TRUMBULL COUNTY Planner: Girard may lose EPA funds

Brookfield trustees hope to put a zoning issue on the November ballot.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city of Girard could lose a $200,000 federal grant if it doesn't gain control of the Ohio Leather Works property.
The possibility was raised Tuesday during a meeting of the Trumbull County Planning Commission by Trish Nuskievicz, a commission planner.
Although she termed it the "worse-case scenario," it's possible that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could withdraw the $200,000, which is designed to address possible environmental hazards on the property and which the city has not spent.
The 27 acres along U.S. Route 422 are owned by Leatherworks Partnership, which says it wants to develop the land.
The city has been attempting to foreclose on the property. The city says the partnership owes it more than $200,000 in fines imposed after the city declared it a general safety hazard.
Options: Nuskievicz said she has been discussing alternative sites where the money could be used with Girard Mayor James Melfi.
If the city doesn't gain control of the property in a case pending in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court and no alternative site is located to use the money, it will be withdrawn by the EPA, the planner said.
Zoning: In another matter, Alan Knapp, commission grants coordinator, said he and other staff members have been working with Brookfield Township trustees to institute zoning in the township.
Trustee Gary Lees said trustees want to place the issue on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Knapp said that trustees had an overall development plan done for the township by a consultant. The major objection the commission staff has with the plan is that it calls for large commercially zoned strips along major highways in the township.
County planners want small areas of commercially designated land, Knapp said.
Lees said trustees agree with the county planners because such an arrangement will reduce the possibility of traffic congestion.
Voters have rejected previous ballot attempts to institute zoning in Brookfield.
Lees said longtime property owners are against zoning because they think zoning will restrict the use of their land.
Rather, the trustee said, zoning is designed to prevent the township from being a "dumping ground" for adult material outlets, junkyards and hazardous waste as the township is commercialized.
Trustees have named a five-member zoning commission with two alternates from a cross section of residents to explain the zoning proposal to property owners.