Summit Metroparks urges Stow City to ease zoning limits on native 'Wild Backyard' plantings

Chris Chaney of Summit Metroparks told the Stone Environmental Commission that the Wild Backyard program is designed to "improve the health and enjoyment of our communities" by encouraging native plantings and backyard habitat features that support pollinators, soil health and wildlife.

The program presentation, delivered at the commission’s June meeting, framed native landscaping as a practical tool to slow biodiversity loss. Chaney cited large declines in insects and birds and said native plants support far more species than common nonnative ornamentals. He identified several barriers in Stow City’s draft landscape code — most prominently a provision labeled in the presentation as section 11 0 8 0 6 — that he said could inadvertently penalize residents trying to convert portions of turf into native meadows or naturalized plantings.

"It does not facilitate small-scale restoration of ecological function," Chaney said of the section, and he recommended removing the provision in its entirety or, at minimum, carving out clearer allowances and definitions so homeowners aren’t unfairly cited. Among suggested fixes were eliminating an arbitrary maximum-area limit (referred to in the presentation as 11 o 6 j 2 a), revising a 15-foot setback that fragments potential habitat corridors and allowing existing desired native vegetation to remain during staged conversions.

Resident Doug Markham of Conwell Road described his own experience seeking to restore native understory on a 0.55-acre lot. Markham said he has received multiple zoning notices for "grass in excess of 8 inches" even as neighboring properties include invasive species that were not cited. "It's become a real headache," Markham said, adding that repeated enforcement actions had "made me dislike living in Stowe," and that he plans to apply for the native-landscape designation and help revise code language.

Commission members generally praised the Wild Backyard materials and asked staff to explore compatibility between the program and the city’s updated zoning code. Several members suggested staff-level meetings with the planning and law departments and with local natural-resource organizations to reconcile the code's stated purposes (air and water quality, stormwater management, climate mitigation) with on-the-ground enforcement.

What happens next: commissioners asked staff to circulate Chaney’s partnership materials (including examples from Cuyahoga Falls and Worcester) and to pursue follow-up discussions with planning staff and the law director. The commission did not adopt a formal ordinance change itself; Chaney and attendees were invited to continue providing input as the city’s zoning updates proceed.