Steps Urged To Save Woods
Steps Urged To Save Woods
A step toward preservation of the Scarlett Mitchell Woods in the southeast corner of Ann Arbor may be coming.
City Councilman C. William Colburn said Monday night he will sponsor a resolution in , the near future urging the Ann Arbor School District to reserve use of the 38 acres it owns of that wooded area for public use.
Colburn said such a step, if agreed to by the school board, might help alleviate the fears many people have that the natural area might be lost to development.
George R. Owers, superintendent of the Parks and Recreation Department, acknowledged that preservation of the woods is a high priority item in the development of the city’s park system. But he said the slowness of the city taking action on preservation of the woods, which many people have complained about, is simple because the city wants to take the best possible approach to , conserving that land.
Owers agreed with the suggestion to approach the school district, but said he was more hesitant about attempting to try to immediately acquire the part of the woods which the school district does not own.
For the best use of the land about 26 acres of the wooded and marshy area now privately owned should also be acquired, Owers said. This acreage is.owned by development concerns, and Owers said the best time to obtain the land will be when the owners submit development plans.
If the city should approach the firms now it would likely send the price of the land up, he said, but if the city waits until the owners want to develop the area, the chances will be better that the firms can be convinced to donate the necessary acreage to the public domain, Owers added.
This would also allow the city to conserve some of the $1 million made available in the 1971 parks bond issue for the purchase of park land, he said.
Both of the privately owned parcels are at least partially in Pittsfield Township, Owers admitted. But he said the city and the township have a “good communication link” and can work cooperatively to preserve the area.
Owers also recommended the council subcommittee on parks begin to look at the woods in detail and make a recommendation to the full council on a course of action.