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Copyright 2002
The Detroit News.
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 Todd McInturf / The Detroit News
Charlie Bohm feeds 10 Holsteins and one Jersey cow at his 80-acre farm. He is a third- generation dairy farmer, who as Ray Township supervisor, hopes to hold off development for as long as possible with a public water and sewer ban.
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Public water ban saves Ray farmland
Township erects barrier to sprawl with tough policy
By Maureen Feighan / The Detroit News
RAY TOWNSHIP -- The long history of dairy farming that started with Charlie Bohm's grandfather in Detroit and continued in Sterling Heights will end when Bohm decides to hang up his blue work shirt and Levi's at his 80-acre farm at 29 Mile in Ray Township.
Bohm and his wife, Ruth, won't have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to feed cows, or rake manure at night. When they retire, so does the family legacy.
"No one is interested after me," said Charlie Bohm from his cubicle at Ray Township Hall, where he's township supervisor. "It's a dying thing."
Even though Bohm will leave farming, he and other township officials are trying to preserve it for others, arming themselves with every weapon they can to make sure farmers who do want to stay in the business aren't pushed out -- especially by development.
Their biggest weapon: banning public water and sewer.
Determined to keep their community as undeveloped as possible by protecting the farmland and open spaces that define it, township leaders have banned public water and sewer lines until at least 2013, at which point the policy will be reviewed.
No other community in Macomb County has taken such a hard stance against development.
A township-sponsored survey in January generated 249 responses from residents who said they want Ray to preserve farmland and open space. Only 42 favored changes in the township's building policies.
Fred Parr, 67, is among the majority who wants things to stay as they are and have been for decades.
A lifelong Ray resident -- he moved to the township when he was a year old -- Parr is a third-generation hay and soybean farmer with 45 acres on Indian Trail Road and 29 Mile. He said traffic is sometimes a problem with all the growth to Ray's south, but he likes the township the way it is.
"It's just a nice, quiet township," Parr said. "My kids all live all around us except one son who lives in Armada Township. I'd like it to stay like it is."
Bohm said as long as township leaders have residents who share Parr's feelings, they'll keep the ban on public water and sewer indefinitely.
"The foresight of the people ahead of me ... just tapped all of the right things," Bohm said.
Public water coming
Ray grew a modest 15 percent between 1990 and 2000, adding just 510 new residents during the past decade. By 2030, the township is expected to grow by about 2,315 people -- an additional 60 percent -- from 3,740 in 2000 to 6,055.
Macomb Township, just south of Ray, meanwhile, surged by 122 percent, from 22,714 residents to 50,478 in the past decade alone. It's expected to grow another 120 percent by 2030.
County Commissioner Nicholyn Brandenburg, who has represented Ray and Macomb townships on the county board for more than 14 years, said Macomb Township used to be like Ray -- rural and largely undeveloped -- until public water lines were installed.
"In Ray, the people know their neighbors, they know their needs," Brandenburg said. "They are a very close-knit community and it's really wonderful, when you consider the growth everywhere else, that they've managed to keep that family feel."
But the quest to keep Ray undeveloped could be challenged sooner than officials think.
Construction is slated to start this year or early next year on a 303-unit manufactured home development called Townsend Village, at 26 Mile and Hayes.
With the new development will come the township's first public water line. Township officials agreed to let Lombardo Enterprises tap into another water line at an apartment complex across the street, because the developer said he couldn't find a sufficient well source on the property.
Township officials had little choice but to approve the new line. And two other mobile home parks are already trying to locate in Ray beside Townsend Village.
While those developments won't have public water lines -- both have sufficient water sources on site for well water -- two lawsuits are pending in Macomb Circuit Court from developers who sought rezoning requests in Ray to build mobile home parks but were denied.
State law requires every community to have an area designated in its master plan for affordable housing, such as manufactured homes.
If all three parks are allowed, Bohm fears they will "take over the township," overwhelming its roads, schools and municipal services.
"It would just be a tremendous impact," Bohm said.
Preserving open space
In the meantime, life goes on in Ray Township.
Situated between Washington and Lenox townships, Ray is among the least populated of Macomb County's 11 townships. Only Richmond, Armada and Lake townships have fewer residents.
Tractor crossing signs dot local roadways. And at 5:03 p.m. on a weekday, rush hour consists of six cars and a tractor trailer, taking turns at a four-way stop.
Largely white -- minorities make up less than 1 percent of Ray's population -- many of the township's residents are autoworkers, farmers and truckers.
They pay lower taxes than residents in most Macomb County communities. While the average homeowner in Macomb Township pays 22.69 mills for township services and 27.71 mills in Shelby, Ray homeowners pay around 21.17 mills.
Space, not taxes, drew Kathleen Bolton to Ray 15 years ago.
A Kentucky native, Bolton and her husband, Bob, lived in Fraser and Macomb Township before finally settling on a scenic, 12-acre lot surrounded by wetlands on 31 Mile at North Avenue in Ray.
When a golf course development threatened the wetlands near Bolton's house, she fought the project and it was put on hold. She now heads a group called Macomb Land Conservancy, which is committed to preserving open space.
Bolton said her group, now 150-members strong, doesn't oppose development. It just wants to see more thought put into decision-making.
"We'd like to see some thought put into considering farmers and wetlands and streams, rather than just going in there and stripping it clean."
Luring developers
Other than the three mobile home developments, so far most developers are keeping their distance from Ray.
Paul Carabelli, owner of Carabelli Construction Inc. of Washington Township, said prospective home owners tend to look for three things when they buy or build: the house, the schools and the water.
Without city water and sewer, a site is less attractive, Carabelli said.
"They get scared when they hear 'well' and 'septic,'" he said.
Schools also have a bearing on how a township develops -- including Ray. Four school districts -- New Haven, Armada, Romeo and Utica -- crisscross Ray Township.
Newcomers typically avoid New Haven schools. Compared to all Michigan schools, Utica, Armada and Romeo schools all perform "above average," according to the most recent Standard & Poor's analysis; New Haven is rated "well below average."
In the meantime, Washington Township, west of Ray, seems to have what many home buyers are looking for, Carabelli said.
With public water and sewer and room to build, nearly 2,500 building permits for single-family homes were issued in Washington Township between 1990 and 2000. Ray, meanwhile, issued 305 building permits for single-family homes over the same period.
Once Washington is built up, Bolton of Ray Township suspects developers will start coming to her community. Officials in Shelby Township, southwest of Ray, estimate they have 10-15 years before the township is built to capacity.
"We haven't really kept out development," Bolton said. "It just hasn't gotten here yet. The next 10 years will be truly telling."
You can reach Maureen Feighan at (586) 468-2905 or mfeighan@detnews.com.
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