost the impact of those dollars by leveraging additional private, federal and local funds. Noting the measure's broad support and the advertising campaign featuring both Republican Governor Taft and Ohio's best known Democrat, former Senator John Glenn, the editorial says voters and policy makers shouldn't see it as the solution to Ohio's brownfield and greenspace needs, but simply as the beginning of a long-term commitment.   10/10/2000

Resource(s): www.cincypost.com

Endorsing a concept of balanced growth, Governor ...

Endorsing a concept of balanced growth, Governor Bob Taft released the state's 25-year Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan and once again called for voter approval of his $400 million bond initiative to save farmland and reuse brownfields. Balanced growth means, said the governor at the Ohio Lake Erie Commission's ninth annual conference in Sandusky, that we will strive to expand Ohio's economy in ways that will minimally impact Lake Erie and its watersheds. The long- awaited plan includes 84 recommendations. Farmers should expand conservation tillage from the current 52 to 80 percent of land and set up buffers on at least 80 percent of ditches, streams and tributaries. Municipalities should remove or seal off contaminated sediments in harbors and streams, and adopt lake area zoning and building codes to help unify development practices. The state should enforce provisions for containing septic leaks and sewage overflows; acquire more lake coast for public recreation and natural habitat; and step up its promotion of the lake as a tourist destination.   9/25/2000

Resource(s): www.toledoblade.com

Hoping to tear down a three-quarter-mile section ...

Hoping to tear down a three-quarter-mile section of the Akron's two-mile elevated Innerbelt, Mayor Donald Plusquellic says the project would save the city millions of dollars on repairs of the aging freeway, let it develop 27 idle acres into a pedestrian boulevard on the downtown edge and restore its links with westside neighborhoods. The divided, six-lane, five-bridge Innerbelt, built between 1970 and 1987, has never reached its planned capacity of 100,000 vehicles a day, carrying only 22,000 along its busiest section. New Urbanists and other proponents of pedestrian-and-transit-oriented development welcome the mayor's idea. The director of EcoCity Cleveland, David Beach, thinks more elected officials should be so brave as to suggest removing highways. An analyst for the Washington-based Surface Transportation Policy Project, Michelle Garland, says the mayor is one of those who are questioning conventional wisdom and willing to change things. Akron's business community is also interested, though some downtown residents and workers remain doubtful.   9/14/2000

Resource(s): www.cleveland.com

The U. S. EPA's newest, 29th national ...

The U. S. EPA's newest, 29th national Project XLC, for eXcellence and Leadership in Communities, involves the agency's Region 5, the Ohio EPA and the state's fast-growing Clermont County in the design of a multi-phase watershed management plan for the East Fork of the Little Miami River and Harsha Lake area. The area is affected by serious demographic and development pressures. Our goal, said Paul Braasch of the Clermont County's office of environmental quality, is to maintain a balance between economic growth and preservation of the area's rural character and environment. The project will address the intertwined issues of water quality, land use, open space and farmland protection, development procedures and economic expansion. EPA Regional Administrator Francis X. Lyons said Project XLC encourages local governments and communities to test cleaner, cheaper, and smarter ways to attain environmental results.   9/12/2000

Unpersuaded by Governor Bob Taft that his ...

Unpersuaded by Governor Bob Taft that his two-prong $400 million land preservation and brownfield cleanup bond initiative would be properly managed, the state's largest environmental group, the 150,000-member Ohio Citizen Action, decided to fight it in the November election. The group's executive director, Sandy Buchanan, said its board thought the ballot language wouldn't prevent diversion of the $200 million sought for brownfield cleanup into the controversial Voluntary Action Program. Under the program, polluters and developers conduct their own site cleanups in exchange for immunity from further enforcement actions. She said the governor's new Clean Ohio Fund would create a coat of whitewash for the Ohio EPA, investigated by the U. S. EPA for its enforcement practices, and give slush money to the Department of Development for who-knows-what, since the ballot language leaves use of that money wide open. She also challenged the governor to debate his bond initiative at a public forum.   9/8/2000

A farmland protection report, requestedd by Lucas ...

A farmland protection report, requestedd by Lucas County both for its own and for Toledo plan commission, urges smarter long-term planning practices, including multi-jurisdictional cooperation, to prevent sprawl. At the commissions' joint session, some participants expressed reservations. The president of the Lucas County Trustees Association, Sylvania Township Trustee Dock Treece said the association supports planning, but would object to a document that controls the use of local land and to anything else that resembles a virtual wall and tells people they can't build in rural areas. The report, by the Poggemeyer Design Group, Inc. of Bowling Green, and other zoning issues will be discussed further at an area planning forum scheduled for October.   9/5/2000

The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Board of ...

The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Board of Trustees decided to support Governor Bob Taft's $400 million environmental bond initiative, concluding after extensive discussions with his administration and a close review of the ballot's language that public gains will not come at the expense of private property owners, said the federation's executive vice president John C. (Jack) Fisher. Noting that farmers more than anyone understand the link between quality of life and quality of the environment, Fisher expressed the board's satisfaction with both brownfield and greenspace provisions of the initiative. Growth is economically more efficient wherever infrastructure exists, he said, adding that development in cities means less pressure to pave over farmland.   9/5/2000

In a bipartisan effort on behalf of ...

