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The Issues
Natural Features
Dicken Woods is comprised mostly of areas with significant natural
features, including woodlands, wetlands and slopes. And beyond its
borders, Dicken Woods is located in a wider area of significant natural
features, including a ravine area in the backyards of houses along Maple
Road and Dicken Drive, hills and other wooded areas, open space at
Dicken Elementary School, and many wetland areas. As noted in the West
Area Plan, "a string of wetlands is found between I-94 and Maple Road,
from Liberty Street to Scio Church Road." [p. 15.] In addition, the
satellite photo on the 'maps'
page also shows further wetlands - surface ponds - directly across I-94
from Dicken Woods. As we've seen in other quotes from the West Area
Plan, undeveloped lands containing natural features require extra care
when considering proposals for development that would impact these
special areas.
According to the City of Ann Arbor's Wetlands Preservation Ordinance:
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"Preservation and enhancement of wetlands is essential to maintaining
and improving the City's aesthetic character, its ecological stability,
its economic well-being, its educational opportunities, and its quality
of life.
- Wetlands are protected to help reduce damage to aquatic resources
from erosion, turbidity, siltation, and contamination. They are
protected to minimize the loss of native plants and animals, to help
preserve biological diversity and to minimize the loss of wildlife
habitat within the City, and to sustain many benefits wetlands can help
provide - including flood control, storm water storage and release,
ground water recharge, and water quality improvement."
Meanwhile, the West Area Plan says the following about woodlands, wetlands
and wildlife habitat:
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"As the West Area developed over the last several decades, little
thought was given to the preservation of natural features such as
wetlands, woodlands, steep slopes or natural drainage ways. However,
many of the remaining vacant sites in the area are vacant because of
physical constraints created by those features and because the sites
with fewer natural features have been developed. With few easily
developable sites remaining in the West Area, there is conflict between
development and preservation of open space and natural features." [p.
22]
- Woodlands
- "The preservation of urban woodlands is important because they
provide a natural habitat for wildlife and have environmental and
aesthetic value for humans. Woodlands moderate certain climate
conditions such as flooding and high winds by protecting watersheds from
siltation soil erosion caused by stormwater runoff or wind. They also
contribute to better air quality by absorbing certain pollutants, and
offer buffers from noise." [p. 14]
- Wetlands
- "Wetlands provide a unique natural system and contribute to flood
control, stormwater storage and release, groundwater recharge and
discharge, and water quality improvement. Since wetlands are an
important element of the ecosystem, care must be taken that assures
their protection when development occurs." [p. 15]
- Wildlife Habitat
- "Natural areas provide habitat for animals, birds, and other
wildlife important to the ecosystem. Typically, the natural environment
and the urban environment were considered mutually exclusive. However,
a significant number of plant and animal species exist in urban areas
and on their periphery. The variety of plant communities determines the
diversity and stability of the wildlife populations within an area.
The best way to maintain wildlife and ecosystem values is to minimize
fragmentation and to increase habitat diversity. In developing areas,
fragmentation is inevitable. However, preserving habitat corridors and
natural linkages provides a means of mitigating the effects of habitat
fragmentation. Corridors provide for relatively easy means of wildlife
and plant dispersal across areas where it would otherwise be difficult."
[p. 15]
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