EUCLID, Ohio - Cleveland may be the grand poo-bah on Lake Erie, but Euclid, its third-largest suburb, is close to realizing a brilliant lakefront project that could serve as a precedent for the big city next door, if not the entire Great Lakes region.

After nearly a decade of spadework, Euclid could soon extend a public trail along three quarters of a mile of reconstructed shoreline on private property east of Sims Park, its main waterfront park.

The big idea is that in exchange for access to the land through easements, the city would take responsibility for solving erosion that threatens homes and apartment buildings.

Kudos all around

Observers have nothing but praise for the project, and believe it would set a precedent for Cleveland and other suburbs in Cuyahoga County, if not communities around the Great Lakes and perhaps even beyond.

"This is a watershed moment," said a punning Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc. and the former Cleveland planning director who led the city's 2004 lakefront plan. "This has the opportunity to be a proof-of-concept for other communities."

With $7.5 million of the $11.5 million needed for the project in hand, Euclid hopes to start construction next year, Jonathan Holody, Euclid's director of planning and development, said in an interview last week.

"It's going to be a huge benefit for the entire community," he said.

There's reason to believe he's right.

Win-win-win

Owners of private homes and apartments on Euclid's nearly 4-mile stretch of lakefront have worried for years about erosion that's chewing away 2 to 4 feet of land a year in some spots, toppling trees and raising the possibility that homes could be threatened.

They've dumped chunks of concrete and other materials down the 30-foot lakefront bluffs to stabilize them, but have succeeded only in creating an eyesore.

"It's ugly; there's all kinds of fill," said developer Doug Price, who owns more than 2,200 apartments in Euclid, including 1,163 in the Water's Edge and Harbor Crest complexes that will directly overlook the new trail.

For its part, the City of Euclid, like other Ohio communities along Lake Erie, including Cleveland, has long yearned to leverage its proximity to one of Ohio's greatest and most beautiful natural assets.

Cleveland has lakefront parks that are separated from one another by the Port of Cleveland, Burke Lakefront Airport and other obstacles including private homes and institutional property.

Lakefront for a lucky few

Euclid has two smallish lakefront parks separated by a long, thin ribbon of private properties at the water's edge that restrict lake access and views to a lucky few.

It's a crazy, inequitable pattern repeated along much of Ohio's shoreline. It's wasteful, too, because property values away from the lake could be higher if the entire community had better access.

Working with design consultants from Detroit-based SmithGroupJJR, Euclid proposed to property owners that it would clean up and re-engineer the shoreline to make it erosion resistant and more habitat-friendly for wildlife, in exchange for the right to create the waterfront trail.

The trail will represent the next phase of the multi-part Euclid Waterfront Improvement Plan, initiated under former mayor Bill Cervenik, which included the snazzy, $1.7 million re-do of the Sims Park fishing pier, also designed by SmithGroupJJR, and completed in 2013.

Legacy of two mayors

The new pathway, taking shape under Cervenik's successor, Kirsten Holzheimer Gail, will extend east from the 30 acres of Sims Park at 23131 Lakeshore Blvd. to the future site of a marina the city hopes to build north of the boulevard at East 246th Street.

In the meantime, the city will create a "paddle craft beach" as part of a new, five-acre park at the east end of the trail.

On the water side of the trail, erosion will be controlled with new "cobble" beaches made of gravel and rocks that break up wave energy while providing habitat for small aquatic creatures, said Landscape Architect Jason Stangland, project manager for SmithGroupJJR.

On the uphill side, the city will plant native grasses and other vegetation designed to stabilize the crumbling clay and sand bluffs while providing "pollinator habitats" friendly to bees, butterflies and birds, he said.

Enabling the entire community to access a linear park will spread the benefits of Euclid's address on Lake Erie more democratically to all residents.

Happy neighbors

"I think it's a great project," said Paul Roba, president of the Luikart Homeowners Association, whose 19 members have voted in favor of the easement deal with the city. "It's going to add a lot of value to people who enjoy the outdoors in Euclid."

"It was a no brainer for me," Price said. "You're rid of the biggest problem we have, which is erosion control. That gets fixed, and the boardwalk becomes a real amenity for our residents. It's done in a way that's OK for everybody."

In a larger sense, the lakefront project offers a snapshot of an attractive, working-class Cleveland suburb addressing its future proactively at a time in which it is becoming a majority black community challenged by higher levels of poverty.

Controversy over alleged police brutality raised more concerns last summer. Yet with a major investment by Amazon in a new distribution center on the site of the former Euclid Mall and other big projects under way, Euclid has a lot going for it.

An update

Here's where things stand now on the lakefront project:

Owners of eight properties, including Price and the Luikart Homeowners Association, have agreed or are close to agreeing on the easements, and the city is working out a purchase agreement with the ninth owner, Holody said.

The $7.5 million raised for the project so far includes a $4 million loan, part of which is forgivable, from Cuyahoga County's casino tax fund.

The city is pursuing additional grants from sources including the Federal Emergency Management Administration, FEMA, on the grounds that erosion is threatening property on the lakefront bluffs.

Holody said the city is also close to receiving permits for submerged land leases from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for modifications to stabilize the shoreline, including revetments and the cobble beaches.

Future connections possible

In future, the Euclid lakefront trail could grow and possibly connect to other planned resources including Cuyahoga County's East Side Greenway.

Brian Zimmerman, CEO of Cleveland Metroparks, said the Euclid lakefront trail might also dovetail someday with the agency's plans to expand its magnificent Euclid Creek Reservation north of Euclid Avenue with a trail or greenway connection to Lake Erie.

"If each agency can do a part, the heavy lift will be accomplished," he said.

Euclid first made planning history in 1926 when the Supreme Court affirmed the validity of the city's zoning code in the famous Euclid V. Ambler case. For better or worse, the 5-4 ruling made "Euclidean" zoning," which separates land uses into distinct, single-use zones, the law of the land.

If the new trail project succeeds, it would be the second time Euclid makes planning history - this time for something inarguably good - better public access to America's waterfronts.