MANSFIELD — Eric Miller wasted no time in announcing plans to help preserve a 12-acre wooded area at John Todd Park on the city’s southeast side.
The leader of the North Central Ohio Land Conservancy — which was granted a conservation easement on the land Wednesday night by Mansfield City Council — announced the group was already seeking its first financial grant for the site.
The city park land now protected from logging and development in perpetuity is down in a ravine that is home to old growth forest (trees approximately 100 years old or older) and spring ephemerals that only bloom briefly each spring.
“We are already planning for our first (grant) application because it would help to honor a naturalist who helped identify the significance of this ravine,” Miller wrote in a letter he distributed after the council legislative session.
He said NCOLC, a non-profit organization based in Mansfield, will apply for a $1,500 grant from the Ohio Ornithological Society to honor the late naturalist Cheryl B. Harner, who explored the ravine in 2015 at the invitation of the conservancy group.
Harner, who died in 2024, served the OOS board for many years, Miller said. During her time in the ravine, the Richland County native identified a rare native butterfly dependent on a species of wildflowers growing at the site.
She was inducted into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Hall of Fame for her volunteer activity, according to Miller.
The grant money, which would be matched by the NCOLC, would pay for a naturalist to help lead restoration efforts in the ravine, according to Miller, a Mansfield attorney.
“Cheryl B. Harner not only taught people about birds and natural areas, she advocated for habitat preservation through her physical labor, as well,” Miller wrote. “She could not resist pulling invasive plants out of the ground when she visited the John Todd Park ravine. That was Cheryl Harner. She taught by example, and not just by talking.”
During an Oct. 21 council meeting, Miller said the easement does not detract from the park’s features, which include a pavilion, basketball court, restrooms and parking lot.
He said it’s only aimed at adding another layer of protection to a ravine that is home to old growth forest.
“Those are flowers that only come up in the spring, have a very short lifespan above ground, even if they’re perennial, they go back underground within two months of sprouting,” he said.
The easement would prohibit timbering or major development in the protected area and could also be expanded through local developer James Boyd, who will donate land for a trail that would connect the park to Cleveland Avenue.
“It’s a unique feature of (some) areas like Ohio to even have such a thing as spring ephemeral flowers. They’re threatened with extirpation,” Miller said Oct. 21, describing how “invasive” species would crowd them out of existence without intervention.
“It happens that John Todd Park, in addition to having the best array of old growth trees of any city park, it’s got far and away more spring ephemeral species than any other city park,” Miller said.
Approval comes after lengthy discussions, emails, phone calls
The 7-1 approval vote by local lawmakers came after the issue was first introduced by Miller during the Oct. 21 meeting.
Descendants of John Todd, led by Lynn Brinley, didn’t agree with the city granting any easements to land her great-grandfather gave to the city eight decades ago for use as a city park.
“I still am not in (favor) of giving part of the park away,” Brinley said Oct. 21. “I’m just not into it. It’s giving (the North Central Ohio Land Conservancy) control over it. My family is going to have a problem with this.”
Brinley attended the meeting Wednesday, but did not speak during the public participation session. Several residents spoke about the issue, all but one in favor of granting the easement.
During a parks committee meeting, chairwoman Laura Burns (1st Ward) said lawmakers had received “a lot of input from the community via email and phone calls, so we know where a lot of people stand.”
Burns made it clear she supported the plan and “pushed back” on the idea offered by 6th Ward Councilwoman Deborah Mount that the city would give up “control” of the easement area.
“I have been on council for six years now. One of the things that I have harped on, probably ad nauseam, for the last six years is that the environment that we live in and the opportunities that we have to preserve the unique species to preserve our water and air quality … these are things that are very important to me,” Burns said.
“Honestly, this is probably the first time in six years that I’ve really had an opportunity to get to put my words into action and that’s exciting,” she said.
“We’ve talked a lot in the last six years about how we’d really like to see the public and private groups coming together and working for a common goal and this is a lovely example of that maybe being put into action,” Burns said.
