Trumbull panel to offer Niles land-use plan

NILES -- The Trumbull County Planning Commission director will prepare a proposal for a land-use plan for the city that officials hope will preserve the community.
Gary Newbrough, commission director, and Alan Knapp, commission grants coordinator, outlined for council members Wednesday what's included in a land-use plan.
The city for several years has been trying to develop a plan.
"We want to protect the integrity of our neighborhoods," said Councilman Stephen G. Papalas, D-at large. "We want to keep single-family neighborhoods, single-family neighborhoods as much as possible."
What's behind this: Many people are under the impression they live in a neighborhood restricted to single-family zoning. They learn that's not the case when a developer starts to construct duplexes down the street, Papalas said.
"We want to limit population density as much as possible for our future," he said.
Newbrough said it would take about two years to prepare a land-use plan for the city. It would include a zoning map and mapping of where wetlands and flood plains lie and information about subdivisions and traffic patterns. It would cost the city about $20,000, Newbrough said.
The bill may be paid in three installments.
The commission has recently completed land-use plans for Girard, Howland and Champion.
Updates: An advantage of having the planning commission do the plan rather than a private company is the commission is available to do an update when the city approves a zoning change.
The city passed legislation in 2000 to have Youngstown State University's Center for Urban Studies complete its land-use plan. But that fell through when the center underwent staff changes.
Newbrough said he'd prepare a formal proposal for council's consideration.
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