In a bipartisan effort on behalf of Governor Bob Taft's $400 million environmental bond initiative, co-chairmen of its Citizens for a Clean Ohio action committee, the governor and former Democratic Senator John Glenn, urged voters to approve the bond in November as crucial for the state's future. Pointing out that Ohio's population will double by 2100, Governor Taft said, We must take steps today to protect our water sources, preserve wildlife habitat and clean up urban areas. Noting recent passage of similar initiatives in eight states, Senator Glenn, the former astronaut who retired from Congress in 1998, described the bond idea as a sound, common-sense approach to improving quality of life for Ohioans, asking them to vote yes before it may be to late. Half of the bond money would go for open space, farmland and water protection and half for brownfield clean up. The program details would depend on the General Assembly, which would have to pass enabling legislation. According to the Legislative Budget Office, repayment of the bonds at their maturity in 2018 would include $400 million in principal and $212 million in interest. Some activists, like Ohio Citizen Action Director Sandy Buchanan, question the advisability of incurring such interest at the time when the state has a significant surplus. Others suspect that the brownfield cleanup money may ultimately benefit polluters with little public accountability. The governor responded that polluting businesses will be still held accountable for the cost of the cleanup. His bond initiative is endorsed by Audubon Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Council, the League of Women Voters, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Ohio and Columbus chambers of commerce, and the Ohio Farm Bureau.   9/5/2000

Cincinnati area planners hope to solve decades-old ...

Cincinnati area planners hope to solve decades-old traffic congestion problems in its Eastern Corridor with a new bridge, a light rail system, expanded bus services and bike paths. Presenting the plan to the Ohio Transportation Review Advisory Council, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments' Eastern Corridor Coordinating Committee is also seeking state financial help to launch the Preliminary Engineering/Environmental Impact Study. According to the council's executive director, Jim Duane, the plan addresses situations 15, 20 years ahead. It will ensure travel efficiency, reduce commuting time, cut air pollution, open new regional green space opportunities, improve workers' access to jobs and relieve traffic on the outer belts. The proposed light rail line along I-71, linking downtown Cincinnati with the I-275 beltway, would have nine stations with bus stops and five park-and-ride facilities, all easily accessible to bikers and pedestrians.   8/10/2000

To minimize the risk of lawsuits should ...

To minimize the risk of lawsuits should voters approve Governor Bob Taft's $400 million land protection and urban renewal bond initiative on November 7, the state Ballot Board clarified the ballot language, at the cost of brevity. The board's chairman, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, explained the doubling of clauses and definitions by saying members wanted to ensure the impartiality of the language and address the concerns of the governor's office that it meet any legal challenge or scrutiny. The additions make clear that with voter approval, the Ohio Constitution will be amended to let the state issue bonds and other obligations to pay the costs of projects for environmental and related conservation, preservation, and revitalization purposes; work with local governments to buy natural areas, open space and farmland and to create parks; and to help them pay for cleaning up polluted public and private sites within urban areas and elsewhere, including land possibly harmful to public health and safety.   8/10/2000

The Toledo City Council told its planning ...

The Toledo City Council told its planning commission to put the proposed comprehensive master plan Toledo 20/20 in the form of legislation, with budget figures for at least five years, a list of priorities and a new staff post for their implementation. Let's get going, said Council President Peter Ujvagi, cautioning against letting the plan suffer the fate of previous development blueprints collecting dust on agency shelves. Drafted and redrafted with public input, the plan's 190 recommendations include creating distinct urban village neighborhoods and boosting downtown residential growth. Councilwoman Tina Skeldon Wozniak said the 20/20 plan must be a dynamic and adjustable document, to reflect community work on neighborhood improvements. Councilman Rob Ludeman noted that the plan should ensure the best use of local farmland. The commission's executive director, Stephen Herwat, assured them that the plan will be fluid, with reviews and updates every five years or sooner, and that it will address the issue of area agriculture.   7/26/2000

Medina County's new planing commission director, Diane ...

Medina County's new planing commission director, Diane Smucny, believes the county can continue its commercial and residential growth without losing its rural character through smart development, with greater involvement of developers and residents in the land-use decision process. We may not agree on 10 issues a session, she says, but we may agree on two, and that's a start. She will begin by accelerating the first comprehensive update of the county's subdivision regulations in 19 years, while considering local character, environment and farmland preservation issues. The county's commission president, Sid Welch, says she faces a great challenge since the top three issues now are: growth, growth and growth.   7/25/2000

With Lucas County's loss of 10,000 acres ...

With Lucas County's loss of 10,000 acres between 1982 and 1997, its Farmland Preservation Task Force advised commissioners to use smarter planning practices and innovative planning tools to coordinate development in all local jurisdictions and to curb Toledo sprawl. The task force report, prepared by Poggemeyer Design Group, Inc., attributes the continuing farmland loss to several factors, including a demand for large commercial and residential lots in townships. The secretary of the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions, Stephen Herwatt, says county planners can't - and don't want to - dictate to people what they can do in their own jurisdictions, but wishing to see growth controlled, will urge township leaders to create and follow local master plans. The county's commission's president, Sandy Isenberg, would like jurisdictions to cooperate on land-use planning, but thinks that in a very serious case of non- cooperation the commissioners could withhold developer tax incentives or refuse to extend water and sewer lines. Initial response from local officials is encouraging. To help them coordinate a preservation strategy, the county commission will sponsor a countywide planning conference in October.   7/25/2000

At the sixth national conference on federal ...

