Recap of CPA/Community Walk
More than thirty people joined in the CPA/Community walk last night. Moderator Carol Niffenegger, introduced herself (see * footnote). Then, moving into the Black River Park area, the group stopped to reference the Mitchell survey map (made by the three developers for MDEQ application) and an aerial map (with property lines highlighted over it).
The City’s computer generated plan, which is used by the Council to view the area and make decisions as to possible land usuage, gives a much different impression than walking the land and using an aerial image of indicated parcel lots. (This aerial view will be in a tomorrow’s listing.)
The public held properties start with the Black River Park and lead into the boat landing with the wide acreage of public land off to the south and east of this. Designated as 5 different sections of land parcel in the city’s conceptual design plan, it appears to cover as much acreage as the Celery Pond (23 acres). The ditch, that connects the River to Celery Pond, is not entirely owned by the City, a revelation to some in the group. The City owns the ditch from the River to the Dunkley Avenue roadway; the ditch from the road to the Celery Pond is owned by the two developers in pending application for marina development.
The current City acreage in Celery Pond (approximately 5 acres) does not have property entitlement to reach the ditch side of their other public ownings. The City property runs in a rectangular way from the Bailey Avenue on the east, into the open water of the Pond, with its parcel lines touching on Cosy Radio property to the south and J&B Landing property on the northeast side. In other words, the City could not entertain the idea of a marina unless it contacted or was approached by J&B landing to do such development. Part of the Master Plan, such as that in Area 4, speaks of infrastructure and seeking ways to develop it from a more privatized method, but later, in contradiction to itself, the Plan speaks of floodplains vs. development (Chapter 4, Page 57) and protection of environments in the area (Chapter 7, Page 153). The Plan specifically has a section on Environmental Protection (p.141) and Conservation of Natural Resources, including wetland area (p.141).
The Celery Pond Advocates agreed to endorse the Parks Commission Recommendation to keep the public lands in public hands, justified by the reasons of the above Chapter 4 (P57) and Chapter 7(p153). An alternative suggestion is being developed by the CPA: to use the huge acreage of the public land on Black River as a Celery Pond Community Park (CPCP).
Of major concern in crossing from the City-ditch, across Dunkley Avenue, to the privately owned ditch is the real issue of compromised public safety if a channel is cut. The Police and Fire Department (just is east of this location on Dunkley) use Dunkley as a major access road for emergency/fire to reach the North Side. To cut up this roadway with a channel would dead-end one of the three emergency roadways into and out of the City.
If public safety is a major consideration of the Master Plan, keeping the roadway open would be most important. To agree to a potential channel cut to accomodate a future marina development, argued by the Council/City Manager to generate tax dollars, puts the Council in a strange position of saying yes, first to monied return, with the safety of the public being secondary.
The CPA wants to see a traffic density impact study done on the area. This information should be one of the elements for reaching a decision of public officials. To achieve such a study, more time is needed and more months of debate would need to stay open.
Along with the interruption of roadway on Dunkley, the design plan will show a Broadway extension to Dunkley, meaning that larger hauled vehicles will be drawn into an already heavily congested traffic area, particularly on the weekends of the summer season. Another reason for a density/traffic impact report.
The Council will be meeting on August 21, first in workshop (at 6:30p), then in their formal televised session (7:30p), to dicuss and vote on accepting the new design plan generated out of their July 10th workshop. Included in the new plan will be such elements as a ‘defined Right of Way large enough to accomodate the future implementation and construction of a channel and cul-de-sac on either end of the roadway’ along with areas for ‘destination restaurant’ and ‘residential development,’ in other words, selling public land to private developers. On the other side of this equation, will stand the Parks Recommendation to Council, to keep the land in ‘public ownership in order to preserve the property for recreational use for future generations.’
The growing numbers of CPA members urge you to call you Council rep and voice your opinion and concerns.
* re: Carol Niffenegger: “I am a native of SH. My grandfather and his brothers came here in the 1880s and were part of the original founding fathers of the community. Working for over a decade in news, both at UPI and CBS News in New York City, my investigative research contributed to three network Emmys. Now, as professional artist, I am represented by galleries in New York and Michigan. I spend my summers in South Haven and endorse the goals of the Celery Pond Advocates: to preserve the wetland and to retain the public land holdings adjacent to it, with hopes of re-greening this area of the Black River waterfront.”
