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The Cleveland Plain Dealer
www.cleveland.com
Promoting parks at the polls
Monday, October 30, 2000
Some voters in parts of increasingly congested Northeast
Ohio will have a chance to add parks to their cities on
Nov. 7. Although we are reluctant to make an outright endorsement
supporting these issues, we believe them to be worthy of
voters’ careful consideration.
With Issue 138, Parma can add 100 acres to the West
Creek Preserve, near Ridgewood Dr., which would expand it
to nearly 400 acres. The issue would raise $11.9 million
over the next 20 years at a cost of $7 per year for the
owner of a $100,000 home.
Issue 23, on the ballot in Erie County, is a bid
to buy and improve Edison Woods, 1,400 acres of forest,
wetlands and meadows. The land is owned by Ohio Edison,
which is eager to sell to either the county, or if it must,
developers. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000
home about $1 per month for 20 years.
Finally, residents in fast-growing Portage County
can help fund their park district through Issue 84, which
would allow the preservation and acquisition of more land.
It would raise $22.5 million over 10 years and cost the
owner of a $100,000 home $35 annually.
Christopher D. Knopf, field office director for the
Trust for Public Land, says such open-space issues are becoming
popular across the country as voters show an increasing
willingness to tax themselves to preserve land. The trust
has been helping to boost support for these and similar
issues across the country.
Knopf and others say voters should consider not just
the parks’ beauty, but also their potential for attracting
jobs and people. These are good points voters should keep
in mind on Nov. 7.
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