RITA, Cannabis, Rt. 91 Reconstruction on Council Agenda

Public Hearing on 7/18 seeks input on Social Gathering Venues

7/18 STORY UPDATE: Shortly after 2 pm today, the City of Stow issued a press release announcing that Director of Finance Kelly Toppin had decided to withdraw the proposed ordinance to outsource Stow's tax collection to RITA. Rather, according to the release, "the department will seek City Council's approval to augment and enhance the staffing within the Income Tax Department. This proactive approach aims to maintain high customer service standards and ensure comprehensive and efficient tax collection efforts."

Read the full release here. Below is the original Stow Sunshine Project story published on 7/17/24 in advance of the City Council's 7/18 meeting.

On Thursday, July 18, Stow City Council will discuss several topics that could have a big impact on Stow residents.

The city will continue its discussion on whether to outsource its tax collection services beginning in 2025 to RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency), which is the largest municipal income tax administrator in Ohio, serving more than 50% of the state’s municipalities. Finance Director Kelly Toppin proposed the change at council’s June 27 meeting, citing concerns that the city’s tax department had become severely understaffed for the volume of returns it is required to process.

See Toppin’s memo to council.

The proposal would maintain a small tax department in Stow to help resolve issues for Stow residents, but the bulk of the work, including following up with delinquent taxpayers, would be assumed by RITA.

Toppin said that the city did not have the staffing to follow up on delinquent taxpayers and had not chased delinquent taxes in some time. He said the city had made cuts to its staff in 2010 out of economic necessity following the recession of 2008, and had never adjusted the size of the staff as the city and its tax base grew larger. The tipping point was the resignation of an employee in April, leaving the tax department with a tax supervisor and one full-time staff member with one full-time position vacant.

By comparison, neighboring cities that continue to manage their own tax collections have significantly larger teams. Green has five full-time employees, Fairlawn has four full-time employees and Cuyahoga Falls, which switched to RITA in 2019, had five full-time employees prior to the change. Green has a population of approximately 27,000, while Fairlawn’s population is 7,682 and Cuyahoga Falls’ population is more than 50,000. Stow’s population is approximately 34,000.

City Council President Cyle Feldman and Councilman At-Large Jeremy McIntire expressed concerns about whether RITA would provide the level of customer service to which Stow residents were accustomed and the volume of negative reviews the organization receives online.

“They get terrible reviews about customer service,” Feldman said.

Ward 3 Councilman John Baranek, who served as the city’s finance director for 24 years before becoming term limited, said that although there would be cost savings by going with RITA, one consideration for council is that “once we change, what’s gonna happen is RITA’s not gonna hear the complaints. People are gonna come here and complain. So, really that’s what we have to think about.”

At the same time, Baranek said there is an inevitability to this kind of move. “When you look at the economics of it, eventually, the route that we are looking at is everybody moving toward a central collection agency because that’s what Columbus wants, the federal government wants, because they can more or less control the flow of funds.”

Ward 1 Councilman Matt Riehl said he called income tax professionals operating in Stow and overwhelmingly they gave bad reviews of the organization, citing issues with phone calls not being returned and not being able to speak with the same person each time when trying to resolve an issue. He said his informal survey found that tax professionals disliked working with RITA but “love working with Stow’s tax department.”

View council's June 27 discussion of the RITA proposal.

In preparation for the July 18 discussion, Toppin prepared a detailed Q&A to guide the discussion. Read the memo here.

Residents who would like to offer their input on whether the city should adopt the proposal to partner with RITA or fund additional staffing for the tax department are invited to attend the Council of the Whole meeting July 18 at 6 pm in council chambers.

A Community Discussion on Cannabis & Vape Shops

Following a June 18 Stow Sunshine Project meeting during which Council President Feldman led a discussion about whether the city should allow the sale of cannabis products in the city, the full City Council will have its own discussion on the topic.

At issue is how the city should respond to the passing of Issue 2, which made growing, selling and use of marijuana legal in Ohio. The city previously passed a moratorium on the sale of medical-use marijuana in Stow. That law would have to be revisited if the city were to allow the sale of recreational marijuana.

However, vape shops in the city have been able to sell a hemp-based THC product, Delta-8, that also is intoxicating. See this story on Delta 8 for background.

Feldman, who also serves as the athletic director at Stow-Munroe Falls High School, has expressed concerns about the availability of marijuana, Delta 8 and the sale of illegal flavored vape pens, which are typically marketed to children and teens.

Attend the Council of the Whole meeting on July 18 at 6 pm to voice your opinion on the topic. The discussion is set to follow the council’s discussion of RITA.

