A stand of trees on the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital campus has been a hot topic in West Bloomfield.
Photo by Anthony Spokojny
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WEST BLOOMFIELD — More than a month after Anthony Spokojny decided to resign from his position on West Bloomfield’s Environmental Commission, the reason for his resignation continues to resonate in the township.
Spokojny was the chair of the Environmental Commission before opting to resign in protest of the Planning Commission’s unanimous decision to approve a use permit request for the construction of a behavioral health hospital.
Now a second commissioner has announced that she won’t pursue another term, saying that the Environmental Commission was being set aside. Adria Brown’s term on the Environmental Commission is set to expire April 15.
She said that she didn’t respond to a written request to confirm her interest in applying for the position again due to an oversight.
However, in an email, she stated that, “It just meant that I would have to reapply (for) my position on the Board, and I declined to do so.”
Brown has served as the Environmental Commission Chair for more than 12 consecutive years.
Although she said it has been a “privilege and honor” to serve, among the many reasons for her decision to not reapply are ones “not dissimilar to (those of) Tony Spokojny.”
“I am disappointed with where the township is taking their vision,” Brown said. “I support the expansion of the city, but with good taste. … They have not considered, in making decisions, the very important decision about the legacy of our trees with Henry Ford Hospital. It was a devastating thing.”
According to West Bloomfield Township’s website, the proposed development is Henry Ford Health System/Acadia Health Behavioral Health Hospital.
“Allowing Henry Ford to tear down 18 acres of trees has largely undone all of the environmental preservation that preceded it,” Spokojny stated in a letter of resignation to the Board of Trustees.
He further stated that the damage to the environment in knocking down a stand of mature trees is “incalculable” and that “Henry Ford should have been required to provide a more environmentally sensitive plan.”
The Environmental Commission recommended at a regular meeting Nov. 10 that the Planning Commission deny permission for the construction of the proposed 192-bed behavioral hospital. It is located south of Henry Ford West Bloomfield and Maplegrove Center, both located at 6777 W. Maple Road.
The Environmental Commission recommended denial of the use permit for the construction of the facility, along with construction of stormwater management systems with “impact to” woodlands, according to minutes recorded at the Nov. 10 meeting.
Spokojny stated there has never been a petition that the Planning Commission had not accepted a recommendation from an Environmental Commission.
Despite Spokojny’s belief that the mental health facility is important to the community at large, from his perspective, there is a high environmental cost, and that environmental cost should have been mitigated better.
Teri Weingarden was the Township Treasurer.
“When I learned that the Planning Commission had overturned the Environmental Commission suggestions regarding the preservation of mature trees on the Henry Ford site, I was mortified,” Weingarden stated via email. “I discussed our options with our legal counsel to see if we had authority over this matter. Unfortunately, the members of the Township Board (are) unable to personally file this appeal.”
Jim Manna is also a member of Board of Trustees. He is in favor of the Planning Commission’s approval.
“I support their decision 100%,” Manna said. “There’s two sides to this, and if you think saving trees is more important than mental health, that’s wrong. There has to be a balance. We’re forgetting the need for mental health right now, especially with what we’ve been through with COVID.”
Manna expanded upon his thoughts.
“We’re talking about human life versus tree life,” he said. “I love trees. I love the natural world, but there must be a balance. … This is a mental health facility that is so needed in our state right now. … I’m shocked at the outpouring by some of the public.”
Jonathan Warshay, another member of Board of Trustees, also shared some thoughts.
“I regret the impact this project is causing to our environment,” he stated via email. “I will do everything in my power to protect the township’s natural resources from future harm.”
From Brown’s perspective, the current direction of the township is not in line with her “feeling of responsibility.”
“I felt that the Environmental Commission was being set aside,” she said. “Its purpose was no longer meaningful, and there was no reason for me to continue on in the direction that it was going.”
Brown said the township is moving “too swiftly, “without respect to the long-term consequences to the historical beauty of our township and its irreplaceable woodlands, wetlands and wildlife, on land, in the streams and in the lakes. And though their vision for a greater, busier, larger township may be admirable, it’s been done with reckless abandon and irreplaceable damage and harm.”
Amy Neary, Director of Planning and Development Services for West Bloomfield Township, disagrees with this opinion.
She stated that there is an ordinance for woodlands and wetlands in the township and that the proposed location would be in violation of neither.
“None of the ordinances have changed in the township,” Neary said. “The township, in my opinion, still values our natural resources and (wants) to preserve them to the greatest extent possible. At the same time, though, we have to balance people’s rights to develop their property, and we have to balance new development.”
Neary said that West Bloomfield is a “maturing community.”
“So the parcels that we have left now are the more difficult parcels; all the easy parcels have been developed,” she said. “What’s left right now are more challenging parcels that weren’t developed before because they may have had some of these environmental constraints to them. … I don’t think that the township has wavered from their stamp, in that protecting the environment is important to the community. Our ordinances have been placed for a long time, and they’re still there.”
Spokojny pointed out that Henry Ford has not done anything illegal.
Manna stated that Henry Ford has acted within his rights.
“It’s their property,” he said. “West Bloomfield’s only one of six townships in the state of Michigan that has its own Environmental Commission. We forget to recognize that people have property rights. They own their own property.”
West Bloomfield resident Chris Mack believes that allowing the trees at the Henry Ford site to be torn down will have a “generational impact.”
“You’re making this decision for your children, grandchildren (and) great-grandchildren,” she said. “Once that forest is gone, it’s gone forever.”
Mack said that a mental health center is needed, but she believes it doesn’t have to come at the cost of the forest and that it should be located within the hospital’s existing facility.
