Darby Township (Madison County) – Establishing New Township Zoning
- Adoption dates
- Adopted by Township Trustees: July 2026
- Location
- Madison County, OH
Goal: Darby Township in Madison County lies along the rapidly developing S.R. 161 corridor between Dublin and Plain City, Ohio. This area includes several nearby communities that are annexing land and planning for large-scale future growth. For a primarily agricultural community like Darby, this created concerns about their future destiny.
Starting at Ground Zero
Zoning for Darby Township has historically been governed at the county level. As development pressures increased, the Township recognized the importance of more localized regulations tailored to the vision of their community. Ohio law allows a township to establish zoning from scratch, but it requires the first adopted code to be approved by the electors of the community prior to becoming effective. First, the Township worked with Crossroads to establish a shared vision and future land use map which was presented to residents at a Town Hall meeting and later adopted by the Trustees. This set the stage for the Township to explore its own zoning to align with the adopted vision.
The Work Continues
Through this process, Darby Township and Crossroads began meeting with a number of surrounding communities and governmental agencies. It quickly became clear that there are a number of nearby communities that all have different visions and plans for the 161 corridor. In fact, with so many communities in close proximity, distinct developments may cross several jurisdictions in the area, creating a need for closer collaboration. Holly Mattei teamed up with Planning Next, another planning firm working with area communities, to create a working group to understand the different visions, create communication channels and synchronize plans as much as possible. While this work is ongoing, progress is being made on forming a common vision. As developments have been proposed for the area, the various communities have realized that coordination is crucial to avoid misinformation and mistakes.