Ecology Center

At its October meeting, the Ecology Center Board of Directors unanimously voted to oppose the proposed Newmarket development in Pittsfield Township. The "new urbanist" proposal would develop 530 acres of farmland and ecologically significant land in Washtenaw County, and was featured in the September/October 1999 issue of From the Ground Up.

The project is intended to emulate the design of small towns in the United States before World War II. Houses would have front porches and relatively small setbacks, streets would be narrower than in ordinary subdivisions, and neighborhoods would be built around a "village center" with entertainment and shopping sites. These features are meant to encourage "walkability," to reduce residents' reliance on automobiles.

In its position statement, the Board of Directors identified five areas of concern.

1. The Newmarket development would have significant negative environmental impacts on local wildlife habitat, water quality, and woodlands. The county's largest heron rookery may be destroyed.

2. The project would strain the area's water, sewer, and road capacity.

3. The project's walkability features will not be effective in the middle of Pittsfield Township. Too many residents will be commuting to jobs in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and elsewhere. Many residents will drive to shops outside of the Newmarket village center.

4. The board supports most of the project's New Urbanism precepts, including the setback, house design, and mixed use rules. We believe they should be required of most developments. But this project should be proposed for a less environmentally fragile area.

5. The Ecology Center encourages Pittsfield Township to explore establishment of a "heritage park" in the central area of the township.In short, New Urbanism offers some desirable design features, but sprawl is still sprawl, no matter how pretty.

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