State Regulatory Agencies
Save Jean Klock Park

    [Click on links below]

    In order for you to understand the trail we have been on we
    have provided information and links below regarding State
    regulatory decisions that are being influenced by Governor
    Granholm and her support of the takeover of Jean Klock Park
    by Whirlpool, Cornerstone Alliance and Harbor Shores.


    September 5, 2007

    Around 30 people attended the Michigan Department of
    Environmental Public Hearing that was held to address questions
    and comments about a proposed intake pipe, coffer dam and
    well that Harbor Shores wants to construct on the Paw Paw River
    to irrigate the golf course. Of the many people who spoke,
    legitimate concerns were raised about the 29 million gallons of
    water a day that would potentially be pumped from the Paw Paw
    River, the impact to the fishery and the environmental impact that
    could occur if soil and sediment contaminates from old industrial
    sites were disturbed and released to settle elsewhere down
    stream.

    Because Jean Klock Park is an emotionally charged issue, the
    majority of  the audience who spoke ultimately turned their focus
    to the issue of Jean Klock Park but were repeatedly asked to
    keep their comments directed towards the intake pipe only.

    Because Jean Klock Park is key to the entire proposal and
    Harbor Shores has stated they will not go forward with the
    development without using the park, I too directed my comments
    to Jean Klock Park but through a practical rather than emotional
    argument.

    The National Park Service is currently reviewing the conversion
    proposal for the park and the Berrien County Court has not yet
    been approached by the developers who must file a motion to
    amend the 2004 Consent Judgement. Until the National park
    Service makes it's decision as to whether or not the park can be
    converted for golf course purpose and the Berrien County Court
    makes a determination on the Consent Judgement I strongly
    recommended that to in order to spare more public tax dollars on
    the process and further destruction of natural areas that the
    MDEQ table it's decision on any permits related to the project
    until the National Park Service and Berrien County Court, who
    must make the final decision, do so. You may read my written
    comments to the DEQ below:



    August 21, 2007

    The Department of Environmental Quality Is holding a public
    hearing on  Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at the  Michigan
    Works office located at 499 West Main St,  Benton Harbor at 7:
    00 p.m.  

    The purpose of this public hearing is  to hear and document
    concerns and comments from the public in regards to Harbor
    Shores' request for a proposed 20 inch wide and forty foot long  
    intake pipe that will be placed in the Paw Paw River for irrigation
    purposes for the Jack Nicklaus golf course.

    Anyone that pays attention to the lake and river levels knows they
    are at record low levels. This year alone the upstream area of St.
    Joe River has exposed sandy banks that are unusually below the
    river level. The Paw Paw River is the same. Extracting huge
    amounts of water from the Paw Paw River could have detrimental
    affects on the Paw Paw and St. Joseph Watersheds and in turn
    affect our area's Great Lake.

    On the surface this has nothing to do with Jean Klock Park but to
    many that have written to us, this is a matter is of great of concern.
    In the lease agreement between the City of Benton Harbor and  
    Harbor Shores, Harbor Shores has been given the groundwater
    rights to Jean Klock Park. We urge those who are concerned
    about water conservation and water rights issues to attend this
    very important public hearing.

    Below are links to the following DEQ information regarding the
    permit application, public hearing and where to send comments.
    We hope you will attend the public hearing in order to show that
    our area does indeed have a strong interest in what is taking
    place in our communitity.  


    February 14, 2007

    On February 14, 2007 the Department of Environmental Quality
    issued a letter to Harbor Shores with a lengthy outline of all of the
    remaining issues and details that need to addressed before a
    permit is issued. Harbor Shores has 30 days to respond. The
    deadline for the permit application itself is March 22, 2007.  Click
    on the following links to read the letter and enclosures from the
    DEQ to Harbor Shores:

    Letter and Enclosures


    January 30, 2007

    In August of 2006,  the Friends of Jean Klock Park sent a written
    request to the Army Corps of Engineers to be a consulting party
    for the Section 106 Review process (review of historic resources)
    under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

    Harbor Shores hired Hitchcock Design to do to the historical
    assessment of Jean Klock Park. It was soon after we discovered
    there was a serious conflict of interest as Hitchcock Design had
    prepared a design for the Harbor Shores Development that
    included the use of Jean Klock Park as a golf course.

    When we received a copy of Hitchcock design's report in early
    October of last year we wrote letters to the State Historic
    Preservation Office and the Army Corps of Engineers informing
    them not only of the conflict with Hitchcock design but also of the
    flawed process of the assessment itself. It was then that we were
    granted our request to be consulting parties for the Section 106
    Review process.

    On January 21, 2007 we were told the Michigan State Historical
    Commission had held a meeting in Lansing at which JKP was
    briefly mentioned by a State Historic Preservation Officer
    (SHPO). The officer announced in his report to the commission
    that the section 106 review was completed with a favorable
    recommendation. The SHPO was not going to stop Harbor
    Shores from building a golf course within JKP.

