Committee suggests unifying boundaries
Comprehensive plan draft includes concept of same borders for city, school district
HUDSON - Comprehensive plan steering committee members suggested unifying city and school district boundaries after reviewing and updating the 1995 comprehensive plan.
The school district, which includes portions of Boston Heights, Boston Township, Peninsula, Cuyahoga Falls and Stow, has no control over residential growth in those areas, said Director of Community Development Tom King.
"They [the committee] felt the city should speak up about that," he said.
J.C. Benton, of the state department of education, said Ohio is a state of local control.
"We have 612 school districts, and school boundaries are determined by local boards of education," he said.
The boundaries for the Hudson school district were set in 1923, said Sheryl Sheatzley, communications manager for the local district.
"At that point, the district boundaries were outlined and ran around farms," she said.
Sheatzley said approximately 350 homes in the local district are located outside the city limits.
"They don't pay city income tax, but they do pay the school district property tax," she said.
The number of students from Cuyahoga Falls attending Hudson schools could increase over the next five years, if Cuyahoga Falls approves a project at the former Tamsin Park.
Cuyahoga Falls City Council annexed 96.296 acres from Boston Township in December 2003. Approximately 69 acres of the parcel includes the former Tamsin Park, located off Akron-Cleveland Road in Boston Township.
This area falls within the Hudson school district, Sheatzley said.
DiNovi Investment Group and K.T. Partnership LLC purchased the Tamsin Park property and hope to build up to 280 single-family homes there, said Laura DiNovi, of Tamsin Investment Group.
The project still needs approval from Cuyahoga Falls city boards and it could take four to five years for the development to be completed, said Susan Truby, Cuyahoga Falls community development director.
Steering committee chairman Robert Kagler said the city has always supported the schools and felt a responsibility to the district.
"All the schools are in the city, but not all students are in the city," he said. "The city has a handle on growth control [growth management allocation], but we can't control growth in the school district."
Kagler said whether that control is achieved by the city growing or the school district contracting is not specified in the revised comprehensive plan.
Editor's note: Cuyahoga Falls News-Press Editor Phil Keren contributed to this article.
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