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Land Conservancy works with Distribution Center to exceed environmental mitigation requirements and conserve 132 acres in Lordstown

May 8, 2019

Western Reserve Land Conservancy recently worked with HomeGoods to conserve 132 acres of forest habitat in Trumbull County.

HomeGoods, a division of The TJX Companies, Inc., recently purchased approximately 290 acres of land to build a new distribution center in the Village of Lordstown. Following environmental mitigation guidance from the Ohio EPA and Army Corps of Engineers, HomeGoods worked collaboratively with the Land Conservancy to develop a plan that will preserve streams and wetlands on the property.

“We were pleased to work with HomeGoods to help satisfy their mitigation requirements and we applaud the company’s commitment to conservation and the local community,” said Alex Czayka, senior vice president of conservation transactions for Western Reserve Land Conservancy.

According to Czayka, HomeGoods could have received regulatory approval by simply paying a stream and wetlands mitigation bank or by placing a conservation easement on approximately five to ten acres of restored habitat on site. Instead, the company voluntarily conserved more land than necessary by permit to permanently protect important forest habitat and create a buffer between the distribution center and a nearby residential neighborhood.

“This is a unique mitigation project due to HomeGoods’ voluntary placement of a conservation easement on significantly more land than was necessary by law,” noted Czayka. “As a result, it is the largest on-site mitigation easement held by Western Reserve Land Conservancy.”

The Land Conservancy has completed 26 mitigation easements in its history that have provided environmental and economic benefits to surrounding communities.

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