In 2012, Broadview Heights, Ohio – a suburb of Akron – passed a charter amendment or community “Bill of Rights” that banned oil and gas development in the city limits. This week, a Cuyahoga County judge ruled that the Broadview Heights drilling ban clearly conflicts with Ohio’s oil and gas law.  Under state law, the regulation of oil and gas development exclusively belongs to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

This is a win for residents of Broadview Heights since the community “Bill of Rights” has been viewed as a “job killer” and has been voted down by other cities across the state. Last year Youngstown, Ohio voters soundly rejected a community “Bill of Rights” measure, which would have banned oil and gas development in the township, for the fourth time in two years.

Given the billions of dollars being invested into Ohio because of its natural resources, it’s no wonder amendments like these get voted down or overturned in court.

For example, last year Appalachian Resins announced that it will build a $1 billion facility in Monroe County, which will process approximately 18,000 barrels per day of ethane into ethylene and polyethylene, the feedstock for plastic. Large investments like these are helping to drive down unemployment in the state. As EID recently reported, unemployment in “shale counties” fell by 9.8 percentage points, which represents a 66 percent decline in total unemployment since 2010.

Shale development continues to drive state investment up and unemployment down – and the good news for Ohioans is that this trend is set to continue.