![canton observer canton observer](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1721bc6066758485c0c320a270b3ac1bc7661ab0/c=0-52-198-201/local/-/media/MIGroup/GenericImages/2014/08/21/1408647207000-np-Plymouth-Canton-Observer.jpg)
“There are only 3 miles of natural beauty roads in Wayne County. He says they oppose the zoning change because they’re worried about how development could impact the unique road. Pulte has brought suburbia into our area and I just caution so you don’t let that happen on Ridge Road,” says Mitchell.ĭonald Garlit is at the meeting representing his neighbors on Shenandoah Circle, a development off of Ridge Road. I know that Joy Road was rural at one time. “I do live on Joy Road and there are two Pulte subdivisions that have gone up. She’s not a fan of the housing developments that have already been built around her. And I just hope you can keep the low density and I would hope you would leave the zoning as is, thank you,” says Mincher.Ĭanton resident Sally Mitchell lives about a half a mile east of Ridge Road. “It’s a unique part of the township, you’re never going to get that back. She says she was involved with the group that fought for the natural beauty status. Pam Mincher lives in Plymouth Township about 300 feet north of where Ridge stops being a Natural Beauty Road. The chairman calls residents up one at a time, starting in the first row. In Canton’s Administration Building on January 7th, eight commissioners sit in front of an audience. Because you value WDET as your source of news, music, and conversation, please make a gift of support today.
![canton observer canton observer](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/08/16/POEN/a32e06f0-1f9e-4fea-8f35-0368f36d7821-LyonTownshipGrowth1.jpg)
As a non-profit public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. Here at WDET, we strive to make our journalism accessible to everyone. This kind of a change requires a public hearing in front of the Canton Township Planning Commission. In order to complete the sale, the family that currently owns the land has requested to change the zoning of the land to allow for twice as many houses. Part of the land the company wants to buy is zoned “rural residential,” which means it only allows for a maximum of one house on every two acres. That’s because a developer – Pulte Homes – has been acquiring land located near Ridge Road. “There is still a rural feeling to part of the area.”īut some of Dionne’s neighbors are worried that might change. To date, the county has only one other Natural Beauty Road, located from Beck Road to Clement Road.ĭionne says he thinks the Natural Beauty Roads are wonderful. Ridge Road and the three others (Napier Road from Ann Arbor Road south to Warren Joy Road from Ann Arbor Road to Ridge Road and Gyde Road going east about a half mile from Ridge Road) were designated Natural Beauty Roads in Wayne County. See 1994 Canton Observer Article: Wayne County looks at scenic road designation in (3A) Neighbors documented 13 more types of protected plants, 106 non-protected plants and 140 kinds of animals, birds and insects. According to a newsletter mailed out to Northwest Canton homeowners in 2010, it wasn’t the only protected plant found on the four roads.
![canton observer canton observer](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/08/21/POEN/9d39e731-1794-4faa-bd54-2ce962f2d7e7-LamplighterCrossCountry2.jpg)
“The ones that are in the ‘do not pick’ category are bloodroot, columbine, trout lily, swamp milkweed, Jack-in-the-pulpit, large-flowered trillium and then purple trillium.” In the spring, there’s an extensive array of native wildflowers,” says Dionne. “For the most part, the vegetation consists of a repetition of hardwood tree species. There are several pages like this, depicting the entire roadway in great detail. Accompanying them are photographs of vegetation. He flips past the section for Joy Road, past Napier to the tab marked “Ridge.” The pages are so heavy, he lets out a little grunt while flipping them.ĭionne lands on a map of a bird’s-eye view of the trees and plants along the roadway. “This was the evidence if you will – the foundation, the basis for the roads having been designated,” he says. In the early 1990s, residents living around Ridge Road banded together in an attempt to designate it and three others as Natural Beauty Roads.īack at Dionne’s house, he opens up a hefty binder with laminated pages. If these rules are ignored, violators could be ordered to stop or fined up to $400. The guidelines also limit mowing, suggest tree trimming and removal “only when necessary for safety of the traveling public and vehicles,” and ban the use of herbicides. According to guidelines established by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the speed limit on natural beauty roads should be reduced to 25 mph. The designation was created under a state act in the 1970s to highlight and offer some protections for roads with extensive native vegetation.