Driving along Akron-Peninsula Road in what is locally referred to as “the Valley,” change is visible. On February 1, Akron City Council voted to approve the rezoning of Riverwoods Golf Course to build an additional 197 townhouses. This follows Cuyahoga Falls City Council’s vote in 2019 to approve the Villages at Sycamore (formerly Sycamore Valley Golf Course), now building around 140 new townhouses and single homes, despite the concerns of citizens. Some of those citizens organized a grass-roots movement called Preserve the Valley. On March 5, 2021 Cuyahoga Falls and Akron announced a cooperative alliance to jointly enlist a firm that will create a master plan for the Valley, as previously discussed by councilman Russ Balthis on Episode 39 of the Fallscast. If a significant sum of money is to be spent paying a firm to come up with a plan, why vote on Riverwoods prior to that new plan?
Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan, as part of his initiatives, is actively seeking to grow Akron by 250,000 new residents by 2050. The Valley is an attractive place to lure people because of the park systems in place with Summit Metro Parks and Ohio’s only national park, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Preserve the Valley argues that these precious assets are precisely the reason this area should not be developed into housing. The group is now focused on preserving Theiss Woods, a 45-acre section of land adjacent to Hampton Hills Metro Park. The property is currently under proposition to be converted into an additional 65-110 upscale homes.
Jodie Grasgreen, a local resident and activist with Preserve the Valley, believes there is more than one reason to protect Theiss Woods. This area offers a “tree canopy” that helps connect areas of green space for the better by providing economic value to cities by saving money. Tree canopies capture storm water, improve air quality, and offer a psychological benefit for society. According to a brief available on Preserve the Valley’s website, “the loss of the Theiss tree canopy would mean the loss of up to 33 football fields of trees at one time.” Other factors involved with cleaning the land for development are loss of plant and animal habitats– including owls, raptors, mink, fox, turtles, and deer that already inhabit the territory, and increased erosion and land instability. Further, the cost and work to repair the Cuyahoga River’s water quality and bad reputation (“burning river”) are ongoing. Akron’s $1.1 billion sewer project and multiple other projects to shore up erosion and landslides reaching into the millions of dollars are not worth the risk of new construction, traffic, and human habitat. Grasgreen does not agree with spending money to fix ecological issues, just to destroy those resources again.
Reported at the organization’s recent zoom meeting, the city of Akron will offer a 15-year CRA tax abatement for proposed housing in the $250k-$420k range. This would allow new homeowners to send their children to Woodridge schools without paying sufficient property tax into the system. Woodridge schools relies on property tax revenue at a far higher rate than Akron schools. Meanwhile Petros Development Group out of Broadview Heights could gain an estimated $11.25M tax break from the Riverwoods project.
Preserve the Valley’s website also reports that the city of Akron originally requested development bids for Theiss Woods at an asking price of $361,520 (below market value), providing the 15-year CRA tax abatement for future homeowners. They received five proposals from developers that ranged in price, up to $420k and one conservation proposal at asking price. The city was then urged to reopen the period for proposals – allowing conservation groups more time to respond and increasing the asking price to $550k. The deadline was March 31, 2021, with an anticipated decision due at any time. The proposal from Western Reserve Land Conservancy is backed by letters from Summit Metro Parks, Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and Preserve the Valley.
Hundreds have contacted city officials and thousands have signed the petition pushing for the conservation of Theiss Woods. In 2020, Summit Metro Parks reported 6 million visits, including those parks along Akron-Peninsula, Riverview, and Merriman Roads. If all three developments were to move forward, nearly 450 new homes would take over the Valley resulting in destruction of natural resources and beauty, while increasing congestion and creating potential safety issues.
For more information on Preserve the Valley and Save Theiss Woods, visit https://www.preservethevalley.com/.
