Addison Township is one step closer to having a cellular tower erected in its largest park.
Last week, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) Board voted 3-1 to allow a 10,000-square-foot area of Watershed Preserve Park to be utilized for the placement of a 190-foot Verizon Wireless monopole.
To offset the non-recreational use of this property, the state board is allowing Addison to add a 12,100-square-foot piece of donated land to the 229-acre park.
‘It’s a win for all the citizens,? said Addison Supervisor Bruce Pearson. ‘This has been a long process for me. It’s taken me almost a year to do this.?
The township was required to seek state approval of this land exchange because Watershed Preserve Park was originally purchased with MNRTF grant money back in the 1990s.
As such, according to state regulations, the Trust Fund board’s approval is required for any addition of public or private facilities other than those for outdoor recreation. Cell towers are specifically mentioned.
The township is also required to provide either new recreational property or a cash repayment to make up for the land to be occupied by the proposed facility.
Pearson said the land being added to Watershed Preserve Park ? a September 2009 donation from Addison resident Charlie Peringian ? is more valuable both environmentally and monetarily than the existing property to be leased to Verizon Wireless.
The site for the proposed tower is located immediately west of Rochester Road and just north of the park’s entrance. It’s a lightly forested, vacant portion of the park.
‘From a standpoint of wildlife habitat and use, this area is of very limited value,? according to an environmental assessment conducted by the Wixom-based Brooks Williamson and Associates, Inc.
Pearson agreed. ‘It has very little value as far as being pristine property,? he said.
However, the land being added to the park is located at the southwest corner of a large wetland/lake complex involving Slating Lake, Howard Lake and adjacent wetland areas. It’s situated on the southern end of Howard Lake.
‘We’ve got actual water frontage and that’s what the park is about ? it’s a watershed. You can canoe right up to it,? he said.
According to the environmental assessment, the land contains significant vegetation and wildlife habitat associated with wetlands, which means it ‘has far greater value from an environmental perspective.?
‘Back in there, you can’t hear the road, you can’t hear anything,? Pearson noted.
The land is also worth more in dollars.
According to an appraisal, the Peringian property is worth $1,400 whereas the proposed tower property is worth $1,150.
With the land exchange out of the way, site plan approval from the township board is the last hurdle Verizon must clear in order to erect a cell tower in the park, which is located northwest of the Village of Leonard.
The board is expected to act on Verizon’s request at its Monday, April 19 meeting.
Township planning commissioners have already approved Verizon’s site plan and granted a special use permit for the proposed tower.
In exchange for allowing the cell tower in the park, Verizon agreed to a 25-year lease with Addison in which the wireless provider will pay the township $17,000 for the first year. After that, the rent will increase by 2.5 percent annually.
That lease was previously approved by the township board.
According to Pearson, all of the lease revenue will be used to enhance and develop Addison’s park system.
‘If everybody’s got to look at (the tower), everybody should benefit from it,? he said.
Besides generating extra revenue for Addison, the tower will improve cellular service in the northern section of the township and provide emergency cell service within the Watershed Preserve.
‘We have no cell phone coverage in the park,? Pearson said. ‘We cannot get a 9-1-1 call from the park.?