Got notice last week that a developer has applied to build a subdivision across the street from me. Plan shows 72 houses on 64 acres with four retention ponds. NW corner borders a small creek. Neighbors are up in arms, I guess the FB thread (or whatever they are called, I don't do FB) was nearly a riot a friend said.
Here's what REALLY pisses me off. A few years ago, I had a conversation with one of the owners of the farm that I knew they were getting on and wouldn't be able to keep the farm up much longer, and she assured me that they had put covenants on the property that prohibited the property being developed because she knew it would be terrible for the neighborhood. Well, after they passed and the property went to their daughter, a developer friend of hers offered to buy the land and he would pay the legal bills to get the covenants removed. So that was accomplished and now we're looking at a few years of construction, noise, a lot more traffic, 72 septic systems, 72 more wells (a couple of people in the area have already had to put in deeper wells), more pollution from 72 lawns getting several doses of insecticides, herbicides and fertilizer every year.
I will have the back yards of four houses directly across from my property, a total of 16 will either face the road or face the other way. 10 will have driveways directly onto the county road in addition to the main entrance.
So tomorrow at 9:30AM there is going to be a huge turnout at the Planning Commission meeting for the approval or denial of the plan. Hope it doesn't get ugly, as some have on occasion.
The real problem I see, is that the members of the commission have virtually rubber stamped a bunch of projects this developer has submitted, even when there was overwhelming opposition against them. Part of the problem is that they are appointed, not elected, and really have no stake in the game, as it's nearly impossible to get them removed, past experience shows.
There's some talk of hiring a lawyer and I told them I would definitely support that if it became necessary.
Slimy friggin' developers...
Forgot to mention, I've lived here for 51 years. When I moved here, there were only about 20 homes within a mile of me. Now there are over 700, and almost no farm land is left.
Well, BX... everything changes. As I mentioned, my dad subdivided property on the edge of South Bend in the mid 50s. The city limits were the norther border and a county road. There was nothing to the north or west of him but farm fields. Over just my 64 years of life, I've seen several hundred houses built to the west, an industrial park, two apartment complexes, a Walmart come and go (shoplifted out of existence), fast food, sit-down restaurants, convenience stores, Meijer, car washes, a library, more housing developments with a couple thousand houses to the north all the way to the Michigan state line, the Cleveland Rd bridge over the river, a one lane bridge replaced with a two lane, more industrial parks, pretty much everything on the NW side of South Bend didn't exist when I was born. It all changed, and none of the people I knew when I was a kid live there anymore.
I understand your frustrations with being told by the original owner that the property would stay farmland, only to have the daughter take legal actions against her parent's wishes. You could blame the parents for not putting strong enough legalities in place to keep it that way. You could blame the developer for helping the daughter get around it. You could blame the daughter for going against their wishes. You could blame the commissions. All kinds of stuff. But it's just gonna eat at your gut for a long, long time. I know this, because we were denied a zoning variance for some AG land that we wanted to purchase, then a year later, they granted the same variance we were seeking to another person on the same piece of property. The only difference.... the last name... Mangus. (yep, state rep's family). It ate at me for quite a while. But as my father wisely told me many years ago, it's not what you know, it's who you know that counts more often than not.
About the only thing you can do is voice your concerns regarding traffic and density issues like septic, wells, soils types, FIRE INGRESS AND EGRESS to and from the neighborhood, drainage, etc. and hope they hear those concerns and address them to make it less painful on you and your neighbors.
As for this thread in general... some of the comments directed towards you regarding 'tough cookies', it's not your property came from some of the same folks that have expressed that they don't want a wind farm or solar farm next door to them.
Good luck. Don't let it eat you up. Advocate for the best outcome that you can reasonably expect to happen and hope for the best.