At the sixth national conference on federal empowerment zones in Columbus, Vice President Al Gore, secretaries Andrew Cuomo, Rodney Slater and Richard Riley, and about 600 hundred officials and redevelopment planners analyzed the city's success with revitalization of old neighborhoods and discussed how to use its lessons for urban cores still left behind. Guiding visitors through empowerment zones east and northeast of the downtown area, officials stressed that many local projects have first been pursued independently of the federal money accompanying zone designation. Impressed with Columbus public and private redevelopment efforts, the executive director of the Camden, N.J. empowerment zone, Liz Janota, said what's considered urban blight here is considered suburban middle class in Camden.   7/10/2000

Criticizing the political fragmentation that hampers regional ...

Criticizing the political fragmentation that hampers regional planning in Greater Cincinnati, a Cincinnati Post editorial urges local officials to support the first small ... but sound steps in the right direction by the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Regional Council of Governments and the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. The three-state council has formed a land-use committee to study growth patterns and work out recommendations, especially for transportation. The 49-jurisdiction county is considering a proposal to create a cross-jurisdictional planning committee. In the absence of strong state planning law, the editorial says, such voluntary steps are the best realistic options for alleviating Cincinnati traffic problems, improving urban quality of life and at least containing sprawl.   7/7/2000

In an instant executive answer to his ...

In an instant executive answer to his Urban Revitalization Task Force's report on ways to reverse city population loss and the spread of poverty, Governor Bob Taft is creating the Office of Urban Development at the Department of Development, to help cities gain jobs, clean up brownfields and redevelop older neighborhoods. Ohio population increased by 5.2 percent between 1970 and 1998, but among its 16 major cities only Columbus grew by 24.1 percent, while the others lost 20.3 percent of their residents. The state poverty rate of 9.7 percent doubled to an average of 18.5 for all 16 cities. Their mayors on the task force, which also included lawmakers and national urban experts, identified brownfield reclamation as crucial for city success. Stressing the need for voter approval of a $400 million bond issue, half of which would go for brownfield reuse, the task force recommended that the legislature create urban tax-increment financing districts with property taxes earmarked for infrastructure improvements; designate most impoverished areas as Community Asset Partnership (CAP) revitalization zones; spur CAP zone housing construction and home-buying programs; and expand the Job Creation Tax Credit program in cities.   6/30/2000

Toledo brownfields, like others throughout the state ...

Toledo brownfields, like others throughout the state, are turning from liability to viability, reports Toledo Blade real estate writer, Mary-Beth McLaughlin, citing area planners and business leaders. The president of the Cleveland-based Hemisphere Corp., Todd Davis, is willing to invest $50 million in a brownfield named as the Stickney West Industrial Park and to fill it with suppliers for the nearby Toledo Jeep assembly plan, because a project like this is a way to combat urban sprawl and preserve greenfields. Davis is co-author of Brownfields: A Comprehensive Guide to Redeveloping Contaminated Property, with a preface by Vice President Al Gore. The director of the River East Revitalization Corp., Don Monroe, says East Toledo, which has most brownfields in the area, offers private developers golden opportunities for profits. The vice president of the Zyndorf/Serchuk commercial real estate firm, Ken Marciniak, notes that eastside brownfields go for $7,500 an acre, while developed greenfield sites in north Toledo and other prime locations fetch from $30,000 to more than $45,000 an acre. Others add that Ohio brownfield redevelopment is up because the state set attainable cleanup standards and let developers seek liability protection. In addition, Toledo spurs its brownfield reuse with a cleanup cost reimbursement program.   5/25/2000

Signing a $6.75 million deal to buy ...

Signing a $6.75 million deal to buy the 123-acre former Lonz Winery site on Middle Bass Island for inclusion in the Lake Erie Islands State Park, Governor Bob Taft appealed for voter approval of his $400 million bond initiative in November. This deal, the governor said, exemplifies purchases we would like to accomplish more frequently in the future with the $400 million conservation and revitalization fund. The fund, he added, would allow us to preserve and enhance more green space and to protect valuable waterways ... for the enjoyment of future generations. Half of the proposed fund would be used for farmland and open space protection, the other half for urban revitalization, including brownfield cleanup and reclamation.   5/23/2000

A civic coalition led by the Columbus ...

A civic coalition led by the Columbus Metropolitan Club presented Mayor Michael B. Coleman with a 16-point Checklist for Change, recommending historic building preservation, downtown renewal and affordable housing expansion. The checklist, reflecting a three-year series of 20 Growing Inward addresses to the club, coincided with similar calls at a preservationist conference sponsored by the Jonathan Sandvick architectural firm, which has 35 downtown preservation projects under way or completed. The Metropolitan Club series' final speaker, William Hudnut III, a public policy expert at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. and former four-term Republican mayor of Indianapolis, said urban revitalization efforts must be bipartisan and must engage the whole public and governmental spectrum. Stating earlier that smart growth means rebuilding the old before you build the new, Hudnut said states should lead in land-use planning, require low-income units in new housing projects and push for tax-base sharing throughout metropolitan areas. A Columbus Dispatch reporter, Brian Williams, notes that Hudnut doesn't view those as liberal proposals from a Republican but as sensible steps to make states and cities work. Mayor Coleman welcomes all these recommendations as closely fitting with his own vision for spurring urban housing and downtown revival.   5/22/2000

It is not whether we grow, but ...

