EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series looking at what Lake County communities, agencies and school districts experienced in 2024 and what is facing them in 2025. Painesville Township continued to grow in 2024. According to township trustees Chuck Hillier and Josh Pennock, 64 new houses were built in the township in 2024. They expect to see a number close to that built again next year. “We’ve worked to address the impact on our roadways, storm water infrastructure, sanitary sewer capacity and of course the local school district,” the trustees wrote. The developers of Villages at Casement plan to add many more houses in the next couple of decades. A preliminary plan approved by the trustees in August 2023 allows for up to 1,776 residential units and a new town center on 395 acres of land east of the Grand River, west of Bowhall Road and north of Madison Avenue in the eastern part of the township. The trustees wrote that they worked this year to review the effects the development will have on the township. Road construction for the development is expected to start in 2025, though home construction likely will not start until at least 2026. “After the development is completely built out in roughly 15-20 years, the township will experience an increase in population by roughly 20 percent,” they wrote. “That’s a significant increase and thus we’ve worked hard to ensure the proposed development will not only benefit our community, but also will not exceed our capabilities to provide the necessary services. “Through research and much dialogue, we believe we have those bases covered, and the Casement development will ultimately be an asset to our future providing affordable housing in upscale neighborhoods,” they added. “In addition, it will provide our community with a public park full of amenities and unlike anything currently in Painesville Twp.” Hillier and Pennock added that the township is working with the Riverside School District on a tax increment financing district for the Villages at Casement. They anticipate voting on the proposal in the first three months of 2025. “One of the essential points of consideration was to ensure no financial hardships were placed upon the school district, and to that end, we’ve ensured the school district will experience an increase in funding and be ‘maintained whole’ in terms of those finances in relation to the Casement development,” they added. The trustees said that the township also worked to service its existing roads this year, including “major rehabilitation,” resurfacing and concrete replacement projects. Next year, the township plans to complete about a mile of asphalt road work, concrete replacements on roads in the Heatherstone development and other concrete repairs. “As construction costs continue to rise, we are continually looking for ways to leverage and stretch the available tax dollars we have to spend on these improvements,” they said. The township will receive more funding in the coming years after changes to Lake County’s local government funding formula were approved this summer. Hillier and Pennock said that if state officials do not cut local government funding, the township will receive approximately $3.8 million more over the next 10 years than it would have under the old funding formula. Painesville Township also received federal and state grant funding for projects this year. The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded it and neighboring communities around $400,000 for new fire department radios, while the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency awarded $75,000 for a new brine maker. Painesville Township also saw staffing changes in 2024. Sean Ischay was promoted to planning and zoning director effective Aug. 1, replacing Harley DeLeon. The township fire department swore in three captains in May, with each captain heading up one of the township’s three fire stations and one of its three shifts. The trustees also took actions to regulate zoning and businesses, including: • A one-year moratorium on new tobacco and vape shops, which was passed in August. The resolution cited concerns “that such business may result in opportunities for engaging in sales of drug paraphernalia and/or other related illegal products.” • A one-year moratorium on new massage parlors, which was passed in October after a human trafficking task force searched the township’s three massage parlors. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said that all three were closed afterwards. • New regulations on marijuana businesses, which were approved in July. The township will allow a maximum of two adult-use recreational marijuana businesses, including the existing Bloom Medicinals dispensary. The trustees also approved a memorandum of understanding with parties including marijuana facility operator Buckeye Relief LLC. • Changes to the township’s zoning resolution. One change allows single-family lots in the township’s R4 multi-family housing districts, and the other increases the minimum acreage required for future flexible planned unit developments. • A new exterior property maintenance code, which was approved in June. Hillier and Pennock said that it will allow for more enforceability of zoning violations, change some violations from criminal to civil cases and set up new minimum requirements and standards. The township also opened new pickleball courts at Clyde C. Hadden Park and worked to install a new playground at Hadden Park and a new swingset at Angelo Cicconetti Memorial Park. Construction crews also worked on building a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 2168 Mentor Ave. The restaurant was not open as of publication time.