Jerome Township Settlement Hits Close to Home

The “Marysville Journal-Tribune” reported on a settlement recently reached by Jerome Township officials on a 100-home development. We found several points very similar to some of the issues in the lawsuit filed by Lifestyle against the City of Worthington. Those comments made in the article stated:

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· “The plaintiffs then filed a lawsuit on Jan. 18, claiming that the township misused the referendum process, as the planned development complied with the Jerome Township zoning resolution and comprehensive plan.”

· "Plaintiffs alleged that through an arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, and unconstitutional scheme, a few organized and vocal individuals in the township have hijacked the zoning process to stop new homes from being built purportedly to keep the township 'rural,' but in reality, want to permanently relegate undeveloped land as open space," according to the agreement.

In comparing this to the Lifestyle lawsuit, one could easily replace “homes” with “apartments” and “open space” with “park” in those sentences.

We believe the recent Jerome Township settlement reinforces the need for the City to start finding a compromise on the development of the site that our residents can be proud of. The City Charter and Vision Plan specifically outline how the UMCH site should be developed. It is expensive to litigate a lawsuit and the City’s resources could be used in a more positive manner that would benefit the community. The unknown outcome of the lawsuit if the City were to lose could have long-term negative consequences for the City that could impact our financial stability for years to come. As we suggested in our “lawsuit explainer” communication and negotiation with the landowner remain key. Email your City Council at council@worthington.org to encourage this proactive communication and keep this out of court.