It is not whether we grow, but how we grow that counts, said Trust for Public Land President Will Rogers, outlining his greenprints for growth at the Akron Roundtable on urban revival and land conservation, led Mayor Don Plusquellic. Stressing the need for city parks and greenways, Rogers called city abandonment the flip side of suburban and rural sprawl. He praised the area's efforts to reinvest in urban centers and prevent runaway development on the metropolitan edge. In response to a question, he also expressed his support for the mayor's somewhat controversial proposal to replace the Innerbelt with a smaller road, saying that when such highways were built a lot more attention was given to the automobiles than to the neighborhoods and the people who live there. Rogers described his San Francisco-based conservation trust as often running just one step in front of the bulldozer. Beacon Journal writer Gregory Korte says the trust's most notable achievement in Northeast Ohio was to purchase the Richfield Coliseum for $9.27 million last year, demolish it and sell the land to the National Park Service for inclusion in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Park.   5/22/2000

In a Columbus Dispatch article entitled Developers ...

In a Columbus Dispatch article entitled Developers have designs on 'smart growth' neighborhoods, reporter Brian Williams writes that smart growth can't be defined precisely, but for most experts it means better, more-efficient use of land and infrastructure. Central Ohio Transit Authority CEO Ron Barnes says smart growth means using public and private dollars to maximize quality of life for the community. A land-use consultant, John McGory, says it revolves around infrastructure, with roads, sewers and schools making communities more livable, but also demands affordable construction and services. A Sierra Club state coordinator, Marc Conte, sees smart growth as compact, walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods that also provide transportation choices. An Ohio State University agricultural economics professor, Larry Libby, stresses that smart growth doesn't leapfrog over land and ensures service and utility availability before projects start. His colleague, geography professor Kevin Cox, says smart growth is the balance between private development and public infrastructure, but also calls it a Band-Aid, adding that only a big increase in gasoline prices would be likely to change growth patterns. The reporter notes that local governments, civic groups and businesses are often divided over land use policies, but recognize the role of transportation in shaping growth. The executive vice president of Ohio Home Builders Association, Vince Squillace, says I-270 probably did more to determine where people went than any builder or developer. The president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Sally Jackson, points out that transportation has typically meant more roads, but communities with high quality of life and smart growth are equally focused on mass transit and state-of-the-art rail. The executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau, Jack Fisher, identifies smart growth with cleaning up and redeveloping urban brownfields. The reporter's interviewees admit that zoning codes meant to shape good planning have grown into unwieldy barriers to smart growth.   5/17/2000

Plain Dealer reporter James F. Sweeney writes ...

Plain Dealer reporter James F. Sweeney writes from Northeast Ohio that the region's "battle against traffic jams shifts to side roads that feed freeways." With more cars each year and with suburban sprawl having "scattered homes, stores and jobs," many side roads and streets have become unbearably congested during rush hours. The planning administrator for the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, William E. Murphy, says "transportation projects aren't quite as fast as developers." Geauga County Engineer Robert Philips complains about the lack of political will or wider cooperation for funding transportation improvements. The transportation director for the five-county Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, Ronald Eckner says that "there just isn't the room to provide free-flowing traffic" and even if this could be done, "it would just attract more traffic." Thus, planners recommend a mix of solutions, including greater use of public transit, flex-time commuting and better land-use planning, along with building service roads and linking parking lots to reduce the number of intersections with main roads.   2/3/2000

Responding to mayors and other city leaders ...

Responding to mayors and other city leaders in his State of the State address, Governor Bob Taft said his first urban priority will be "to dramatically improve the state's role in brownfield redevelopment." The governor's plan will include a $200 million bond program for brownfield reuse, job and tax base creation, and protection of the public from environmental hazards; legislation to foster economic development in urban cores "through tax cuts, low and no interest loans, and grants;" preferential treatment for projects "that create or retain jobs in urban areas;" new funding to pave "state routes within cities;" a new Office of Urban Development "to speed up browfield projects, cut through red tape, and help revitalize urban centers;" and encouragement of urban homeownership through state programs and community groups like Habitat for Humanity. The governor also promised to double funding for economic development in Appalachia, along with legislation "to establish the Environmental Preservation Fund," a $200 million bond program "to fund green space projects," protect farmland, safeguard watersheds, and create parks, trails and bike paths.   1/31/2000

Governor Bob Taft, getting mostly high marks ...

Governor Bob Taft, getting mostly high marks for his first year in office, promises a push for urban revitalization and mega-farm control in the 2000 legislature. In a broad interview for Columbus' Business First, the governor said that the urban revitalization work will focus on brownfield clean-ups to help cities "recycle abandoned industrial sites for economic development purposes." Mega-farm legislation is needed, he said, to ensure that these farms comply with environmental laws, and prosper as "good neighbors." With regard to the General Assembly term limits taking effect next year, the governor agreed that with less stable legislative leadership, the administration and business and labor interests will face "a greater burden" trying "to educate legislators on issues and priorities."   1/10/2000

In Medina County, where developers are taking ...

In Medina County, where developers are taking 40 green acres a week for residential projects, activists proposed a quarter-cent sales tax increase to secure about $3.5 million annually for farmland and open space protection. The money would pay for development rights purchases. Noting that voters had rejected recent tax increases for road and park improvements, county commissioners express doubt about the proposal. Still, they are willing to put it on a March ballot, for voters to decide whether the county should increase its 5.5 percent sales tax and protect open land.   12/22/1999

Glad that Toledo isn't among the 68 ...

Glad that Toledo isn't among the 68 most congested cities listed in a new Texas Transportation Institute report, the Toledo Blade says the area's traffic congestion is still a pain. Noting lobby pressure for new roads and lanes, the daily's editorial, entitled "Gridlocked and gloomy," says the new roadways "seem to fill up overnight" and calls instead for doing "everything possible to stop the uncoordinated sprawl of housing subdivisions, shopping centers, and endless highways all over the landscape," which in northwest Ohio means "an appalling waste of land that could be better used for farming and other open-space uses."   12/8/1999

Less than two months before Columbus area ...

