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Township experiences major residential and business expansion
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: March 21, 2013
Copley Township is known for its many restaurants and places to shop, and if a controversial proposal goes through a Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club could be part of the scene in the future.
An application submitted to the township’s trustees in March calls for constructing a 288,681-square-foot retail complex on 40 acres of undeveloped property on Rothrock Road.
“This is an idea that has been on the radar for years but now we have the plans before us,” said Helen Humphrys, who has served as trustee since 2004.
The two stores are now located in the Rosemont Commons shopping plaza in Fairlawn. Store officials said the change of location would allow the Walmart to sell groceries and other products and Sam’s Club to offer fuel pumps.
“It is controversial,” said Humphrys. “The city and the landlord for the current Walmart and Sam’s Club are fighting the move.”
Fairlawn officials have begun attempts to cut off access to Rothrock Road and the property where the stores would be built, arguing that they are trying to maintain the residential integrity against shoppers who will flood the road.
“Several lawsuits are on file with concerns ranging from environmental, traffic and the devaluation of housing stock in Fairlawn in the area bordering the eastern side of Rothrock Road,” said Humphrys.
“The zoning has been in place since 1989. The housing subdivision did not begin construction until 1994. The EPA has already approved the plan and a traffic study has been done.”
Should the retail complex become a reality, the stores would be among Copley Township’s top employers.
Right now the largest employer in Copley is Roadway Express, followed by The Home Depot, and the Copley-Fairlawn City School District. In addition The Babcock & Wilcox Company, J. C. Penney, Best Buy, the township itself, Montrose Ford, Bob Evans, Downing Enterprises and Levin Furniture provide a large number of jobs.
Some of the township’s large manufacturers are the Dow Corning company, Multibase, and Akron Dispersions on Sawmill Road.
The township shares a joint economic development district with Akron, which consists of about 1,600 acres of business-zoned property in the township, including areas along Copley, S. Cleveland-Massillon, Jacoby, Ridgewood and Rothrock roads.
The JEDD took effect in 1995, levying a 2 percent income tax on employees and businesses at the time. Today the tax rate is 2.25 percent.
“We receive a small percent of the income tax from the JEDD,” said Humphrys. “Since 2005 I would say we received about $1.2 million, which we use to help facilitate sewer and water to areas that need it.”
The township has undergone a major population growth in recent years. Initially part of the Western Reserve Territory purchased in 1807 by William Gardiner and Elizabeth Greene, Copley became a township on July 15, 1819. It was named after William Gardiner’s wife, Elizabeth, who was the daughter of John Singleton Copley, a famous artist of the period.
Copley Township became a part of Summit County in 1840 and was primarily an agricultural area for years.
“When I moved here in 1972 there were about 15,000 people including Fairlawn,” said Humphrys. “Fairlawn used to be part of Copley and when it legally separated its political boundary in 1982, we had a population of about 10,000. Today there are about 17,000 residents and our commercial area along State Route 18 on the south side of Montrose has expanded greatly.
“We have gone from being a small to an urban township,” Humphrys said. “When I started as clerk-treasurer in 1982 our budget was $3 million; today it is $21 million.”
Humphrys said the population is also very diverse and “everyone gets along with one another.”
“We have a large variety of housing, everything from affordable single-family homes to multi-family units and upper-scale developments,” said longtime trustee Dale Panovich.
“There are still rural areas where people have farms with large acreage in the southern portion of the township.
“One thing that I would say is unique is that children move back here when they are ready to raise their families so their kids can go to the Copley schools as they did,” said Panovich, who moved to the township from Chicago about 39 years ago.
The bulk of the township is within the Copley-Fairlawn City School District but small portions are located in the Highland, Revere or Akron school districts, all of which are highly rated.
Humphrys said the township has increased its service over the years. In addition to full-time police, fire, service and zoning departments there is also a recycling program.
“We started our curbside recycling operation in 1990,” said Humphrys. “We were the first township in the state to do so.
“We have increased our services to seniors. We offer free snow plowing to anyone 65 or older or anyone disabled,” said Humphrys. “We use the money we receive from the cable franchise from Time Warner New York to pay for it. We also use the franchise fees to cover the summer bandstand festival and for other charitable events.”
