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HISTORY
Granville
Township is a political subdivision of the State of Ohio.
According to Bushnell's "History of Granville" the
township was chartered in 1806, while a part of Fairfield
County. Like all townships in Ohio, it has four
elected officials consisting of three trustees and a
fiscal officer. Each official is elected to a four-year term.
Elections occur in odd-numbered years, and two officials
are elected or re-elected every other year.
The
Township officials govern the unincorporated area of the
Township covering an area of approximately 13,300 acres,
with a population of approximately 4,500. The Village of
Granville is located within the Township and comprises the
incorporated area of the Township, but it is operated
under a separate governance.
The
primary source of revenue for the Township is property
taxes voted by the voters and levied for specific
purposes. Road maintenance levies are paid only by
residents of the unincorporated area and provide
maintenance funds for 73.4 lane miles of
township roads.
Fire Department, Recreation Commission, cemetery operating
and open space (green space) preservation levies are voted
on and paid by residents of both the incorporated and
unincorporated areas of the Township.
The Trustees provide approximately one-quarter of the
cemetery levy money to a Union Cemetery (the Old Colony
Burying Ground) jointly operated by the Township and the
Village. The remainder of the funds are used by the
Township for the operation of the Maple Grove and Philipps
cemeteries.
Granville
Township is one of the few townships in Ohio to have
passed Open Space levies for the purpose of raising money
to acquire title to developable property or alternatively
to acquire the development rights to property with the
plan to leave it as open space. The Township has two
levies raising money for the acquisition of open space and
combines this money with general fund money to make
property acquisitions.
The
Trustees established committees consisting of both Village
and Township residents to make recommendations for
possible acquisitions. To date, the Township has purchased
parcels totaling approximately 419 acres (also using
General Fund money) including
purchases in the Village of the front one-half the
lawn area of the Bryn Du Mansion and three building lots
along the north side of West Broadway. The Township has
also purchased conservation easements, designed to limit
development, on another 601 acres. There are other property negotiations underway. It
is hoped that acquisition of property and development
rights will help to limit development within the Granville
community. To see a chart of new dwelling permits
issued in the unincorporated area of the Township since 1990
click here.
The
Board of Trustees normally meet on the
second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, except for
months when the second meeting of the
month has been canceled. Click on the Township
Meeting Updates and Next Township Meeting Agenda caption
along the right side of this page for further information
on Township meetings. Granville
Township has had zoning since 1967. To review the
current Township Zoning Resolution
click here. The Township Zoning
Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals meet on an ad
hoc basis.
Revised 11/29/10
Note:
In late 2010 the Board of Township Trustees engaged
the services of a consulting engineering firm to study possible
locations for a new fire station based upon distribution of emergency
runs and future needs. The study was expanded to cover the
possible creation of a Public Safety Complex to include the Village of
Granville Police Department.
Click
here to link to a copy of this study which has just been released.
The study is a 4MB file which may take a short period of time to
download.
4/9/11
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