02/22/2007

Editorial

Acme recall a referendum on who shapes the future

Tuesday's contentious Acme Township recall election is all about one thing — development and, more to the point, whether a community has the right to help shape its future or be dictated to by developers and big-box retailers.

This may be just one recall election in one township, but the outcome could have a profound effect on the region's future.

The roots of Tuesday's vote go all the way back to the 1990s when Acme residents went through a long and exhaustive visioning process to decide how they wanted the community to develop. The consensus was a so-called "town center” plan that called for village-like development on a human scale.

What they got, however, was anything but. Developers submitted plans for a massive retail complex that, at more than 1 million square feet, would dwarf anything in the region.

When the Village at Grand Traverse plan was blocked by a lawsuit, Meijer, Inc., which had owned land at M-72 and Lautner Road since the 1980s, announced plans for a 230,000-square-foot superstore, a gas station and convenience store and an additional 100,000 square feet of retail space.

That is not, of course, a "village.” It is a big-box superstore, with plenty more retail to come, that far exceeds any local purpose and becomes, at once, a regional shopping magnet.

Lost is the township's vision for what the M-72 corridor should look like. To their credit, the current Acme Township board has tried to shape the Meijer proposal to be more amenable to local plans. Just last month, 13th Circuit Court Judge Philip Rodgers ruled the township has the legal authority to attach conditions to Meijer's land-use permit.

But Meijer has said the conditions aren't acceptable, and the entire board faces recall Tuesday, an effort mounted by a coalition of former township officials, former board candidates and people who feel strongly that they want a Meijer and they want one now.

A recall is the last thing Acme needs. Before voting Tuesday, Acme residents should remember the major reason they threw out the entire previous board — contrary to the visioning process and the master plan, that board had given the go-ahead to the Village proposal.

Voters decided then that they wanted more control over the development process and elected a board that promised to give them that; this is no time to give up on them.

Tuesday's vote really is about how Acme will look 10 or 20 years from now. Vote "no” on Tuesday to keep that decision in the hands of township residents, not developers.