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Metro parks board seems unswayed by model fliers
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008
A model airplane club wants Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, to compromise and move a proposed trail in Tallmadge.
The proposal was made Wednesday by Trustee John Ashley of the Corsair Model Aircraft Club during his 20-minute presentation to the park commissioners.
The commissioners and Director-Secretary Keith Shy said they will discuss the club's proposal, which would allow the 275-member club to remain at the Summit County Fairgrounds and fly over undeveloped parkland beyond next year.
Ashley's presentation drew a few questions, but the club's proposal got no response at the meeting. However, indications are that park officials may not be swayed.
The park district has safety concerns about the model-plane flying, and moving the trail 400 feet to the northwest may not be feasible, park planner David Whited said after the meeting adjourned.
The district intends to restore a large meadow and wetland and has routed a two-mile trail in a loop around the meadow, he said.
Moving the trail as proposed by the club may be difficult and not desirable from the park district's perspective, he said.
Park rules prohibit model-airplane flights, and what the airplane club wants would require park commissioners to change the rules, Shy said later.
Such flights are not compatible with the goals of the park district, he said.
The park district is ''more of a natural area park . . . not a parks and recreation department,'' he said.
The district is moving forward with plans to develop the park as outlined to Summit County when the parks got the land in late 2006 from the county, Shy said.
Ashley told the commissioners that the club has a stellar safety record and no one has been harmed by the flights in Tallmadge.
The club had been unaware until April that it might be evicted next year, he said.
The dispute with the park district appears to have been triggered by ''a misunderstanding and lack of communication,'' he said.
Ashley said model clubs are allowed at three other fairgrounds in Ohio and at two state parks. He also cited an Illinois park system that permits such flights.
The club has no other locations available to serve as the base for its flights, he said.
The park district has given the club a special-use permit through Dec. 31. It could be renewed for 2009, when trail construction will probably get under way.
The Corsair club has used the county-owned fairgrounds since 1971 and has a runway and clubhouse there. The planes take oblong flights over parkland that cannot be reconfigured because of safety concerns about flying over fair buildings and nearby roads.
The planes fly in a rectangle that is 1,000 feet east to west and 500 feet north to south. A 250-foot buffer or safety zone extends around that rectangle onto park-owned land.
In a related move, the park district agreed to hire the Floyd Browne Group of Akron for $92,700 to plan and engineer the Tallmadge park improvements.
The plan covers the wetlands and meadow restoration, a 50-car parking lot, the trail, restrooms, an information kiosk and a picnic shelter.
The commissioners rejected a lower bid of $89,900 from Atwell-Hicks of Grand Rapids, Mich., saying they felt more confident in the area company.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
A model airplane club wants Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, to compromise and move a proposed trail in Tallmadge.
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