Members of the Middle East Fork Watershed Planning Partnership are continuing their work to develop a Balanced Growth Land Use Plan for the Middle East Fork Watershed, a sub-watershed of the East Fork Little Miami River located in Clermont County. The Balanced Growth Program is a voluntary and incentive-based program that encourages local governments to prioritize areas for development and conservation, with the aim of balancing future growth and economic development with natural resource protection.
The Partnership, which includes representatives from each Middle East Fork community, along with public and private sector representatives, is working together to identify priority areas for development, conservation, and agriculture. The "Priority Areas" are simply recommendations for those land uses and do not change the underlying zoning or affect property rights. The priority designations simply open up the possibility of utilizing state (and/or local) incentives if jurisdictions and landowners choose to implement the recommended land use.
This locally-led planning process is in its second year and will culminate in January 2012 with a Balanced Growth Plan for the Middle East Fork. The Plan will include a map of priority areas and general recommendations for voluntary implementation of best local land use practices, along with potential local incentives. The Partnership will continue to work together beyond this initial planning process to develop local, optional incentives for Balanced Growth implementation.
For more information, please contact the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District at 513-732-7075 or visit the project website at: http://www.clermontswcd.org/balancedgrowth.aspx.
In This Issue
Sign Up Now!
Want to subscribe to this newsletter? Send us an email at biz@co.clermont.oh.us.