TRUMBULL COUNTY Logging snag leaves mess for residents

Townships can't regulate logging because of state law.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Barry and Nancy Miller were on vacation a few years ago when they got a call from a neighbor. They were told the trees in the wooded area behind their Royal Arms Drive home were being cut down.
"It's very depressing, it really is," Mrs. Miller said. The woods behind her home now look as if a tornado had crashed through.
"It just changed the whole atmosphere," she added. "People don't believe the mess they can leave."
As it turned out, an 85-year-old neighbor -- who owned seven acres behind the Millers and some other neighbors -- was approached by a logger. She was told the timber created an unsafe condition, and was paid $250 to log it, Mrs. Miller explained.
The logger didn't show up at a hearing the Millers sought to get a stop-work order. Then, the lumberjacks simply left the woods.
The Millers ended up purchasing the property and have been working for two years to clean up the mess.
"It will take years," Mrs. Miller predicted.
Prohibited by state law
James Rodway, township zoning inspector, said state law prohibits townships from regulating logging through zoning regulations. He explained that logging is classified as agricultural work and is exempt from township zoning requirements.
"We can't override state law," Rodway explained.
Miller said that cities are permitted to regulate logging, even how close to a subdivision trees can be cleared.
"It's ludicrous," he said of townships' inability to control logging.
Mrs. Miller wonders if the homeowners along nearby Sampson Drive are aware of what will be left after logging is complete there. Work there is under way.
Trustee Chairman W. Gary Litch said the township will be notifying state representatives of the glitch in the law.
"The state Legislature has allowed this to go on for years," Litch said, pointing out the township can't clean up the debris because it's private property. "It's just another flaw in the system."
Hoping owners clean up
He noted that the only thing the township can do is hope property owners have the decency to clean up the logs, limbs, brush and other debris left by loggers.
Jerry Bemis, 84, has bought a chipper and will be advertising that he has firewood available.
Bemis and his 79-year-old wife, Betty, had contracted to have the trees harvested on the side yard at their Church Hill-Hubbard Road home. The neighbor went along with work on his property.
But the logger, Bemis explained, subcontracted the work to a tree trimmer. Bemis said he figured the trees would be selectively cut.
What's left is 10-foot-high brush, large sections of logs and several-foot-deep gouges. Their lawn and half the driveway were wiped out. "We never expected the driveway to be destroyed," Mrs. Bemis said.
In retrospect, Bemis thinks he should have had a tighter contract with the logger to spell out more precisely what work would be done.
The Bemis property is just down the road from the township administration building. Again, Rodway said, the township's hands are tied to do anything about it.
yovich@vindy.com