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Proposed annexation stirs township
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Attorney Al Schrader explains the map of annexation - the orange line is the Ohio Turnpike
If the plan continues, the township will dissolve, the trustee chairman says.
CANFIELD — The lawyer for Canfield Township property owners who want their land and part of the Ohio Turnpike annexed to the city of Canfield said annexing the 43 acres to the city will benefit area residents, but township officials strongly disagreed.
The debate occurred at a 21‚Ñ2-hour hearing on the annexation proposal, which was conducted Tuesday at Canfield Township Hall by the Mahoning County commissioners, who will decide the matter at a later date.
Joseph G. and Claudia L. Sabat want their 36 acres, together with seven acres of the Ohio Turnpike annexed into the city of Canfield.
The land at issue is at 5006 S. Canfield-Niles Road (state Route 46). It is on the west side of that road, just north of Herbert Road. The land is zoned agricultural and used for that purpose.
“It’s my clients’ desire to be within the city of Canfield in order to receive city of Canfield services,” said Atty. David A. Kovass, the lawyer for the Sabats. “The general good of the territory and the general good of the surrounding one-half mile are going to benefit” from the annexation, Kovass added.
If the city annexes the acreage, those living on and near it will benefit from city sanitary-sewer service, he said. Sewer service is an important issue because the county health department has found that nearly all of the local surface water appears to be significantly contaminated by sewage that is now inadequately treated by residential septic systems, Kovass said.
The acreage proposed for annexation is not unreasonably large, and its annexation to the city would not be a hardship to the township, Kovass said, noting that it generates only $1,890 in annual property taxes.
Randy Brashen, chairman of the township trustees, acknowledged that the property tax revenue from the land at issue is not large.
He told the assembled audience of about 35 people, however, that he is concerned about the cumulative effect of multiple annexations.
“If you keeping chipping away, there’s going to be a day in the near future we’re not going to be a township, and I’m going to fight that with every breath I have in me,” Brashen said.
He said the land in question already has public water service, and he has been working with county sanitary engineer Joseph Warino to bring sanitary sewer service to the area in and near the proposed annexation.
If the township can arrange for sewer service, the annexation issue will be moot, he said.
Dave Morrison, township zoning inspector, said the turnpike forms a barrier between the city and the township and that no city street now crosses the turnpike to provide direct access from the city to the land in question.
“I feel that annexing this property would be poor planning and it would not benefit anyone,” Morrison said.
That’s because, if that land is annexed to the city, a developer could ask city officials to assign another zoning classification to the land, such as commercial, business, or industrial zoning, Morrison explained.
“The city of Canfield is very pleased that the petitioner finds our city desirable ... We welcome them with open arms,” Bill Kay, mayor of the city, said in a terse comment.
Morrison said before the meeting that a representative of Canfield developer Scott Owens inquired of him more than a year ago about the procedure for obtaining a zoning change and other requirements for permission to construct condominiums on the 36 acres.
Although county records show the Sabats as the property owners, Morrison said the county lists Owens and his Canfield post office box as the property taxpayer and mailing address for tax purposes, respectively.
For the annexation to take effect, it would have to be approved by the county commissioners and then by Canfield City Council. City council passed a resolution Dec. 3 identifying the services the city would provide to the land if it is annexed.
The county commissioners took the matter under advisement. Kovass and the township’s lawyer, Al Schrader, will have 14 days to file legal briefs outlining their positions with them, and the commissioners will then have 30 days to make a decision.
milliken@vindy.com