Policy & Advocacy

APA Ohio supports the development of comprehensive plans as the basis for the adoption of zoning and specifically related to Ohio Revised Code sections 303.02 and 519.02.

Despite several decisions made by Ohio Courts to the contrary (most recently Apple Group, Ltd. v. Granger Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals), APA Ohio emphatically believes that zoning alone does not constitute a comprehensive plan. Comprehensive planning is the process that determines community goals and aspirations for a how a community develops or redevelops including all the various facets that make up our communities (housing, land use, transportation, urban design, parks and recreation, historic preservation, etc.). The outcome of the comprehensive planning process is the Comprehensive Plan document which outlines the public policies which the community has agreed will be used to inform and influence decision-making by elected and appointed leaders.

Additional Resources:

APA PAS Report 578
Sustaining Places: Best Practices for Comprehensive Plans

2014 APA National Planning Excellence Award: Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan
Plan Cincinnati: A Comprehensive Plan for the Future

APA Research KnowledgeBase Collection
Comprehensive Plan Development Guidance

APA Ohio supports sound planning and incentives that attract mixed land uses to diversify state, regional and local economies while supporting a high quality of life.

Sustainable and quality economic development requires planning and appropriate intergovernmental coordination, including strong state support through incentives and flexibility for local governments. To increase economic diversity and sustainability in the global marketplace, encourage an innovation economy and create high quality jobs, APA Ohio supports attracting, retaining and expanding targeted industries that provide high quality and diverse employment opportunities for all Ohioans.

Additional Resources:

APA PAS Report 541
An Economic Development Toolbox: Strategies and Methods

APA PAS Memo January/February 2017
Advancing the Economic Development Element in Comprehensive Plans

Ohio Economic Development Association
As the professional association for economic developers, OEDA reflects their members– dynamic, on-the-move, decisive, knowledgeable, informed, engaging.  The Ohio Economic Development Association is committed to helping our members expand their knowledge, expand their network and expand their influence. 

APA Ohio supports public and private investment and policies to invest in our aging infrastructure.

Ohio’s aging infrastructure is in dire need of improvements to bridges, dams, drinking water, hazardous waste, waterways, parks and recreation, ports, rail, roads, solid waste, transit and wastewater. Failing underground utilities such as gas lines, water lines, storm and sanitary sewers threaten the health and welfare of state residents. The essential role to protect the public health, safety and welfare is achieved through effective infrastructure planning and funding. Coordinated planning with public agencies and intergovernmental coordination is needed to allocate scarce resources efficiently. APA Ohio supports:

• Fixing Federal Highway Trust fund by raising the motor fuel tax;
• Exploring alternative long-term road funding;
• Increasing investment at all levels of government to rehabilitate aging infrastructure;
• Using asset management and best practices to improve safety and condition of infrastructure;
• Promoting policies such as dig once policies to better coordinate use of resources;
• Encouraging the use of green infrastructure practices to mimic natural waterway processes, when appropriate, to alleviate the repair and continued maintenance costs associated with additional grey infrastructure;
• Encouraging new school sites to locate in already developed areas to avoid unnecessary infrastructure investment and the creation of unhealthy environments where children cannot safely walk to school.

APA Ohio recognizes the importance of public transportation and multi-modal transportation to sustained economic development and job creation. APA Ohio supports long-term investment in public transit and a statewide dedicated funding source for transit.

Ohio has the 14^th largest ridership on public transit in the country but spends less than 44 states on public transit. APA Ohio supports a robust multi- modal transportation network of highways, rail, air, transit, trails, bicycle and pedestrian modes of transportation. APA Ohio supports public and private funding on a statewide and local level for new transportation initiatives for alternative transportation initiatives and supports ODOT’s new Active Transportation Grants funding. APA Ohio recognizes the importance of promoting mobility for people and goods, for coordinated transportation and land use initiatives and to promote transportation modal choice. APA Ohio also supports investment in research on emerging transportation technologies; including automation and shared mobility, to further ensure diversity and accessibility of mobility options. Regional and state agencies should support local innovative transportation solutions to societal problems such as the first-mile/last-mile connectivity issues.

APA Ohio supports policies that meet the needs of all communities, especially those of disadvantaged communities, through policies and programs that reduce social, economic, health and environmental disparities while fostering vibrant places where residents intentionally choose to live.

