Multifamily or Methylphenol: Is North Washington Property a Contaminated Site?

[XLFD]

As the officials of the City of Ludington continue to bury their head in the sand as the severely contaminated sands under the Pere Marquette Bayou festers, and their wastewater treatment plant continues to function below the state's minimal standards for the last five years, another environmental bugbear crops up on the other side of town. 

At the last council meeting, the rezoning of 916 North Washington was the topic du jour, with many of the residents and even the head of the main business in that area coming forward to oppose the rezoning in strong fashion.  A diverse number of problems was brought up by these concerned citizens, most who were in the immediate area.  The potential developer, the real estate broker, and a representative of the property owner all predictably called for the rezoning, but nobody else other than a Planning Commission member voiced approval.  For more see the public comments at the last council meeting starting at 8:00 in and continuing for the next hour:

January 11, 2016 Ludington City Council from Mason County District Library on Vimeo.

The initial Planning Committee discussion was analyzed here:  Apartments or Residential?: Showdown in Post-RIO Ludington. 

In that article, the lot outline I had put up was erroneously placed, further south than what it actually was.  At the time there was no good map of the proposal offered to the public, in the most recent 1-25-2016 council packet they offer the following map on page 145.  My initial objections to the rezoning do not occur here.

And whereas the Saturday COLDNews (1-23-2016) has some updates on the discussion, including a likely postponement of a final decision on the rezoning.  That ward's representative, City Councilor 'Katy Moonbeam' Winczewski, who also moonlights on the Planning Commission, finally did some actual research and noted some setback concerns with adjacent properties had merits.  She does go on and say she is for the rezoning if it can be conditionally rezoned, which currently is not allowed by the city's zoning law. 

The lengthy article details the concerns of some of the people for and against the development, and a new proposal by the developer that would put less apartments in.  But even with these updates, the COLDNews fails to address another major issue that came up. 

This issue was in the same vein as their ignoring of the contamination studied by the DEQ of the PM Lake Bayou, their ignoring of this contaminated site when they stirred up those poisonous sediments when they redid the Washington Street Bridge (pictured below), their ignoring of the demolition of the old Lyon's Market which was filled with asbestos tiles and which should have been handled a lot differently for the health and safety of the demolition crew and the neighbors, their ignoring of the dangers inherent in having contractors using a very contaminated lot at the old Padnos lot on Dowland as a staging site for months, spreading this contaminated soil throughout that street when replacing dirt in front of people's homes (including my own), etc.

Not to mention the five years that they have failed to live within the state's parameters of acceptable wastewater treatment for the last five years, while keeping it secret from the public as long as possible.  The COLDNews has willingly been an accomplice for all of these and even now.  For if you look at the packet provided earlier and check out page 139 you will find this at the bottom of the page:

To me, half buried barrels indicate that there is a good chance there are fully buried barrels around too.  Barrels of what, nobody knows, and there seems to be no indication that anybody's in a hurry to find out.  For although Shay's memo indicates that Mr. Bogner is retaining a firm to investigate the environmental issues, the city's options and directions that continued over the next two pages had no concerns over the dumping grounds.  The city seems willing to let Bogner's private firm decide whether the site was safe and to dig up extensively if their firm said it was okay.

                                                         Other half buried barrels found elsewhere

Hopefully, it is not the same environmental firm that permitted the old Lyon's Market building to be demolished without precaution or protective measures even with old asbestos tiles littering the scene and nearby sidewalks. 

None of our players seem to know what these half-buried barrels signify in this lot, but tax records note that the lot was built on in 1943, and a little research shows that there were dumps in the general area historically. 

The current owner probably does not know, but it seems that her word may be hard to believe after she fudged the tax figures at the Planning Commission meeting in December and has apparently lied to the assessor since this was taxed as if it was a homestead property in 2015.  The intact structure appears to be far from uninhabitable as she portrayed, unless she was declaring it that way because of the contamination in the landfill in the backyard.  Sources seem to indicate that the former owners were not all that old when they passed away from 'natural' causes.

As has been noted, Councilor Katie Moonbeam is a member of a local environmental activist group called AFFEW ( A Few Friends for the Environment of the World ) whose mission and purpose are to deal with such issues proactively to promote a healthier ecosystem.  

Her usual verbose self has remained mum over the last few meetings of the council and the Planning Commission (and with the COLDNews on Saturday) over the dangers being posed to the delicate ecosystem known as the City of Ludington.   Ask her why you should dispose of batteries properly and use cloth shopping bags and I'm sure she will talk your ear off; ask her about the environmental hazards posed by the barrels in this lot, the heavy contamination in the PM Lake Bayou, the asbestos dust storm caused by the demolition of Lyon's Market, the lack of a NPDES Permit for the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and she'll be sure to deafen you with her profound silence.

