The Kalamazoo Country Club has been allowed, by the City of Kalamazoo, to break environmental ordinances for a commercial expansion.

While concerned citizens were promised that they would be able to weigh in on additional reviews for Site Planning, the work moved ahead anyway.

 ---Land around the Oakwood neighborhood has been leveled.--

--Affects to local habitat and the neighborhood are already apparent.--

Oakwood is not only a lovely neighborhood with darling homes over 100 years old, but also a rare community with a culture of neighbors who care about each other and the local area.  

Local zoning and environmental ordinances are established for reasons and community voices matter.  Processes have not been followed for these renovations, and citizen concerns are not being addressed.  Our neighborhood is about MORE than providing additional dollars to an already profitable enterprise.

Not only have dramatic changes already been executed (seemingly without approval or reproach), but there are now requests in to turn adjacent land into parking lots.  This mitigates options for eventual restructuring of habitat and also changes the visible landscape of this neighborhood, enjoyed for more than a century.

--Even with current changes, habitat has been
affected and property values are now at risk.--

Further change requests will be further detrimental to these issues, and are likely to bring on additional concerns.

The safety and privacy provided by neighborhood dead-end streets is being eliminated with through traffic.  Currently construction vehicles have been traversing up and down these roads making new access points into the golf course.  

Most assuredly, having parking lots established at these access points will only exaggerate this issue.  

A common refrain in city meetings was that 'they own the property, they should be able to do what they want with it'.  That is not the rule for the rest of us who own property in Kalamazoo!

--These issues are being permitted by the City of Kalamazoo. --

--And currently there is no concern being expressed by local news agencies WWMT and MLive (Kalamazoo Gazette). --

Citing lack of support from the city and media, I can only speculate at politics involved behind the scenes. These changes are unwanted by most area residents as they are terrible for the community.

Yet our concerns go unanswered as even more changes are requested.

                                                Enough!!

Owners of the Country Club do not own this city and its residents! These people are rich and just getting richer, and at our expense.

This city is about more than a few wealthy individuals.  It's time for the city to listen to its citizens!

 

-Janis Hall

Oakwood Resident