To a certain extent, this includes the Benton Harbor city commission.
Rep. Fred Upton is heir to the Whirlpool fortune.
Please consider boycotting Whirlpool and all of it's subsidiaries. This invasive, permanent attack on some of the most gorgeous land in Michigan is beyond disturbing. Please see the two photos. Primary motivation for this action against the earth is golf-playing for Rep. Fred Upton, Whirlpool execs., county judges and attorneys, etc etc and their cronies.
Remember Gov. Granholm's promise to Whirlpool before she was elected: vote for me and I'll get you that golf course. Both the Washington Post and now the Chicago Tribune have weighed in on Harbor Shores. The recent Tribune article tells us that the governor has offered an "incentive" package of 120 million to Harbor Shores.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-051808-jack-nicklaus,0,4447538.story
While Benton Harbor starves and endures years of police harassment and severe legal system abuse. One of the richest corporations in the US is given 120 million by the governor.
BENTON HARBOR
Much to say about Harbor Shores
Public comment period ends with 300 written responses, a representative of the city manager says
By KEVIN ALLEN Herald-Palladium Business Writer
Now that the public comment period for Harbor Shores is closed, the next step for the controversial development plan rests with Benton Harbor. The six-week comment period ended Saturday. A representative of Benton Harbor City Manager Richard Marsh said some 300 written comments were received by the city. Marsh did not return calls asking for comment. The controversy surrounding the Harbor Shores plan – and the need for the public comment period – centers on Jean Klock Park.
The proposal calls for leasing 22 acres of the 73-acre park for three holes of an 18 hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, the centerpiece of the $430 million project. Developers have proposed adding more than 40 acres to the park system throughout Benton Harbor as mitigation and will pay for maintenance at the park. The city must respond
to any substantial new facts that surface in citizens’ comments, said Wendy Dant Chesser, president and CEO of
Cornerstone Alliance. Cornerstone is one of three nonprofit organizations organizing the Harbor Shores development.
If the city commission does not find anything that needs more investigation, it will send the matter to the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources, which will submit its findings to the National Park Service for consideration.
Those opposing the park conversion have said a golf course is not an appropriate use of public land and that the
economic benefits of the development will not benefit the city’s poor.
Harbor Shores supporters say the project will pay to revitalize the park and will drive an economic rebirth in the area,
with new jobs, homes and hotels to go along with the golf course. The NPS can reject the plan and did so last year, in part because there was no official public comment period.
The Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, the linchpin of the Harbor Shores
development, is under construction. The road on the left is North Shore
Drive, and the Paw Paw River is at the top.
“From Harbor Shores’ perspective, the ball is pretty much in the city of Benton Harbor’s court,” Chesser said. She
expects the City Commission to decide next week whether to send the matter on to the DNR. The commission is
scheduled to meet Tuesday instead of Monday next week because of the Memorial Day holiday. Chesser said she
was not aware of any regulated time frame during which the NPS needs to respond. But she noted that the agency is
already familiar with the project. “I feel pretty good that they’ll be able to turn this around expeditiously,” she said.
Harbor Shores is a cooperative effort of three nonprofit organizations – Cornerstone Alliance, the Alliance for
World-Class Communities and the Whirlpool Foundation – and the cities of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, Benton
Township, Berrien County and the state. The project is designed to encompass 530 acres in Benton Harbor,
St. Joseph and Benton Township. Contact Kevin Allen at kallen@TheH-P.com
