Jackson Township may adopt zoning

5/6/2008

BOWLING GREEN - With construction of an $80 million rail terminal in the works near North Baltimore, neighboring Jackson Township is looking at implementing zoning to deal with spinoff businesses that may want to locate nearby.

A proposed zoning resolution for the mostly agricultural township will be reviewed by the Wood County Planning Commission when it meets at 5:30 p.m. today in the County Office Building in Bowling Green.

Voters in the unincorporated areas of Jackson Township, which is in the southwest corner of Wood County, defeated a prior attempt at adopting zoning in 2003 by an 86-68 vote.

Dave Steiner, planning director for Wood County, said that in the county, only Jackson, Montgomery, and the southern half of Perrysburg townships do not have zoning.

Mr. Steiner said Jackson Township's proposal desig-nates much of the rural township "agricultural/residential" and requires property owners to have a minimum of two acres to build a new home. It also proposes to designate as industrial the area south of the village of Hoytville near the CSX development.

Mr. Steiner said the township anticipates some business and industry development related to the CSX terminal and decided zoning would help prepare for that. "It's more growth controls on it as far as size and placement versus if it was unzoned," he said.

The zoning plan also includes some commercial zoning just north of Hoytville and an industrial area on State Rt. 18 east of Deshler where a fertilizer plant already is located.

Also on the planning commission agenda is a proposal to rezone five acres on the south side of Walbridge Road between Bradner and Millbury roads in Lake Township from B-1 neighborhood business district to a B-2 general commercial zoning. Property owner John G. Mather said he believes the zoning change would allow him to better utilize the commercial buildings there.

The planning commission also will review changes in zoning language proposed by Middleton, Troy, and Webster townships.

Mr. Steiner said he will be presenting the commission with a revised version of zoning regulations regarding wind turbines installed on residential properties.

Last month, the commission reviewed proposed rules for wind turbines submitted by Milton Township and suggested several changes to make the code less restrictive.

Among the changes, the new regulations deleted language about what color turbines could be and stated that the turbine must be placed at a safe distance from inhabited buildings but not from uninhabited structures like garages and sheds.

Mr. Steiner said Milton Township was the first township in Wood County to adopt the rules, although others, including Webster Township, are considering them.

- Jennifer Feehan