– For Immediate Release –
Contact:
Stephen R. Emsley
Citizens for Public Accountability and Responsible Development
41336 Windsor Ct
Northville, MI 48167
Phone: 248-797-5335
E-mail: cpardinfo@gmail.com
http://www.cpard.org
CPARD is a group of concerned citizens from Northville and the surrounding communities who are challenging the manner in which the Northville Township Board of Trustees agreed to the new mega-development (Highwood Development) being built at Seven Mile and Haggerty Roads.
We have filed a complaint in Circuit Court. This complaint is made under the Open Meetings Act challenging the validity of decisions made by the board and seeking invalidation of decisions made by the board at meetings on 7/24 and 7/29 that the public is still largely unaware of. There were no public comments, questions, or debates at these meetings regarding the REIS litigation. This is indicated in the minutes. There were no members of the public in attendance at the meetings. These decisions led to a “consent judgement” with developer “REIS” which allows severe commercial over development of the property. It makes a mockery of Twp. zoning ordinances and will have a large, negative impact on Northville and the surrounding communities permanently if it is allowed to proceed as is. This decision was made in contradiction to what the citizens desired and the original Zoning Board and Brownfield Authority recommended.
In the complaint we contend that the board was successful in completing the consent judgment in the REIS litigation without the knowledge or input of the public, outside the view of the public, and intentionally frustrated its citizens from participating in the democratic process. The board simply did not want the public to know what it was doing regarding the REIS litigation and development.
In the complaint we contend that the supervisor, some members of the board, the clerk, and others acted together, designed a scheme to not provide notice of the meetings to the public and, for that reason, the public would not be at the meetings to see that the board was going to agree to a consent judgment regarding the REIS litigation. Furthermore, the public would neither be able to see the provisions of the consent agreement nor question the motives of the board. The board did this in order to avoid public debate on the REIS litigation issue. They did this with the specific intent that the public would not attend the special meetings knowing the staunch opposition they would face from a large group of residents.
Our goal is to have the meetings regarding the consent agreement held again, legally this time, and in front of the public so that our voices and the voices of other will be heard and hopefully the end result will be a reasonable and responsible development.
The full complaint can be found at: www.cpard.org
Why is the Consent Agreement so bad for Northville and the surrounding communities?
The following is a brief summary comparing the original REIS development proposal dated October 2006 and what the new consent agreement allows.
* COMMERCIAL- One of the major concerns of the community was the amount of commercial retail space proposed to be constructed on the property and how it might affect existing downtown businesses within the City of Northville and surrounding area. The original REIS proposal proposed no greater than 400,000 square feet of commercial on 42 acres with no single retailer larger than 75,000 square feet. The settlement agrees to 950,000 square feet on110 acres, does not limit a single retailer’s size, and does not require the second floor area square footage of a single retailer to be included into the total summation. This means the total square footage could conceivably reach a whopping 1,900,000 sq. ft. To put this into perspective, Twelve Oaks Mall is “only” ~1,490,000 sq. ft. The settlement excludes the square footage of all common areas, outdoor cafes, outdoor sales, and mezzanines. The ultimate number and size of any building will not be limited to the Township Zoning Ordinance. Wal-Mart is mentioned several times in the settlement. The original proposal did not appear to include fast food restaurants at the corner of 7 Mile and Haggerty, the settlement agrees to three. Whatever happened to the small town concept proposed for this corner presented in the Township’s subarea plan prepared by LSL Planning, Inc in 2006?
* TRAFFIC MITIGATION - All along citizens have been very concerned about the traffic this development will create. The Twp. did a traffic study early in the process that showed how horribly congested the area would become and used this data to “fight” REIS. We cannot find ANY details regarding how this sever congestion will be mitigated in the consent judgment. From Crain’s Detroit: “The township counters that 40 acres of retail will generate traffic gridlock and threaten downtown retail in the city of Northville.” So now that we have over TWO TIMES the acreage why is the Township so quiet?
* OFFICE - The original proposal proposed 10 acres and 165,000 square feet. The settlement agrees to 10.68 acres which can be expanded up to 25 acres. The maximum height to be four stories .The size or user will not be limited by the Zoning Ordinance.
* WOODLANDS PROTECTION - This one is huge! In the original REIS proposal on page 15, they agree to adhere to the Township Woodland Ordinance. The developer had left a blank in order to fill in the amount of money to be contributed to the “Tree Fund” to replace trees to be removed. The developer’s original proposal states that some of the trees are projected to be more than 400 years old and “The social value of these two amenities (the woodlots) are priceless”. However, in the settlement, item 55, it states,” The Township’s woodland ordinance, or any like it, shall not apply to the Project”. Why the sudden turn around? All the trees on the site have been surveyed, metal tagged, numbered and identified. So why stop the process to protect these trees now?
* SENIOR HOUSING - The original proposal was 13 acres. The agreement allows 13.5 acres. This can be expanded up to 25 acres and a building height of six stories. The ultimate size (in square feet) of any building or user will not be limited by the Zoning Ordinance.
