Horseshoe Lake plan is 'act of vandalism'

To the Editor:

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District revealed its plan for what’s left of Horseshoe Lake on May 1, and they deserve credit for being frank about what they want to do.

They want to dig out the north end of the dam, so far intact, bring the two branches of Doan Brook together about where the dam was, and direct the joined stream along a carefully engineered slope through the trees below as far as Lee Road.

The brook’s banks will be flattened into an artificial flood plain 16 feet on a side to prevent erosion. Sixteen feet is about the width of a lane of traffic—the bulldozed stream is going to look a lot like the Clark Freeway that residents fought to a standstill 50 years ago.

At the end of their presentation to Cleveland Heights City Council, the planners noted the stream would be designed to flood its low banks higher and higher in small to large rainstorms, then drain after the downpour. Effectively, then, our lake will become a retention basin, though the sewer district originally told us the lake had no value for flood control.

They call this plan a restoration, but there is nothing natural about it, and nothing is being restored. It’s a colossal act of vandalism.

Peter Zicari

Peter Zicari
Cleveland Heights

Read More on Letters To The Editor
Volume 16, Issue 6, Posted 9:09 AM, 06.01.2023