Perrysburg Twp. plans ‘Visioning Sessions’

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PERRYSBURG – The township will offer its residents an unusual opportunity next week to help design the
town in which they would like to live.
Perrysburg Township will host the first of three public "Visioning Sessions" June 17 at 7:30
p.m. at the W.W. Knight Nature Preserve, 29530 White Road. The inclusive public hearings, which mark the
first step toward completion of a master plan for the township, are intended to generate a unified
vision for the developing area.
"It’s a blueprint of where the citizens think things should happen," said Grant Garn, township
zoning inspector. "It’s up to them."
Residents of the township, and anyone else interested in participating in the community’s direction, may
attend one or all of the sessions. The second and third meetings will be held: June 25 at Penta Career
Center, 9301 Buck Road; and June 30 at the township Public Safety Building, 26609 Lime City Road.
Basically, Garn said, the meetings will allow the public to identify aspects of the township that they do
and do not like and then work with the township to craft a plan for future development.
"This type of planning means how pleasing or not pleasing a community will be, or whether people
want to locate there," he said.
Garn said he expected some of the discussion may include lingering issues such as whether zoning should
continue to be enforced in only half of the township or whether all of the township should follow zoning
requirements; how the removal of homes in particular areas should be handled; as well as possible road
construction and aesthetic regulations for businesses and residences.
The group may also tackle burgeoning issues related to alternate power apparatuses, such as solar panels
and wind turbines.
"What we’re doing now is getting our ducks in the row because, in the future, things are going to
happen," Garn said.
Bekett & Reader Inc., based in Michigan, will facilitate the visioning sessions. The firm was
hired by the township to complete a master plan by early 2010. Toledo-based Feller, Finch &
Associates will work with the Michigan company to create the traffic analysis.
"Our initial visioning meeting will gather information to understand what the community aspires to
become, what it wants to protect and preserve and what opportunities it wants to consider," said
John Iacoangeli, BRI principal, in a release issued by the township.
During the vision meetings, groups of community members will identify the top three township features
that they find most regrettable as well as those in which they take the most pride. The discussion will
then move toward events, developments and trends related to a variety of topics including: historic
preservation; entertainment and arts; vacant properties; and traffic. The meetings will wrap with a
conversation about a preferred future for the township in 10 years as well as an outline of priority
projects and programs.
"It’s not for me or the politicians to say, ‘Well, here is where this is going to go, period,’"
Garn said. "This is for people to envision where they would like things to go."

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