City Council tonight approved putting a charter amendment on the ballot that would prohibit oil and gas drilling in Youngstown.

Members said they had no choice because a citizens group presented petitions with more than double the 1,500 signatures needed to put the issue before voters. They also said the amendment twill not matter even if it passes because it can’t be enforced. 

According to an expert in Ohio constitutional law, they’re right.  Paul Richert of the University of Akron says the state Legislature took all control over oil and gas away from local jurisdictions 25 years ago to get rid of myriad overlapping, sometimes technically unsound regulations among counties, townships, cities and villages.

And, he says, state law normally trumps local law, so home rule initiatives like Youngstown’s charter amendment aren’t the way to go to regain control.

 “The only way change is likely to come is if people across the state push state legislators to make changes,” Richert says.