Wadsworth Township

Wadsworth Township is a 16.5 square mile township with the separately incorporated City of Wadsworth in the middle of it, and both use the 44281 mailing address, so the address alone does not tell you which one you are in. The 2020 census counted 4,384 township residents. The City owns its electric, water, sewer and CityLink telecom utilities, and the township's own FAQ says the township does not pursue acquiring City utilities for township residents and that the City does not prioritize low density areas outside the City limits. Where those utilities do reach into the township, the township says it is usually because a subdivision developer paid to extend the lines. The township runs roads, zoning and cemetery, contracts fire and EMS to the City of Wadsworth, relies on the Medina County Sheriff for police, and provides no water, sewer or trash collection.

Source: Wadsworth Township's own Frequently Asked Questions page, with population and area from the U.S. Census 2020 and demographic figures from the Medina County Economic Development Corporation township profile · checked 2026-10-01

Wadsworth Township is run by three part-time elected trustees, Kevin Keiper as chairman, Robert Engler as vice-chairman and Edward Cipar, plus fiscal officer Stefanie Horner, from 320 Chestnut Street with a mailing address of P.O. Box 614, Wadsworth, OH 44282. Regular trustee meetings are the third Tuesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. unless otherwise posted. The township office is 330.336.6161, the garage is 330.336.8160 and the zoning inspector, Shawn Bouscher, is 330.335.5047. There is no township police department; the township's FAQ names the Medina County Sheriff. The office is staffed part-time and the Road Department does not use email, so the township recommends phoning for anything urgent.

Source: Wadsworth Township directory, meetings and FAQ pages, with the township offices' location inside the city from the township's 2007 Comprehensive Plan Update and the fund list from the Auditor of State of Ohio agreed-upon procedures report · checked 2026-10-01

Water and sewer give different answers in Wadsworth Township. The township's comprehensive plan states that central water service is not available in the township, that the City of Wadsworth extends water only to customers inside the City, and that an owner wanting to connect must annex. The same plan states the City does provide sanitary sewer to a portion of the township, primarily south of the City with small areas east and north. Where there is no main, there is a well: the Medina County Health Department recorded 1,039 permitted water systems in the township, 1,037 of them wells. ODNR's groundwater mapping puts the divide at Harpster Road, with domestic wells under 90 feet to the north and under 100 feet to the south. County water and sewer are run by the Medina County Sanitary Engineer at 791 W Smith Road.

Source: Wadsworth Township Comprehensive Plan Update 2007, sections 3 and 4, carrying the Medina County Health Department well count and the ODNR Ground Water Resources Map of Medina County, with area-by-area utility notes from the City of Wadsworth Annexation Policy adopted 19 June 2019 · checked 2026-10-01

The Medina County Health Department counted 1,161 permitted on-site sewage systems in Wadsworth Township: 506 aeration systems, 642 septic systems and 13 combinations. The township's comprehensive plan states that a majority of the township's soil associations contain a restrictive subsoil layer, a fragipan, that can be problematic for installing on-site septic systems, which is why aeration is so common. The Health Department sets no minimum lot size for a residential system; it sizes the leach field from soil characteristics and bedroom count, roughly 300 square feet per bedroom where soils are suitable. Township zoning will not issue a zoning certificate without Health Department, County Sanitary Engineer or Ohio EPA approval of the sewage and water facilities. The township's bulletin board carries a Septic Failure Assistance Program for Medina County homeowners with a failing system.

Source: Wadsworth Township Comprehensive Plan Update 2007, section 3, carrying Medina County Health Department figures and the 1977 Soil Survey of Medina County, with the permit requirement from the Wadsworth Township Zoning Resolution Revision J and the assistance programme from the township bulletin board · checked 2026-10-01

The City of Wadsworth's municipal electric system, city-owned since 1916, is a city utility, and Wadsworth Township's own FAQ says the township does not pursue acquiring City utilities including electric for township residents. In the township the utility in evidence is Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy company, 800-633-4766: the township's bulletin board carries FirstEnergy bill assistance programmes, and the township's comprehensive plan records roughly 150 of the township's 199.6 commercial and utility acres as Ohio Edison land. For natural gas, most residential and small business customers in Medina County's unincorporated townships who buy from Columbia Gas of Ohio or Enbridge Gas Ohio are eligible for the county's aggregation programme, supplied by Archer Energy from the October 2026 through April 2029 meter reads at a fixed $6.849 per MCF for Columbia customers and $4.959 for Enbridge customers, automatic with an opt-out and no fee to leave.

