From the 7/9/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Changes encouraged for 'livable landscapes'

Group says land-use laws outdated

By Janice Morse

Enquirer staff writer

 

HAMILTON - Ohio's land-use laws are 80 years out-of-date, and the resulting ill-planned communities are driving away young professionals, squandering farmland and adding to the problems of urban sprawl, "livable landscapes" advocates say.

 

Now is the time for citizens to push lawmakers for needed changes, Gene Krebs, a former state representative, told about two dozen people Friday at a meeting of the Livable Landscapes Conservation Development Program.

 

The group includes planners, conservationists and elected officials who are concerned about unbridled residential development in Southwest Ohio.

 

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As much as I agree with the ideals in this article, this isn't a new issue to be brought to the State.  Maybe it's more of a fresh concept in SW Ohio, but I'm afraid that these pleas are generally of the "preaching to the masses" formula, while the people in high places just aren't listening.  I don't know how they can't see that things are going in the wrong direction in our exurbs, but something is preventing them from taking bold steps in the right direction. 

 

I can't say that this is all from experience, but I have talked to people who have made trips to Ohio to present innovative ideas for growth management and farmland preservation and gotten this feeling...that their words were falling on deaf ears.

Forgive me if I'm not excited.  There must be a zillion groups out there advocating the same kinds of things, and all that ever seems to get done is a lot of complaining. 

 

On the other hand, at least this group has a fairly specific goal... it's a start, perhaps.

Maybe it's more of a fresh concept in SW Ohio

 

I can assure you it's not.  As PigBoy mentioned, there are already a zillion groups advocating for this.

 

The reason I posted the article is that frankly I'm astonished that the local paper actually produced a story on this issue.  This newspaper (and sadly local media in general) have a rah-rah, cheerleader attitude towards any growth, whether it is productive growth ot whether it is just irresponsible "growth" that is sapping the monetary and social resources of places that already exist.

From the 7/25/06 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: Katy and Dave Kern are watching the transformation of the former Kern Nursery site in Liberty Township into Black Powder Run, a conservation development, with 44 percent of the land set aside. The Enquirer/Tony Jones

 

Letting nature do landscaping

Green areas sprout wildflowers and grasses

BY JANICE MORSE /ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

Can manicured lawns peacefully coexist alongside wildflower fields, thigh-high grasses and cattails?

 

Some land planners think so - and they are pushing a concept called "conservation development" to help fight urban sprawl in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

 

Such developments integrate trees, hills, creeks and other natural elements into subdivision layouts - sometimes with wild areas within a few feet of a home or even replacing traditional front yards. Often, they cluster houses close together to allow more than one-third of the land to form interconnected ribbons of park areas or nature preserves.

 

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From ThisWeek Clintonville, 8/20/06:

 

 

CAC, city explore designating area a special district for conservation

Thursday, August 24, 2006

By RANDY NAVAROLI

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

While Columbus has seen the establishment of special improvement districts and tax increment financing districts in recent years, it has yet to create a conservation district within city limits.

 

Although Cleveland is the only city in the state that has done so, Clintonville officials say they may want to designate their community or part of it as a conservation district if city officials figure out a way to do that.

 

"There is legislation currently working its way through city government that addresses the idea of setting up conservation districts in Columbus, and it's something Clintonville would like to do in the future," said Susan Guance, chairwoman of the Clintonville Area Commission's historic preservation committee.

 

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