City of Ludington's North Harrison Street Warehouse is a Testament to how the City Handles the War on Blight and Environmental Hazards on Their Own Property

[shinblind]

AFFEW considers being proactive on the Pere Marquette Bayou Contamination rolling up the vehicle windows, holding their breath and covering their scrotum when driving through this area. 

AFFEW (A Few Friends for the Environment and the World) should rename themselves AFFWFEPO ( A Few Fair Weather Friends for the Environment and Photo Ops)

If they were any more a chicken organization they would find themselves spread over  a farm field in Arkansas

[AQUAMAN]

I see their board membership includes Julie Chambers, Pres., Brenda Begnoche, VP, Heidi Moloney, Secretary. Try rattling their cages by phone or attend their next mtg. and see what transpires then. Moonbeam is simply a board member at large type, but she already knows and is doing nothing now.

[Jasper]

Are those barrels in your post actually from the site?? Anywho who would want to build another apartment complex next the Foundry? Has the Foundry cleaned up and complied with the quality of their emissions from their stacks? The foundry has paid lots of money to their residential neighbors over the years for painting of vehicles, etc. They were found by the EPA back in the 80's early 90's for discharging above the allowed limit of pollution from their stacks related to air quality.

[AQUAMAN]

From what I understand today, the Foundry also had contaminated ponds behind it somewhere and dumped into them for years. Contacted the Treasurer of AFFEW today, he had no idea of the pollutants and contamination into the bayou at all. Just thought 2008 was a sewage problem the COL already cleaned up. I referred him to jfc for the approx. 500 pg. report. Maybe he'll even contact you, but, I think they have other priorities of their own.

[Willy]

If there were to be a systematic survey of Ludingtons polluted areas from all the industrial sites inland to the chemical soup of PM lake I'm sure Ludington's citizens would receive a long over due wake up call. The town would probably have to sell itself to the Chinese just to have it all cleaned up. Ludington could actually be a true sister city to China's Wunhunglo whose City Manager happens to be named Chon Chai. The fact that Ludington and Wunhunglo  have heavy metal water in common is only matched by the fact that both of the cities Government officials run their respective cities the same way. The other thing they have in common is the lack of a free press which is considered a nuisance in both cities. Chairman Mao would surely be proud to have called Ludington his home away from home.

[Real Talk]

Its funny that Kay is so for this, "as a citizen", to build these apartments and her reason, "because lord knows we need the tax money."  Why I find this funny is that she lives in Sherman Oaks (not paying property taxes) but claims we need the tax money.  

Second, if people on the council are so ready to have someone buy and build apartments because we need it, why isn't anybody throwing the idea out there of selling the Bryant Woods Property (owned by the city) and build apartments there?

Its also disturbing to see the people who speak to be in favor of the apartments, all have their hand in it to make a profit.  This doesn't come across as a good reason for the city to agree to rezone.

On a side note, I find Mr.Bogner showing a disrespectful side by laughing while people are speaking, then getting up in the middle of the meeting.  Mr.Bogner's son should have not wasted his time with his half@$$ research with his 1 day car counting in the middle of winter.  That's just an uneducated way of doing "research".  

Also, where in the hell does the city think these people are going to come from and work where?  Working at all these new businesses opening in the city and all the current large companies are hiring so many people? I know certain people who work for the city and rant and rave about how great Ludington is doing and try brain washing us about all the jobs here, but lets be honest....the city isn't this thriving area of work coming in like certain people on the city payroll like making it seem. Drive around the City and look how many houses are for sale.  These houses for sale aren't 150k houses.  There are so many houses for sale in the city between 70k-120k.  Why would so many "young people" want to go into a low income apartment complex and pay over $600+ a month when they could be owning a house. 

I feel that the biggest issue (besides the toxic dump) not being addressed is where are these people coming from where are all these jobs at that these people are itching to get into the city and work at.

[XLFD]

Realtalk,

Thanks for joining the conversation.  The Ludington Torch has previously posted links and scant critiques to the Target Market Analysis (TMA) that the City of Ludington recently had performed.  If you are a follower of the city council and never heard of them agree to pay for this expensive 'study' they had conducted with your money, join the club. 

This didn't need council approval as it went through the DDA Board, passed at a special meeting of the DDA at 11:00 AM in the basement of city hall.  That $7500-$10,000 they spent surreptitiously was first noted at a city council meeting not by our officials but by County Commission Chairman Chuck Lange speaking out against the Rental Inspection Ordinance, pointing to the 'fact' that it said our city needed low rent housing units.

Census data for Ludington shows some real stats:  our homeownership rate is lagging well behind the state rate significantly (56% compared to 72%), our rental unit rate is more than double the state average (38% to 18%), and if you look for rentals in Ludington you are probably long on a waiting list at a few places. 

