FeedsResidents cross borders to oppose annexation plan
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Perturbed people packed the pavilion in Hines Park to protest a plot to purloin property from Northville Township.Residents of Northville Township are gearing up for a new kind of fight.
After an appeal to Republican legislators apparently fell on deaf ears, members of the Citizens for Northville (CFN) will reach out to voters in the City of Livonia in hopes of forestalling a plan to annex a large parcel of land to that city.
Volunteers attended the Livonia Spree celebration during the weekend to call attention to the issue and additional efforts are planned for the July 4 activities, according to Carol Poenisch, a co-founder of CFN.
“There was a lot of support out there,” said Poenisch of the rallies. “There were a lot of people out there that told us they were appalled at what the developer was doing.
“We got a few thumbs down, too, of course,” she added.
Amid legal issues with Northville Township, the development partnership of Real Estate Interests, Inc and Schostack Brothers Construction (REIS) is attempting to have the 414-acre former Northville Psychiatric Hospital property annexed to the City of Livonia. The developer moved security guards on to the site earlier this year; they registered to vote and filed the annexation petition shortly after that. The issue will come up to a vote on Aug. 5, but only the residents on the hospital property and Livonia residents will weigh in on it.
“We’re just going to try to keep reaching voters until Aug. 5,” Poenisch said.
The group has set up another website, www.stopannexation. com.
Last week they hosted a rally at the Waterford Bend area of Hines Park that was attended by about 100 residents. The purpose of that rally was to call attention to the issue in hopes of forcing State Sen. Mike Bishop—the Senate majority leader—to pull proposed annexation legislation out of committee and send it up for a vote before the Senate adjourns for the summer. As of press time, that still hadn’t happened.
Steve Purchase, legislative aide for State Rep. Marc Corriveau, said party politics may have played a role there—at least in the Senate. Corriveau sponsored a version of the legislation that would protect townships from annexation in the House of Representatives and it was overwhelmingly approved there.
“It’s not a political issue and it never has been for (Corriveau),” he said. “We’re going to continue to fight as long as it takes. We’re going to continue to fight for smart annexation reform.
“We’ve learned where the flaws are in the law,” he added.
REIS purchased the property from the State of Michigan in 2006 for $31.5 million and closed on the sale in 2007. They presented a plan for Highwood, a mixed-use development that featured a large regional shopping center along with more than 1,100 new homes to the township. The plan was granted conditional approval by the township, but with a list of conditions that the developer said made it economically unfeasible. That’s when the lawsuits started.
Township officials have said the attempt to annex the property to Livonia is designed to circumvent those conditions.
“It’s the ‘ask mom’ plan,” said Township resident Fred Shadko, a member of CFN. “If you don’t like the answer you get from dad, you go ask mom.”
Poenisch said she and other members of CFN got involved in hopes of making the developer adhere to the standards of the community.
“I just want it to look creative and nice,” she said of the impending development. “That’s what our zoning ordinances are all about. It’s not about hurting developers.”
The township attempted to have the residents removed from the property, claiming in a lawsuit they were moved there under false pretenses.
One court has rejected that concept, but the township has appealed that decision.
“We don’t have a date on that yet,” said Township Manager Chip Snider, “but we filed for an expedited hearing.”
