01/02/2007

Editorial

Acme's experience is an incentive to plan now

In 2005 Circuit Court Judge Philip Rodgers, in a ruling shooting down a permit for the proposed Village development in Acme Township, laid out a few principles on which local governments can direct and control development:

• They have the "authority to review and approve, modify or deny site plans” for development projects;

• Michigan's Rural Township Zoning Act states that "decisions rejecting, approving or conditionally approving a site plan shall be based upon requirements and standards contained in the zoning ordinance, other township planning documents ...” and state and federal law;

• The spirit and the letter of Acme's master plan, which called for a village center that looked like existing villages in the region, must be met;

• "The Township Zoning Ordinance provides that a Special Use Permit may not be approved and a site plan issued unless the issues of traffic are reviewed and approved”;

• "The environmental impact of a proposed project must also be reviewed and approved.”;

• And, "Finally, a study of the market and economic impacts of the project must also be completed.”

None of that can be much consolation to the current board, which has essentially run up the white flag in its ongoing battle with Meijer Inc. over plans to construct a 232,000-plus-square-foot grocery and general merchandise "superstore,” a gas station and convenience store and additional retail space at M-72 and Lautner Road.

Although a lawsuit brought by Meijer over restrictions imposed by the township board on a special use permit is still pending, the board earlier this month dropped the conditions, essentially opening the door to the superstore. Meijer has said the issue won't be resolved until it gets a final ruling from the court.

Hopefully, Acme's experience won't deter local governments from doing what they have the authority to do — create master plans and zoning ordinances that can guide development and create a future residents want, not one dictated to them by big-box developers.

For decades, local governments essentially played dead when developers came to town with plans for mega developments and strip malls, and the result is plain to see. U.S. 31 South and South Airport Road are littered with big-box developments that look just like big-box developments in Anywhere, USA.

But as Rodgers has pointed out, local governments have the right to direct development, but only if they have strong master plans and zoning ordinances already in place. For places that are next in line for big-box development, the time to create those documents is now.

Waiting until the site plan lands on the supervisor's desk won't work.