Board converts portion of Drake park for mitigation

An article by Michael Shelton    No Comments

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has approved a conversion request involving a 2.14-acre parcel to be added to the Drake Sports Park.

The parcel is located adjacent to the park at its northwest corner and was donated to the township by Cienna Healthcare in 2010. It will serve mitigation purposes.

This move comes after the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) ruled in 2007 that two cellular phone towers, with three antennas each, installed within the park in 1999 constituted a commercial activity and were not allowed under the DNR’s grant provisions.

The township originally purchased the park with the help of grant funds awarded through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund in 1992 and the Recreation Bond Fund in 1993. Conditions of the purchase required that the park was to be used for public purposes only and that the township agree not to allow commercial activity in the project area.

“For the right to install the antenna, each company pre-paid $230,000 into a fund, and that money was used to construct the tower to house electronic equipment, restrooms and a community room,” said David Burley, West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Deputy Director. “Currently, the cell phone companies pay $28,800 a year.”

Through the conversion process, the cell tower property will be replaced with the mitigation parcel, which will be used for park purposes.

“The parcel has an overview platform that was built to observe wetlands and storm water management,” Burley said.