When properly designed and implemented, the comprehensive plan can serve as a highly effective and influential tool for any community.
Purpose of a Comprehensive Plan
A comprehensive plan is, as its name indicates, a plan for a community’s future that attempts to consider all local and regional factors. It evaluates the state of the community by taking inventory of current demographics, infrastructure, services, and physical characteristics, as well as by assessing the needs and concerns of its residents. The plan then incorporates this information into a series of explicitly stated goals, objectives, and recommendations to be realized by a particular date or within a specific time frame, such as twenty years or the year 2042.
Many of the recommendations within the plan are visualized through the Future Land Use Map, a document that indicates where particular types of land uses have been recommended within the community. It should be emphasized that the Future Land Use Map is not a zoning map; rather, it is a collection of recommendations. An area on the Future Land Use Map that has been recommended for industrial use, for example, has not been rezoned and will not necessarily host an industrial use in the future. The Future Land Use Map and the comprehensive plan are guides that should be considered and observed by local officials when making decisions concerning the community.
Executive Summary
Knowing the housing and development pressure upon central Ohio, this plan aims to identify tactical ways in which the Township Trustees, Zoning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals should consider applications for development. By understanding how the community would like to develop is critical to maintaining the rural nature of the Township while allowing land owners to exercise their private property rights. It is critical to the orderly development of new housing to be contained to property that has readily available access to central water and central sewer infrastructure. See Appendix M for identified properties fitting these criteria.
By utilizing a conservation design or similar development techniques, the Township will reduce the infrastructure it must maintain and the private property owners still has access to housing density at identified on the future land use map and/or the Township zoning resolution. It is also important to recognize the current situation in and around the Village of Kirkersville. There has been one, and there may be more, property owner who has petitioned the court system to be removed from the Village boundary. The future of the Village of Kirkersville should be monitored carefully as it could impact the Township in many ways.
Opportunity for developing specific areas plans focusing on development (Railroad Overlay and Broad Street) and redevelopment (Happy Homes) exist within the Township. Limiting development to specific areas allows the Township to understand where their resources will be needed and prevents leapfrog development. This also ensures the active farming and agricultural community may continue to operate by reducing the development pressure and uncertainty on prime agricultural property.
During the development of this plan, Intel announced a $20 billion investment in northern Monroe Township which will be annexed into the City of New Albany. This plan aims to take advantage of the ancillary manufacturing businesses designated within certain areas of the Township that make reasonable accommodations for that type of land use.
Draft Comprehensive Plan Available
There will be a public hearing held by the Harrison Township Zoning Commission on (date to be determined).
There will be a public hearing held by the Harrison Township Trustees on (date to be determine).
Anyone can submit a comment by clicking the button below. Please include your comment and page/section number. All comments/emails are subject to public records law.