Even though the city never acknowledged the fact, the RIO will have an effect of converting rental housing into homeowner housing.  They have hinted that they are looking for grants that would encourage leveling bad neighborhoods to install new multi-unit housing, or rehab the old stock.  If successful (which it often isn't) this would put our rental unit rate upward.

By its actions then, the city is working two different ways and in opposition to the free market that has guided local housing in the past.  This is a dangerous trend and this is the 'Detroit model' that CDD Heather Tykoski was so proud of at a recent meeting.  How did that work out for Detroit?

[jfc123]

Actually the Detroit model is now working pretty well since the corruption has been ousted and the new leaderships balls are nailed to the wall by local media, people of power, and watchdog groups. Mayor Duggan is doing a great job, not afraid to take on these challenges and work for the citizens. The COL is all basically corrupt and has no care for the people they serve, their time will come! Why would they not want the best for all that they work for?

[stump]

Did someone highjack Realtalk form name? doesn't sound like the Realtalk that has been in previous threads. Maybe actually did some research on the subject and found that the city leaders aren't squeaky clean, They are as contaminated as the bayou.

[XLFD]

My impression is that RT has some 'skin in the game' or is close to someone who does to the decision to rezone the North Washington property, which may have worked towards his new outlook.  I was definitely pleased that I was able to read through the long post offered during the middle of the night and find that I wasn't vilified, but properly, poor city policy was. 

He/she brought some meat and potatoes to the table today, which I would hope came to him/her from doing his own research and making his/her own decisions over the available facts, as it looks to be.

[Real Talk]

To be honest, I don't have any "skin in the game", nor am I close to anyone in the area.  I just am sharing my input on the situation.  I find the area to be a joke to build "affordable housing" when our cities economy isn't what people are trying to make it seem like.  I am just bringing up questions that I am shocked nobody is asking our bringing to peoples attention.  I also found it ridiculous of Kay to speak at the Planning Commission meeting as a citizen and not as a council member.  Yes, I understand she can, but is it really a smart choice in a small town.  Plus, making it a point to say we NEED the tax money. That's pretty hypocritical to say coming from a non homeowner and someone who isn't paying city taxes on a property. 

Someone please has to answer the question, where are these people coming from and what will they be doing here for work? We want people in the city who want to work, raise a family and better the community.  Yes, lets not hide away from these sort of living structures, crime rate would increase and its not going to be a great to place all these people next door to an elementary school.  I may sound a little judgmental, but its the facts we need to look at.  Not saying everyone in a low income housing complex are criminals, but its the elephant in the room that needs to be looked at.

Why deface actual tax payers property values.  Could you imagine if one of the councilors or another high up city official lived on Monona in one of those houses?  This wouldn't even have gotten this far.

[XLFD]

Ms. Holman did show that she was a councilor in her 13th year by saying that we need this extra tax money when she is the Finance Committee Chairman who directs where this money goes, and she has allowed it to be spent unwisely through her stewardship.  We don't need more tax money, we need less tax money and more responsibility and accountability.

As someone who was the crew leader of the census team that enumerated most of the City of Ludington back in 2010, I can vouch that there were a lot of vacant housing units in the City at that time.  If an address didn't return the census form sent to them, there was a very good chance it was vacant, seasonally or not.  The recent statistics reflect disturbing characteristics about Ludington housing (http://www.bestplaces.net/housing/zip-code/michigan/ludington/49431):

 As you may note, we have older and less valuable houses, our average homes have been depreciating in the long term, contrary to the rest of the USA which has rebounded, yet the taxes here are above the average.  Yet, Kaye thinks we need more taxes!? 

Yet even with everyone telling us that there is a shortage of rental housing in Ludington, the vacant properties are significant, ten percent above the national average.  Looking further down this list, we find that when seasonally vacant homes are taken out of the equation, the difference evens out.

At the very bottom, you will notice that the rental rates have been kept low in Ludington.  This is due not to our government extracting more taxes from them, but from the efficiency and mercy of those who provide rental units. 

The RIO of course will make the reasonable rent housing market shrink significantly, due in large part to landlords downsizing and converting their units, reducing the supply dramatically, and raising the demand by putting those tenants displaced either out on the street or having to divert even higher percentages of their meager income into whatever becomes available.

The record has it that the units envisioned at 916 N Washington will be market rate, and basically unaffordable for many of the folks.  I don't buy into the generalization that low income housing equates into a lawless community, we have a local counterexample known as Longfellow Towers. 

But, I can understand the viewpoints of people from the foundry, the school, and the ritzy neighborhood to the east, and I would hope that the city council and Planning Commission would strongly consider them in denying the rezoning simply because only those with a vested financial interest are for this action.  Planning/Zoning  was meant to formalize what the neighbors thought should be in certain areas, and the people have made those thoughts known.