The Ohio Planners News | Spring 2024

OHIO NEEDS HOUSING

CALL for SESSIONS

FIRST WORD

Eric Anderson, AICP

HELLO OHIO PLANNERS!

I hope many of you were able to participate in APA’s National Planning Conference (NPC) recently! Equitable access to housing, zoning reform and inclusive planning and design were key themes for the event. I left inspired and ready to approach my work under a new lens. If you’ve never attended, consider joining next year in-person or online. It’s quite an experience and worth attending for the great networking and education opportunities.

CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

2024 Trend Report for Planners – The 2024 Trend Report features a list of over 100 existing, emerging, and potential future trends that the APA team identified as relevant to planning. Learn more at planning.org/publications/document/9284143

2024 Policy Priority – Zoning Reform. As the housing supply crisis grows to nearly 4 million homes, planners are key to identifying and advancing local solutions through reforms that increase housing supply, choice, and affordability and availability in our communities. View the document at planning.org/policy/priorities

PAS Memo: More and Better: Increasing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Planning –Urban planners carry an important responsibility to society and communities. They influence how space is used and ultimately experienced. Those designs are not always equitable and inclusive, however. Entrenched institutional and structural forces that stretch far beyond planning have made one’s place of residence just as important as education, income, and family background to quality of life. To read more, visit: planning. org/pas/memo/2019/may

UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Visit ohioplanning.org/calendar for more details.

Northeast Ohio Planning & Zoning Workshop | June 28, 2024

Ohio Kentucky Indiana (OKI) Planning Conference | November 20-22, 2024

Central Ohio Planning & Zoning Workshop | Early Fall

Northwest Ohio Planning & Zoning Workshop | Late Fall

Miami Valley Planning & Zoning Workshop | December 6, 2024

COMING SOON! APA Ohio / OEDA Joint Webinar Series

COMING SOON! APA Ohio Planners Advocacy Days | This Summer

Planning Webcast Series – Don’t forget you have access to weekly LIVE content almost every Friday afternoon. Earn over 50 AICP CM credits each year online for FREE! Ondemand webcasts are also available for your convenience. View the upcoming schedule at ohioplanning.org/planningwebcast

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at any time to learn more about how APA can help you as a planner in Ohio. Eric Anderson, AICP, is the Director of Planning Services at KZF Design in Cincinnati and APA Ohio President. He can be reached at eric.anderson@kzf.com.

APA OHIO PDO OFFICE HOURS

APA Ohio chapter members can now schedule a meeting with the APA Ohio Professional Development Officer (PDO) Kimberly Burton, AICP to discuss career and professional development related questions, goals and challenges. Use the QR code below to schedule your meeting today!

TOPICS

Enabling Legislation in Ohio

The Role of Citizen Planners in Land Use Decisions

Ethics and Equity

Meeting Management

Comprehensive Planning

Zoning

Subdivision Regulations

Design Review

Transportation Planning

Infrastructure Planning

Environmental Planning

Planning Across other Fields

www.ohioplanning.org/gtpo

MEMBER SHOUT OUTS

2024 FAICP INDUCTION

APA Ohio Members are making moves! Congratulations to Christopher Hermann, FAICP, for his recent induction to the Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners! We are so proud of you!

Chris Hermann has spent thirty years serving as a planner for multiple jurisdictions then growing the planning studio of a private firm from two to thirty planners while managing several hundred planning projects, including more than 15 that have won local, state, and national awards.

When there is an important planning project in Ohio or beyond, Chris is often called for his expertise in making communities better. This includes planning caps across interstates, leading Downtown master planning efforts, building multi-jurisdictional accords, advancing transit oriented development, envisioning new walkable town centers, and creating the conditions to attract mega-employers like Intel.

Induction as a Fellow (FAICP) is the highest honor that the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) bestows upon a member. APA Ohio is proud to have over twenty one FAICP members within our Chapter membership!

Learn more about all of APA Ohio's Fellows at www.ohioplanning.org/faicp

APA OHIO SECTION NEWS

One of the benefits to joining APA Ohio is access to the activities and programs coordinated and sponsored by the chapter's various sections. Sections regularly meet to network, socialize and provide professional development opportunities such as planning and zoning workshops.

There are five (5) sections of APA Ohio that provide their own localized programs and training opportunities as well as working with the state on our statewide conferences that rotate through most of the major cities.

