Plain Township this week opened the doors — or rather, the trailheads — to its new 47-acre Wetlands Reserve, a property just off Applegrove Street and Marquardt Avenue NW that officials say was purchased specifically to protect natural habitat and wildlife. The township paid $900,000 for the land, and trustees are already working on a follow-up deal that would add another 70 acres of protected ground nearby.
According to News 5 Cleveland, Trustee Scott Hawes said local taxpayers did not have to cover the purchase price. The station reported that 75% of the funding came from the Clean Ohio Fund, with the remaining 25% coming from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District — though a separate account from the Canton Repository described the township using grants from the Ohio Public Works Commission and Western Reserve Land Conservancy to pay for the land. The two accounts differ on exactly which grant programs footed the bill, but both agree taxpayers were spared the cost.
For neighbors like Allyson Drinkard, who lives across the street from the reserve, the opening is personal. She and her family regularly walk old paths behind her home, and per the same News 5 Cleveland report, she said the reserve is beautiful when fog settles into the valley. Drinkard said it's important to continue preserving whatever land can still be saved in a township where, as officials note, much of the ground has already been developed with homes and businesses.
What's Actually Protected Here
The reserve isn't just open space — it's specifically tied to vulnerable species. The Canton Repository reported that the 47 acres include 23 acres of high-quality wetlands along with habitat for tri-colored bats, which are listed as endangered in Ohio, and several other bat species considered of concern. Grant conditions tied to the funding prohibit any construction of buildings on the property, the paper noted, locking in its undeveloped character for the long term.
Wetlands do more than provide scenic fog-draped views, too. A separate report from Farm and Dairy described how wetlands slow down stormwater so that mud, nutrients and other pollutants settle out or get absorbed by plants and soils before reaching downstream rivers and taps — a function that matters as Plain Township continues to grow.
A Bigger Push for Green Space
The 47-acre opening is only half of what officials have in mind. The same News 5 Cleveland report said the township is working to finalize a $1.5 million deal to purchase and preserve the remaining 70 acres, using the same funding sources tapped for the wetlands reserve. If that deal closes, the two projects together would protect roughly 117 acres in the township.
Township officials hope to eventually add paths, and potentially a boardwalk, through the reserve, with an eye toward turning it into an outdoor classroom where students from North Canton, Plain Local Schools and Walsh University could study ecology firsthand, per the station's report. Hawes said the township — which covers about 28 square miles and is home to roughly 54,000 people — has only a limited amount of undeveloped land left, and must balance growth with preservation going forward.
Development Pressure Right Next Door
That balancing act is playing out just down the road. The same report noted that plans call for single-family homes and senior living on approximately 90 acres of former Sanctuary Golf Club land — a site that has already drawn scrutiny from neighbors. The Canton Repository previously reported that a 2026 zoning proposal for that property left residents concerned about additional traffic along Applegrove, child safety, rising utility costs and possible declines in property values.
The golf club's path to housing has been years in the making. Sanctuary Golf Club closed permanently after the 2023 season. Plain Township and Western Reserve Land Conservancy have pursued similar efforts before, having permanently protected 20 acres of habitat adjacent to Veteran's Park using a mix of Clean Ohio Conservation Fund, Muskingum Partners for Watershed Management and Stark Community Foundation dollars, according to the conservancy.