Humphrys credits Fiscal Officer, Janice Marshall, for running a “tight ship” that helped the township to avoid employee layoffs or service cuts during the downturn.
“We rely primarily on property taxes since there is no income tax except what we receive from the JEDD,” said Marshall. “When we prepare a budget we only anticipate receiving 85 percent of our potential revenue and we spend within this limit.
“As a result we were not in crisis mode during the downturn. We did have to pick and choose what we spent our money on more carefully since we did receive funding cuts from the state and federal government.”
Marshall said employees have not received raises for two years but they did get bonuses and they were asked to pick up more of their health care benefit costs.
Humphrys said there were about eight foreclosures and the township is receiving Moving Ohio Forward demolition money to take down the properties.
“The property owners can sell the land,” said Humphrys. “Six are right next door to the Stonecreek housing subdivision and a developer can use the land to build new homes.”
The township does have shared services agreements in place to help control costs, including joint dispatch services with Norton and Barberton.
“We provide all the dispatch for all three communities,” said Humphrys. “We have been doing so for three years with Norton, and in 2013 we brought Barberton on board. It is a real money saver.”
Copley also has a shared fire station operation with neighboring Bath Township, whereby each one provides a response vehicle, ambulance and fire engine. The two communities developed a joint-hiring staffing model and they share operational costs, but the budgets for each township are maintained separately.
In addition, the township and school district share a joint fueling location at Copley-Fairlawn Middle School’s bus garage.
There have been a number of recent additions to the business scene, including Gordon Food Service, which opened in March next to Best Buy on Rothrock Road. The company is a foodservice distributor for restaurants, health care institutions and other businesses.
“Residents can also buy products at the store but they are sold in large quantities,” Humphrys said.
“Conrad’s Tire Express is also under construction and is expected to open this summer.”
In 2012, Copley Township became the home of Akron General’s Gamma Knife Center, which shares space with the Center for Neuro and Spine on S. Cleveland-Massillon Road. The center offers an alternative to the traditional surgical tools used to treat cancerous brain tumors, pituitary tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders like tremors and facial pain.
Panovich said the township has two well-known veterinary hospitals, Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital, located on S. Cleveland-Massillon Rd., and Akron Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center on Centerview Circle.
The township has about nine motels and or hotels and Humphrys said the restaurant options are endless, ranging from national chains to longtime businesses like Rizzi’s Pizza on Copley Road and newer additions like Steak on a Stone on Montrose West Ave.
“Rizzi’s has been here for about 50 years,” said Humphrys.
Panovich said one of the more unusual restaurants is Shisler’s Cheese House on S. Cleveland-Massillon Road, which sells Amish cheese and sausage, wine, and gift baskets but also has seating for patrons.
“Everything is freshly made,” said Panovich. “There is one here and one in Orrville.”
“We also have many unique craft stores where artists can sell their works as well as furniture stores and other retail outlets,” Panovich said.
The township is surrounded by Summit County Metro Parks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park is nearby.
Copley Community Park spans 64-acres and includes playground facilities, ball fields, picnic pavilions, trails, ponds and streams.
“The land was donated by a Minnesota mining and manufacturing company years ago,” said Humphrys. “We have over 20,000 visitors who use our ball fields.
“There is a pool at the high school that residents can use when it’s available and we are creating trails and greenways along Wolf and Pigeon Creeks.”
“Copley Circle is considered the center of town,” said Panovich. “That’s where we have our summer concerts and our annual Heritage Day celebration in August.”
Humphrys also serves as secretary/curator of the Copley Township Historical Society which was formed as a result of efforts to preserve the old railroad depot, which is now located on Copley Road just west of the cemetery. The restored depot and its adjacent restored caboose now serve as the center for the society, which has about 50 members.
“The depot was built in 1891 and the restored building is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Our town hall is not on the register because we remodeled the inside but it was built in 1903, and served as the first centralized school system in the state of Ohio,” Humphrys said.
”My goal is to see what we have here today be here 20 years from now so that future generations can enjoy it,” said Humphrys.
“We want to promote sustainability. The township takes environmental issues very seriously. Right now Copley has something for everyone.”
“We’re looking closely at our zoning,” said Panovich. “We want to keep our rural areas from being developed and keep commercial and industrial growth in check to help preserve the quality of life in the township.”