Watershed Preserve could become home to a 190-foot monopole cellular tower that will ultimately generate funding for Addison’s primary public park.
On Monday, the Addison Township Board voted 7-0 to approve, with a list of conditions, the general terms of a land lease agreement with Verizon Wireless for a 10,000-square-foot parcel on which to locate a cell tower and equipment shelter inside the 228-acre park located off Rochester Road, north of Leonard.
A short access drive extending through the park from Rochester Road to the leased land would be constructed by Verizon. The proposed lease calls for the granting of a 25-foot-wide right-of-way to access the tower property, which is located a short distance from Rochester Road.
Township attorney Robert Davis stressed that nothing is a done deal yet. ‘The purpose of this evening is to say if we get this all done, get through the hearings with the state, get through the site plan, then we will abide by the general terms of the lease,? he said.
Under the proposed lease, Verizon would pay the township an annual rent of $17,000, which would increase every year by 2.5 percent for the initial term of five years.
According to the township’s motion, all revenue generated by this lease would be put into a fund ‘used solely for qualified park expenses.?
The lease would automatically be extended for four additional five-year terms unless terminated by Verizon, according to the proposed agreement.
However, before any tower is constructed in the park, officials listed eight conditions which must first be met. ‘The approval of this land lease agreement would have to be contingent on a host of things,? Davis said.
Among the conditions are site plan approval, which must be granted by both the planning commission and township board, approvals from the state and rezoning the entire park from Agriculture to Public P-I.
A public hearing regarding the proposed rezoning is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8 at the township complex.
The township needs state approval to convert this 10,000 square feet of park land from a public to a non-public use.
‘We have not yet put in our proposal to the state of Michigan,? Davis said. ‘We do not know if they are going to accept what we are proposing to convert.?
According to state law, the township would also have to make up for the public land being leased to Verizon. Fortunately, Addison is in the process of working out a deal for an estimated 12,100-square-foot piece of land adjacent to the park. The owner of the property wishes to donate it to the township for public use.
Residents at Monday’s township meeting spoke both for and against the cell tower’s placement in the public park.
Resident Ted Reynolds wants his grandchildren to be able to enjoy and utilize the park. He views the $17,000 per year the lease would generate for the township as a means to improve the park and make it more accessible, but at no extra cost to him.
‘The Lord has given us this property to enjoy it and not . . . sit there in discontinued use,? he said. ‘My opinion is that we should use this piece of property.?
‘I don’t think a tower would hurt out there,? said resident Geno Mallia, Sr.
Mallia believes the money generated by the Verizon lease could help open up the park for a variety of uses and give children a place to play and go fishing. ‘It has some pristine lakes on it,? he said. ‘It’s good fishing.?
Most of the opposition came from the Koski family. Verizon originally wanted to construct its tower on a 4.04-acre piece of industrial property located in the Village of Leonard and owned by former township Supervisor Bob Koski. Leonard’s planning commission rejected Verizon’s plans for the Koski property in November 2008.
Koski, his daughter Karen and son Axel all showed up to voice their opposition to putting the tower in the park.
‘It was clearly understood and agreed that the property was too fragile to ever be developed,? said Bob Koski. ‘Any development could pollute the precious water resources from Saginaw to Toledo.?
‘I would like to point out to all of you that the park’s mission statement says that it is to be preserved as a pristine area and quite frankly, I am not seeing how putting a cell tower in a pristine area is a compatible use,? said Axel Koski.
‘This is the only untouched piece of property in Oakland County,? said Karen Koski. ‘It is completely as it was when we first came. It should remain that way. There are other places to put that tower, if indeed it is the will of Verizon to go with the township.?