Lisa Hlavinka | The Gazette

SEVILLE — Mayor Larry Landis and Councilman Richard Barbera asked Westfield Township officials to give Village Council more details regarding a proposed economic development district before they would consider setting up a work session with trustees.

The border of the development district, the zoning therein and what residents think about the proposal are among the questions Westfield Township has yet to answer, Barbera said.

On Thursday he sent a letter with such questions to Landis, who, agreeing with Barbera, passed the letter on to Westfield trustees.

“Until these questions are answered, there is no need for council to attend a workshop,” Landis said. “They haven’t even defined the area they’re talking about.”

Township Trustee Carolyn Sims proposed Westfield and Seville enter into a Joint Economic Development District or a Cooperative Economic Development Agreement in lieu of annexing 77 acres of township property to Seville. Twenty-six acres from Guilford Township is part of that annexation.

Medina County commissioners approved the annexation in February and are awaiting approval by Seville Council. The first of three readings on the matter is scheduled for May 11.

The acreage in question is adjacent to Ryan Road, north of Greenwich Road and east of Chippewa Creek. It is an expedited Type 2 annexation. Though the land would go to Seville, Westfield and Guilford would collect some property tax. The Ohio Revised Code requires the property to have a 5 percent contiguous border with the municipal-ity it is to be annexed to and it cannot be more than 500 acres.

Sims said she fears the annexation could result in other annexations that would undermine Westfield Township’s tax base. She also cited concerns the property lies on floodplains and developing the area separately could result in flooding.

Seville follows floodplain regulations that do not require compensatory storage, which requires developers to allow for an artificial excavation of land to replace floodplains lost during development.

Landis said Seville seriously is considering adopting more stringent floodplain regulations followed by the county. The county follows regulations by the National Flood Insurance Program through FEMA that require compensatory storage.

Barbera wrote the letter in response to an April 27 Seville Planning Commission meeting where representatives from the Chippewa Watershed and Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency recommended developing the area jointly to avoid lawsuits that could result if flooding results from development.

Following the meeting, Bethany Dentler, executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corp., said during a subsequent council meeting she also recommends joint development.

“We need to work together at the local level if we want to compete with the Northeast Ohio-Cleveland area,” she said.

If Seville enters into a JEDD agreement, development of the land would be overseen by a five-member board comprised of a representative from the village, the township, a business located within the JEDD, an individual working within the JEDD and another person chosen by the four members.

A JEDD board can levy an income tax on businesses and individuals within the JEDD. JEDD property cannot be zoned residential and no residents may be located within the area.

Annexation would be taken out of the equation if a JEDD was formed.

“I want to know specifically, exactly, what we’re buying into by agreeing to a JEDD, because Seville loses any ability to annex,” Barbera said.

Landis said Westfield Township has little to offer Seville by way of a JEDD.

One of the reasons developers are clamoring to annex property to Seville is to take advantage of Seville’s water, electric and sewer utilities, he said. Developers also have complained Westfield’s zoning codes are out of date, he said.

“As far as we’re concerned, we have the zoning in place, we have a police department, EMS, Street Department and one of the nicest communities in the area,” Landis said. “At this point, Westfield has nothing to offer us.”

Trustee Jim Likley said the township’s attorney would review the questions and answer them sometime this week.

Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.