“The irony here is that being in nature is the most helpful thing to our mental health … so to chop down a forest that provides so much good to so many people, thousands of people, for a facility that can treat, what, 300 people at a time? The numbers don’t support it, the logic doesn’t support it (and) the humanity doesn’t support it.”
Mack said it was “highly irresponsible” for the Planning Commission to go against the recommendation of the Environmental Commission.
Diane Hausner, a West Bloomfield resident, expressed similar sentiments.
“They totally went against everything that was recommended,” she said. “It was all for money — tax dollars for West Bloomfield — and they don’t care about anything else.”
Steven Kaplan, West Bloomfield Township Supervisor, shared a statement to clarify the terms of Henry Ford’s offer to the township.
“The hospital will pay $250,000 annually to the township, in perpetuity, in the event that (the) state determines that the hospital is exempt from paying taxes,” he stated via email. “If the state does not render such a decree, the hospital thereupon will pay annual taxes.”
Kaplan indicated that annual taxes would be paid by the hospital if they have to.
He also said that amount would increase by 5% each year, if it’s payment in lieu of taxes.
Neary addressed the criticism that the Planning Commission didn’t follow the recommendation of Environmental Commission.
“The parcels that we’re dealing with are different than the parcels we were dealing with previously,” she said. “Finding that balance is something that the Planning Commission, I think, was trying to achieve with the Henry Ford project.”
Hausner claimed that she has been living in West Bloomfield for over 55 years.
“People moved here for being out by the lakes,” she said. “They moved here for the trees; they moved here for nature; they moved here for the beauty of the area, and that’s all being destroyed.”
Manna addressed some feedback from residents.
“We’ve received a ton of letters from residents telling us how upset they are, that they’ve lived here for 40 years,” he said. “The whole world changes every 10 years. In 40 years, do you expect everything to stay the same?”
Neary doesn’t believe the township has abandoned its commitment to protecting the environment.
“I don’t see a change in direction, in terms of preserving the environment,” she said. “I still think that is important to all of our boards and commissions here. This is one project that one commission didn’t agree with another commission, in terms of how that preservation was occurring on a particular piece of property, but I would point out that Henry Ford is still preserving almost 16 acres of woodland area on their property, in conservation easement in perpetuity. So, that will never be developed.”
Henry Ford Health System previously released an announcement about the site of the approved mental health facility.
“The need for mental health services has reached crisis levels across the nation,” stated Henry Ford Health System Senior Vice President and CEO of the North Market Denise Brooks-Williams. “We are honored for the opportunity to increase access to those services and eager to make this a reality for the communities we serve. When we purchased the land in 1980, we made a commitment that we would be good neighbors and mindful stewards. Over the years, we have taken a thoughtful approach to our development plans.”
Brooks-Williams shared more of Henry Ford Health Systems’ perspective.
“Robust conservation efforts associated with our newest development include the permanent preservation of more than 17 acres (42% of the property) of woodlands and wetlands through a conservation easement and positioning the building to minimize the impact on natural features,” she stated. “Throughout this project, we’ve partnered closely with community leaders and neighborhood associations, and worked diligently to comply with state environmental regulations. The building’s height was reduced from 3 stories to 2. We also restricted parking and access to its front in order to preserve a large wooded area. A buffer zone was created between the building and the neighboring neighborhood. We look forward to continuing conversations with the community and sharing our progress in the coming months.”
In a recent statement, Brooks-Williams added that, “Our newest development meets all state environmental regulations, and of the 40 acres rezoned for this project, we are only using 15.
According to Neary, there was a 21-day timeframe in which the Planning Commission’s decision could have been appealed to the Board of Trustees, but that step was not taken.
Although a board can’t appeal, an individual from a board or a resident can.
From Spokojny’s perspective, the only benefit in appealing the decision would have been, “Delaying the inevitable.”
“The standard for reversing the decision of a lower board is an abuse of discretion. That’s an exceptionally high bar to overcome,” he said. “You have to show that what was done, the decision made, was done with no authority, or completely contradictory to the facts or surrounding circumstances. That’s an exceptionally high bar to overcome.”
Neary concurred that there is a “standard of abuse discretion” and addressed the lack of an appeal by anyone from the Environmental Commission.
“Typically, you don’t see members of (an) Environmental Commission, Planning Commission (or) a lower body than the township board appealing to the township board,” she said. “It’s not a very common situation; I don’t think it’s ever occurred, So, could they have? Yes. Do they often? No.”
In her email, Weingarden stated that Henry Ford Hospital has “formally” agreed to set aside more than 15 acres for a permanent tree conservation area and obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the behavioral medicine hospital.
“I support trying to establish more conservation areas in the township to avoid future destruction of mature trees, wetlands and woodlands,” she stated.
Spokojny said that there has been talk of residents opposed to the Planning Commission’s decision picketing at the entrance of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, but he isn’t confident that would make a difference.
“I don’t think our group is big enough to man an appropriate sort of picket line for a number of hours during the course of the day,” Spokojny said. “I think the only thing that we can do is appeal to the powers that be at Henry Ford and plead with them to find some way of putting up this building without knocking down 18 acres of trees.”
Spokojny later sent an email stating that the “deforestation” process has commenced.
Members of West Bloomfield’s Planning Commission did not respond to opportunities to provide comment.
Kaplan sent an email to Brown containing a statement.
“In 2009, I had the honor of supporting Adria’s nomination for serving on the Wetland Review Board (now the Environmental Board),” he stated. “Adria has been a caring, zealous and dependable board member, with a commitment to protecting and preserving the township’s environmental features.”
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