Less than two months before Columbus area voters decide on two quarter-percent sales tax increases for transit, the Central Ohio Transit Authority, the Capital City Transit Coalition and the Transportation Management Association of Central Ohio have intensified their campaign to present the public the advantages of bus and rail systems. Key event speakers included the conservative activist and founder of the Free Congress Foundation in Washington, D.C., Paul M. Weyrich; a planner with the New York-based Project for Public Spaces, Cynthia Nikitin; and an expert from the Columbus-New York planning firm of American Communities Partnership, Vince Papsidero. If the new sales taxes pass, the transit agency will double its bus system by 2010, and build eight rail lines by 2020.   9/27/1999

Describing the state's farmland preservation bill as ...

Describing the state's farmland preservation bill as "a step in the right direction," a Toledo Blade editorial urges more ac action against sprawl, which leaves "gaping holes in the center of our cities." The editorial says the proposed federal Better America Bonds "may be one more tool in striking a better balance in land use." To those who may see the proposal "as the federal government sticking its nose into local issues," the editorial replies that this is "an unfair and unwarranted assessment," because "the bonds do not come with regulatory strings attached."   9/27/1999

Expecting an appropriation of farmland preservation funds ...

Expecting an appropriation of farmland preservation funds, the Ohio Department of Agriculture held several meetings across the state to explain its draft rules for purchases of farmer development rights. The state is most interested in saving prime land near fast developing areas, and would pay up to $2,500 per acre for development rights, with municipalities or organizations matching the amounts. Participants were ambivalent. Some would like the state to spend $100 million in the first two years and twice as much in the next two if the program is successful. Other think subsidized low-interest loans for farmers would be a more cost-effective way to make them continue farming.   9/22/1999

In June, the Pataskala City Council decided ...

In June, the Pataskala City Council decided to let a non-resident applicant build two homes on his ten-acre agricultural property, zoned for ten-acre minimum lots. A grassroots group called Citizens Action for Pataskala reacted by collecting enough signatures to challenge the council decision on the November ballot. Since this small city of 9,000 in Licking County already has more than 3,000 homes under construction or on the drawing boards, many residents fear that the council decision sets a dangerous precedent. They want to save the community from risking a skewed tax base, strained infrastructure and overcrowded schools. They also want to save open space.   9/13/1999

Prompted by farmers' deep concerns over shrinking ...

Prompted by farmers' deep concerns over shrinking farmland, the state Department of Transportation is taking great care to minimize its loss to road construction. The department's deputy director, Norman Redick, says his planners always "are trying to pick the route that has the least impact." on farmland. Spokesman Brian Cunningham adds: "We don't build anything unless we get approval from the local communities." After a series of public meetings on relocation of U.S. 24, a major truck route between Toledo and Fort Wayne, Ind., planners proposed two routes through Wood, Henry, Defiance and Paulding counties. Next year, survey teams will identify buildings, wetlands, waste sites and other impediments along both proposed routes, to help select the one least harmful to farmland.   8/13/1999

Almost half-way through a ten-year, billion-dollar overhaul ...

Almost half-way through a ten-year, billion-dollar overhaul of the Ohio River front, Cincinnati downtown arteries are clogged by construction and traffic, which is beginning to drive out some businesses. Demand for downtown offices has dropped. Bancorp is about to relocate, with Procter & Gamble and Delta Air Lines willing to follow suit. Officials and experts see the problem as temporary. They think the downtown area's appeal will increase once the construction -- including eight blocks of shops, restaurants and apartments, two sports stadiums, a 30-acre riverfront park and an interstate highway spur -- is completed by 2005.   8/10/1999

Unfazed by the almost 20 percent passenger ...

Unfazed by the almost 20 percent passenger drop on the Waterfront Line in 1998, Cleveland RTA officials plan to extend the rail southeast, link it with a rapid train line and complete the city's inner transit loop. Attributing the line's higher passenger count in 1997 to the baseball and basketball All-Star games that year, and the sometimes empty trains this year to their 12-minute intervals, officials disagree with criticism of the planned extension as too risky and costly. They say preliminary studies found people waiting for rail service, especially in the southeast downtown area, in Chinatown and at the Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College campuses. They add that a new rail would spur development along the route, creating jobs and boosting transit use.   8/10/1999

With fast growth "inevitable" in the wake ...

With fast growth "inevitable" in the wake of Butler County Regional Highway construction, Liberty Township officials say they must guard the area's rural feel while guiding development so it "doesn't get out of hand." Township administrator Nell Kilpatrick and trustees Bob Shelley and Margy Conditt want to work with developers to save green space for parks and other recreation areas. They also count on commercial development to balance the residential boom and offset its additional tax burden.   8/10/1999

Having depleted almost all residential land in ...

Having depleted almost all residential land in north central Medina County, developers are coming to townships near Akron, fueling local fears of further overcrowding in the Highland school district, which already uses 18 trailers as temporary classrooms. District officials must be informed about housing projects, but have no voice in the approval process. Only last week, the county planning commission sent Superintendent Michael Carson data on eight residential projects, which will add more than 500 households to a Sharon Township population of 3,900. Commissioner Patricia Geissman says as long as the economy flourishes, so will residential construction, with small townships serving as bedroom communities for ÒCEOs and those of better income form the Akron area.Ó   7/27/1999

Two hundred planners, farmers, developers, activists and ...

