Big Darby Watershed Stream Setbacks
Franklin County planners and the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District drafted an amendment to the Franklin County Zoning Resolution to establish buffer areas around streams in the Big Darby watershed.
The stream setbacks regulation was completed with extensive public and stakeholder input.
Planning Area Boundaries
The regulation applies throughout the unincorporated Franklin County portion of the Big Darby watershed in Brown, Norwich and Pleasant Townships, where our department has jurisdiction.
Final Approval
We held many public meetings and information sessions throughout the process. We visited community groups and township boards of trustees explaining the regulation. The Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved the Big Darby watershed stream setbacks on May 21, 2008.
The commissioners' final action followed approvals by the Franklin County Planning Commission and Franklin County Zoning Commission.
Stream Setbacks Regulation
The regulation is part of the Franklin County Zoning Resolution.
Maps
Accurate data are essential to locating stream setbacks areas. View a watershed-wide map of setback areas or visit our GIS page for real-time, parcel-by-parcel views of the stream setbacks.
Other Documents
We completed the stream setbacks regulation by assembling a large group of stakeholders, proceeding in a public process with extensive dialogue and public transparency.
Model Regulation
We began our process with a model regulation used by the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, an environmental group in northeast Ohio. Using the model regulation as a base document, we customized it according to central Ohio needs and regulatory documents issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Project Management Documents
To develop a successful regulation, we took a project management-based approach to completing the stream setbacks project. We developed documents clearly defining the project's scope, the resources we needed and the schedule we'd follow. These documents were distributed to each stakeholder.