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It’s wrong to take historical farms and turn them into this.
~ Mary Keller.
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*This page is managed by Marshall Township Residents opposed to the Marshall Megasite. We do not offer legal advice to residents. It serves as a means to help share our story and help inform residents of news, and to connect with one another. For legal advice, please seek an attorney.
Marshall MEGASITE = MEGA disasterFord's blueoval battery park is a corporate welfare project which gives 2,000 acres of farmland to the ford motor company!!
Learn about the problem- watch the videoIn the news!
Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Stop the destruction of 2,000 acres of prime agricultural land, farmsteads, natural areas and homes in Marshall Township for the proposed Ford's Blue Oval EV Battery Plant,
We, the residents of Marshall and Marshall Township do not want a MEGASITE in our backyard. The site will destroy the culture and character of our small historic town and agricultural lands and farms. It will increase air, noise, water, and light pollution in an area which is already polluted from I-94 and I-69 highway traffic. The MEGASITE will harm wildlife habitat along 2.5 miles of the Kalamazoo River and will undoubtedly impact our tributaries with ground water run off. This plan is being implemented through the Marshall Area Economic Development Corporation (MAEDA), a private nonprofit organization and the MEDC, and the State of Michigan. MAEDA is negligent in that it has failed to notify, seek input and buy-in for the proposed site prior to securing options with local landowners. There is no accountability or transparency in this process. This plan does not represent the will of local residents, most of whom learned of the proposed Megasite in January of 2023. The proposed Ford Blue Oval Battery Plant (aka Marshall Megasite) will destroy prime agricultural lands. The site will include 100 year old hardwoods, and several historic farmsteads (like Riverside Farm pictured above) with magnificent barns and outbuildings. This land is not "vacant" as portrayed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and by James Durian of the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance (MAEDA), nor is it "not much now" as reported in a Wood TV 8 segment. Farms feed people! Marshall Township, the location of the Marshall Megasite, boasts on its website that it is the BEST farmland in Calhoun County! Why are we destroying Michigan's billion dollar agricultural industry which is only becoming more valuable as agricultural lands across the country are threatened. The state of Michigan is wasting billions of dollars to promote this site for industry and in doing so will destroy our community. The proposed "Marshall Megasite" includes vital agricultural land and provides habitat for hundreds of species of animals including song birds, waterfowl, raptors, large variety of mammals and pollinators such as butterflies, bees, fireflies. This is a vanishing ecosystem located just a mile from historic Marshall, Michigan. This land should NOT be destroyed for ANY industrial purposes but preserved for the next generation! Marshall Residents ask governor whitmer to honor our plans. Use this property forthe kalamazoo River state park recreational area.calhoun county is the only county in michiganwithout a state park - spend taxpayer money equitably!
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Take Action!
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A photo from the MAEDA "Choose Marshall" website showing Marshall's water tower in it's advertising the "Marshall Megasite" MAEDA has not been transparent in letting local residents now the social, cultural, and economic impact this "Mega Disaster" will have on our community. Just say NO! |
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There are so many other, already industrialized lands in city of Detroit that would bring much-needed jobs to the city and metro area. Redevelopment of old industrial sites is far better than destroying productive farmland. ~ LuAnne Kozma
We can NEVER get back what have already lost …
WE MUST PRESERVE THE PRECIOUS LAND OR WE ARE DOOMED -
Victoria Moore
The Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance (MAEDA) is currently trying to secure land for purchase along C drive and 13 Mile road. They would bulldoze a peaceful area to create a factory on the the banks of the Kalamazoo River, only 12 years after the Enbridge Oil Spill that devastated the area. For myself and others in the area, we would lose our quiet way of life that... (read more of Laura Willard's letter to the editor)
I lived on C Drive N for 10 yrs and also hung out at old Casey farm as a teenager. My old house will be torn down or burnt down soon and many other houses have been as well. This area has always been a beautiful site for wildlife and families to grow. Many farms as well. - Mike Vander Weg, Marshall
Take your Michigan Mega Site Plan somewhere else. Leave Marshall, Michigan alone.
Virgilia Smith
This is the last thing Marshall needs! Marshall is a small town of farmers and you want to take fields, along with attempting to push people out of their homes to use their land! |
This Megasite is NOT what Marshall wants or NEEDS. I am praying this doesn't happen. Sadly, I am aware that people are being offered more money than they can turn down for property that shouldn't be turned into a Megasite. |
Agricultural land should be protected from this type of mindless development. |
Michigan is my home state. I care about it's well-being and preservation.
Michelle Peat
Stay away from Marshall PERIOD!!
