Preventing annexation at the top of to-do list
Jersey Township is out to stop losing its land
As development continues in western Licking County, one priority guides nearly every decision for Jersey Township officials – not losing anymore land to New Albany annexation.
The township will spend 2023 updating zoning and establishing revenue mechanisms all to achieve the ultimate goal of preserving the land east of Mink Street, which has become a dividing line based on the properties that have already annexed.
Jersey Township Trustee Dan Wetzel said he felt a year ago that the township was in race against New Albany as thousands of acres were being annexed for the $20 billion Intel Corporation development. But now he feels Jersey Township has not only caught up, but is getting ahead.
“It’s not a race anymore,” he said. “It’s more taking a step back, logically thinking through where we want to be here in the next four or five years to protect the township through smart economic development and growth.”
Wetzel and Jersey Township Administrator Rob Platte said in a joint interview that they see creating zoning overlay districts, forming joint economic development districts, exploring community reinvestment areas and other similar actions as tools in their tool belt.
All of them together, Wetzel said, are key factors of keeping land in the township instead of watching it annex into New Albany like it has done for thousands of acres west of Mink Street over the previous 20 years.
“Those options are things that need to be on the table and ready. We can’t wait; those things have to be ready to go, so that we can pull from those,” Wetzel said. “If I need that 8-penny nail out of my nail apron, I need it right now. I don’t need it 10 minutes from now. We need to be able to pull those tools out and use them immediately. But it takes time to put all of them in place.”
Forced to plan for growth
Preparing for future development is the township’s top priority, Platte said, “simply because that’s the position that the township’s been put in.”
The township has transformed over the last two decades with the New Albany’s International Business Park; data centers from Google, Amazon and Facebook; and other businesses coming to the Ohio 161 corridor. The transformation has speed up over the last year with properties selling at enormous prices and land being cleared to make way for the Intel Corporation’s $20 billion computer chip manufacturing plant along Mink Street.
If land is going to develop, Platte said, Jersey officials want it to happen in the township.
“What the reality is, is we have the eastern side of Mink road that we know is going to develop and we know that if the township is not proactive and positioning the land for good, quality development that the township residents and trustees want to see — if we don’t do that — then it is going to annex. It’s going to continue on,” Platte said. “I think that the township is in an ideal position right now. There’s a lot of demand and growth opportunities out here.”
Even though change is already here, Wetzel and Platte have to balance that with the desires from residents to keep the township rural.
“Obviously, we’re not going to keep the rest of the township — all of it — that way, but I think there’s a good portion,” Wetzel said. “Realistically, it’ll stay rural residential for quite a few years to come. Does it stay that way for 40, 50 years? No, but realistically we’re going to do what we can to keep it rural residential where it makes sense.”
That means developing corridors such as Mink Street and Worthington Road, which are adjacent to existing New Albany developments.
“The further east we get out, closer to (Ohio) 310, we’ll maintain rural residential development there and in the southern part of the township as well,” Platte said.
Platte said the township will use zoning to step down the intensity, creating a buffer when possible between new development and existing residential properties. For example, Platte said the zoning could be laid out so that commercial retail and higher density housing are in between industrial uses and lower density residential.
“I think getting that to blend together is the goal, so that we don’t have noncomplementary uses adjacent to each other,” Platte said.
Retaining Jersey’s rural character
One of the items on the 2023 to-do list is contracting with an architectural design firm to create illustrated plans. The township has not posted for bids yet, but is expected to this spring, Platte said.
The plans will provide a visual of what developed areas could look like based on the design standards the township has is working on. They’ll show what a view down a street will look like, where new roads could go and more, Platte said.
“The biggest thing that we’ve heard over the years is retaining the rural character of Jersey Township. That’s an avenue for us to do that, is to bring that firm in, lay it out and then say ‘This is the vision. This is what it’s going to look like when it builds out,’” Platte said.
Jersey Township has already added some tools to their annexation prevention tool belt by creating the Worthington Road Corridor Overlay District that was approved by voters in November, passing three Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts that are layered over the entire current unincorporated and undeveloped portions of the township, approving a 70-acre planned unit development on Worthington Road, and working on a comprehensive plan that will likely finish in May.
But there are more tools that the township will add this year. Platte said annexation usually happens because of zoning or the availability of utility services, so that’s where Jersey is turning its attention next.
Similar to the Worthington Road Corridor Overlay District, Platte said the township over the next few months will pursue another zoning overlay district for the east side of Mink Street from Beaver Road about 3 miles north to Green Chapel Road.
Platte said the comprehensive plan, though still in draft form, indicates mixed use development along the road, which will expand to five lanes to accommodate vehicles that will travel to the Intel facility.
The township anticipates restaurants, hotels, shops and other commercial retail businesses coming to Mink Street, in part to serve Intel and its suppliers but also Johnstown’s and even Pataskala’s growing populations, Platte said.
In addition to the overlay districts, Jersey Township is in the process of forming joint economic development districts, or JEDDS, which are an economic development tool that allows townships to collect income tax on commercial properties within a defined area.
An initial one, Platte said, is being created for the Worthington Road Corridor Overlay District, and then another will be formed for the eventual Mink Street overlay district.
“For us, the way we see it, by the end of this year we’ll have our second overlay district in place and we’ll have one or two JEDDS covering both of those overlays,” Platte said.
But Platte expects the township could end up with three or four different JEDDS as development continues.
The township will look to use a similar model that Union Township and the City of Heath used for a recent JEDD, which included sharing some of the revenue with the Southwest Licking Community Water and Sewer District. Last year the Licking County Commissioners extended the service area for the utility district to include 11,702 acres in Jersey Township.
Platte also serves as a consultant for the water and sewer district.
Besides sewer and water lines, Platte said needed utility upgrades include fiber and road improvements.
JEDDS are vitally important, Platte said so the residents don’t have pay for the utility upgrades that are needed for development. He said if a business comes to Jersey Township, they will have to pay an income tax.
“We want to make sure that we’ve set the stage for utilities to come in here to make the development possible, but also make sure that we have the protections in there so that the residents are not paying those costs,” he said. mdevito@gannett.com 740-607-2175
Twitter: @Mariadevito13