Two hundred planners, farmers, developers, activists and officials at a state-sponsored Columbus conference on "Better Ways to Develop Ohio" agreed that Northeast Ohio urgently needs a regional body with sweeping powers over road and service planning to stem its rampant growth. The area's chamber of commerce official, David Goss, said growing public frustration with local governments' inability to work together against sprawl, should convince the state legislature to mandate "some form of regional growth management." This grass-roots momentum, he added, "will be impossible to ignore."   7/2/1999

A year-long planning study of southwestern Ohio ...

A year-long planning study of southwestern Ohio concludes that the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton must work together as a region to compete successfully on the national and global markets. The planner, Michael Gallis, suggests a regional plan to improve air and water quality, and an organization to manage development along the Ohio River. He points out that the cities could reduce sprawl and traffic congestion within their 48-mile buffer area, by rehabilitating old city housing and redeveloping brownfields. He also stresses the need to capitalize on historical assets such as urban terminals and the area's native burial grounds, to help preserve local traditions, educate children and attract tourists.   6/25/1999

Reminderville: A new zoning amendment passed unanimously ...

Reminderville: A new zoning amendment passed unanimously by the Village Council, southeast of Columbus, will reduce residential densities while protecting the environment. The 15 percent of acreage set aside as open space at each development site can no longer be included in site density calculations. Project density could be decreased even further, should more than 15 percent of the site include wetlands, rocky ledges or other natural assets marked for preservation.   6/11/1999

Ohio's record three-year spending of $300 million ...

Ohio's record three-year spending of $300 million a year for new roads will continue through 2003, but will not buy residents any traffic relief. Transportation Director Gordon Proctor says the state road system grows 0.3 percent a year and traffic two percent a year, with truck traffic doubled this decade. Ironically, construction projects to eliminate bottlenecks and boost road capacity are "the biggest cause of congestion."   5/31/1999

Data from the city of Columbus and ...

Data from the city of Columbus and Franklin County show that the average time wasted by area residents stalled in traffic increased from 11 to 32 hours a year between 1992 and 1996, and may reach 120 hours by 2019. Seeing congestion as "the nasty byproduct of growth," local transportation officials urge a concentrated effort against gridlock and for better land use. They hope to encourage bus and car pool use first, and later to expand the bus system, build a passenger railline and more highways, and seek new technology to speed traffic.   5/28/1999

Columbus: An interfaith church coalition called BREAD ...

Columbus: An interfaith church coalition called BREAD, for Building Responsibility, Equality and Dignity, is pressing Columbus officials to spur affordable housing throughout the city. The group's new "Jubilee Housing Plan" proposes a small percentage of inexpensive units in every residential project, an affordable housing trust fund, and rehabilitation incentives for inner city homes. Mayor Greg Lashutka agrees with these principles and promises to consider the plan.   5/28/1999

Toledo: The Housing Commission and several community ...

Toledo: The Housing Commission and several community development corporations say that their fourth annual auction for 79 core-city homes has attracted a record 250 applicants, including many suburbanites. The renovated and new homes are priced between $30,000 and 150,000, with the city offering qualified buyers $3,000 grants. Officials note that similar homes in suburbs would go for up to $200,000.   5/20/1999

State Representatives Sean Logan (D) and Gene ...

State Representatives Sean Logan (D) and Gene Krebs (R) have prepared a bill that would double the tax penalty for converting farmland to another use. Developers who buy farmland are billed for three years of back taxes at the regular rate. Under the new bill, they would be billed for six years of back taxes, with the money going to state or local farm preservation programs.   5/14/1999

According to a guest speaker at a ...

According to a guest speaker at a Columbus Metropolitan Club meeting, traffic expert Walter Kulash from Orlando, Fla., traffic engineers increasingly realize that suburban plans for separating businesses and residences have not created efficient traffic flows or livable communities. Seeing older urban neighborhoods as more efficient and attractive, he recommends two means to help them recover and flourish. The first is legislation forcing developers "to build curbside with no setbacks;" the second is transit, and especially light rails.   4/29/1999

An editorial in The Toledo Blade calls ...

An editorial in The Toledo Blade calls on local officials who see the new state farmland preservation law as too costly for their communities, to realize that even if flawed, it can help stem "the outward flow of development" detrimental to both cities and rural areas. The law lets localities levy taxes to pay for farmer development rights. Urging further discussions, the editorial concludes: "Farmland preservation is in everyone's best interest, and excessive rural development makes losers of the countryside and the city."   4/23/1999

Governor Bob Taft said that the state's ...

Governor Bob Taft said that the state's Urban Revitalization Task Force is reviewing transportation, housing, brownfield and other Ohio policies that affect development. The governor renewed his predecessor's last year executive order requiring state agencies to identify policies that may affect farmland use and to devise plans for minimizing their impact.   4/23/1999

Officials from 28 cities in the Cleveland ...

Officials from 28 cities in the Cleveland area, grouped in the Ohio First Suburbs Consortium, are increasing pressure on state lawmakers to "change harmful state policies" that subsidize sprawl and divert investments from their communities. The city officials are asking for the same state grants, loans and incentives that now boost growth and job creation in outside areas. Created in 1997, the Ohio First Suburbs Consortium has became a model for a similar group formed earlier this year in the Columbus area, and others starting in Dayton and Cincinnati.   4/23/1999

Wayne County: With the state's highest cattle ...

