Homestead Metro Park would grow from 43 acres to 376 under a land transfer Hilliard City Council is scheduled to approve Monday, Sept. 28.

The vote would authorize the city to hand over roughly 333 acres of conservation land to Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks at no cost. The parcels sit in the Big Darby Creek watershed, which the Nature Conservancy calls one of the most biologically diverse aquatic systems in the Midwest.

Metro Parks Executive Director Tim Moloney told 10TV on Sept. 21 that restoration work on prairies, wetlands and forest would begin in fall 2026 and take a couple of years to complete.

"In the Metro Parks world, in the conservation world, this is huge," Moloney said. "Anytime we're able to preserve more land in the Darby Watershed, it's great for everyone."

The transfer would push Metro Parks' total protected land in the Darby watershed past 10,000 acres, according to NBC4.

How the land came together

The city assembled the 333 acres largely through open-space requirements in development agreements with four builders, according to a city news release. M/I Homes built the Hill Farm and Hill Farm II developments. Fischer Homes built Clover Meadows. Pulte Homes and Rockford Homes built Tarlton Meadows.

In 2023, Hilliard City Council set a policy requiring 70% of land in new developments to remain open space. That exceeds the 50% standard required by other communities in the Big Darby Accord.

Council approved Hill Farm II in March 2025. The 300-home extension near Elliott Road sets aside 186 of its 265 acres as open space. Council separately authorized a transfer of about 35 acres from Clover Meadows to Metro Parks in June; those acres are part of the broader 333-acre package.

Dan Ralley, Hilliard's assistant city manager, said in the city's Sept. 14 news release that the open-space policy created a chance to permanently preserve hundreds of acres and expand public access to nature.

What changes for residents

The existing park off Cosgray Road features a covered bridge, a train station replica, two barns, a 2.5-acre fishing pond and a trail connecting to the six-mile Heritage Rail Trail. The new acreage to the west will be quieter and more natural, focused on conservation and passive recreation.

Shared-use paths already built through two housing developments connect the Heritage Rail Trail to Scioto Darby Creek Road near Audubon Road, according to Columbus Underground. Metro Parks plans to add natural-surface trails and boardwalks. Neither agency has set a timeline for those improvements.

Under the agreement, Metro Parks would take over routine maintenance and patrol of about 2.4 miles of the Heritage Trail south of Hayden Run Road, plus a trail running from Homestead through nearby subdivisions to Scioto Darby Creek Road. The city and Metro Parks would continue sharing costs on major trail construction and renovation.

The council meets Monday evening.