West side residents and property owners expressed confusion and distrust Thursday during a community meeting on a stormwater management proposal that could relocate 13 homeowners and a number of vacant land owners.
The meeting was held to present the proposed Brightmoor Stormwater Improvement Project, a 16-acre pond in the Brightmoor neighborhood to manage stormwater and reduce basement and street flooding. The project would necessitate the city acquiring 13 homes and 50 additional privately-owned parcels of land. Attendees shared a range of concerns about a lack of notification and information sharing as well as inconsistent documentation about the plan as property owners consider the potential of buyouts.
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Street and basement flooding is common in Detroit, and expected to get worse with climate change. As air warms it holds more moisture, leading to heavier and more intense rainfall. Basement flooding, in addition to the potential of thousands of dollars in personal property loss, can leave behind black mold, causing long-term health issues for residents. To prevent future flooding more stormwater management projects are needed across the city, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department representatives told residents Thursday. Brightmoor is an ideal location for this project, because of the structure of the land surface, or topography.
In a separate project, DWSD is installing 24 bioretention gardens in Brightmoor to manage 9 million gallons of stormwater annually, with construction expected to start this summer, according to DWSD spokesperson Bryan Peckinpaugh.
The meeting was to gauge whether those directly impacted were on board with the project and if the plans should progress.
The two-and-a-half-hour hour meeting had approximately 20 attendees, with three of 13 potentially impacted homeowners present and two of the vacant land owners. Residents expressed concerns that not enough people were notified about the project and fears that eminent domain would be used to take properties. Attendees also expressed distrust in the department and wanted more written documentation about the project and home offers before indicating if they’d willing to sell or not.
“I don’t feel like we got anywhere tonight,” said Gwendolyn Shivers, one of the two vacant land owners at the meeting at the Crowell Recreation Center. The community meeting was the third held for the Brightmoor Stormwater Improvement Project.
“For me, it’s just land that I have over there so there’s no reason for me to hold on to the land if they’re gonna do something positive with it,” she said.
The impact of the project is unclear: DWSD was not able to quantify Thursday how much of the department’s overall stormwater management the project would account for.
“It will make a difference but we’ll still have to do other projects,” Peckinpaugh said.
Multiple meeting attendees expressed concerns that the only feedback the department was collecting were physical sheets of paper attendees were asked to fill out. Residents wanted a notetaker collecting all of their verbal feedback and for those notes to be shared out afterward.
Another of the three homeowners in attendance, Samson Israel, was worried about being paid fair value for his home since it’s currently undergoing renovations. Israel said the meeting could have gone better if residents were given a more detailed plan and timelines and if more people had been contacted sooner.
“It would have been smoother if they would have contacted everyone prior,” he said. Israel said the first time he heard about it was last week when a DWSD spokesperson knocked on his door.
Two people were at the first community meeting on the Brightmoor Stormwater Improvement Project and four or five were at the second, District 1 Manager Carla Wilkinson said at Thursday’s meeting.
But DWSD representatives said they knocked on all the doors of the affected residents, and left informational packets on door steps. Moving forward, the department committed Thursday to mailing out notices about future meetings, in addition to door knocking.
Initially, the project stoked some fears from residents that eminent domain would be used if they were unwilling to move. DSWD representatives said multiple times at the meeting that eminent domain would not be used.
Others raised concerns about farmers being fairly compensated for land that they’ve cultivated over a number of years. It was also noted that the farms are already helping manage stormwater by soaking up rain, versus a paved surface that would contribute to the drainage system.
Nick Leonard, executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, said he’s talked with some farmers about the project.
“There’s a lot of trepidation that they’re going to have to leave a site that they’ve been investing in for quite some time in a way that they can’t just pick up and move – soil conditions on the property, that takes a long time to improve,” he said.
Another meeting will be held Feb. 8 at the Crowell Recreation Center at 5:30 p.m. While the meeting is public, DWSD is interested in hearing from the homeowners who would have to relocate for the project to go forward. If the plan does advance, DWSD would need to secure funding and City Council’s approval.