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Etna Township trying to prepare for growth
Thursday, March 2, 2006
By BRIAN GADD
ThisWeek Staff Writer
A proposed Wal-Mart store at state Route 310 and U.S. Route 40 may be just the beginning of the growing pains Etna Township will experience in the next several years.
And already residents have expressed their concern about potential traffic and infrastructure problems that commonly accompany growth.
According to Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission forecasts, central Ohio counties are expected to see more than 500,000 new residents in the next 25 years, with most of them residing in the six counties contiguous to the city of Columbus.
Licking County is among them, and the western portions of the county, along U.S. Route 40 and state Routes 16 and 161, see that growth looming on the horizon today.
In response, groups such as the State Route 161 Licking County Planning Accord, comprised of township officials from St. Albans and Jersey townships and county officials, have begun to "get ahead" of development by planning for infrastructure, County Commissioner Marcia Phelps said.
The county is developing a "208 Plan," a water and sewer comprehensive plan outlining where development should be in the coming years, said Commissioner Tim Bubb, and Phelps added that there is a proposal on the table to conduct an economic impact study for the county.
One area that is expected to see remarkable growth in the coming years is Etna Township, where new housing subdivisions and the first hints of commercial development are beginning to occur. Early symptoms include the Wal-Mart Supercenter and the Hazelton Town Center, as well as industrial projects like ProLogis along U.S. Route 40.
In response to concerns from Etna residents about growth, county commissioners and other state and local officials held an information session Feb. 22 at Etna Elementary School to discuss how growth is being handled in the context of county planning, township zoning and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).
More than 100 people crammed into the school's cafeteria, most hoping to hear news about the proposed Wal-Mart and wondering how to combat the retail giant's efforts.
No plans for a major development review have been presented to the Licking County Planning Commission, director Jerry Brems said, although ODOT officials have been reviewing a traffic study conducted by a Dayton-area firm hired by Wal-Mart.
The goal of the meeting was to inform residents about how the development process works. It was not intended to be specific to any one entity or company, Brems said.
Phelps said such meetings play an important role in addressing concerns as a team.
"Whenever we have a situation that heightens the public's concern, as this has, it's good to hear their concerns and then weigh them and analyze them and come to some conclusion as a team," she said. "Public meetings lend themselves to an opportunity where we can all work together."
Although there are no plans to hold follow-up meetings, Phelps said she would support future work sessions with Etna officials.
"I don't know if this could lead to something like the 161 accord, but I would certainly be willing to help organize an accord for the 310/40 area," she said. "It would be like a subcommittee or smaller group that is more defined and looking at some sort of resolution instead of at a particular concern, like the Wal-Mart."
Officials outline planning
strategies, traffic concerns
Etna Township Trustee Gary Burkholder said it's the trustees' intention to revamp the township's zoning resolution and land-use map "to help us manage this growth in a positive way...
"We're moving forward, but not fast enough to develop a comprehensive transportation improvement plan (TIP)," Burkholder said. "We realize we're going to see the population grow, and access management is critical. We need to make sure people can get to work in a reasonable amount of time and in a safe fashion."
Traffic becomes a major concern, he said, when more cars are streaming through the area every day, including another 13,000 motorists -- the number forecast in a preliminary traffic study by the firm hired by Wal-Mart.
"We've got to realize because of ProLogis, we're going to have more truck traffic," said Neil Ingle, township economic development manager. "But then we'll also have a 203,000-square-foot Wal-Mart, with 1,100 parking spaces -- something that's going to be a destination spot. Traffic is already imposing on the state route. If you add another 13,000 cars a day ... if we don't get the infrastructure right to begin with, we're going to have an infrastructure nightmare."
Myron Pakush, deputy director of ODOT District 5, said that while district officials previously studied widening Route 310 to include a turn lane, the recent forecasts of unprecedented growth have stalled those plans.
"We're looking at traffic projections five, 10, 15 years down the road and realize we need more lanes of traffic," Pakush said, referring to five lanes instead of three. "We know certain transportation improvements will be needed there. But there's going to be some community responsibility for some of those improvements."
ODOT District 5 planning administrator Julie Gwinn added that while there were plans for north and southbound turn lanes on Route 310 -- and ODOT had applied to MORPC for an 80-20 split of the cost -- those plans were delayed because of population- and traffic-growth forecasts.
"We heard of development coming and adjusted our background growth rate, which was about 1 to 2 percent at the time," Gwinn said. "But then we factored in a 4- or 5-percent rate, and we found we could not meet the 20-year design standard. So we're sort of in a holding pattern.
"We all acknowledge 310 is developing, and maybe we need five lanes through there," she said. "But we don't have the funding for it."
Pakush said ODOT officials would meet March 1 to discuss ways to address the future traffic issues on Route 310.
Meanwhile, Burkholder said he has been considering a proposal to suggest to fellow trustee Dick Knapp -- trustee Paul George has been out with illness since December -- to hire a traffic engineer to develop a corridor plan for the Route 310 area instead of waiting for a decision from ODOT.
"The intersection needs to be addressed before Wal-Mart opens -- not after," Burkholder said.
Ideas include road extensions, interchanges
One suggestion to alleviate at least the truck traffic going to the Etna area via Pataskala is to extend Etna Boulevard, which divides the Etna Corporate Park and ProLogis developments, northward to connect with a proposed industrial or commercial development along state Route 16 in Pataskala.
Licking County planning director Jerry Brems said that when Etna Boulevard was constructed, planners knew there was a possibility the road could be extended to the north. The road's location also would allow for a future intersection to a road heading south toward Interstate 70 and a possible interchange there.
"If we took that north to Mink and Broad, I think we could alleviate the truck traffic on 310," Brems said.
The interchange idea, however, is estimated to cost $23-million and is far beyond ODOT's spending limit, he said.
"The idea, it's not dead, but it is not necessarily breathing real well, either," he said.
Pataskala Mayor Steve Butcher, who attended the Feb. 22 meeting, said he has a "very high interest" in seeing the Etna Boulevard extension happen, and not only for traffic issues.
Butcher said the road could cost about $6-million but could open another corridor between Pataskala and Etna for development.
"There is more and more interest from industry every day for the Emswiler property, and that's why I am in favor of an income tax," Butcher said, referring to the city's proposed 1.5-percent income tax issue in the May 2 primary election. "If we have the income tax, employees who are working on that property can start paying taxes, and we can use that money for road improvements."
Butcher added that he has been meeting with Etna officials, and "we're in full agreement that we need to work in a close partnership" when it comes to the approach to development along Route 310.
"The 310 interchange -- at some point, the (transportation) system has to fail," Butcher said. "And we think this one's two to three years away from failing. It may seem like we're planning for disaster, but anything we can do to try to mitigate that, we will."
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