ADDISON TWP. ? Nearly 350 acres of green space and environmentally sensitive habitat will be preserved for public use and enjoyment as parkland thanks to Oakland County and the Sullivan family.
The county board of commissioners July 28 unanimously approved a $3.43 million purchase agreement for three parcels totalling 346.48 acres between Walker and Rochester roads and bordered to the south by Romeo Road.
Bordering Addison Oaks County Park to the east, the new property will serve as an expansion of the existing 794-acre park, according to Ralph Richard, executive director of Oakland County Parks & Recreation.
The property is currently owned by six members of the Sullivan family, who own and operate the William Sullivan & Son Funeral Home in Royal Oak and Utica.
According to William J. Sullivan, the Addison property was purchased by his grandfather ? funeral home founder William Sullivan ? sometime in the 1930s, ‘maybe earlier.? At one time, some of the property was used as farmland by local farmers, he said.
Environmental testing on the site, a contingency of the purchase agreement, has already begun and the county expects to take possession of land in 90 days, Richard said.
Money set aside from the 0.25-mill property tax the county collects annually for its parks and recreation department will be used to pay for the purchase and $6,000 worth of environmental testing.
‘One of the goals of the (parks and recreation) commission has always been to preserve open space throughout the county,? Rochard said. ‘That’s the number one thing we hear from residents ? buy more land. Because once it’s paved, it’s gone.?
Richard was pleased by the Sullivan family’s desire to see the property kept as green space. ‘They turned down more lucrative offers than what they sold it to us for,? he said.
Sullivan said his grandfather and father (James Sullivan) ‘would be pleased? that the property’s going to be ‘kept in its natural state? for all to enjoy.
Plans for the additional parkland include areas for picnicking, hiking and cross-country skiing, plus development of a ‘bark park? and ‘possibly a second disc golf course,? according to Richard.
Beyond its potential recreational uses, preserving this property is important for a variety of environmental reasons, chief among them being the sensitive natural areas it contains within the Clinton River Watershed.
A watershed is the area in which all water, sediments and dissolved materials flow or drain from the land into a common river, lake, ocean or other body of water.
Approximately 157 acres of the 346.48-acre site consist of wetlands including ‘fen-like areas? and ‘sedge meadow areas,? according Jon Noyes, landscape designer for Oakland County Parks.
Wetlands are important elements of a watershed because they serve as the vital link between land and water resources.
Fens are peat-forming wetlands that provide important benefits in a watershed, including preventing or reducing the risk of floods, improving water quality and providing habitat for unique plant and animal communities. Sedge meadows ? grassy-looking open wetlands ? provide nesting and breeding habitat for migratory birds.
‘The preservation of areas like this, especially through public ownership, is extremely important when you look at water quality within the watershed,? Noyes said.
The new property is also located in the headwaters of the Stony Creek, ‘a cold water fishery and sensitive sub-watershed (within the Clinton River Watershed),? according to Noyes.
Water from a perennial stream orginating at Addison Oaks? Buhl Lake wetland complex flows through the new acreage and eventually ends up in the Stony Creek.
Besides water quality issues, when this 346.48-acre site is combined with Addison Oaks, Bald Mountain Recreational Area and Orion Oaks, it will create the largest publicly-owned wildlife corridor in notheast Oakland County.
Noyes noted ‘a very large area? of the new property consists of ‘lowland hardwood forest,? which provides habitat for a variety of wildlife species.
Oakland County Commissioner Bill Patterson (R-Oxford) said he voted in favor of the property purchase because he’d prefer to ‘preserve the land rather than having it developed.?
‘They’re not making any more land you know,? Patterson quipped.