Citizens Demand
Action on Urban Sprawl
Advocates to Deliver Call to Action Message from 10,000
Michiganders
|
For
Immediate Release:
July 31, 2003
|
Contacts:
Megan
Owens - 734-730-5725
Conan Smith - 517-487-9539
|
LANSING
- More than 10,000 postcards signed by Michigan citizens and
addressed to the Governor and the Michigan Land Use Leadership
Council were displayed on the Capitol steps today, in what
may be the largest unified call for Smart Growth reform the
state has ever seen. The cards ask the Leadership Council
and the Governor to advance three specific recommendations
— providing a stronger coordinating role for the state
government, improving regional cooperation, and giving local
officials more access to land protection tools. The groups
sent letters of the same message to legislative leaders.
“Today, thousands
of citizens are making their voices heard, demanding that
state leaders in Lansing provide local governments the tools
they need to plan their future growth and to curb sprawl,”
said Megan Owens of PIRGIM. “We’re
calling on Governor Granholm and Senate Majority Leader Sikkema
to work together to pass Smart Growth policy reforms this
fall that protect the places that make Michigan great.”
The recommendations are based
on citizen input and on policies that have proven effective
in securing resource protection and economic stability in
other states. The call to action comes on the last day for
public comments to be submitted to the Michigan Land Use Leadership
Council, a 26-member board named by Governor Granholm and
the republican legislative leadership, charged to develop
recommendations to slow costly urban sprawl and spur reinvestment
in established communities. The Council’s final meeting
is Monday, August 4, and the final report is due August 15.
“Urban sprawl is stealing
more land and character from our state with each passing day.
We hear from residents who are fed up with seeing their local
neighborhoods, schools, family farms and favorite fishing
spots get plowed over, forgotten or ignored,” said Conan
Smith of the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC). “We
need better land use laws now. While the members of the Land
Use Leadership Council can provide recommendations, it’s
up to the legislature to make sure our laws reflect the incredible
value Michigan’s residents place on this beautiful and
threatened landscape.”
The postcard signatures were
gathered as a collaborative effort with organizations across
the state including PIRGIM, MEC, the East Michigan Environmental
Action Council (EMEAC), the West Michigan Environmental Action
Council
(WMEAC), Sierra Club and the Michigan Land Use Institute.
On hand to help deliver the postcards were representatives
from statewide organizations including the Michigan League
of Women Voters, United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan, and
the League of Michigan Bicyclists as well as community groups
working to protect their communities from sprawl, including
Whitelake Residents CARE, Northfield Neighbors and Friends
of Dodge Park No. 5.
“Citizens across Michigan
are working to protect their local communities from this out-of-control
sprawl,” said Fay Hansen with Whitelake Residents CARE
(Concerned About our Rural Environment). “The state needs
to take leadership by
giving citizens the tools and resources they need to protect
their communities.”
The statements signed by over
10,000 residents from across the state had three main recommendations
that read, in part:
