Comments on: Greenbelt Commission Terms Revised

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Fri, 20 May 2011 23:56:09 +0000

Not that I don’t appreciate the condescension, but the point is, not all rural people represent sprawl, and they have transportation needs too.

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:43:45 +0000

While it may be romantic to envision a senior citizen, life-long resident of Manchester being able to board a bus for a day in the big city, here’s what Jesse Bernstein, chair of the AATA board has to say about the link between transit and development (from his *blog* on Concentrate):

*As President of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, a number of developers, both local and nationwide talked with me about major projects in the area. One element that ran through these discussions was the need for public transit, whether the population to be served was young professionals or our mature citizens. And these developers were willing to talk about incorporating stations and other capital expenses for transit in their development plans. With public transit available, the projects could be larger and include more uses if centered around a transit stop.

This is called transit oriented development.*

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Thu, 19 May 2011 23:56:35 +0000

It’s a delicate line between “promoting sprawl” and allowing people to have a reasonable quality of life where they choose to live. People whose families have lived in, say, Manchester for three generations can’t be reasonably accused of abetting sprawl, and they still have a legitimate need for transportation.

Sprawl can be blamed on decades of misguided land use policy, on subsidizing roads and cars and steel and and suburbs at the expense of cities, and real estate speculators and god knows what else. I doubt that a regional bus service is likely to be a big factor.

By: Steve Bean

Steve Bean — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:53:49 +0000

@5: “easier” would only “promote sprawl” if it is also less expensive. It won’t be, for numerous reasons.

By: Joe Zurawski

Joe Zurawski — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:43:05 +0000

I find it intriguing that while the vast majority of the people living in this area value open space highly and strive for preservation of green space, we are at the same time hearing a lot of support for a county wide public transit plan that will only promote sprawl by making it easier to get around the outlying areas.

By: Joe Zurawski

Joe Zurawski — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:40:35 +0000

Mr. Bloomer is incorrect in his description of the valuation for farmland. The value is adjusted every year under the exact same process as every other property. The actual sales price is compared to the assessed value. This comparison is done by use classification (residential, agricultural, commerical, industrial, etc.) and is averaged within each classification and each nmunicipality. If the ratio of sales price vs. assessed value is not 2:1 then the assessed values are adjusted accordingluy. Feel free to verufy this with the County Equalization Dept.

The valuation is based on ACTUAL sales price, not “Potential market Value” as Mr. Bloomer states in his talking points.

By: Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:57:28 +0000

Re. re-appointment of Jennifer S. Hall: GAC members are term-limited – she’s reached the end of her term limits, as has Gil Omenn, so neither of them are eligible to be re-appointed.

By: Mark Koroi

Mark Koroi — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:20:25 +0000

Will Jennifer Santi Hall actually be re-appointed to the commission – or will she find out in the media that the Mayor is appointing someone else – which occurred when she sat on the DDA? The Mayor never explained why Bob Guenzel got the nod over Jennifer when her term expired.

We should demand that ability and not local politics dictate the re-appointment process when someone is up for recondideration on an expired term.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:20:33 +0000

It has been a pleasure to note the conscientious approach to mission that members of this commission have taken. Congratulations to commissioners Hall and Omenn for their excellent service.

I’m quite concerned about Governor Snyder’s meddling with a farmland preservation program (P.A. 116) that has served us well for decades and is one of the few ameliorations for Michigan’s habit of assessing farmland based on its development value. We hear a lot about “incentivizing” (hate that word) these days and this tax policy (taxing on development value) is a strong incentive to sell out and stop farming, a path many farmers took during the housing boom. I hope that GAC can serve as a good public forum to expose this issue, though it seems late to influence events at the state level.