We have no beef with other Nature.
In fact we rather enjoy the few green spaces that remain on this planet. Still, one must admit that Western Michigan University has a lot to gain from expanding their Business Trade Research Park into the adjacent Colony Farm Orchard.
Nothing is ever a sure thing when it comes to politics at the state level, but the proposal to overturn restrictions on the development of Colony Farm appears likely to pass the Senate soon. After being introduced by local Rep. Bob Jones, House Bill 5207 steamrolled through the House of Representatives by a vote of 105-2. Given the support of Sen. Tom George, it seems a foregone conclusion that WMU will get its wish to expand the BTR Park.
That does not mean that those opposed to development will or should stop fighting it. Local neighborhood and environmental groups have made their case to leave the land in its natural state, and Students for a Sustainable Earth are leading the student opposition to development.
University representatives maintain that they have listened to the concerns of these groups and will continue to engage in a public discourse throughout the planning process.
Despite concerns expressed by community members, the University cannot ignore the positive results of the existing BTR Park and the potential benefits of growing that successful model nearby.
The BTR Park is located next to the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and looks across Parkview Avenue at Colony Farm Orchard. Constructed a decade ago, that BTR Park created roughly 1,400 jobs and provided internship opportunities to many students. Expansion into Colony Farm Orchard could have a similar impact, albeit on a smaller scale to fit the 53-acre plot.
In the interest of its students, it would be tough for the university to sit on its hands while that option was on the table. President John Dunn is not the Once-ler of Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax”; he does not want to wipe all trees off the face of the Earth. What this boils down to is a savvy business move on the part of the University.
One argument put forth by defenders of Colony Farm Orchard is that there are plenty of spaces for a BTR addition in already developed parts of town. True, but they are not a short walk from the CEAS – a complex frequented by many of the students who will be looking to secure internships with the companies that eventually move in to the new space.
Perhaps more importantly, any other space WMU might consider probably will not fall within the range of a “smart zone,” while any development on Colony Farm Orchard likely would be absorbed into the existing one across the street.
Building on a smart zone would save the university thousands of dollars in infrastructure spending after some of the privates companies’ tax dollars were used to pay for roads and similar necessities.
In the eyes of the environmental community, regardless of how much business sense this move makes, there is still a moral element to consider. To SSE Chairman Andrew Weissenborn, Colony Farm Orchard is not a matter of dollars and cents but a sense of right and wrong.
“[WMU] is focused on the economic benefit, which is understandable, but students and community members feel there should be a consideration of land ethic,” Weissenborn said.
According to environmentalist Aldo Leopold, “the land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.”
Weissenborn also stressed that the land is used by a number of Kalamazoo residents. Its uses range from acting as a muse for artists and photographers to a hunting ground for fans of wild asparagus to grounds for insect research.
The University, on the other hand, claims that these are not the “highest and best use of that land.”
To their credit, WMU has elected not to attempt development on a third parcel of land in the area, the Asylum Lake property. A larger plot than the BTR Park or Colony Farm Orchard, Asylum Lake is the one space that has been declared untouchable by the university.
Although all it would take is a vote by the Board of Directors to allow expansion into the Asylum Lake property, President Dunn has vowed never to go down that road. We have no reason to doubt the man’s word, so at the very least environmental activists can rest assured that some measure of open space will remain protected.
Bob Miller, WMU’s Vice President for Community Outreach, said that developing Colony Farm Orchard could actually improve the situation of Asylum Lake, which currently suffers from high levels of phosphorous absorbed from the surrounding area.
By building retention ponds in the northern portion of Colony Farm Orchard, much of that phosphorous could be kept out of Asylum Lake.
“Development and nature can in fact coexist, and if done really well, can actually improve each other,” Miller said.
WMU insists they are committed to moving forward with development in the most environmentally friendly, sustainable way possible. Including features like improved storm water management and retention ponds would be a good start.
