As central Ohio faces increasing pressure to add housing , battle lines are being drawn over how much say local governments and residents should have in where those developments happen.
Homebuilders are pressuring state legislators to remove residents’ ability to defeat zoning changes via referendum and to eliminate non-limited home-rule townships’ ability to control zoning decisions.
Not surprisingly, the Ohio Township Association and its members are less than fond of the proposals.
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“Oh, absolutely, the OTA is opposed to such ideas,” said Heidi Fought, executive director of the township association.
The state gave townships the authority to zone in 1947 when urban development was spilling uncontrolled into townships, Fought said.
Now the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio wants to go back to pre-1947 conditions, she said.
“To us, that’s just ridiculous,” she said.
The Building Industry Association of Central Ohio presented its report, ” Ohio Housing Policy White Paper: Strategies to Address Ohio’s Housing and Economic Challenges ,” on Jan. 31 at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.