    However, on January 30, 2007 we received a letter from the Army
    Corps of Engineers granting us another 30 days as a consulting
    party to establish the historical significance of Jean Klock Park.
    We are confident that through our research we that can more than
    satisfy the required criteria to establish the Jean Klock Park's
    eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
    Click here to read the Army Corps letter.


    January 9, 2007

    The Land Water and Management Division of the Department of
    Environmental Quality and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers held
    a public hearing regarding the joint permit application  that was
    submitted by Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc. The
    Public Hearing was a result of the requests from the public for that
    hearing due to the Public Notice that was released on November
    9, 2006 of the new permit application that had been filed by
    HSCRI.

    Harbor Shores did not want that Public Hearing to be held and
    last September. JFNew who did a protected plant species survey
    for Harbor Shores, sent a letter to the DEQ reminding them of an
    agreement they thought they had made to not hold a Public
    Hearing on the new permit application and also that the DEQ
    would assist in "fielding" public comments and objections in order
    to "avoid" a new hearing. Click here to read that letter.

    Well over 100 people attended the Public Hearing with 25 giving
    public comment. Of that twenty five only two members of the
    audience spoke in favor of Harbor Shores, one who has stakes in
    the project. The remaining 23 who commented were either
    against the development in Jean Klock Park or against the
    project entirely. During the 20 day public comment period for the
    November of 2006 Public Notice and the Comment period for the
    January, 2007 Public Hearing approximately 74 written
    comments were submitted to the DEQ. Of those only one was in
    favor of the project. Ninety nine citizen comments and only three
    are for the development of Jean Klock Park? Using any part of
    Jean Klock Park for a golf course development is clearly
    unpopular with the majority of the public.


    October 18, 2006

    On October 18th, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund
    Board voted 3 −1 to move ahead with the proposal to convert the
    majority of Jean Klock Park into a privately owned golf course.

    It was disturbingly incredulous to watch as this Trust Fund board
    ignored and essentially abolished its own procedures, policies,
    and commitment to our natural resources; its very mission. The
    approval of this proposal to convert JKP is inconsistent with the
    fundamental values and goals of the Natural Resources Trust
    Fund and breaks the trust under which this land was given to the
    people of Benton Harbor which in turn would put into question the
    permanency of every other protected property in Michigan. The
    job of the NRTF Board is not to act as an economic development
    or social agency, but to protect and enhance Michigan’s natural
    resources for public use.

    In attendance in support of preserving JKP were five Benton
    Harbor city resident representatives including a city
    commissioner, (who addressed the lack of full disclosureon the
    part of the developers) and members of the Friends of JKP. In all,
    three city residents stood before the MNRTF Board meeting to
    speak against the proposed conversion and mitigation of JKP.
    Other speakers included a member of Defense of Place; a park
    advocacy group dedicated to protecting green space for us all,
    Richard Brewer; author of Conservancy: The Land Trust
    Movement in America, State Rep. Alexander Lipsey who spoke
    in favor of listening to grassroots community opposition and
    encouraged the board to be cautious and careful. Also, letters
    were read by attending supporters of JKP from State Rep.Alma
    Wheeler Smith and a member of the SW Michigan Land
    Conservancy who both wrote to advocate the protection of JKP.

    Proponents of the proposal that were called on to speak included
    representatives of the Whirlpool Corporation, Cornerstone
    Alliance, the Benton Harbor City Manager who is not a city
    resident, three City Commissioners who are willing to move
    forward with the proposal without full disclosure from the
    developers, a former Berrien County Trial Judge who is not a city
    resident and was opposed to development in JKP in 2003 but
    now supports the Harbor Shores proposal, and only one Benton
    Harbor (possible/uncertain) city resident representative.

    While the Trust Fund Board’s decision was a setback, it was not
    a final approval from the DNR.

    Contingencies Attached to Final DNR Approval:

    1. Review and approval of the lease agreement.  

    2.  City's acquisition of mitigated parcels within 90 days.
    This means they have   to acquire all properties including
    those from private owners who may or may not be willing to
    sell.

    3.  Harbor Shores must report annually to the Trust Fund
    Board.
         
    4.  Completion of pathway to link Benton Harbor with JKP.

    Also, Harbor Shores has yet to receive permits and
    approval from the National Park Service, the Department of
    Environmental Quality and the Army Corp of Engineers.

    Things That Still Need to Happen:

  • Approval is required from the National Park Service who
    issued a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for the
    improvements that were made in the park. This grant has
    strict prohibitions on conversion of properties who receive
    these types of grants.      

  • The DEQ has not approved all permits for this complex
    development as it spans an enormously large and diverse
    area of natural features.

  • Harbor Shores still needs to acquire permits from the Army
    Corps of Engineers.       

  • Also in question is the environmental quality of the
    proposed mitigated sites, especially the area near the
    former Aircraft Components site.

    As you can see this is not a done deal! However, it is
    imperative that we act together to insure the best possible chance
    of protecting JKP for future generations as it was intended.

    The next phase of our effort is the legal process; one that was
    inevitable regardless of the MNRTF Board’s decision. The
    Friends of JKP will have to appear in court and will be requested
    to sign an amendment to modify