Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Summit park district acquires 52-acre site abutting Liberty Park. Developer was owner
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Nov 26, 2009
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County has purchased a 52-acre tract slated for development in Portage County.
The undeveloped land in Aurora sits at the southwest and south edges of Aurora Lake on the Summit-Portage county line and abuts 1,700-acre Liberty Park in Summit County.
The purchase for nearly $1.1 million will provide public access to more than one mile of shoreline on the 305-acre lake, also called Aurora Pond.
Assisting in the Aurora Shores purchase was the Cleveland office of the Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization, which announced the deal Tuesday.
''We are very grateful to the landowners, the city of Aurora, the state and, of course, Metro Parks for working in partnership to see this small but vital property along Aurora Lake permanently protected,'' said Bill Carroll, Ohio state director of the Trust for Public Land.
Keith Shy, secretary-director of the park district, said, ''The acquisition protects valuable resources, and it protects the investment we've made. Liberty Park is an asset to residents of Summit and surrounding counties.''
The tract was acquired by the trust in October from the Hawthorn of Aurora Limited Partnership, which had projected development of the 52 acres as part of planned-unit development, said David Vasarhelyi of the Trust for Public Land.
It was then sold to Metro Parks for the same purchase price. The park district used a Clean Ohio Fund grant of about $83,000 to help cover the purchase price.
The purchase took about a year to complete, Vasarhelyi said.
The land includes the remains of a glacial bog and offers prime hiking trail possibilities for the park district, he said.
The park district owns about 460 feet of shoreline on the lake's western edge. The purchase adds 5,337 feet of shoreline.
The tract also includes headwater streams that feed Pond Brook, a key tributary of Tinkers Creek, itself a key Cuyahoga River stream.
Liberty Park is a joint venture between the city of Twinsburg and Metro Parks, Serving Summit County. The park lies in Twinsburg, Twinsburg Township and Reminderville and includes forests, cliffs, wetlands and bogs.
The Trust for Public Land has helped acquire an additional 227 acres in Twinsburg Township that has been added to Liberty Park.
It also worked with the city of Aurora to acquire three parcels totaling 460 acres and known as the Aurora Nature Preserve or the Aurora Wetlands. The wetland area is south of state Route 82 just east of the Summit-Portage county line.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County has purchased a 52-acre tract slated for development in Portage County.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Akron, OH
Posted 11:04 PM, 11/26/2009
While it is true that the Summit County Metroparks can buy land virtually anywhere, and I suppose there is some justification for this....but when will the land grab stop? Particularly in taking land in other counties...not just Portage but also Medina. Not noted in the article is that fact that MOST of the land in Liberty Park is classified as a "conservation area" and NO ONE is allowed in. Was this what the taxpaying public was told in 2006 when the Metro Parks levy was doubled? I think not. We expected more service, not more land buying. Just think what they will do with the remaining $13 million set aside for "land acquision" in their budget. There won't be any land left for real economic development, let alone real outdoor recreation beyond "look but don't touch."
akron, oh
Posted 02:53 PM, 11/27/2009
Everyday they keep taking land the people will never have nowhere to live about a thousand acres in the last two weeks I read about.Plus that means are taxes are going up plus I read the state is putting a tax/fee on hospitals everyday more taxes soon no one will be able to pay the tax and the state will take your property for back taxes. There is something funny going on here and we the people just keep taking it.I say it is time to vote everyone of them out of office Poor Poor children how are they going to make it in this world when they owe all these taxes before they make one red cent.We must send the people we voted for in office a message. YOUR FIRED and undo all these taxes and stupid laws now WAKE UP PEOPLE and do it show your children will have a fair chance to make it in this world or we will all live in poverty with the Great king the STATE of OHIO/usa.You vated for a change and look what you get Go obama
akron, oh
Posted 02:55 PM, 11/27/2009
so your childre SORRY
akron, oh
Posted 02:57 PM, 11/27/2009
You voted/so your children will have Sorry typing fast and mad at all these taxes have a great day We the people