~ Donald Lee Daws
Marshall doesn't have the infrastructure to supply this new industry with water or sewer and electric if we did it will cost the residence of marshall way to much just like the new drug plant did. We need to maintain and protect our agricultural and green areas more than ever! |
I am not for this proposal and forcing people to give up their land to use it to damage the environment is not progress!! Biological diversity is, in the most literal sense, the basis of sustainable development and resource management. By conserving biodiversity, we retain not only plants and animals, soils and waters, but the foundations of sustainable societies and the availability of options for future generations. This mega site has no intention of being biodiverse. |
Way to kill MORE farm land! Won't be long and the US will be dependent for food too!
STOP DEVELOPING FARMLAND!!
Kelly Bauer
We already built a "industrial " park that cost millions and have yet to put even
1 new business in it. ~ Corby from Marshall
Letter to the Editor (April 2022) Laura Willard
"From what I can tell, the city of Marshal has not done its due diligence to inform the town (except for one post in 2018) about its interest in this development and it seems as though it does not want input from Marshall citizens. This is a major proposition that will uproot families from their homes that exist along C Drive and 13 Mile and place strain on the Marshall workforce, where current businesses can't get people to work even with the competitive pay. Houses on the outskirts fo the proposed site. (Bentley Blvd in Marshall Township for example) will likely experience a decrease in resale value and be stuck with a factory in their backyard.
Please be aware of these changes and join me in asking our town leaders to be more transparent when moving along with huge economic decisions that the citizens may disagree with." Read Laura's entire letter.
"From what I can tell, the city of Marshal has not done its due diligence to inform the town (except for one post in 2018) about its interest in this development and it seems as though it does not want input from Marshall citizens. This is a major proposition that will uproot families from their homes that exist along C Drive and 13 Mile and place strain on the Marshall workforce, where current businesses can't get people to work even with the competitive pay. Houses on the outskirts fo the proposed site. (Bentley Blvd in Marshall Township for example) will likely experience a decrease in resale value and be stuck with a factory in their backyard.
Please be aware of these changes and join me in asking our town leaders to be more transparent when moving along with huge economic decisions that the citizens may disagree with." Read Laura's entire letter.
Detroit has LOTS of abandoned industrial and warehouse buildings which could be cleared and repurposed for an industrial complex without endangering waterways and eliminating productive farms.~Michael Hinshaw
LOSS OF FARMLAND
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Marshall Township Boasts on its website that it has some of the best farmland in Calhoun County!
The Michigan Megasite IS that land. Why are they seeking to destroy it?
(screen shot from the website below)
The Michigan Megasite IS that land. Why are they seeking to destroy it?
(screen shot from the website below)
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The proposed "Michigan Megasite" (aka Marshall Megasite) is quality agricultural land and natural area which abuts the scenic Kalamazoo River, one of Michigan's longest tributaries. The land provides a needed green space around the historic town of Marshall, Michigan. The MEDC wants to destroy this valuable agricultural and wildlife area for industrial purposes. Tell the State of Michigan to Clean up its industrial sites and preserve our agricultural lands and heritage! The MEDC promotional video is to the right.
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Wildlife Threatened by the Proposed "Marshall megasite"
The proposed "Michigan Megasite" aka "Marshall Megasite" threatens the nesting grounds of numerous bird species which can not easily be replicated in other ares. This includes nesting sites for Turkey Vultures, Great Horned Own. Great Blue Heron, Crows, Orioles in addition to mammals such as raccoon, opossum, coyotees, fox, squirrel, and deer. The photos below were taken on Riverside Farm. We are rapidly loosing biodiversity of animal life. Crucial pollinators are on the edge of extinction. We can't pretend that we are helping to fight climate change and at the same time destroy these valuable ecosystems!! Stop the Megasite!
People live and visit Marshall for its unique small town charm. The proposed "Marshall Megasite", just one mile from Marshall's city limits, will forever change our historic small town. "Choose Marshall" Say NO to the Megasite!
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Dear Governor Whitmer:
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THE ZONING MAP ABOVE WAS VOTED UPON AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING IN OCT.22
Excerpt from the minutes, Regarding the Master Plan.
(Read Minutes)
Richard Lindsey, (on the Board of MAEDA and contracted by MAEDA to secure land options)
is also the Secretary of the Marshall Township Planning Commission and voted on the Master Plan.
Views of property within the proposed "michigan Megasite"
Photographs below are from riverside Farm - a historic farmstead
Marshall is one of Michigan's most historic small towns. It is home to the largest Landmark Historic District in the United States (small urban category). People live and work in Marshall because of its small town atmosphere. This character will be destroyed if Michigan's Megasite is sold for industry.
STOP THE MEGASITE
STOP THE MEGASITE