Though it doesn't look like much is going on directly with the land owned by Dan Fosnaught on Whipple Avenue, the sign at Fosnaught's Auto Parts puts 22 acres in the middle of a stalled annexation battle between the City of Canton and Jackson Township against North Canton.
A proposed agreement between the City of Canton and Jackson Township is on hold while a ruling by Judge Forchione nullifying an annexation petition by North Canton is reviewed.
Fosnaught's land is an important part to North Canton's attempt to block Canton and Jackson from annexing the railroad line as part of a proposed joint-economic development plan. Actually owned by Metro Regional Transit Authority, the land is central to the development plan between Canton and Jackson.
The agreement, announced in January, created a partnership between the two communities in which Jackson Township traded the 22 acres to the City of Canton for half the income tax collected in the area and the guarantee Canton will not annex other parts of Jackson without the express consent of the township trustees and property owner.
The income tax split is designed to take the pressure off of property taxes with new income and possible jobs along the line. The land, though annexed to the City of Canton, would remain in Jackson Township rather than carried into McKinley Township, preserving any previously-collected taxes by the township. Jackson would continue to provide highway and safety services to the land.
North Canton jumped on the annexation bid and filed its own petition for the land to the Stark County Commissioners, negating the deal between Canton and Jackson. The annexation seals off one side of North Canton from expansion, blocking the city in from Whipple Avenue on the west. Objections came from Canton and Jackson, delaying the North Canton decision.
The objection delay caused the Canton-Jackson case to be considered by commissioners before the North Canton annexation. A quick approval of the petition by Plain and Jackson Townships moved the plan to the next available commissioners meeting, while the North Canton petition was held up.
Stark County Commissioners approved the Canton-Jackson plan.
In May, North Canton filed a lawsuit alleging that state law required that their case would have needed to be decided before the Canton-Jackson petition, since it was filed first.
Forchione decided against North Canton, ruling that commissioners did not disturb state law in approving Canton and Jackson's plan.
For now, the agreement is on hold while Forchione's ruling is reviewed and appealed by
North Canton, and the sign at Fosnaught's is the only outside marker of the seven-month
battle.