Wayne County: With the state's highest cattle, oats and hay production rate, this county has also became the first to complete its own farmland preservation plan. Alarmed by the loss of 22,000 acres, or eight percent of the area's farmland since 1984, the county's Farmland Preservation Task Force is proposing 13 counter-measures, including state tax law changes and voluntary development right purchases or leases.   3/1/1999

At its 12th annual conference on Purchase ...

At its 12th annual conference on Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements (PACE) programs in Perrysville, American Farmland Trust released data showing that these state programs increased their 1998 spending by 24 percent and saved 23 percent more land from development. The figures for the decade show increases of 376 percent and 340 percent. The Pennsylvania, Colorado, Maryland and Delaware PACE programs led the nation in acreage of protected farmland, and the Vermont program in public zest for land protection investments of more than $60 per person.   3/1/1999

To attract new residents and businesses, Cincinnati ...

To attract new residents and businesses, Cincinnati area townships are enhancing their quality of life with more open space and parks. Deerfield Township, where an acre of farmland can fetch up to $25,000, has spent $6 million since 1997 to save land for leisure needs. Nearby Sycamore Township has built a big recreation facility for $1.5 million, and Union Township is budgeting a million annually for parks over the next ten years.   3/1/1999

Medina County: A developer hoping to sway ...

Medina County: A developer hoping to sway a Medina Township Hall audience toward his big commercial project in a wooded area zoned for rural residential use, heard a decisive "Go away." United in their opposition, county commissioners, trustees and residents said that once the 278-acre site was rezoned, the developer could downgrade the project or sell the land in pieces for any venture. One commissioner noted that even if the project were to fulfill its economic promises, "it is possible that our residents would rather keep the trees."   2/1/1999

Geauga County: Commissioners appointed a task force ...

Geauga County: Commissioners appointed a task force to help its planners develop a farmland preservation plan. Expected by December, the plan will document land use and farm productivity, and outline future zoning and growth strategies.   2/1/1999

State Representatives, Republican Gene Krebs and Democrat ...

State Representatives, Republican Gene Krebs and Democrat Sean Logan, are seeking fast legislative action on their seven new bills to protect farmland and revitalize cities. Calling these goals "two sides of the same coin," they consider their bills especially urgent now, after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that struck down a "right to farm" law in Iowa. The law was a model for parts of Ohio's "agricultural district" legislation.   2/1/1999

In yet another sign of changing attitudes ...

In yet another sign of changing attitudes, the Cincinnati- Northern Kentucky Business Courier thinks that just as the 20th century has been the age of the automobile, the 21st century is likely to be the age of better land use. Noting that "the twin issues of land use and urban/suburban sprawl" are esp-especially hot in western Hamilton County, where residents have long been fighting development, the courier predicts that "the dismay brought on by sprawling development" will encourage municipal land-use plans, growth limits and incentives for builders and businesses to locate in cities instead of suburbs.   2/1/1999

During her 11-day term between Governor ...

During her 11-day term between Governor George Voinovich's departure for the U. S. Senate and Governor Bob Taft's inauguration, Governor Nancy Hollister signed the long-debated farmland preservation bill. Effective in 90 days, the law lets counties buy development rights from farmers, to prevent subdivisions and curb sprawl. Since the law doesn't carry state funding, some counties are at a loss about how to pay for development rights without tax increases.   1/1/1999

The Ohio General Assembly is facing two ...

The Ohio General Assembly is facing two stalled farmland protection bills - its own general bill and a conservation easement bill from the State Senate. Columbus' Business First says that the fate of land preservation strategies will be affected by the competing interests of "politicians concerned about agricultural commerce; conservationists worried about suburban sprawl, and homebuilders, who say the bill would stifle affordable housing."   12/1/1998

Since central Ohio job opportunities continue to ...

Since central Ohio job opportunities continue to grow fastest in the suburbs, a grassroots group of the area's 25 religious congregations sees transportation for the inner- city poor as crucial to bridge the wide income gap "being created by sprawl." The group, named BREAD (for Building Responsibility, Equity and Dignity), organized the Central Ohio Transit Summit to highlight the necessity of mass transit for urban core residents.   12/1/1998

In fast-growing central Ohio, voters in Delaware ...

In fast-growing central Ohio, voters in Delaware, Franklin, Licking and Union counties showed their increased concern about land use, by rejecting several housing projects as incompatible with local character, historic designation or road capacity. Experts say voters send governments a message to manage growth better and save land for future generations.   12/1/1998

The Western Reserve Resource Conservation and Development ...

The Western Reserve Resource Conservation and Development Council will open the state's first regional farmland protection center. The new Center for Farmland Preservation in Northeast Ohio will serve the council's nine counties, including Cuyahoga, Medina, Portage, Summit and Wayne, which have lost 73,000 acres of farmland in the past 20 years. The preservation center is made possible by a grant from the George Gund Foundation of Cleveland.   10/1/1998

Newark: Under a new charter, the city ...

Newark: Under a new charter, the city, population 45,000, installed its first economic development director to speed up business expansion and to advance renewal of its historic downtown. The director, Valerie L. Hans, says that "active business owners can make or break a community."   10/1/1998

Cleveland: EcoCity-Cleveland has announced its "Smart Growth ...

Cleveland: EcoCity-Cleveland has announced its "Smart Growth Agenda" to contain sprawl and revitalize older neighborhoods. The group is calling on the state to channel money into designated "compact-growth areas," create an advisory policy planning commission, and draft a guide for preserving farmland, improving transportation and enhancing air quality. The agenda has strong support from Ohio's First Suburbs Consortium, a coalition of mayors and council members from older boroughs. It is also supported by Cleveland Diocese Bishop Anthony Pilla.   10/1/1998

Medina County: The Democratic candidate county commissioner ...