Equitable development expands choice and opportunity, encourages sustainable outcomes and improves quality of life for all communities while mitigating the disproportionate impacts from the negative externalities of contemporary society. APA Ohio supports complete and fair mitigation planning for the displacement of disadvantaged individuals through redevelopment processes. APA Ohio also supports APA’s Planning for Equity Policy Guide that identifies policy recommendations for planners to advocate for policies that support equity in all aspects of planning at local, state, and federal levels. APA Ohio believes that state policies should better recognize how local, regional and statewide land use, transportation, economic development, housing and other public decisions may incentivize and support development in some communities that results in disinvestment and social and economic decline in other communities.

Equity Sub-Topic:

Underserved Populations: Underserved Populations are those who are often (usually unintentionally) missing from the planning process and plans implementation. “Underserved” is defined broadly, depending on planning interests and needs of our communities. The planning profession should cast the widest possible net to serve as many people from myriad situations and circumstances as possible. While planning cannot solve all problems in society, APA Ohio supports intentional awareness and thoughtful practice in the planning and implementation process to improve the overall quality of life in our communities.

APA Ohio encourages communities to recognize the value of historic resources as major contributions to the quality of life and cultural vitality as well as being a significant stimulus to economic development.

Planning must recognize the importance of preserving and revitalizing historic structures as well as historic landscapes including the conservation of farmland. APA Ohio also supports APA’s Historic and Cultural Resources Policy Guide, which stresses the importance of historic tax incentives to support preservation activities and the need to integrated historic preservation more comprehensively into the work of planning professionals.

APA Ohio supports and encourages intergovernmental and regional coordination, which allows municipalities to continue to provide quality services at a reduced cost. 

In an era of shrinking municipal revenues, the importance of intergovernmental and regional coordination could not be greater. More importantly to APA Ohio, coordination can provide greater continuity in zoning and comprehensive plans across municipal borders. Such collaboration and coordination can help curb urban sprawl, improve transportation connections, help preserve agricultural lands and other green space, and better coordinate the protection of natural resources such as water, forests, and species habitat on a regional or watershed levels. The continued support and encouragement of coordination can allow planners and other officials to begin to think on a more regional level when addressing local issues.

APA Ohio supports a growth management strategy at the state, regional and local level which recognizes and provides plans, incentives, standards and regulations that address climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The scientific evidence indicates the Earth's climate system is warming, and humans are a major cause of it through activities such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels that increase concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Most scientists agree some climate change impacts are irreversible and likely to get worse. Ohio is particularly vulnerable to impacts associated with climate change. These impacts include increases in harmful blue-green algae blooms in Lake Erie, larger amounts of agricultural pollution into our streams and lakes, a rise in urban bad air quality days and increased flooding of the Ohio River and its tributaries. In planning for our future, both mitigation and adaptation to climate change and its impacts are needed to maintain a safe, attractive and resilient environment for residents and businesses. Adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its impacts is important for the State’s overall economy and the jobs that support it, business investments, infrastructure, health of its people and the conservation of its natural resources and protection of its natural amenities. APA Ohio also supports policies and programs, including APA’s Climate Change Policy Guide, that will reduce long-term risk, promote economic development and sustainability and provide transparent disclosure of the risk associated with climate change.

APA Ohio supports federal, state and local funding to provide incentives for redevelopment of property, tax base diversification and business expansion.

APA Ohio recognizes that planning and development incentives are important to achieve economic goals. Planning and development incentives include financial and non-financial incentives such as tax incentives, tax abatement, TIFs, loans, grants, infrastructure funding, green incentives, industrial revenue bonds, job creation incentives, expedited permitting and zoning bonuses. APA Ohio recognizes the importance of returning land to productive use and supports incentives to achieve redevelopment of existing sites including funding for pre- development, property purchase and brownfield remediation.

APA Ohio supports land use and environmental policies that ensure all aspects of water are integrated in terms of planning and implementation.

APA Ohio recognizes the importance of water as an essential element in healthy environments and that land use changes impact both water quality and quantity. The two largest sources of drinking water for millions of Ohioans, the Ohio River and Lake Erie, are in need of protection from pollution, climate change effects, and un-regulated withdrawals. Planning can affectively impact a comprehensive approach to water management by addressing issues of sustainable water supply, groundwater resources, storm water management, flooding, and water quality. APA Ohio also supports APA’s Policy Guide on Water, which calls for an integrated, systems-oriented, comprehensive approach to water management, innovative land-use planning and urban designs that improve and protect water environments, professional practices that manage water more sustainably and equitably, awareness of the potential for inequity in access to water supply, water pricing that is not sensitive to ability to pay and environmental justice issues where discharge of pollution to waterways occurs and where there is insufficient attention to flood mitigation.