Numbers from a Columbus-based strategy group show a picture of growth that may be more moderate than residents think.
Eric Phillips, the economic development director for both Union County and the City of Marysville told county officials recently that data from One Columbus, an economic development organization, shows a much less substantial growth rate for the area.
He said in the last 13 years, the annualized growth rate in Marysville was only 1.3% and 3.3% in the county overall.
One Columbus broke the numbers down by county and city. The county overall saw its most growth between 2010 and 2023 but each prior decade varied slightly.
“Between 2000 and 2010 it was 2.4%. Then between 2010 and 2020, it was 1.9%,” Phillips said. “And then the first three years of this decade, our annualized growth rate is about 3.3%.”
He said the area has been growing about 1,000 people a year for the last 20 years and it has only gone up in the county noticeably when 2020 to 2023 is factored in. Looking back 30 years, the numbers were lower showing between 1990 and 2000, the annual growth rate each year was 2.6%.
“So when you look at those figures I think it tells you a little bit more about the growth,” Phillips added. “It’s not as substantial as some might think it is.”
Marysville, he said, is a slightly different picture but even so, the city has higher percentages of growth in the past.
“In Marysville, it’s even more interesting. If you look between 1990 and 2000, the annualized growth rate was 5.1%. Between 2000 and 2010, it was 3.4% and then between 2010 and 2020 it was only 1.3% growth in Marysville. So, it’s all relative when you look at these numbers,” Phillips said. “A 1.3% from a Marysville perspective and 3% from a county perspective is not substantial growth, it’s sustainable growth going forward. And I just think it’s interesting data when you look at it that way from an annualized perspective.”
He said much of the growth in recent years has been residential growth in Jerome Township. Marysville’s highest percentage likely came from the build out of the Mill Valley area in the 1990s.
With the increase in residential development over the last few years in places like Jerome, Plain City and Marysville, Phillips said it can feel like a lot happening at once.
Brad Bodenmiller, director of the Logan-Union-Champaign (LUC) Regional Planning Commission, echoed that point for the city, also telling the county officials that requests for plats are up.
“We have more subdivision plats this year in May than we’ve ever had since 2014,” he said. “So if you work with those reviewing agencies and they seem stressed out, that’s probably why.”
Phillips said one of the ways his office and the county are approaching concerns over growth is by “trying to create dialogue” with the community, particularly in the way of schools.
“We started setting up meetings with all our school superintendents in the county that service the county. That and the city and the county, Jerome Township, Plain City, just to talk about issues and how we could work together better from a cooperative standpoint when development happens and how we can plan for it,” he said. “So we’re trying to have some goals and objectives, some visionary stuff of how we want to work together because there have been some concerns about growth and development overall.”
As of last week, officials held their third meeting with school districts to work on establishing those goals and plan to keep going with conversations. He said the plan is to meet with the districts quarterly and for the last decade or so, the county, city and other jurisdictions have been meeting every two months for similar discussions.