Medina County: The Democratic candidate county commissioner, Franklin Tibbitts suggests charging builders with $5,000 home construction fees and proposes a ballot on a property tax that would raise a million dollars to fund the county's farmland preservation efforts.   9/1/1998

Cleveland: The completion of the Civic Vision ...

Cleveland: The completion of the Civic Vision 2000 plan, which outlines a $3 billion, 10-year downtown development strategy, has been delayed at least till late October, to gather further input from residents, business leaders and special interest groups.   8/1/1998

Cleveland: grass-roots environmental group, EcoCity-Cleveland, is launching ...

Cleveland: grass-roots environmental group, EcoCity-Cleveland, is launching a campaign to make Northeast Ohio residents aware that one community's development decisions affect all surrounding communities and the whole region. The group, led by David Beach and Brad Flamm, targets urban sprawl. It proposes such solutions as growth boundaries, tax-base sharing, farmland preservation and redevelopment of areas hurt by residents' flight to farther suburbs. Beach is also author and editor of The Greater Cleveland Environment Book: Caring for Home and Bioregion, a 340-page guide to the region's land use, development, air and water pollution, transportation, energy use and food supply.   8/1/1998

Governor Voinovich renewed his pledge to keep ...

Governor Voinovich renewed his pledge to keep state agencies from facilitating loss of farmland to suburban sprawl, which eats up 300 acres a day.   8/1/1998

Dublin planners, northwest of Columbus, want mass ...

Dublin planners, northwest of Columbus, want mass retailers such as B. J.'s Wholesale Club and Lowe's, to be more concerned about how their big-box developments affect local traffic, aesthetics and the environment.   7/1/1998

In his race for the U. S ...

In his race for the U. S. Senate, governor George V. Voinovich is reconfirming his dedication to Ohio agriculture and urban redevelopment as a part of farmland preservation. He says that instead of developing farmland, builders should be recycling brownfields into new industrial sites, shopping centers and neighborhoods. In a race to succeed the governor, his secretary of state Bob Taft stresses similar themes, adding that farmland protection must be voluntary and must honor farmers' property rights. Democratic senatorial candidate, Mary Boyle, agrees with those who criticize the governor for not doing enough to curb runoff and smell from big animal "factory farms."   7/1/1998

East Toledo community developers are bringing suburban ...

East Toledo community developers are bringing suburban style housing, with larger yards and upscale amenities, to the urban area near downtown. A Toledo Blade editorial calls on the city to expedite the $6.5 million project, which requires no subsidies and is the first in East Toledo for 35 years.   7/1/1998

The Toledo Blade chastised the state's General ...

The Toledo Blade chastised the state's General Assembly for going on vacation without acting on a farmland preservation bill passed unanimously by the Senate. Stating that "development threatens ever more land as the culture of waste fuels suburban expansion," the paper called on the Assembly to stop treating farmland protection as an afterthought and to approve the bill in the fall.   6/1/1998

The "Regionalism Summit" in Cincinnati is seen ...

The "Regionalism Summit" in Cincinnati is seen as a major step forward for the tristate area of southern Ohio, southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. The participants agree that the area's residents will embrace regionalism, if politicians find regional solutions for rapid transit, urban sprawl and other problems beyond the means of any single community.   6/1/1998

Leaders from older boroughs of Cincinnati, Cleveland ...

Leaders from older boroughs of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo are forming a coalition to lobby the state for changes in transportation and development policies "to stop the sprawl that is causing urban decay and threatening agriculture."   4/1/1998

An Ohio Farm Bureau's survey of its ...

An Ohio Farm Bureau's survey of its members showed that 95% of them support coordinated land-use planning among cities, townships and villages; 72% oppose land use shaped solely by free-market economics and 53% favor more stringent regulations.   3/1/1998

Toledo planners are seeking resident input for ...

Toledo planners are seeking resident input for a new master plan that will guide the city's growth through 2020. Public debates on the plan are scheduled till the end of the year, with a different subject each month - from neighborhood issues and future land uses to transportation, utilities and infrastructure. Ohioans for Smart Growth was formed to find alternatives to sprawl in the State of Ohio. Smart Growth Network member Tim DeWitt described the group's goals as research and grassroots education. Its research agenda will focus on developing a model which will help demonstrate the fiscal costs associated with sprawl. They hope to use research results in educating people around the state about these impacts, and about what people can do to change development patterns.   3/1/1998

The Columbus Urban Growth Corporation began its ...

The Columbus Urban Growth Corporation began its task of reviving the city's neglected neighborhoods with major projects, including a transit terminal, in an old area of Linden. To keep firms from fleeing the inner city, the corporation promotes vacant industrial site development as less costly than relocating businesses.   1/1/1998

The governor and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister ...

The governor and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister see urban redevelopment and farmland preservation as "two sides of the same coin." According to the lieutenant governor, the administration is committed to these goals and will continue to advance them through executive means.   1/1/1998

Governor George V. Voinovich issued an executive ...

Governor George V. Voinovich issued an executive order designed to protect farmland from excessive development. The state's 28 agencies must identify construction projects that may hurt farmland and propose ways of preventing or limiting its loss.   1/1/1998

This web site is developed and maintained by the
National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT),
and supported with funding from the US EPA.
Disclaimer
Copyright © 1996-2010. All Rights Reserved.