Planning For Our Future

For decades, Sylvania Township has been a center for immense growth and development. This growth has helped to fund our schools, the Senior Center, our parks and recreation as well as basic township services. At the same time, some of that growth has evolved based on an outdated strategic plan. Solid, up-to-date land use plans will improve the quality of our community while preserving our property values. For a growing community, a land use plan should be reviewed and updated every 3-5 years.

To help guide future growth, Sylvania Township has a Master Land Use Plan which helps to identify desirable areas for commercial, residential, and industrial development with the intent that new developments would compliment and blend well with nearby uses. When I was elected, our Land Use Plan had not been updated since 2001. In 2007, we went through the process of updating our Land Use Plan. We held public meetings and took surveys from residents so that you could tell us what you wanted Sylvania Township to look like including landscape, signs, building facades, etc.

One of the outcomes of updating the Land Use Plan was to identify areas of conflict between our Land Use Plan and our Zoning Resolution. We have been working to correct those conflicts in order to help clarify the intent of the Land Use Plan and better guide future zoning. The Land Use Plan Committee also recommended the adoption of various building standards in order to help preserve the high quality construction and architecture that Sylvania Township is known for.
We are working on these recommendations as well.

Although clearly the real estate market has slowed, I would anticipate revisiting our Master Land Use Plan again in a year or two, after we have resolved the majority of conflicts between the Zoning Resolution and Land Use Plan. This will keep our zoning laws progressive and supportive of quality development in Sylvania Township.