The Ruling of the Sixth District Court
from September of 2001

The property north of the leased property, which consists of the majority of the corridor, has never been part of the litigation. The open greenway and planned extensions are located on property that has yet to be litigated. The railroad can only sell whatever rights it had in the property. At the very least, the Huron River Greenway is building on property to which they do not have a clear title.

Erie MetroParks only has lease rights to less than one mile of the corridor at this time. It is interesting to note that most of this land is landlocked and cannot be accessed without trespassing on neighboring ground. (Please see the map below). An Erie Metroparks map, which is public record on file at the Erie County courthouse, shows the limited boundaries of the Merry and Townsend deeds. CPPR members had offered their frontal property for a berm expansion 10 years ago. Al Johnston was willing to donate his front yard to make a rest stop with water and shelter.

This litigation is costing the taxpayers a lot of money for a government entity that has no rights to property to build on. If it can do this to the citizens along River Road, from who else will it try to take land? And how much will be spent on those efforts?

The following map shows what the Sixth District Court of Appeals ruled on in September, 2001 along the Huron River. This ruling pertained to the area labeled #4 on the map.
 
Map prepared for Citizens for the Protection of Property Rights		  
 

In Area #1 = This area is deeded to private citizens as recorded in the Erie County Recorders Office. The chain of title stems from a 1904 court-recorded deed.


In Area #2 = In this area - which has not been decided on by the courts - Erie MetroParks has already begun Greenway construction, paid for by Erie County tax dollars.


In Area #3 = Erie Metroparks’ Board of Commissioners has seized this property parcel and initiated Eminent Domain action against the landowner.


In Area #4 = This area is that in which Erie MetroParks claims control. This is the total land area affected by the recently publicized 2 1⁄2 year court battle, intiated against property owners by Erie MetroParks’ Board of Commissioners in 1999.