Source: Wadsworth Township FAQ and bulletin board, the township's 2007 Comprehensive Plan Update section 6 for the Ohio Edison acreage, the City of Wadsworth Electric Department for the municipal system, and the Medina County Natural Gas Aggregation Program for the gas rates · checked 2026-10-01

CityLink, the City of Wadsworth's municipally owned telecom utility, does sell outside the city line and prices it separately. The City's own FCC broadband consumer disclosure for CityLink defines City as inside city limits and Town as township, outside city limits, and lists a township price for every residential tier, slightly above the city price. CityLink's current fibre page says only that it is expanding throughout the Wadsworth area and names no boundaries. Wadsworth Township's FAQ says the township does not pursue acquiring City utilities including cable, that the City does not prioritise low density areas outside the City limits, and that where those lines do reach the township it is frequently because a subdivision developer paid for them. So availability is per address and has to be checked at the address.

Source: City of Wadsworth CityLink Broadband Facts fixed broadband consumer disclosure, with the township's position from the Wadsworth Township FAQ · checked 2026-10-01

Wadsworth Township provides no trash collection; its FAQ says residents call an independent collector, and the township names none and runs no single contract. The township also does not pick up leaves or branch trimmings and directs yard waste to the Medina County Central Processing Facility on Lake Road in Seville, which also takes newspapers, batteries and appliances; the facility's own hours are Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 7 a.m. to noon for garbage and single stream recycling, with separate Monday, Wednesday and Saturday hours for household hazardous waste, phone 330-769-0289. The township has a no open burning policy: no burning trash or leaves, only a small confined fire for cooking.

Source: Wadsworth Township Frequently Asked Questions page, with hours and address from the Medina County Solid Waste District · checked 2026-10-01

Wadsworth Township has no fire department of its own and contracts with the City of Wadsworth for fire and EMS, funded through a township fire levy. The Wadsworth Fire Department and EMS, organised in 1896, covers the City of Wadsworth and Wadsworth Township across a 25 square mile area from Station 1 at 343 College Street and Station 2 at 338 Weatherstone Drive, each staffed with two personnel 24 hours a day. It has 50 members, 16 full-time and 34 paid-on-call, answered 3,640 calls in 2025, and reports 2024 average response times of 5.57 minutes for fire and 3.71 minutes for EMS. Its apparatus includes a 3,000 gallon tanker, which is what serves roads without hydrants. An emergency siren stands in the township near Leatherman and Reimer Roads.

Source: City of Wadsworth Fire and Emergency Medical Services department page, with the contract from the Wadsworth Township FAQ, the fire levy fund from the Auditor of State of Ohio agreed-upon procedures report, and the siren location from the township's 2007 Comprehensive Plan Update · checked 2026-10-01

Most of Wadsworth Township is in the Wadsworth City School District, but the township's own comprehensive plan states that a small southwestern portion is served by the Rittman Exempted Village School District, whose buildings are all in Wayne County. Wadsworth City Schools serves over 4,000 students from Wadsworth, Wadsworth Township and parts of Guilford, Montville and Sharon Townships, through five elementary schools for kindergarten to fourth grade, an intermediate school for fifth and sixth, a middle school for seventh and eighth, and a high school. Every Wadsworth City Schools building is inside the City of Wadsworth, so township families drive in. The district for any specific parcel has to be confirmed with the county auditor, because school district lines do not follow township or city lines.

Source: Wadsworth Township Comprehensive Plan Update 2007, section 4, with the current district description from Wadsworth City Schools and the parcel-level district confirmations from Medina County Department of Planning Services staff reports for Woodhaven Preserve and Hunters Ridge · checked 2026-10-01

Road maintenance is Wadsworth Township's largest function and it maintains 24.080 miles of road from the township garage at 330-336-8160. The township's FAQ says the road in front of a property could belong to the township, the county or the state and sends residents to the county engineer's road map to check, noting that state, county and township trucks all carry the name on the door. Interstate 76 is the only freeway in the township. Driveway permits, culvert replacements and ditch enclosures go through the Medina County Highway Department at 330-723-9568. The Medina County Engineer maintains 323.60 miles of county highway plus the bridges on both county and township roads, and its own FAQ notes that areas north of State Route 18 seem to get more snow than areas south of it; the township is well south of State Route 18. Medina County Public Transit runs countywide on-demand service at 330-723-9670, booked by 2 p.m. the previous day.

