Adjacent Park Development May Force Club To Relocate Due To Airspace Restrictions

A radio controlled model airplane club in Akron, OH may face severe restrictions or removal from a flying site they have occupied for more than 37 years if plans for park development on property surrounding the site call for it.

According to an article in the South Side Leader, a battle between the Corsair Model Airplane Club (CMAC) and Metro Parks, the organization that oversees park land in Summit County, began when the county recently donated 290 undeveloped acres to the parks district. The land borders the Summit County Fairgrounds, the location of the CMAC flying site, and some of the land lies under the airspace in which the model aircraft fly.

The property has been added to Munroe Falls Metro Park, and Metro Parks has plans to build a hiking and jogging trail there next year.

In a recent meeting, CMAC Trustee John Ashley was notified by Metro Parks Director/Secretary Keith Shy the district has the right to prohibit the group from flying its model planes due to a conservation easement on the property.

In the terms of the easement, Metro Parks retains certain control over the environment including, to some degree, the activities of parks adjacent to but not owned by it.

The donated acreage surrounds the flying site on three sides and more than 75 percent of the semi-circular flight pattern used by the club is over the new park property according to Ashley. Though national standards recommend safe flying zones for model aircraft to be located 1,250 feet from the flight line, the club has chosen to only use a 900 foot buffer zone.

Metro Parks agrees though the club has permission to be on the fairgrounds, it doesn’t have the right to fly over park property, as doing so could be hazardous to park visitors according to Shy. He has offered the club, use of the park airspace through 2008 and into 2009 until the park is developed provided it applies for a special-use permit and provides liability insurance. After the park is developed, the club would need to find a new flying site.

“What we have to do to maintain the integrity of what we’ve done for all these years and what the voters have told us that they like about Metro Parks is what’s at stake here,” Shy said. “If we have this type of activity going on in this particular park, then are we going to open it up to ATVs, motorcycles and things of that nature in all our parks? I hope not.”

Jason Dodson, an attorney in County Executive Russ Pry’s office feels through the parks district has the right to reasonably control its airspace up to a point, he sees the easement dealing more specifically with building construction and certain prohibited uses like dumping or drilling. Continued use of property airspace for model aircraft flying is not inconsistent with the easement terms, he argued.

Council members were split on the issue during a June 23 meeting, but all who spoke indicated they would like to see the two entities reach a compromise. The next step for the club is to meet with the Metro Parks Board of Park Commissioners and make a formal presentation regarding the issue.

FMI:  www.cmac.org, www.summitmetroparks.org