When Susan and Randy Golab chose their property on Cranberry Lake Road 11 years ago, they were looking for a quiet neighborhood to raise their family.
When they installed a fence for their dog, they put in a gate in back. That way, their children would have an easy way to get together with neighbors? children, who they expected would be moving into the wooden area.
What they may be getting, however, has driven them to spend the past two years gathering and sharing information, and organizing a neighborhood campaign against Beaumont Hospitals.
‘One day (in Feb., 2005), I came home from a business trip and was plowing the snow and I noticed some survey marks,? Randy said. ‘We had just built an addition, so that made me nervous.?
‘It was a shock,? Susan said.
The property had been purchased by a corporation representing Beaumont, which was interested in building a third hospital complex in Southeast Michigan. It had purchased 63 acres, bordered by Cranberry Lake Road, M-15, and I-75.
They gathered information slowly.
A neighbor told them that she had sold her property for use as a hospital. Other neighbors almost disappeared, having sold their property without placing any ‘for sale? signs on their lawns. Their houses were later donated to the township for firefighter training, and burned.
The Golabs and their next door neighbor Daniel Williams are the only two houses left on their part of Cranberry Lake Road, out of about eight.
‘We’re like a little island, cut off,’Williams said.
Eventually, research on the Internet and at Independence Township offices revealed the property was being acquired for Beaumont.
‘Then we both became frequent spectators at meetings, the township board and the planning commission,? Randy said.
They found they weren’t the only neighbors who didn’t know about the proposed development.
‘I got a knock from a neighbor who was upset with us,? Susan said. ‘She thought we had sold our property ? we realized how little people knew about this.?
That summer, 2005, they sent out fliers, set up an e-mail chain, and organized a neighborhood meeting. About 10 people attended the first meeting. This ‘core? group spread the information. Whenever they found out something, they sent an e-mail to the core members, who forwarded it to people they knew.
The group created another flyer in advance of the Jan. 25 Planning Commission meeting, at which Beaumont representatives presented their plan for a multiphase project, with offices, nursing home, parking garage, and hospital.
Concerned residents filled the meeting room, at the Independence Township Library, spilling out into the hallway.
‘It was an eye-opener for people ? they didn’t know that all that property had been acquired and how dense the plan had become,? Susan said.
Residents should not assume because the McLaren project a couple miles to the east, at I-75 and Sashabaw Road, appears to be moving forward, Beaumont will abandon its project, Susan said.
‘Some people have the idea Beaumont would just pick up and leave,? she said.
More people wanted to attend the meeting and drove to the library, but left when they saw how full the parking lot was ? many cars were illegally parked ? and all the people backing up into the hallway, she said.
Williams, taped the meeting and has made it available on DVD to neighbors who missed it.
‘We are doing our share to express our opinions,? said Williams, who has lived at his Cranberry Lake Road home for the past 54 years.
‘I hate it ? they’re like Godzilla with his foot raised, ready to stomp down, with no regard to the effects on the surrounding property,? he said.
Property values, commercial development in a residentially-zoned area, and increased traffic are major issues for neighbors.
Traffic is already heavy at times through the neighborhood and their portion of M-15, which is just north of the I-75 interchange. Williams filmed traffic up and down Cranberry Lake, then counted each vehicle. He came up with 1,450 cars driving through in a 12-hour stretch.
‘There’s about 2,000 cars a day through this area ? that’s a low estimate,? he said.
The Beaumont plan includes a main entry point on M-15, and a smaller one onto Cranberry Lake. This entrance would be gated, with restricted access.
Neighbors worry access would not be restricted enough, allowing excessive traffic in and out onto Cranberry Lake, a wooded, residential street.
‘There’s a school bus stop ? parents park across the street and the kids walk across the road,? Susan said. ‘We worry about that now.?
Beaumont representatives will meet with neighbors this month, tentatively set for Feb. 12 at the American Legion Hall on Cranberry Lake Road.