The City of New Franklin has been a zoned community since 1957 in order to promote the health, safety, comfort, morals and general welfare of the City.

Zoning is a locally enacted law that regulates and controls the use of private property. It is designed for several reasons:

• To put land to the use for which it is best suited
• To protect or maintain property values
• To promote health and safety
• To provide for more orderly development of the community
• To attract business and industry to a specified area

The Planning and Zoning Department is responsible for reviewing all structural, site and subdivision plans.  This includes all facets of residential, commercial and industrial development within the City.  The Planning and Zoning Department reviews all lot splits, lot combinations and/or lot reconfigurations proposed within the City.

The Planning and Zoning Department is responsible for the enforcement of the Zoning Code, Subdivision Regulations and/or zoning-related City Ordinances.  The Planning and Zoning Department also works within the parameters of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.  The City of New Franklin Zoning Map can be found here.

The City of New Franklin has three Planning and Zoning-related Boards. The first is the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), which consists of five members that proposes and recommends additions, deletions or changes in the Zoning Code or Subdivision Regulations.  The PZC takes action on all rezoning requests and makes all planning and/or zoning-related recommendations to City Council.  The PZC is also responsible for the review and approval of land subdivisions as specified in the Subdivision Regulations.

The second board is the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), which consists of five members, plus an alternate. The BZA is an autonomous quasi-judicial body whose decisions must be appealed to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.  It is empowered to perform five primary tasks:

1. To hear variance requests from specific zoning standards, where, owing to special conditions of the land, literal enforcement of those standards is alleged to cause a hardship to a property owner;
   
2. To hear requests for conditional uses which may or may not be detrimental to surrounding properties;
   
3. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Zoning Administrator or related staff in the enforcement of the Zoning Code;
   
4. To hear requests for changes in non-conforming uses;
   
5. To hear variance requests from the Subdivision Regulations.

The third and final Board is the Property Maintenance Enforcement Board (PMEB), which consists of five members.  The PMEB is an autonomous quasi-judicial body whose decisions must be appealed to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.  The PMEB is empowered to perform three primary tasks:

1. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is an error or disagreement in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Zoning Administrator or related staff in the enforcement of City Ordinances for junk and/or unlicensed motor vehicles, as well as litter and trash violations on public and private property with the City;
2. To ensure that the interest of public health and safety is enforced within the City;
3. To ensure that due process rights of property owners and residents are protected.

Residents considering improvement or alterations to residential, commercial or industrial properties should contact the Planning and Zoning Department at (330) 882-4611, or by email zoning@newfranklin.org to discuss plans and to determine if a permit, or other approval by the City is required.

For Planning-related issues, please contact Mark Kochheiser at (330) 882-4611 or by email at mkochheiser@newfranklin.org.

For Zoning Enforcement issues, please contact Barry Ganoe at (330) 882-4611 or by email at bganoe@newfranklin.org.

Creating a new lot?  Click here.

The Zoning Department is involved in complying with the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Phase 2 Storm Water Management Program. This program, mandated by the federal government, is designed to clean up the nation's rivers, streams and creeks. New Franklin is part of a countywide planning group called "Summit County Communities for Clean Storm Water". Further information on this program can be found here and here.