BATAVIA, Ohio — Batavia Township and the Village of Batavia have seen a number of developments over recent years. However, some residents are worried about what they call "outdated" growth plans.
During our "Let's Talk" event in Batavia last week, we spoke to multiple residents who were concerned about several developments across Batavia, including the growth and development plans.
Batavia Township trustee candidate Danielle Wessel lives across a 400+ acre proposed residential development. She is worried that the current development plan has too many homes for the size of the property, and that the small county roads wouldn’t accommodate all the traffic.
She said she is also concerned that the township's nearly 8-year-old growth policy plan is outdated.
“For 2020, our census was 27,660, I believe, which already exceeds our 2025 projections and almost meets our 2030, 2035 projections,” said Wessel.
Hear Wessel's concerns about the plans and how officials responded:
Batavia Township’s growth policy plan was last updated in 2017. Wessel says that with high growth numbers, a change is needed.
I reached out to Batavia Township’s administrator, Karen Swartz. She told me that the township has been following its growth plan since 2017.
In a statement to WCPO 9, Swartz wrote, "The GPP is intended to be a guide used to establish, evaluate and change zoning patterns in the future, and the recommendations in the GPP are one of the factors used in determining zone changes and growth in the future.
"Batavia Township did its first GPP in 2004 and then an update in 2017. We will look to update the GPP in the next year or two; these studies cost between 40K to 60K to complete. Township Staff applied for a State of Ohio Grant this year to update the plan, but was denied funding due to limited funds. The GPP is extremely detailed and takes into account several factors, which include housing, commercial properties and utilities, etc.
Since 2017, Batavia Township uses this plan as a guide. All of the recent developments in Batavia Township are within the Neighborhood Development Areas or in our Existing Neighborhood and Infill Areas. This plan was completed in 2017 with input and public hearings with residents of Batavia Township. Several things have changed in our community since 2017 with the dissolution of the Village of Amelia and annexations into the Village of Batavia. We appreciate the interest of residents in updating the plan and look forward to their input in the future processes.”
The Village of Batavia has also not updated its growth and development plan in a decade.
“When you talk about updating the plan, you know that is something that I believe, the village will undertake, soon,” said Village Administrator Ken Geis.
Geis said he understands the criticism of a decade-old growth plan, but with the exception of the annexations, not much has changed.
“In reality, the village proper hasn’t changed, or there hasn’t been a lot of modifications for the uses in that particular area,” said Geis.
Geis said it doesn't make sense to make major changes to the plan now because four village council seats are up for election in November. And the council plays a key role in determining the future of the village.