However, SSE and their allies would argue that even the greenest of buildings are not as “green” as a grassy field. That difference of opinion is not likely to be settled overnight. Luckily, even if the bill passes the Senate there will be no groundbreaking on the project for several years. That allows plenty of time for a public discourse and for WMU to hear input from all interested parties.
SSE plans to continue its peaceful dissent by raising awareness and communicating their views to the student body and administration. The group holds weekly Thursday meetings at 7 p.m in Bernhard Center room 205.
The Oct. 2 meeting will feature workshop-holder Michael Gregor, who will assist attendees in crafting letters to state legislators and University officials expressing opposition to development.
While we encourage readers to follow this story and contribute their voice to the discussion, let us not forget why Colony Farm Orchard might be developed in the first place: to benefit students. Internships are nice; scoring a good job right out of school is even better. The business partnerships the expanded BTR Park promises would make those things available to more students.
It would be a nice gesture for the new park to be dedicated to some form of green business development, and for the buildings’ design to be on the cutting edge of eco-friendly construction. While it would not be the open space called for by opponents, it would represent some measure of compromise.
Although the concerns about land ethic are genuine, we support this project as a case of the university administration trying to create opportunities for its students at a time when alternatives are few and far between.
About Fritz
building retention ponds will not keep runoff out of asylum lake. retention ponds do not replace an ecosystem built to deal with excess nutrient loads.
It is regretful to see the Herald support the ill-advised development of an industrial park at the Colony Farm Orchard. The reasons are many but they begin with the position of WMU as a publicly funded research university with some higher ethical obligations to meet.
These obligations begin with respect for the community which pays the bills for WMU’s existence and wants its dedicated green spaces protected. We had agreements which must be honored.
The obligations continue with receiving a gift with respect and honoring the legacy of Robert and Jack Welborn who fought to have the land transferred to WMU when others also wanted it. The stated intent was for WMU to act as stewards of the public trust and keep it as green space for public use. Jack Welborn weighed in heavily at the time of WMU’s earlier attempt to build the BTR Park on Asylum Lake and the Orchard. It isn’t correct to disregard the legacy left us by our own elected representatives.
A public university is furthermore under a profound moral and historical obligation to be a moral rudder and to do the right thing, diffficult and expensive though it may be. Academic freedom and the life of the mind are not idle meaningless concepts whose time is long past. There is a history of student insurrections deposing despots, of professors being tortured and executed for the stating the truth and refusing to recant. Who else should be redeveloping abandoned industrial brownfields if not a public research university with a college of engineering? Who else if not the wealthiest country in the world with the greatest per capita consumption of material goods should be looking at new ways to conserve and protect what remains rather than grab what it can and use loopholes in the law to evade the intent of deed restrictions?
The current BTR Park used up a massive piece of real estate in record time due to abominable planning. A modest-sized city could have been built upon the Lee Baker Farm. Instead of forward thinking green developments that husband the precious resource of land with high density developments, we have widely spaced land-wasting development schemes that are poster-children of the worst kind of urban sprawl – the kind which does damage to nature while accommodating very little human use. Here is the place that forward thinking architects might have made their mark and shown what could be done within given constraints and made the land useful for expansion into the next century.
The environmental community is reasonable to be sceptical of the promises made and broken and being made again. If the massive Lee Baker Farm was purportedly “used up” in ten short years and we can see with our own eyes how much empty space for infilling remains, how is the 54 acres of the Orchard (or the enchanted forest as proponents among WMU students are calling it) going to save the situation? When will the monster be hungry again and once more break its word to all around and want a compromise on the Asylum Lake side of Drake Road? Will half be enough this time and how soon will the monster be hungry again? Will it ever be satiated? Will compromise ever mean giving back some of what was taken away or is it always to be a metering of the rate of loss until some day there simply will be nothing left to lose? .
I suggest that it’s time to draw a line in the sand and say it’s been enough. Make do with what you have, husband your resources and show us better ways than the failed ways of the past.
Ladislav Hanka
1005 Oakland Dr
Kalamazoo MI
USA 49008
(269) 388-5631