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12/18/2019  Northfield Township Planning Commission meeting LiveTimeline

 

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------------ Start of Editorial -----------

produced by Jim Nelson, 12/27/2019 11:50 AM.

I have transcribed and linked to the entire discussion of the Planner's proposed 2020 goals. It's worth a read, a watch, and a listen - for the subtext.  Responsibility has been diffused and is un coordinated.  Committees are free running, guided mainly by confirmation bias.  Little more than lip service is paid to the Communal Good. 

You can see the end results in the Board's floundering attempts to save their only parking lot from being sold along with the 75 Barker Road Fire Hall.  

Parking gets discussed in this discussion of PC goals. It's why I stood up on my hind legs and addressed the Planning Commission at this meeting.  Somewhere in my sputtering was the seed of this editorial.

What's clear is that the Board's flailing will leave no parking to plan. They're selling the Barker Road property and trying to kickstart the sale of 80% of the North Village acreage to a developer whose sole intent is to maximize the number of housing units he can sell.  No one is saying WTF!

 

- No one who matters, that is, those whose future is affected.  That's the Whitmore Lake crowd, the people who rose up and overwhelmingly beat back the old ideas and old age behind the anti marijuana business referendum.  

- Yeah, that's a hint.

But none of that is impacted by the Planning Commission 2020 planning discussed at this December 18th meeting. The parking lot capable properties will have already been sold out from under Township control.

On January 7th, the Township Board will convene in a special meeting.  Supervisor Chockley is hell bent to turn over to developers, almost any developer out of this universe of two prospects, the Township's 23 lakeside acres.  Township Planner's bullshit has transformed this land from Whitmore Lake's only chance at a real Lakeside Park into Whitmore Lake's only chance at filling the only remaining lakeside open space with asphalt, apartments, and Low Income Housing.

The upcoming January 7th special Board meeting was hastened and arranged specifically to give Chockley's hottest development prospect the chance to apply for major State of Michigan, MSHDA Low Income Housing grants, that maximize the developer's profits and maximize the diminishment of  downtown Whitmore Lake. 

Read the last Board meeting packet.  I've made it easy:

 

In that packet is an assessor's valuation, a clueless and clumsy attempt to present the lost park land as a profit making venture.  The property long listed at around $3 million by Van Curler will be sold to the developer for around a million.  That property was intentionally and essentially given to the Township by Van Curler's family.  It is irreplaceable lakeside open space.

- This is a Township government that knows the price - but the value of nothing.

What's really stunning about those developer plans is how little space is alloted for siting actual businesses, for growth. 

 

So, Five lousy acres is the Board's grudging allocation to the promised Lakeside park.  And part of that 5 acres very likely includes the Main Street road easement passing between the narrow sliver of a beach area east of the road and the balance of the five acres on the west side.  Much of the balance of that five acres on the west side will be sucked up by asphalt: a ingress road and parking.  Such largesse! 

5 asphalt riddled acres for 8,000 residents.    

A tiny park, forever.

------------ End of Editorial -----------

Here's a portable, clickable version of the LiveTimeline

12/18/2019  Northfield Township Planning Commission meeting LiveTimeline

 

And here's the stuck-to-the-webpage version of the LiveTimeline 

 

Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call

Motion to Adopt the Agenda

Call to the Public

Comments from Commissioners: None

Correspondence: None

Public Hearing

9.A Reports of Committees

Agenda Item 11.A and 11.B Approve Conditional use and Site Plan

Agenda Item C: Recommend to approval 2019 annual report of activities by the Planning Commission

Roman: Motion to adopt the proposed 2020 calendar of meeting dates

Roman: Motion to approve the minutes from December 4th

Final Call to the Public

Roman: Motion to Adjourn