Sections form based on interest and concentration of planners. Not all portions of Ohio are technically covered by the five (5) sections, however all are welcome to any section events. The five (5) current sections are:

• Central Ohio (Columbus metro)

• Cincinnati

• Cleveland

• Miami Valley (Dayton metro)

• Northwest Ohio (Toledo metro)

Each section has their own officers and bylaws and the director of each section, or their designee, has a seat on the Board of Trustees. Upon registration, each member is automatically designated a Section in which to belong.

NEW SECTION LEADERSHIP

APA CLEVELAND AND APA CENTRAL OHIO

The new year brought new leadership for two APA Ohio Sections. Both APA Cleveland and APA Central Ohio held elections for their local boards and updated their section bylaws. Interested in volunteering with a Section? Opportunities are always available! Volunteer opportunities are available within all sections! To learn more, visit www.ohioplanning.org/sections.

APA CLEVELAND

Amy Snell Yost, AICP

Section Director

Transit Project Manager

HDR

Patrick Hewitt, AICP

Section Vice Director, Professional Development Planning Manager

Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

Shneur Kushner

Section Vice Director, Professional Development Special Projects Officer

Slavic Village

Krysta Pesarchick, AICP

Treasurer

City Planner / Urban Designer City Architecture

Arthur Schmidt IV

Immediate Past Director Principal Planner OHM Advisors

Kimberly Lieber, AICP

Section At-Large Member Planning and Development Director City of North Ridgeville

Laura Mendez Ortiz, AICP

Section At-Large Member Planner

Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

Nicholas Miller, AICP

Section At-Large Member Planner III

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Cameron Roberts, AICP

Section At-Large Member

Associate Director of Transportation University Circle, Inc.

APA CENTRAL OHIO

Sierra Saumenig, AICP

Section Director Planner I

City of New Albany

Sayee Mudholkar, AICP

Section Vice Director

Associate Urban Planner/Designer nbbj

Scott Ulrich, AICP Treasurer

Healthy Places Program Director Columbus Public Health

Marcus Duemmel

Section Vice-Chair, Social Events Planner

Franklin County

Jalen Miller

Section Vice-Chair, Planning & Zoning Workshop Principal Planner OHM Advisors

Adam Frierson

Section At-Large Member Assistant Planner

City of Columbus

Anna Kelsey

Section At-Large Member Planning and Zoning Administrator

City of Delaware

Christopher Will, AICP

Section At-Large Member Planner

City of Dublin

APA OHIO

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

The Legislative Committee is one of many committees within OHAPA membership that strives to assist our membership in being aware of state legislation that affects the work we do. We monitor legislation for our membership, assist the APA Ohio Board of Trustees in advocacy strategy and we meet monthly to discuss and work toward our annual work plan. We have some exciting updates and engagement opportunities to share with the membership!

Senate Select Committee on Housing

In 2023, the Ohio Senate created a committee that held 5 regional hearings around the state on the topic of housing. The committee is led by Senator Michelle Reynolds. In February, our APA Ohio Legislative Committee Co-Chairs, Emily Canan and Sam Perry were able to meet with Senator Reynolds on behalf of APA Ohio. APA Ohio was invited to participate in commenting and drafting legislation, which has yet to formally happen. In April, the Senate committee produced a 94-page

report called “Housing Re-Imagined” which included 23 recommendations. Also in April, four bills were introduced. We expect more bills to be coming and that the process for housing and zoning reform will take many months. For planners that are new to the housing crisis, we recommend that planners read Senator Blessing’s comments which start on page 26 of the Housing ReImagined Report, published on April 17. We will be updating Ohio planners on engagement and advocacy opportunities. In the meantime, we ask that planners contact the

legislators representing their area and let them know your position on housing and zoning issues. Below are the newly introduced bills:

• SB243: Address Zoning Regulations (this is a placeholder bill with no proposed changes at the moment)

• SB244: Property Tax – Residential Stability Zones (authorizes local governments to create residential stability zones where homeowners may qualify for a partial property tax exemption)

• SB245: Revise ORC – Housing Laws (makes changes to the law

governing evictions, real estate representation agreements, residential building code enforcement, and real property transfers)

• SB246: Department of Housing and Development (renames the Department of Development)

Support from APA National

We are excited to report that APA National has selected the Ohio chapter to be a strategic focus in 2024. APA National is now providing monthly guidance to our Executive Director and Legislative Committee Co-Chairs. This guidance gives us access to oneon-one advice for our wunique needs with legislative efforts in Ohio. APA National is solely focused on the housing crisis and has made it

clear to us that we will be seeing that message on all of their channels. Through this focused support we are able to learn about what has worked for other states to advance legislation that aligns with planning principles. We encourage planners to review the newly published Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook.

