Observations on the Outside Game: Townships, Regions, and Agriculture

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Observations on the Outside Game Townships,
Regions, and Agriculture

• Presentation to
• 1000 Friends of Central Ohio
• Columbus, OH
• September 15, 2004

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Contact Information

• Jeff Sharp
• Associate Professor
• Dept. of Human Community Resource Development
• Sharp.123_at_osu.edu
• Jill Clark
• Program Manager
• Exurban Change Project
• Exurban_at_osu.edu

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Introduction

• The Exurban Change Project focuses on
  understanding the rural and exurban side of the
  regional change question.
• Repository of data pertinent to communities at
  the R-U interface
• Custom analysis available on request
• Project is part of larger effort at OSU
• Other programs at OSU includeSwank Program for
  Rural-Urban Policy OSU Extension Land-Use Team
  Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA)

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Outline of Presentation

• Review rural population trends in Ohio and
  Central Ohio
• Examine interconnections among Rural and Urban
  areas of the Central Ohio Region
• Review challenges associated with farming at the
  interface
• Discuss Planning Zoning needs of townships

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Ohio Population Return of the Township
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Nation, State and Regional Population Growth by
decade, 1970-2000
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Ohio Township Government

• Townships are administrative units of the State
  of Ohio
• Townships were created to facilitate the
  distribution of land
• They possess only the powers that are provided
  them through the Constitution of Ohio and the
  Ohio Revised Code
• In contrast to Home Rule of municipalities

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Population of Ohio Townships, Villages and
Cities, 1960-2000
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Source US Census Bureau
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Changes in Central Ohio Townships
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Population of Central Ohio Townships, Villages
and Cities, 1960-2000
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Population Density, 1970
Source US Census Bureau
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Population Density, 2000
Source US Census Bureau
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Population Change, 1970 - 2000
Source US Census Bureau
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Regionalism Appreciating the Columbus MSA shadow
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Connecting the Dots The Importance of Roads

• Historic Settlements at the crossroads
• Urbanization and transportation have always been
  interrelated.
• The first suburbanization occurred in the
  mid-1800s as railroads and streetcar lines were
  built from central city to outskirts of city.
• Persistent rural pockets of low density
  settlement

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73 of all urban land cover in Ohio is located
within 5 miles of a highway. (Reece and Irwin,
2002)
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Major Urban Center
Persistent Rural Pockets
Historic Settlements
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Major Urban Center
Persistent Rural Pockets
Historic Settlements
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Major Urban Center
Persistent Rural Pockets
Historic Settlements
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But its not just people who follow the roads

• Road building also spurs firms to move outward
  and leads to the development of edge cities
  around the central city.
• This allows people to move even further out and
  maintain the same commute time.

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Job Growth by County, 94 01
Ohio Average 12.01
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Selected Commuting Facts

• Columbus MSA core counties Franklin, Licking
  Delaware
• Between 1990 and 2000, commuters into Delaware
  County increased from 9,068 to 22,083.
• Morrow County commuters into core counties of the
  Columbus MSA increased from 3,260 (26.7 of
  workforce) to 5,173 (34.5 of workforce).
• 30,386 workers commuted into core counties from
  outside the Columbus MSA

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Percent of Workforce Commuting in toCore
Columbus MSA Counties, 2000
34.5
31.5
46.0
50.2
44.8
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Soon to Join the Party?

• Counties surrounding the Columbus metro area are
  poised to join the MSA based
• Current threshold of 25 of the countys
  employed population commuting to the core MSA
  counties necessary to join.

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Percent of Workforce Commuting in toCore
Columbus MSA Counties, 2000
10.4
20.7
18.1
8.2
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Issues at the Edges

• Road development and business location within the
  Columbus MSA impacts a very large region
• Many counties townships outside (and even
  inside) the Columbus MSA may not understand their
  stake in the Columbus MSA.
• What, if anything, needs to be done to develop a
  regional identity beyond Franklin County and the
  immediately adjacent counties?

