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Letter to the Editor, Ann Arbor News,
submitted 3/2/2003, by the Friends of Dicken Woods
{Note: For unknown reasons, the News declined to publish this rebuttal to Judy McGovern's 2/17/03 column}
As members of a group that is just now forming help preserve an undeveloped
area known in the neighborhood as Dicken Woods, we wish to take issue with
Judy McGovern's piece in the February 17th edition of the Ann Arbor News.
The article derides as "NIMBYism" various efforts to direct some of the
city's land acquisition millage money to prevent development in individual
neighborhoods. We see it very differently: people who come together and
invest their own time, money, sweat in preservation efforts in their own
neighborhoods also deserve a voice in how their taxes are spent. And
listening to their voices may improve the quality of life in Ann Arbor!
The core of Ms. McGovern's argument seems to be that the 5-year parkland
acquisition millage is a one-time windfall that should be devoted to big-
picture projects rather than doled out piecemeal to efforts to stop
development of open space in different neighborhoods. We believe that if
the city handles these situations well, people will see results worthy of
the joint investment, and will want the city to keep the program going.
The prospects for a renewal of the parkland acquisition millage will be
enhanced if citizens see the city respond to the immediate needs of their
own neighborhoods as well as of long-term plans.
The article further implies that there is an inconsistency between
opposition to in-city development of long-abandoned farmland and objection
to the township sprawl that eats up viable farmland. Again, we see things
quite differently: Each community must do what it can do to promote and
protect the features that it most values. Developments involving dozens of
identical, densely-packed townhouses may or may not enhance the community
values of surrounding townships, but they do nothing to enhance the
character of Ann Arbor, while destroying natural areas that do enhance it.
Our city's well-deserved reputation as a wonderful place to live, work, and
raise families is founded largely on the way we integrate Nature into the
fabric of the community. The best way we can oppose sprawl is to lead by
example, showing what a "tree town" can be, and not by sacrificing our
remaining natural spaces to concrete and asphalt.
Finally, McGovern implies that there is a well-developed vision for the
future embedded in the city's plan for park and recreation land that should
be valued above the ad-hoc needs of individual neighborhoods. That may be,
but there are other plans by local bodies that stress the importance of
sustainable development, contiguity of wildlife habitat, and watershed
stabilization. For example, the West Area Plan says:
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"Existing natural resources such as wetlands, woodlands, steep
slopes, and waterways are assets to the community and provide
valuable natural functions, such as improving air and water
quality, fulfilling natural water infiltration roles, and
maintaining biodiversity. In addition, undeveloped environmentally
special areas provide residents with physical, spiritual and
mental benefits. The importance of such natural areas should be
carefully weighed when considering proposals for new developments
that would remove, reduce, or adversely impact such areas."
Ann Arbor is best served when planners, political leaders, and neighborhood
groups can come together to find today's best mix of land acquisitions that
balance long-term visions and short-term opportunities to enhance our
community.
Signed,
Michael Champion and
Jim and Leigh Ann Boyd,
Tom and Anna Craft & family,
Jim and Sandy Foulke,
Ray and Stephanie Hunter,
Thomas Ivacko,
Sophia and Ta-Rong Jan
Elizabeth Loesch,
Deborah Norbotten,
Robert Palmer,
Erik Stalhandske,
Christine Wylie,
Dorothy Wylie,
on behalf of the Friends of Dicken Woods
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