Hinckley to mail surveys for comprehensive plan

HINCKLEY TWP. — Hinckley residents can soon give the township feedback regarding its comprehensive plan. Trustees Chairman Cindy Engleman said the work related to the comprehensive plan that occurred a few years ago was an audit, while the current effort is a full update of the 2015 comprehensive plan. "(The comprehensive plan) is a guide for policy decisions and for zoning because your text amendments should be flowing from the comprehensive plan, but it's not a mandate at the same time," she said. "It's a guideline." The comprehensive plan gets updated because some parts of the old plan may not be applicable anymore, other parts have been completed and there may be new topics that need to be looked at, Engleman said. "There's been a lot of people moving into Hinckley," she said. "We have different people in the community, and sentiments and priorities may be different, so the plan would be reflective of what those responses are." The township will mail one survey related to the comprehensive plan per household, consistent with what was done in the past, Engleman said. The 35-question survey is expected to be mailed by mid-September. "The comprehensive plan update committee has been working on this for a year," she said. "It has taken them a year to grind through and come up with questions. They started out with over 100 questions and distilled it down." Residents will provide input on the following topics: Business and economic development Community character and appearance Community services and recreation Community values and vision Mobility and infrastructure Land use and development She said the surveys are due back on Oct. 15. Residents can drop their completed survey off at Town Hall at 1410 Ridge Road during office hours, in the drop box outside of Town Hall or by mailing it back to the township. "It's a once-in-a-decade opportunity to provide the township with some feedback as to what's important to you," she said. "In order for us to plan the next 10 years, we want to know what your feelings and sentiments are. It's important, and it only takes five to seven minutes to fill out the survey." When the results come back, the committee will tabulate them and decide what direction the township should go in, she said. The results will be the basis for writing the new plan. "(The committee) is very excited about seeing the responses as well," Engleman said. "These are people who dedicate one night a month plus their own personal time to identify what's important to the community because it's important to them. They're willing to sacrifice a lot of their evenings and help out." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at 330-721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.