Mount, whose district includes the park, said her concerns were control of the park and the mapping used to define the area.
“We are giving up the control of the park. My other concern is that we still do not have a precisely clear understanding of exactly how many acres because we heard everything from 12 to 17 acres, so I would like to see that very precisely defined before we would proceed on this,” Mount said.
Deputy Law Director David Madden said the city would not be “relinquishing control of the park.”
“This is a conservation easement that prevents the city from logging in the park,” he said. “This would continue to be a part of the park, be publicly accessible, and I, if I understand correctly, they’re going to build an additional walking path with Cleveland Avenue access,” Madden said.
The city attorney said there is no current existing legal description of the 12.081 acre easement area. He said generating one would “cost a few thousand dollars.”
Public largely endorses proposal during meeting
One of the residents who spoke in favor of the conservation easement was Yolanda Allen, who said she has lived near the park at 312 Dale Ave. for more than 50 years.
Allen said she is part of a group called Greater Grace, formed by members of Greater Mitchell Chapel AME Church and Grace Episcopal Church.
She said the group adopted John Todd Park in May 2025 through the City of Mansfield Parks and Recreation Department.
“Myself and my family have frequented John Todd Park innumerable number of times. We have celebrated birthday parties in the lower park, picnics, stream wading, catching tadpoles, fireflies, pick-up baseball games, and just enjoying the beauty of nature,” Allen said.
“Our group, born out of two churches, have spent many hours cleaning up trash both at the top of the park and down in the ravine because we believe it is a very special part of God’s creation,” she said.
“It can be a beautiful park, but is it too much for Greater Grace or parks and recreation to do alone. We appreciate the resources (NCOLC) can bring to help us,’ Allen said.
more coverage of the conservation easement request at john todd park
Boyd told lawmakers he is a local developer, business owner and conservationist.
“When I invest in Mansfield, I look for ways and opportunities to strengthen our community while protecting what makes it special, just like this gorge. That’s not just good ethics, that’s good economics,” he said.
“Parks and green corridors raise property values, manage stormwater naturally and attract families, business and investment. That’s why I support the conservation easement of John Todd Park,” he said.
“It does not restrict development. It does not take away the city’s rights or limit future growth. It simply says we won’t clear cut old growth trees that will allow invasive species to be removed so that the forest can stay healthy. That’s it, nothing more,” Boyd said.
“As a developer, I’ve signed a contract to donate land that connects John Todd Park to Cleveland Avenue once this easement is recorded because I believe protecting this ravine enhances the entire neighborhood and that’s how communities will prosper,” he said.
The only member of the public who spoke against the easement on Wednesday was Mason Mount of 114 Cliffbrook Drive, whose daughter represents the 6th Ward.
“I am thankful for the neighbors and the churches that are working in John Todd to make it a good place to be,” he said. “(But) I feel the city ought to maintain control of the situation and enable the conservancy to do their work and, if necessary, give them resources,” Mount said.
He said he was opposed to giving up control to non-elected officials to make decisions about the area the easement will cover and that the city parks department should continue to oversee the work.
“I think it would be a lot safer for the city and for the community and for the park,” Mount said.
Deborah Mount ultimately cast the only vote against the proposal during council’s legislative session.
“I could talk for a while on this, but I’ll try to summarize it as short as I can,” she said before the vote.
“From my perspective, I have to bear in mind the entirety of the park, the long-standing concerns of the neighbors regarding the upkeep of the park, the pavilion (and) the basketball courts,” Mount said.
“But also my chief concern today, if we cannot table it until a later date, I cannot support it at this point when we do not have the clearly defined precise place this conservation easement will be within the park.
“To sign over an undetermined part of the park perpetually is foolhardy. I would like to see that clearly defined before we would consider entering into something perpetual and permanent,” Mount said.
(Watch the Wednesday evening Mansfield City Council meeting below.)