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Agriculture A possible partner
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Significance of Ohio Metro and Columbus MSA
Agriculture (2002)
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Three Ag. Issues other than Farmland Preservation

• Farming vs. Farmland
• Selected Farming Issues
• Farm Succession
• Landscape Fragmentation
• Enterprise Adaptation Options

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Farm Succession

• Desperately seeking young farmers
• Total of Ohio farmers declined 1.2 between
  1997 and 2002
• 32.2 decline in metro farmers LT 35
• Farmers LT 45 comprised 30.6 of metro farmers in
  1997, down to 25.2 in 2002
• Part-time, retired, and hobby farmers of special
  concern

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Farmland Fragmentation

• Who will farm a fragmented landscape?
• Part-time/hobby farming vs full-time
• Impermanence Syndrome
• Gradual disinvestment and exit from farming due
  to negative assessment of social and physical
  changes in community or landscape

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County Level Farm Attributes
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Farm Enterprise Adaptation

• Urban opportunities
• Off-farm employment
• Urban-oriented Agriculture-Greater Columbus Food
  Shed Project
• Road frontage development
• Urban Limitations
• Compatibility of livestock and residential
• Landscape fragmentation
• Loss of critical mass of farm services

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Crop and Livestock by sales
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The Columbus MSA Farming Buffer

• Some areas may repel nonfarm development
• Madison Pickaway parts of Union and Licking
• Possible Development/Policy needs
• New farmer recruitment
• Zoning that preserves unfragmented landscapes
• Zoning that limits incompatible land-uses (e.g.
  livestock and people)
• Community Economic Development efforts that
  include agriculture

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Planning and Zoning Options for Ohio Townships
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Ohios Public Policy

• The laws governing land use in Ohio were
  established when development was highly
  centralized in major cities.
• Policies designed for metro areas may not serve
  local townships and small communities who are
  facing development decisions.
• In Ohio development is, for the most part, a
  local matter.

From Sustainable Growth and Development for Ohio
Education for Public Policy Decisions Ohio
State University Extension
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Handling Growth and Change in Ohio Townships

• Fundamental approaches for handling growth and
  change are planning and zoning
• Comprehensive Land-Use Plan
• 77 of metro townships have a plan (township or
  county)
• 61 of nonmetro townships have a plan
• Zoning
• Almost all townships in the Columbus metro area
  have zoning (fewer than ½ of Morrow County
  townships are zoned)
• Across Ohio, only about 50 of all townships have
  zoning

From a survey study by Meghan Gough and
Jennifer Evans-Cowley Results in the upcoming
Ohio Township Association magazine
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Zoning by Exurban Stage
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Township Zoning

• 1 problem for administering zoning is zoning
  resolution enforcement
• Part-time inspectors
• 1 land use or zoning issue is sprawl
• 2 economic development

From a survey study by Meghan Gough and
Jennifer Evans-Cowley Results in the upcoming
Ohio Township Association magazine
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Cutting Edge 1930s Planning Zoning in the
2000s

• Possible changes in current legislation
• Planning--questions about ability to adopt a plan
• Changes in Township Count Zoning Enabling
  Legislation
• Health, Safety and Morals
• Addition of General Welfare
• Subdivision regulations5 acre exemption
• New tools for local governments
• Enable impact fees for unincorporated areas
• Enable transfer of development rights

See Section 4 Growth and Change at the R-U
Interface Exurban Change Project, 2003
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Agricultural Zoning in Ohio Townships

• Three approaches to agricultural zoning in Ohio
• Agriculture is a preferred use, but one of many
  permitted uses in a zone (Central NW)
• Agriculture is an incidental or ignored use (NE
  SW)
• A more aggressive strategy Agriculture is the
  primary (exclusive) use
• Exclusive agricultural zoning (voluntary or
  mandatory) or agricultural zoning where
  residential development is conditional

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Challenges for Ohio Townships

• Do Ohio townships at the R-U interface have the
  capacity to manage changes associated with
  exurbanization?
• Does sufficient social capital exist within and
  between communities at the R-U interface to
  collectively respond to the changes?
• Do local governments have the professional and
  technical capacity to manage changes?
• Do local governments have the fiscal capacity?

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Future Directions of our Project

• Ohio Research
• Exurban Typological Analysis
• Continued Analysis of Ohio township zoning
• Continued Analysis of Ohios Urban Agriculture
• National Research
• USDA funded national study Agriculture
  Adaptation at the Rural-Urban Interface Can
  Communities Make a Difference.
• Spatial patterns of exurbanization in the U.S.

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For More Information on Population and Land Use
Trends and Data in Ohio

• Visit the Exurban Change website at
• http//aede.osu.edu/programs/exurbs/index.htm

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