An effort is under way to clean up the polluted Little Cuyahoga River in Summit and Portage counties.The Northeast Ohio Four County Regional Planning and Development Organization is kicking off what’s called a balanced growth initiative along the heavily urbanized 17.4-mile stream.The decision came Friday at a public meeting that drew 20 participants to the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Goodyear branch.The approach is voluntary, incentive-based and relies on a regional focus on land use and development planning to protect and restore waterways. Some sensitive areas along streams may be preserved and development will be encouraged in areas that will produce less impact on streams. Such a holistic approach would involve local communities, zoning, economic redevelopment, land preservation, stopping urban sprawl and boosting ecological health, said planner Eric Akin of the Akron-based agency.His agency will likely take three to four months to meet with officials along the Little Cuyahoga River to outline the plan.He said preparing such a plan would likely take another year — with state agencies approving the project at the end.Such an approach has been used in Northeast Ohio along the Furnace Run, Chagrin River, Chippewa Creek, Rocky River and Big Creek.The Akron-based planning agency held a public hearing in 2010 on what steps to take next to clean up the Little Cuyahoga.Akin said his agency believes that the balanced growth approach is superior to what’s called a watershed action plan.A watershed action plan is a comprehensive and intense effort to address the causes of water quality and habitat degradation. Individual pollutants and pollutant sources are identified, prioritized and addressed by parties in and out of government. That method is being used along the Middle Cuyahoga River in Summit and Portage counties and was used on Sugar Creek in Wayne County, Tinkers Creek in Summit and Cuyahoga counties, and the Nimishillen Creek in Stark County. It would be easier and quicker to proceed with the balanced growth plan, and those at the meeting largely agreed.The Little Cuyahoga River drains 61.7 square miles of Summit and Portage counties and is one of the dirtiest tributaries of the Cuyahoga River.The stream begins in the Mogadore Reservoir, Springfield Lake and Wingfoot Lake. It also gets water from Summit Lake via the Ohio & Erie Canal. The stream empties into the main Cuyahoga River in North Akron.The watershed includes parts of Akron, Tallmadge, Mogadore, Lakemore and Springfield, Brimfield, Suffield and Randolph townships.Problems along the stream include combined sewers that overflow after rains and a heavily urbanized watershed that produces large volumes of chemical-laced runoff to the stream.For more information, contact Akin at 330-252-0337.Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.