Source: Wadsworth Township website and FAQ for the mileage and the permit routing, the township's 2007 Comprehensive Plan Update section 5 for the road classifications, the Medina County Engineer's 2024 Annual Report and Highway Facility FAQ, and Medina County Public Transit · checked 2026-10-01

Wadsworth Township's zoning resolution, Revision J of 12 June 2023, keys its residential districts to utilities. R-1 requires no centralized services and sets a two acre minimum lot with 200 feet of width and a 100 foot front setback. R-2 assumes centralized sewer at 1.5 acres and 125 feet of width. R-3 assumes centralized sewer and water at 0.75 acres and 75 feet of width. Minimum living floor area is 1,200 square feet one story, 1,300 square feet more than one story, and nothing exceeds 40 feet in height. A detached accessory building is capped by lot size: 768 square feet under an acre, 1,024 at one acre, 1,536 at two acres and 2,400 at three acres or more. Home occupations, day care and bed and breakfasts need a conditional zoning certificate from the Board of Zoning Appeals. Zoning certificates come from the township zoning inspector at 330.335.5047; building permits come from the Medina County Building Department at 330-722-9220.

Source: Wadsworth Township Zoning Resolution Revision J, adopted 12 June 2023, published on the township's zoning page · checked 2026-10-01

Agriculture is the largest land use in Wadsworth Township. The township's comprehensive plan, working from Medina County Auditor data, recorded approximately 5,074.4 acres, or 50.9 percent of the township's land, in active agricultural use, with single family residential second at 29.4 percent, and most of the farmland in the western part of the township. Agricultural acreage fell by 513.6 acres between 1994 and 2005. The stated purpose of the township's rural residential district includes encouraging sustainable agricultural uses. Agricultural land as defined in Ohio Revised Code 519.01 is exempt from the township's riparian setback regulations, and the township publishes an Agricultural Exemption Form with its zoning application. The road names carry the history: Mennonite Road runs from Greenwich Road to Eastern Road.

Source: Wadsworth Township Comprehensive Plan Update 2007, section 6, from Medina County Auditor land use data dated 1 December 2005, with the agricultural exemption and riparian exclusion from the Wadsworth Township Zoning Resolution Revision J · checked 2026-10-01

Wadsworth Township sits in the northern Ohio River watershed just south of the continental divide through Medina County, with the western two-thirds draining to the River Styx and the eastern third to Wolf Creek. Four waterways cross it: the River Styx, Silver Creek, Mill Creek and Hudson Run. The mapped 100 year floodplain is along the River Styx in the western part of the township. Medina County's Flood Damage Reduction Regulations are administered by the Medina County Highway Engineer and, according to the township's plan, exceed the minimum required for the National Flood Insurance Program. The township's zoning also imposes riparian setbacks on designated watercourses, a minimum of 120 feet each side for a watercourse draining 20 square miles or more, 75 feet for half a square mile up to 20, and 25 feet under half a square mile with a defined bed and bank, with agricultural land exempt.

Source: Wadsworth Township Comprehensive Plan Update 2007, section 3, with riparian setback figures from the Wadsworth Township Zoning Resolution Revision J · checked 2026-10-01

Wadsworth Township does not own a park. Its comprehensive plan defines township parkland as land owned by either the City of Wadsworth or Summit Metro Parks, and its recommendations ask the township to seek funding to acquire property for future township parks. Township residents use the city's instead: the plan records City of Wadsworth parks as accessible to township residents, the Wadsworth Public Library as an independent library serving the City, Wadsworth Township and the surrounding area, and Steiner Center memberships available to township residents at the non-city-resident rate or per visit, with the Wadsworth Center for Older Adults open to township seniors. The one public recreation land reaching into the township is Summit Metro Parks' Silver Creek Metro Park in the southeast corner, and the private recreation is Pine Valley Golf Club on Reimer Road.

Source: Wadsworth Township Comprehensive Plan Update 2007, sections 4, 6 and 8, read against the township's current website, which lists no parks department · checked 2026-10-01