Planning office previews Feb. meeting and CDBG, CHIP and preservation deadlines; township conference highlights solar energy and House Bill 315

Denise Testa, planning staff, briefed the Board of Commissioners on planning-office activity and upcoming deadlines during the Feb. 7 meeting.

Testa said the Planning Commission meets this week at the Montville Township administration building, 6665 Wadsworth Road, at 6:30 p.m. Agenda items include a replat in Montville, a variance and preliminary plan in Montville, and a Harrisville Township text amendment. She said March’s agenda currently includes a final plat in Granger Township and that the submission deadline for that plat was the day before the meeting.

Testa said she is working with Ohio State University Extension on a cost-of-services study proposal and is continuing environmental reviews for this year’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects; those environmental-review materials are due Saturday, Feb. 15. She said staff is renewing the state historic-preservation programmatic agreement (the state extended the county’s short-term deadline to March 1) and that the office released the program-year 2025 Community Housing Improvement and Preservation (CHIP) request for qualifications and proposals, due Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.

She said planning has been coordinating with the cities of Wadsworth and Brunswick and Medina City to submit a consortium application for CHIP projects, and that the Ohio Township Association conference — which she attended — focused on solar-energy proposals and House Bill 315. Testa said conference sessions noted increased activity in western counties on large solar-farm proposals and summarized that HB 315 provides townships and prosecutors more tools for enforcing zoning violations, including fines and posting notices on local websites and social media in lieu of newspaper publication.

Testa invited questions; none were recorded in the transcript.