* RESIDENTIAL - The original proposal suggested 174 acres of single family homes and attached and detached villas. The lot sizes ranged from 70′ to 120′ wide. The settlement agrees to 147 acres, with a minimum lot width of 50 feet, provided no less than _ of the single-family homes sites shall have a minimum lot width of less than 60 feet. The development is limited to 500 units. The settlement allows up to 20 percent of the residential units to be attached housing. It also allows that all of the residential units can be rented or leased, if the market requires. Lot widths of 50 to 70 feet wide shall have agreed upon setbacks as specified in the settlement.
* SIGN ORDINANCE - The settlement states, “The now existing or hereafter adopted sign ordinance will be generally applied, but the standards contained therein may be modified administratively…. to reflect the unique scale of the Commercial Area…”
* ASSESSED PROPERTY VALUE - The settlement agrees to role back the assessed property value from the purchase price of $34 million to a taxable value of $5 million. The Township must also refund the developer the taxes paid in excess of this amount for the previous tax years of 2006, 2007 and 2008. This new lower tax rate will now be the tax bases during the entire Brownfield Plan repayment period. The current tax payment on the property is $776,321 per year. The tax could drop to $120,000 or less, for over 10 years. Where will the refund money come from? The agreement also circumvents the tax tribunal process. Try to do this with your own personnel property taxes.
* BROWNFIELD PLAN - The settlement forces the Twp. to agree to a Brownfield Plan and the developer can now use property tax increment financing to pay for the $15 million clean up of the site. Northville Twp. orignally denied this money. The developer has 10 years to remove the existing structures. The original Brownfield Authority formed to research this request denied the request. “The Township shall, within 45 days of the entry of this Consent Judgment approve a Brownfield Plan and the accompanying Development and Reimbursement Agreement (”DAR”) for the Property in the forms attached hereto as Exhibit 8 and perform its obligations thereunder.”
Our group is strongly opposed to using any school tax money to recapture to pay for the Brownfield Plan, if the board ignores the will of the people and approves it. As far as we know REIS has not asked for this, but under the Brownfield Act they can ask for the school tax to be included, and someone has to say NO
* FENCE CONSTRUCTION - In the settlement the developer is to install a fence along the southern property line. All approvals and permit fees are waived. For all others, this type of work requires a $50 permit, $15 / 100 feet of fence fee, site plan approval, inspection and a $500 bond.
* WATER TAP AND SEWER FEES - Per the settlement, all fees are frozen for 10 years at the current rate.
* SIDEWALKS - Per the settlement the developer is only required to install sidewalks on one side of the street. I question whether this would comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, since it restricts persons with disabilities from full access to all of the property, buildings, and homes.
* ROADS and UTILITIES - Per the settlement all roads, landscaping, sidewalks, pathways, lighting, and utilities will be paid for through a special tax assessment district.
* SCHOOL SITE - The original proposal included the developer donating a 19.3 acre school site, and extending Winchester Drive. This donation was eliminated in the settlement.
* TRAIL SYSTEM - The original proposal included a 6.5-mile bike and walking path system to be constructed and maintained with association fees. There is no mention of this feature in the settlement.
* OIL WELL - There is no mention of the Township receiving any compensation for oil drilling on the property. Per the Detroit News, the City of Livonia will receive millions of dollars from the oil well located behind the Target store on Haggerty Road.
* LIQUOR LICENSES - Per the settlement, the Township cannot limit the issuance and approval of liquor licenses within the property.
* BUILDING SETBACKS - The settlement basically requires the development to adhere to the Township Zoning Ordinance setbacks only around the perimeter of the project, not the interior.
* OPEN SPACE - The original proposal included 28.7 acres of nature preserve, 6.0 acres wetland, 12.0 acres woodlot #1, 13 acres of woodlot #2, 42.4 acres of developed community open space, 19.3 acres for school, and 6.5 miles of trails. 121.4 total acres. In the settlement the Township will receive 100 acres of undeveloped land, excluding oil wells, through an IRS Noncash Charitable Contribution. The IRS donation amount is not recording in the settlement agreement. It would be interesting to compare this gift amount to the proposed reduced assessed taxable land value amount discussed above.
* BERMING ALONG 7 MILE and HAGGERTY ROADS - Per the settlement, REIS may modify the Township landscaping and berming standards to allow for adequate views of the Commercial Area.
How you can help!
If you are opposed to the current agreement you can help on several fronts.
* Publicize the disturbing terms of the agreement. You can do this through letters to the editor of as many publications as possible, communicating with your friends and neighbors regarding the agreement, posting your opinions on the Internet, etc. The more publicity the agreement gets the better.
* Be prepared to show up at the new round of meetings and voice your concerns or just be there to show your support.
* Write letters to members of the board telling them how you feel about the agreement and that you believe they should not accept these wild terms again and that doing so is disregarding their responsibility to the public.
* Send your email address to cpardinfo@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list so that we can keep you up to date and when help is necessary you may be able to volunteer your time. We will NOT share you information and are very judicious in our mailings.
Thank you for taking the time to read about CPARD. We believe that the more you look into the consent agreement the more you will agree it is bad for Northville, bad for Livonia and bad for pretty much everyone other than REIS.
Citizens for Public Accountability and Responsible Development
CPARD.ORG
The Citizens for Public Accountability and Responsible Development is an unincorporated voluntary association of citizens only, having a distinguishing name under MCR 2.201(C)(3). It is made up of persons only and they are entitled to bring an action under the OMA.