In 1947, the Ohio General Assembly passed enabling legislation that allows cities, villages, counties, and townships to establish zoning. The procedures and methods and procedures to establish zoning are distinct. However, the content is the discretion of the people of the area. Ohio's law is very precise and detailed. The law is designed to involve the public in the zoning process.
Zoning regulation can be divided into two categories: unincorporated (rural) and municipal. This series of fact sheets will focus on rural zoning. Rural zoning concentrates on township and county zoning outside of municipalities (village, town, city).
Township zoning is the responsibility of township trustees. County zoning falls into the jurisdiction of the county commissioners. County zoning may include all or any number of townships in the county. County zoning includes a uniform zoning text administered county- wide. All zoning issues are accepted or rejected by referendum.
There is confusion about comprehensive planning and the zoning process. The two terms have often been used interchangeably even though they are distinctly different. Comprehensive planning attempts to plan and relate land uses within an area to an overall development pattern. A comprehensive land use plan can only be developed after a thorough study of the area, i.e. township or county, and the interactions of its social, economic, and physical parts. This information is essential for the development of a comprehensive plan that will guide future growth.
The comprehensive plan is part of the broader planning process which includes setting goals and objectives, decision making, inventory, tools for implementation. Before a comprehensive plan can be implemented, an inventory of the current situation must be assessed. The inventory should include population and economic base information, transportation, current land uses, and community infrastructure. The goal setting or "decisions for the future" process utilizes the inventory data to set objectives and goals. Goals and objectives for future use will influence the tools for implementation, of which zoning is one of the tools.
The comprehensive plan presents a long-range statement for the future. The comprehensive plan is general in designating boundaries. It is rarely a period of less than ten years and usually includes a twenty or more year span. The comprehensive plan can be adopted as a legal document but has the primary function of serving as a guide to advise the community on specific decisions.
Zoning is more specific in nature because it indicates the use of each land parcel within a township or county area, excluding incorporated communities. Zoning regulations address location, height, bulk, number of stories, size of buildings, and percentage lot coverage in each zone or district in the political subdivision. Zoning is one of several legal devices for implementing the proposals and objectives for land development as outlined in the comprehensive plan. To be effective, the zoning ordinance and map should be directly related to a previously prepared and adopted land use plan. Zoning plans encompass those needs in a limited amount of time, often a 5 to 10 year period.
Zoning decisions are made daily throughout every county. Some of these decisions are well founded while others are reactionary in nature and are less grounded in careful thought. These everyday decisions have a far reaching effect in that most forms of land development last a minimum of twenty years and often exist period of fifty to one hundred years.
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868