They spoke out and the powers listened.
Now local judges and township officials are attempting to answer concerns residents voiced regarding a community service garden in their neighborhood.
But it may end up an issue where opposite sides “agree to disagree.”
Judges Dana Fortinberry and Michael Batchik along with others including Independence Township Supervisor Dale Stuart, Trustee Dave Wagner, Oakland County Community Corrections personnel, and Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Dale LaBair, met with six Pine Knob Road citizens at the 52-2 District Court in Clarkston on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
There, residents Jamie McKean, Mike Smith, Tim Smith, Tony and Lynn DeRose and Dave Endreszl were able to address issues ranging from security to depleting property values.
“It’s fair to say if you took a poll of the people who live out there, the opposition to having an inmate work farm put in the middle of that residential area is pretty strong,” Mike Smith said.
On the other side, both judges feel the garden, is a “win-win” project.
“The garden has produced beyond our expectations,” Batchik said, adding approximately 12,000 pounds of produce was reaped this inaugural season and donated to those in need.
“Nobody questions the good intentions of this work farm,” Smith said. “Our primary concern is it has been thrown right in the middle of a residential neighborhood.”
Mainly, they question if the land is properly zoned for this use.
Fortinberry said the suggestion to use the vacant McCord Farm came from the township’s planning consultant Dick Carlisle.
Nonetheless, it is one of the issues the judges and township officials will be researching, along with some homework on property values, and sought after advice from those involved with Batchik’s Novi community service garden.
Batchik said there were some concerns from residents when he first implemented a garden in 1993 in Novi, when he was with the 52-1 District Court. The garden is located on Pontiac Trail, west of Haggerty, and is neighbored by a condominium association. In the years it has been in operation, the Novi program has expanded outside the garden into the community with defendants working in the schools doing janitorial work and construction, to aiding in nursing homes.
The judges have similar plans for expansion in Clarkston including allowing students to have their own gardens on the property. The township also plans to include a nature walk, and restore the barn and farmhouse, something the defendants can provide manual labor towards.
Fortinberry said the garden “is just too good of a thing.”
Still the residents say there is no workable solution or compromise between the opposing parties.
“We’ve been forced to alter our lifestyles. It’s a big disruption and change,” Smith said, noting families are afraid to let their kids outside to play alone, and adults are worried about biking or jogging down the road. “You feel like a stranger in your own neighborhood. People are walking down the road giving residents the eye as if residents don’t belong there.”
“We voted you people in. We’re looking for you to make sure our neighborhoods are safe,” Endreszl said.
Fortinberry assured, “We can promise you we will do everything in our power to screen those who are sentenced to work in the garden. We’ll keep the ball rolling towards something we can all live with.”
The residents and officials plan to meet again before the garden’s sophomore season.