Representation in Columbus

We are excited to report a formal partnership with the Greater Ohio Policy Center. Staff member Jason Warner has been attending our committee meetings for the past year. APA Ohio is a staff of one with many volunteers serving in

various capacities. It became clear to our Committee and the Board of Trustees that in order to improve our visibility with the Ohio Legislature, we needed assistance in monitoring Capital Square. In April, the Board approved $3,500 through the end of 2024 to be used to obtain regular updates that are pertinent to the planning profession. We are grateful for this new partnership and believe it aligns well with recent housing and zoning reform efforts in our state. Be on the lookout for engagement and advocacy opportunities that come about as a result of this new partnership. However, planners are still encouraged to take their own initiative in reaching out to legislators.

Statehouse Days

This year, APA Ohio is transforming “Statehouse Day” to a local Planners’ Advocacy Day. In collaboration with each of the APA Ohio Sections, there will be five events in late summer aimed at facilitating meaningful inperson engagement between APA Ohio members and state legislators. Each event will be tailored to its respective section of the state and will bring planning issues directly to elected officials in their districts. Participants will be able to learn more about APA Ohio’s policy platform and advocate for our top priorities, including zoning reform. If you are nervous about engaging with a legislator or are not sure what to say or write, this is for you! Be on the lookout for dates and locations.

A Guide to Planning in Ohio

If you did not hear the news at the end of 2023, now you have! The second edition of A Guide to Planning in Ohio is now in print and available to purchase for $35.00. This publication would not be possible without the expertise of 30 authors and the tireless efforts of our Executive Director, Christine DersiDavis.

Committee Participation

If you are looking for a way to contribute to the planning profession and if you enjoy learning how public policy changes impact Ohio communities, this committee may be for you. Politics can be messy, but can also be fun. We learn that politicians are people too, and have committed to serving the public. It is a unique time to be in the planning profession when there are critical issues like housing affordability, facing us. We have expertise to offer our elected officials even if they are not fully aware yet. We have tasks to be assigned and engagement opportunities to volunteer for. An added benefit is that when you attend the next in-person conference, you automatically have a new group of friends to meet. Reach out to Emily or Sam if interested in learning more.

Learn more at www.ohioplanning.org/policy

Sam Perry, AICP is the Director of Community Development for City of Oxford, Ohio and Chair of the APA Ohio Legislative Committee. He can be reached at sperry@cityofoxford.org

The APA Ohio sponsorship program is chock-full of opportunities to support APA Ohio and our Sections while showing off your brand and what you believe in. Best of all, we've got an introductory rate.

100% of sponsorship dollars goes right back into our organization. Support from organizations like you allow us to continue providing quality professional development and networking opportunities to planners across Ohio along with advocating at the state and federal level for issues important to Ohioans.

Questions? Email Christine Davis at info@ohioplanning.org. www.ohioplanning.org/sponsor

UPCOMING EVENTS

Visit ohioplanning.org/calendar for all upcoming events and more information.

JUNE

May 1 - 31, 2024

Spring 2024 AICP Certification Cycle Exam (Step 2)

May 31, 2024 Planning, Preservation and Change Planning Webcast Series

May 31, 2024

APA Cleveland Design Cruise Line E 9 Street Pier @ 5:30 pm

JULY

June 3 - 27, 2024

Spring 2024 AICP Certification Cycle Experience (Step 3)

June 6, 2024

Dangerous by Design: Pedestrian Safety Crisis Smart Growth Webinar Series

June 21, 2024

Take Me to the Ballgame: Connecting Stadiums to Communities Planning Webcast Series

June 28, 2024

2024 Northeast Ohio Planning and Zoning Workshop Willoughby Hills, Ohio

June 28, 2024

Digital Tools for Water and Land Education Planning Webcast Series

Comprehensive

Public

Economic

Land

Transportation

Codes

Parks and waterfronts

Community engagement

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