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Residents weigh in on Canfield Township’s future
CT Consultants conducts survey on land-use plan
CANFIELD
Consultants surveyed a couple dozen Canfield-area residents on their vision for the future of township’s development.
CT Consultants and township officials Wednesday evening hosted a public forum on the township’s comprehensive land-use plan, which will be in development until September, at the Canfield branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
Attendees used their cellphones in live surveys on their thoughts about the township’s strengths, its draw – most attendees said they felt “safe” – and challenges to be addressed in the plan – jobs, traffic control and road conditions were the most important, attendees responded.
There are about 6,200 acres of vacant township land that could be developed, not including wetlands or areas inside a flood plain, including 120 undeveloped acres along the township’s main corridors of U.S. Route 224 – about a quarter of Wednesday’s participants live there – and state Route 46.
That’s “a significant amount of development,” said Kristin Hopkins, manager of planning services for CT Consultants, who led the forum.
The land-use planning process is in its second phase, with policy and strategy sessions to come between now and May. A plan draft will be prepared between June and September before another public forum will be scheduled sometime in those months.
CT Consultants found 76 percent of all households in the township are family households, which is “relatively high” compared with Mahoning County’s 62 percent and the state’s 64 percent, Hopkins said.
The township’s population, however, is also aging fast. The number of township residents age 55 and older increased 55 percent since 2000, while the number of residents 20 years and younger rose only 2 percent.
Participants also gauged the accuracy of the township’s strengths and challenges identified by the firm and the importance of various goals to be targeted by the plan. Here are some of the highest-rated responses:
Challenges: Lack of connectivity to a bike path; lack of sidewalks in neighborhoods; traffic congestion along Route 224 and fast traffic along side roads; “poor roads” were another detractor.
Strengths: The bike path; the history of the township as the “original Canfield”; safety, low crime rate; updated zoning regulations.
Goals: Encourage architectural consistency and develop consistent business signage; balance preservation of agriculture and green space with development; leverage township assets such as the bike path, nature preserves and the fairgrounds.
Economic development: Most respondents want the township to work with the county engineer to manage traffic on county roads; encourage more “sit-down” restaurants; improve the appearance of establishments along the “main corridors” of Route 224 and Route 46; less important was redevelopment of Raccoon Road north of Route 224.
Trustee Marie Cartwright said the presentation will be available on the township’s website, CanfieldTownship.org, today so those who didn’t make the Wednesday meeting also can submit their opinions.
“This whole process is to make our community better, and we don’t know what people are thinking,” she said. “This gives us an opportunity to collect their input and move forward, incorporating it into our plans.”