Yes, we're your Preserve the Valley leadership team
(along with a bunch of our significant others)!
We're the ordinary citizens who've volunteered thousands of hours since October 2020 to the fight for Riverwood and saving Theiss Woods. We're also the folks who supported the need for a planning process to set a new direction for the southern end of the Cuyahoga Valley.
As many of you know, Akron and Cuyahoga Falls hired the Chicago-based firm, Farr Associates, to lead the planning process about six months ago. While we're thrilled to see Cuyahoga Falls and Akron partnering for this effort, we're concerned that the current process has one major missing piece -- citizen voices.
If you completed Farr Associates' planning survey and tuned in for the first public meeting in mid-July (and thank you to all of our supporters who did!) you may have been surprised that there wasn't a bigger chance for the public to be involved. After all, the people who live, work, and play here -- would know this place best, right?
We 100% agree. You can read our press response here.
Moving forward, we encourage Akron and Cuyahoga Falls to greatly expand local community participation and access to the planning process for the Merriman Valley. Why? Because we believe area citizens have a lot of great ideas that need to be heard. Here's just one...
Our Vision: Being A Gateway Community
PTV sees the Merriman Valley as having the potential to be a "Gateway Community" to the Cuyahoga Valley, Summit Metro Parks, and CVNP. We envision a place that could serve as a starting point for exploring our outstanding park systems. Or a base to return to after a day spent biking, canoeing, riding the rails, or hiking. A location that provides services for visitors and offers an economic opportunity zone for locally-owned businesses.
Many other communities have already done it. Check out these stories about Homestead, Florida and the Pennsylvania Wilds. We believe these successes can happen here, but citizens need to be more involved in a community-wide process.
Upcoming Events
Preserve the Valley's Public Conversation on Gateway Communities, August 11 from 6:30 - 7:45pm at Towpath Tennis Center, 2108 Akron-Peninsula Rd, Akron. Bring your ideas! Find out more about Gateway Communities and share your own ideas for the Merriman Valley's future. A livestream option will be available on our Facebook page.
Akron and Cuyahoga Falls Master Planning Meetings hosted by Farr Associates, August 17 and 19, 5:30-7:00pm at Todaro's Party Center, 1820 Akron-Peninsula Rd. Farr's designs and concepts for the Merriman Valley will be released for public comment and viewing at these meetings. We encourage you to attend, learn about, and speak up about the plans being considered for the area.