'The heart of the national park': Peninsula seeks to mend relationship with CVNP
The relationship between the village of Peninsula and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park has been rocky essentially since the national park's inception as the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area nearly half a century ago.
The village, which has a budget of about only $1 million, has struggled with the national park occupying land that is tax-exempt, leaving few opportunities for economic development. And many people in the area didn't even want the national park there in the first place.
While Peninsula has to provide police, fire and road maintenance services to both its residents and CVNP visitors, the village doesn't have its own water and sewer lines, with water having to be trucked in to residents and businesses most mornings.
But the village is deciding to leave the past in the past and has approved a resolution recognizing itself as a Cuyahoga Valley National Park Gateway Community. The recognition reflects the pair's commitment to each other moving forward, despite their difficult history.
At the same time, the village is working with the county to potentially bring water and sewer services to the community.
“It's always been a very bad relationship with the national park, and I just can't see that it's a logical way to continue," said Peninsula Village Council member John Krusinski, who introduced the gateway resolution last month.
"I think everybody is ready to move forward. There's a lot of things in the past we don't like. There's a lot of things in the past I'm sure the park doesn't like, but no matter how we complain and worry about that, there's nothing that can be done about the past," he said. "So I think the most logical path forward is to work together and see what we can do for each other and with each other.”
CVNP Superintendent Lisa Petit said she is "so very impressed" with the Village Council's "initiative and the enthusiasm and the positive approach" about moving forward with the national park.
“We're really excited that the Village Council has made this kind of monumental milestone in terms of working in a very collaborative and positive way, sort of set a new direction for the collaboration between the village and the national park, and we're thrilled about that," she said. "We feel like that is in everyone's best interest, and that we are going to be able to achieve much greater things together as we address kind of our shared collective vision for the area.”
Relationship between Peninsula, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Petit said that when the national park was established as the national recreation area in 1974, it was different from the establishment of many other national parks — because people already lived there.
"That had a serious and significant impact, negative impact on the people who were living in Peninsula and Boston Township especially," she said. "They have sort of suffered the greatest amount of negative impact of the establishment of this national park, and that set the tone from then on."
Petit said the feelings toward the park have become generational, with people who lived in the area at the time passing down their unfavorable opinions about the park.
"They have a lot of bad memories of the establishment of this park," Petit said.
CVNP and the Conservancy for CVNP own about 60% of the land within the village’s corporate limits.
The village’s population was only 536 in the 2020 census, slightly down from 565 in the 2010 census. Some of the roughly 2 million annual visitors venturing into nearby CVNP definitely stop in the 4.4-square-mile village, using the roads and other village services — but not paying for them as taxpayers.
That’s all funded by only about 230 households and 15 small- to medium-sized businesses, which lack central sewer and water systems. The village says those limited taxpayers provide the required infrastructure and workforce to service park visitors.
Other than tourism, there's little in the way of industry in Peninsula. With the national park owning much of the village’s property, that turns tax-paying parcels into tax-exempt — and non-revenue-generating — federal land. The village loses out on property tax not paid on the land and income tax that would otherwise be paid by people living on the land if it weren’t owned by the park.
"Sometimes, it's a blessing and a curse to be in the middle of a national park. I mean, it's beautiful. It's why we live here. We were all here before the park came," Krusinski said. "The curse is that whenever they buy property, that takes tax revenue right out of the budget. And we can't develop with a lot of commercial retail space like other towns."
The village of Peninsula, as well as the Woodridge Local School District Board of Education, opposed the Conservancy for CVNP purchasing the more than 200-acre former Brandywine Country Club golf course. The National Park Service plans to purchase most of the property from the conservancy.
The village wanted the property to remain privately owned and developed, saying it’s the only significant vacant tract of land in the village suitable for major economic development projects. If it became part of the national park, it would be “a worst-case financial scenario” and “a death (knell) to the village’s prospects,” the village said at the time.
According to the village, if CVNP acquired the entire property, it would increase the size of the 33,000-acre national park by less than 1% but would take away 14% of the existing taxed land mass from the village.
But park and conservancy officials said it's important for the property to become part of the national park for environmental and recreational reasons.
CVNP and the Conservancy for CVNP said in a 2021 statement that they share the village’s concern for the well-being of Peninsula residents and “have always strived to work cooperatively with the Village to find answers to issues they have raised, including a sewage system.”
