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March 20, 2006'New urbanism' plan is met with skepticism and delightACME - Todd Gokey watches community debate rage over how to develop Acme's prime commercial land along M-72 and figures there must be an easier way."There's been a lot of head-butting that's gone on over the years," said Gokey, who owns almost 60 of 400-plus acres south of M-72 long envisioned as Acme's "town center." "That whole area's going to explode once it starts developing out there," he said. "It'd be good to have it look nice." A small group of Acme residents put in hundreds of volunteer hours since fall to find help to create a "new urbanism" plan for the town center area, where previous development proposals spurred lawsuits and political upheaval. It's an idea with solid support from the township board, but also obstacles like an estimated $250,000 price tag and healthy skepticism from some major landowners in the town center district. Supporters say if they can make it work, they'll create a state and national model for communities to take on the pressures of urban sprawl. "Our goal was to say, 'Let's get in there and be pro-active instead of reactive,'" said Marc Krakow, an Acme resident who co-chaired the committee with Lori Craig. "Let's decide - how do we want (Acme) to look in 15, 20 or 30 years?" The group's reviewed dozens of proposals from planning consultants with world-wide resumes. The group settled on RTKL, a new urbanism planner headquartered in Baltimore. The town center area covers more than 400 acres south of M-72 held by five different parties. Major landowners include Meijer, The Village and the Johnson family partnership, while smaller parcels are owned by the Gokey and Andres families. The consultant would analyze pending development plans, and meet with Acme residents and the property owners to create combined development proposals. The cost of the project is a stumbling block for some residents who've called the effort "a waste of money." But supporters point to nearly $200,000 the township already spent on two lawsuits over The Village mixed-use development along M-72 - one still pending before the state Court of Appeals. The township board this week pledged $50,000 toward the cost of the study. Officials are hopeful some of the landowners also will chip in, and they're also scouring foundations and other potential grant sources for support. "I think there's some very good interest," Supervisor Bill Kurtz said. "There are some dollars out there." But some landowners see it as another stall tactic to hold up developments, and are wary of signing on. "We're not in a position to commit or not commit right now ... we're up in the air," said Ken Petterson, an attorney for The Village and a township resident. His clients will pursue their original plans through the appellate court, a project he said includes many new urbanism principles the committee wants to pursue. "It's a perfect plan if you don't want anything to get done," Petterson said. "What they really want is for everybody to stop pursuing their own interests." Meijer officials also expressed doubts. "I'm skeptical that's going to come to pass," said Scott Nowakowski, Meijer's director of real estate, who's been trying for more than a year to get a superstore approved at the intersection of M-72 and Lautner Road. Officials said the idea won't budge without funding or firm commitments from town center landowners. "I think the money situation is an obstacle," Krakow said. "But I think who is going to step forward and participate is a bigger obstacle at this point." [an error occurred while processing this directive] |