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Township Trustees To Vote On Comprehensive Plan

Mon, 11/10/2008 - 09:57

The Granville Township Trustees plan to hold a public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan update and then vote on its adoption at a meeting on December 10, 2008. The meeting will be at 7:00 pm in McPeek Lodge at 3447 Raccoon Valley Road. By voting immediately at the conclusion of the public hearing, it seems unlikely that any citizens’ comments will be incorporated into the the new plan.

The Comprehensive Plan Update was just recently completed by Poggemeyer Design Group under a joint contract with the Township and the Village of Granville. There have been no public hearings on the completed plan by either the Township or the Village - both must adopt the plan.

Click here to view the Township’s legal notice for the public hearing and the plan for the Trustees to vote at the conclusion of the hearing.

Click here to view the current draft of the Comprehensive Plan Update.

Click here to view the current township zoning code.

Poggemeyer Design Group is a national planning and design firm with offices in Ohio and several other states.

If changes in the current draft of the plan are required as a consequence of the public hearings and joint discussions between the Granville Village Council and the Granville Township Trustees, Poggemeyer would have to incorporate those changes into the the plan.

Ideally, the Trustees (and Village Council) would not vote until a final draft has been generated. That final draft should include a consideration of public input.

Poggemeyer currently holds four contracts within the Granville community with obvious conflicts of interest:

  • Poggemeyer has been retained by Granville Township to update the township’s zoning laws.
  • Poggemeyer holds the contract for the development of the Comprehensive Plan Update currently underway and nearly completed. The Village and the Township are sharing the cost of the plan update.
  • Poggemeyer was hired by the Village to analyze development possibilities within the River Road / South Main Street gateway district.
  • Poggemeyer was paid by Owens Corning to prepare the controversial grant application that totals $5 million and includes $1.2 million in state funds to lay a two-mile sewer line along Columbus Road, connecting the Pataskala-based Southwest Licking Community Water and Sewer District to the Owens Corning property.

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    See previous stories about the Comprehensive Plan and Poggemeyer:

  • 10/30/2008: People Showed Up But There Was No Meeting
  • 10/29/2008: Township Zoning Commission To Meet With Poggemeyer
  • 10/08/2008: Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Angry About Poggemeyer’s Work
  • 09/19/2008: Poggemeyer’s Ethics: Should The Planners Resign?
  • 09/08/2008: “The cost is not to exceed twenty thousand dollars”
  • 08/29/2008: Owens Grant Application Ranked Last
  • 08/27/2008: Owens To Village: Thanks But No Thanks
  • 08/27/2008: Trustees Meet But Do Not Discuss Revising Owens Application
  • 08/17/2008: Governor Strickland To Support Southwest Licking For Owens?
  • 08/13/2008: Water To Owens: Granville Out And Southwest Licking In?
  • 08/07/2008: Council Offers Sewers To Owens: Habig Says Trustees Prefer Village
  • 08/04/2008: Public Hearing On Owens Sewer: A Change In The Proposed Ordinance
  • 07/23/2008: Tell The Ohio Job Ready Sites Program What You Think
  • 07/17/2008: Sewer And Water Ordinances Set For Public Hearing
  • 07/13/2008: Council To Consider Extending Sewer And Water Service
  • 07/10/2008: Township Trustees Questioned About Owens Deal
  • 07/02/2008: Terms Of The Deal
  • 07/02/2008: Poggemeyer Refuses To Comment On Conflict Of Interest
  • 06/08/2008: Owens Corning Paid For The Application: Poggemeyer In Conflict Of Interest?
  • 06/05/2008: Township Trustees Give Their Thoughts On The Owens Corning Development Project
  • 06/03/2008: Trustees’ Plan To Bring Sewer Down Columbus Road: Southwest Licking Sewer District Is In; Granville Village Is Out
  • 05/28/2008: The Township Has Applied For The Five Million Dollars
  • 05/20/2008: Township Trustees Agree To Help Owens Corning Fund Development
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    Why the trustees are a joke

    Submitted by YesMan on Mon, 11/10/2008 - 11:52.

    They are intentionally trying to be funny, aren’t they?

    Hold a hearing, then rubber stamping a moment later? Long live faux democracy!

    Here’s a better idea: Approve the Comprehensive Plan first, THEN hold the public hearing. That way the Trustees could head home (or to a developer’s meeting) without having to pretend to listen to the dreaded “public” … a force so fearsome that Trustee Sargent had to resign because the pubic was consuming his time trying to find out what the bumbling Trustees were doing.

    In the spirit of faux openness, perhaps the Trustees could leave cardboard cutouts of themselves — smiling, of course! — and have the Sentinel report it as an innovation of multi-tasking Trustees.

    I am concerned, though, that developers at the public hearing will think they weren’t heard by the Trustees if a vote is taken immediately.

    Oh, sorry. Developers at a public hearing? You kidder! See what I mean? The Trustees are trying to be funny on purpose. They enjoy being a joke. Just the image of citizens being treated equally with developers is absurd!

    The Trustees met with developers privately and gave them what they wanted. Now, it’s time for the public to have a few meaningless minutes, a legally required formality.

    How do you know the process is a joke? The Trustees have already hired consultant Poggemeyer to write zoning laws to cover the developers property. Who does Poggemeyer work for? You guessed it. Owens Corning, the largest land owner in the township, and a company seeking to develop its land.

    The Trustees are so detached from honest, credible government that it doesn’t even occur to them that the government’s consultant can’t work for the largest land developer. It does not even cross their mind that Poggemeyer ought not to write zoning laws that affect one of its paying clients.

    Will Owens Corning be at the public hearing? You’d think the largest developer would want to be heard. Of course the developer will not be there. Why attend a public hearing when you’ve hired the company writing the Comprehensive Plan and the zoning laws to cover your property?

    Like I said at first. These Trustees are truly funny — sad funny, but funny nonetheless. More sad than funny, I think.

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