Public Hearing on Social Gathering Venues

City Council will hold a public hearing at 5 pm on Thursday, July 18 in council chambers to hear feedback on legislation to allow “social gathering venues” in residential neighborhoods in Stow.

The proposed legislation, initially was written to accommodate the request of Stow residents Stephen and Deana Cheatwood to use their property at 3691 Hudson Dr. Ext. to host weddings and other events. The Cheatwoods built two cabins and a gazebo on their 1.19 acre lot located near the Heron Springs apartment complex off Hudson Drive.

On June 13, City Council approved the use of the facility for overnight guests under the city’s zoning code for boarding houses. See background and detail on this approved application.

The legislation for which the council is holding a public meeting would enable the Cheatwoods to rent their property for parties and other events. The legislation would allow similar uses in other Stow neighborhoods in the future. The legislation would impact the 78% of properties in the city zoned as R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-B, but would only apply to lots that are 1 acre or more in size.

While the Planning Commission and City Council approved the Cheatwoods property for use as a boarding house, there is some discrepancy over the zoning language and requirements in the proposed social gathering venue legislation related to parking space requirements and fire code provisions. The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to reject the proposed legislation. City Council must have at least a 5-2 vote in order to overturn the Planning Commission’s recommendation.

The Planning Commission is a body of five unelected Stow residents appointed by the mayor and approved by council.

Rt. 91 Reconstruction Will Require Property Acquisitions

Plans to rebuild Darrow Road between Kent Road and Fishcreek will require the acquisition of 15 parcels of private land for the addition of new signal equipment and sidewalks.

Stow Transportation Engineer James McCleary provided council with a detailed memo requesting approval to acquire the property. In his memo, McCleary said approval was needed to “finalize all the plans, specifications and engineering for the Darrow Road reconstruction project.”

Roosters banned in Stow

After voting down a proposed amendment that would have allowed roosters on properties of at least 4 acres, City Council passed a citywide ban on roosters on a 7-0 vote on June 27.

While the ordinance forbids anyone in Stow from owning a rooster, enforcement of the law would be done only when the city received complaints.

Ward 2 Councilwoman Kelly Coffey had proposed the amendment to allow roosters on larger properties, citing small family farms in her ward where there had been no complaints. Her amendment failed on a 3-4 vote, with Councilmen Herman and Baranek joining Coffey in favor. Councilmen Feldman, McIntire, Riehl and Fiocca voted against.

After the amendment failed, the council voted unanimously to pass the ban.

Stow Community Center Update

City Council approved on a 7-0 vote an ordinance to allow the conditional use of the new Senior & Community Center on Fishcreek Rd.

Stow Planning Director Zach Cowan updated council on some of the updates that are in progress or planned and addressed prior concerns about the facility holding concerts or offering outdoor recreation.

He said that no loudspeakers are being installed on the property, no outdoor activities are proposed and that the lighting and landscaping around the property would be done in a way to shield it from view of neighboring properties.

Summit County Re-Works Expansion

Summit/Akron Solid Waste Management requested approval of zoning variances to allow the facility to be expanded to add a 10,000-sq.-ft. collection building and a 15,000-sq.-ft. administrative building.

The variances requested involved:

The required “front-yard” setback; the property’s front yard is considered to be the Rt. 8 highway.
Requests regarding the landscaping and required parking spaces.

The site plan ordinance was approved by City Council on a 7-0 vote.

Planning Department Report

Stow Planning Director Zach Cowan provided the council with a status report on various projects in the city, including:

Community Survey for the Planning & Zoning Code Rewrite: as of June 27, the city had received 193 responses to the survey, which Cowan reported was considered a higher response than what the consultant said they typically see from other communities. The city is continuing to seek resident input. Fill out the survey here.
Dick’s Sporting Goods: the project to build on the site of the former Macy’s department store on Kent Rd. is expected to begin construction in August.
Stow-Kent Bowling Center: the city is working with the new owner to get a plan moving forward and has issued citations for unsightly debris being left on the property. The project has stalled because of several issues, including the original design calling for pavilions and fire pits being built on top of the easement for a large gas pipeline.
Nursing home on Kent Rd.: Building permit was granted on June 13 for a new nursing home on the site of the former Stow-Glen Nursing Home. The property was split into two plots last year and plans for the former assisted-living facility call for it to be converted to apartments.
Suncrest Gardens: The landscaping company is still working on plans to move to Stow.
Library: The Stow-Munroe Falls Library’s parking lot project has been completed, but there is still some landscaping work to be done.
Fogg: The builder of industrial buildings along Seasons Rd. has started construction on its seventh building.

Mark your calendars!

The next Stow Sunshine Project club meeting will be August 19 at 7 pm in the Safety Building community room. Police Chief Jeff Film will be the featured speaker and will discuss a number of topics, including: