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In 2001, The Countryside Program put together a database of conservation-related zoning and planning measures in the Northeast Ohio region. This past summer, we were fortunate to have Ari Lesser, a local college intern who attends the University of Oregon, update the database. His findings show that there has been a dramatic increase in townships, cities and villages implementing stormwater and watershed-protecting zoning codes. Other conservation measures, including conservation development and comprehensive planning, continue to make slow, steady progress.

Survey Overview
In the 2005 survey, Ari was able to contact 166 out of 223 total in our target database of growing exurban communities, or 74%. Of these, 96 were townships and 70 were cities and villages.

Overall Planning Measures
Of those contacted, 115, or 69%, have comprehensive plans in place, 54 in townships (56%) and 61 in municipalities (87%). This is a relative increase from the 62% (108 of 175) we found in 2001.

Conservation Development Zoning
In 2001, 23 communities had conservation development codes in place which required a minimum of 40% open space, meeting the Countryside Program model code standard. An additional 10 communities did not meet that standard, but had at least 30% open space required. This summer, we found that 12 cities and villages, and 21 townships, 33 total, have codes in place with at least 40% open space, and an additional 11 require between 30 and 40%. An additional 4 townships have “flexible zoning” that allows lot size adjustment and open space setasides with case-by-case approval of the local health district.

Watershed Protection Regulations
Regulations requiring stormwater management and erosion control have seen the greatest increase since our survey in 2001. At that time, only one of the communities we spoke to had erosion control regulations in place. This summer, we found that 78 of the communities interviewed had adopted stormwater and erosion control regulations. This is a huge increase, attributable largely to the EPA’s NPDES Phase II requirements.

Riparian Setbacks
In 2001, 21 of the communities we spoke to had riparian “buffers” (now most commonly known as setbacks) requirements. In 2005, 49 communities have adopted riparian setbacks requirements. In addition, Lake, Summit, Medina and Wayne counties have adopted subdivision regulations with provisions for riparian setbacks since 2001. This large increase is partially attributable to Phase II requirements, but is also an indicator of the increasing education level of communities in understanding the benefits of dedicated setbacks for river and stream protection. Many groups in the area are dedicated to watershed protection, including County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and watershed groups such as the Black River RAP and the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, and have been aggressively promoting these conservation ideas.

Riparian Setbacks
Many communities have adopted a range of other provisions that contribute to conservation efforts. Of the communities we spoke to, 17 have adopted provisions to protect steep slopes, woodlands and other environmental areas. 10 have regulations which provide for compact, mixed use neighborhood development. Two have adopted zoning regulations that address some aspect of farmland preservation.

Conclusions
During the 9 years Countryside has been in place, we have seen a great change in the awareness of communities about alternative, conservation-minded zoning practices. Aided by increasingly knowledgeable county planning and soil and water district offices, watershed groups and private consultants, communities are taking steps to supplement their zoning codes with measures that can help to protect water quality and natural, agricultural, cultural and scenic resources. Our region as a whole will benefit in the long run.