Former Brandywine golf course purchase:Conservancy for CVNP buys former Brandywine golf course, despite Peninsula's opposition
Former Brandywine golf course:Peninsula, Woodridge oppose former Brandywine golf course becoming part of CVNP
Peninsula Gateway Community resolution
The gateway community resolution, which passed unanimously last month, recognizes the need for the two entities to work together.
Krusinski, who has lived in the area his whole life and has been on Peninsula Village Council since 2020, said he introduced the resolution to foster "a spirit of cooperation."
He said he and others in the village believe Peninsula is "the heart of the national park."
"It helps the park if we're in good condition and, quite frankly, it could help us if everything's going their way," he said. “So we just feel, you know what, we need to work together, and we need to make sure we are looking out for each other. And if there are things that we can do together, we need to make sure there's an atmosphere that can allow that.”
Krusinski said the gateway resolution could lead to funding opportunities and possible joint projects between the national park and the village.
"We have roads that don't have taxpayers on either side, but we still have to maintain them. We have a police force that has to cover the same amount of land when only less than 50% of it is taxable land now because the government owns it," he said. "If there was ever a town that needed grants, it's our village."
Petit said the national park also is working to get federal dollars to help offset some of the costs, including for road maintenance and infrastructure development.
"At the national park, we have long recognized just how important especially the village is, this beautiful village in the center of the valley," she said. "It's so important for our visitors. It's such a draw. It's such a destination for our visitors. And we want to be able to bring the benefits of a national park to the village."
Petit said she also wants the effect of the national park on the village to change from "very much just impact" to positive benefits, saying she made it a priority when she became superintendent in 2021.
"It's been all very heavily weighted toward the negative impacts of the growth of this national park," she said. "When I took on the role here as the superintendent, it was a top priority to really try to capitalize on changes that have happened, especially during COVID, with the rise in visitors, especially out-of-state visitors, capitalize on that status as a national park and bring the economic benefits that a national park can bring to this region, and especially to Peninsula and to Boston ...
"Being a gateway community, Peninsula is embracing the possibilities of serving a national audience to bring economic benefits from those visitors to them.”
The resolution states that Peninsula “is an ideal location for overnight guests to lodge, dine, shop, and gather information when visiting the Cuyahoga Valley National Park; and offers limitless nature-based activities and experiences to enjoy.”
The resolution also highlights features of both the village and CVNP, including the fact that both are national destinations that see millions of visitors a year and provide visitors and residents access to hiking, biking, fishing, camping, bird watching, kayaking and tubing and provide habitats for many wildlife species that those visitors come to see.
The village is a primary stop on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and the destination for the railroad’s annual North Pole Adventure.
The resolution also highlights the fact that the Cuyahoga River, which flows through CVNP and Peninsula, was designated as Ohio’s 13th state water trail in 2019.
CVNP railroad:Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad cancels more excursions because of erosion issues
Peninsula sewer system
To help with Peninsula's infrastructure problems, Summit County is planning to use $7.5 million it received through the American Rescue Plan Act to provide sanitary sewer and water service to the village, which currently doesn't have either.
The village is in violation of the Clean Water Act and is facing sanitary violations from the Environmental Protection Agency affecting the Cuyahoga River, which flows through Peninsula. According to the county, sampling conducted by the Ohio EPA in September 2019 showed that elevated levels of E. coli are being discharged from the storm sewers in Peninsula into the river.
Because of limited lot sizes and the inability to obtain adequate drinking water, the use of residential and commercial property is limited, the county said. There also are uninhabitable buildings in the village due to lack of treated water distribution.
The project will include constructing a wastewater treatment facility and associated collection system in the village. A centralized sewer system would alleviate the water quality issues from businesses throughout the village that have failing private wastewater treatment systems, the county said.
The county and the Ohio EPA agree that a centralized collection and treatment system also would produce a higher quality effluent when compared to many individual private systems, resulting in improved water quality in the Cuyahoga River.
Krusinski said a preliminary engineering study for the sewer plant estimated the construction cost at $5.9 million. Cost estimates on the water distribution portion of the project are currently under development.
The county said that detailed engineering design is set to occur in 2023, with construction slated to begin in the third quarter of 2024.
Krusinski said the village is extremely thankful that the county is using part of its federal stimulus dollars to fund the projects, noting the village could never afford the improvements on its own.
"There are several outfalls, and the EPA for years has been sampling in them, and they all show a certain level of contamination, so we have no choice but to do this. The problem is — and we've been trying to do it for about 20 years — the problem is there's never been funding to do it," he said. "So Summit County, I think it's a miracle that they stepped up."
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Peninsula seeks to mend rocky past with Cuyahoga Valley National Park
