Bath’s updated Comprehensive Plan presented to public

by Dan Holland

The public was invited to ask questions and offer input on the proposed Comprehensive Plan for Bath Township, presented in an open meeting in February. The vision statement of the plan is to “Keep Bath Township Rural.”

The plan, which has been underway over the last year, is an update and expansion to the township’s 2011 Comprehensive Plan. A 13-person Comprehensive Plan Committee guided the update and two public forums were held last year, during which attendees gave detailed feedback to help shape the plan.

Ryan Smalley, with consultant team Envision, who compiled the plan, gave an overview of the changes and fielded questions from the public.

The current plan looked at key changes for three areas deemed vulnerable to development over time: state Route 18/Medina Line Road, Springside Drive and Ghent Road Interchange.

State Route 18/Medina Line Road 

Smalley said an overlay district could allow for increased-density residential units in the southwest corner of the township, while keeping out commercial development. The maximum density would be one-half acre per dwelling with numerous regulations in place.

“The idea in the Route 18 district is to recommend an overlay to thwart any commercial development that would try to come into that area,” said Smalley. “This is one of the tools that we have to protect that area from the [commercial development] that is going in on the other side of the township border there.”

Springside Drive

Smalley explained that Springside Drive could be rezoned to allow for mixed-use development, as the need for office space and related hotel accommodations has diminished since the pandemic.

“We wanted to look at a mix of uses there; there’s a possibility for a denser residential infill for some of those office spaces,” said Smalley. “We wanted to have … the potential for some residential development and possibly some retail as well, so that we’re not boxed in to just office space in the future.”

Ghent Road Interchange

Smalley described the Ghent Road Interchange as a bullseye, with the possibility for denser mixed-use development near the interchange, with increasingly less dense development in concentric circles moving away from the interchange.

“Right at the interchange, you could possibly allow for some moderate intensity for a mixing of uses; maybe it’s offices, retail or residential,” said Smalley. “But moving north from the interchange, the uses and intensity will be reduced, and it can only be residential. Moving north, the residential should mimic the residential that is touching outside of the district, so that we contain that development to that area.”

A future land use plan includes the three aforementioned areas with the inclusion of Ghent Hamlet and Northern Cleveland-Massillon Road/Hammond’s Corners.

Hamlet recommendations

“We’re trying to find ways to make [the hamlets] more inviting; make them more walkable, have higher design standards and make them a place [where] people want to stay,” said Smalley. “We want to have a town center; a place where people can gather.”

“Ghent Hamlet is the unofficial center of town – although historically, it was centered around Hammond – that area feels like it has a lot of the elements to make it walkable,” he added. “There are some restaurants, a creek and some things to do there; it’s an area to accommodate some of those town center activities.”

The plan recommends transforming Wye Road into the center of the Ghent Hamlet, possibly developing the short stretch into a pocket park and installing on-street parking options.

“You have this nice neighborhood-like street that you can develop with sidewalks and some traffic culling mechanisms, and possibly take that northern Wye interchange, that many use as a cut-through, to block that off and make it into a pocket park to be more pedestrian friendly,” said Smalley.

Recommendations for Hammond’s Corners include reducing the speed limit and installing streetscaping elements that could include raised medians and dedicated walking/biking lanes.

“You have a lot of space in the right-of-way and can reutilize some of that wide shoulder to be a protected walking facility to indicate a different area through streetscaping and signage to bear that out,” said Smalley.

Resident concerns

One resident asked how much area the proposed overlay district in the southwest corner of the township would consist of and asked about neighboring townships’ plans to build big-box stores that could create additional traffic congestion at the intersection.

“Some of those traffic elements are out of the township’s control,” said Smalley. “It’s an ODOT roadway, and they’ll make them do certain things. But from Hametown Road going west is residential. The residential overlay starts a couple of parcels to the west of the Harmony Hills entrance, which includes the nursery to Medina Line Road.”

Residents also inquired if Stoney Hill Nursery could be purchased and commercially developed.

“Our goal is to put this [overlay district] in place so that it stays the way it is,” said Smalley. “Our fear was that if we left the planning map to read R-2 rural residential, then a developer could come in, buy up parcels and say they want to make it commercial since there are two other corners that are commercial. … We don’t want to even give them the option to request something like that.”

“By doing this overlay district, we’re offering another use of the property – denser residential – so [a developer] can’t say their economic use has been taken away,” interjected Bob Konstand, legal counsel for the township. “They won’t like it, but they can’t go to court and say we took the property [use], because we’re offering them an alternative.” 

Trustee Sean Gaffney added that the Comprehensive Plan is not a rezoning; it just makes recommendations for future zoning changes. “The Comprehensive Plan is looking out the next ten years to try to anticipate where we might have pitch points or difficulties in the township,” said Konstand. “We would love to preserve Bath Township just the way it is, but in today’s economic times, it’s going to be difficult when you have Granger Township and Copley Township and everyone else doing what they’re doing.”