The last thing Warren needs is another parking lot full of junk

primesuspect

The last thing Warren needs is another parking lot full of junk

ardichoke

This whole situation stinks and makes me profoundly sad. What makes me even more sad is it reminds me of my home town of Saginaw. Same stupid shit, different location. Seems like Michigan cities just can't get it right.

fmueller

Great article! I hope it will help to preserve Tom Turmel's little paradise.

As an aside, I live in Kent, OH, between Cleveland and Akron, and clearly another rust-belt town. Our savior is Kent State University with a nice, green campus. A lot more could be done but the city is making some smart choices to create a greenbelt along the river that can be used for recreational purposes by local residents. I've been walking my dog there for years, but since the city has started cleaning up a bit, I noticed that a lot more people are using it this year. A lot of money seems to come into town from the Feds via the recovery act or whatever it's called.

Anyhow, all over the north east of the US so many old industrial areas are laying barren that cutting into any remaining green space seems like a sacrilege, yet most of the building still starts by cutting down trees...

BuddyJ

Who owns this land? I assume it's not Mr. Turmel. It's cool that he's taken such good care of somebody else's lot.

Is it zoned residential? If it is, I'm sure the citizens in the area could make a solid case to the City Council or whatever you've got.

clifford_cooley

That is sad, I wish you guys luck on preserving the land.

Nikki Stephan

Tom's garden looks magical. What an amazing secret nook in a very unexpected place! Hopefully Mayor Fouts lives up to his words and doesn't let Tom's garden be destroyed. I also hope other Warren residents are as outraged as you are and plan to contact the mayor's office to voice their opinion!

Thrax

This the best, most inspired piece I've ever read on Icrontic.

primesuspect

Buddy J wrote:

Who owns this land? I assume it's not Mr. Turmel. It's cool that he's taken such good care of somebody else's lot.

Is it zoned residential? If it is, I'm sure the citizens in the area could make a solid case to the City Council or whatever you've got.

As far as I know, the city owns the land.

Becks-Davis

What a fantabulous place! Kudos to Mr. Turmel on creating this piece of magic.

I grew up in Warren and, as a youngster, I thought it was swell. I lived a perfect suburbia life.

Then the school system took away my lunch hour and instead we had a 15 minute "nutrition" break. We had to pay to be play sports at a public school.

The cuts were severe and my parents decided that my brother and I had to go to private schools.

That led to us moving out of Warren and to the West side.

I've never looked back.

I hope the city helps save this gem.

jokerz4fun

I had the pleasure of meeting this man. And I have to say I was fascinated by his life and the stories he shared with me and prime. It would be a shame to lose this land to another parking lot.

My hat goes off to Brian. There aren't too many people who would reach out their hand to help a person out nowadays.

Winfrey

Thrax wrote:

This the best, most inspired piece I've ever read on Icrontic.

I agree, Brian you did awesome on this article.

I really hope you guys can rally the troops on this and get Warren going in the right direction. Put some fear into your city council, let 'em know what is important and what is DEFINITELY not.

pigflipper

I have a horrid, sinking feeling that the Golden Rule will win out here.

I really really hope that is not the case.

Snarkasm

pigflipper wrote:

I have a horrid, sinking feeling that the Golden Rule will win out here.

I really really hope that is not the case.

Which one: do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or he who has the gold makes the rules?

Much luck to Mr. Turmel. I hope you guys can save it.

Cheri

I, too, live in the south end of Warren. I bought a house here 11 years ago, and am often ashamed to tell people I live here. Every time the city adds a library, pool, shiny office building north of 12 Mile, I wonder, "what about the southmost two miles of the city?" Warren is good about handing out blight tickets in my neighborhood, but I never see a police car cruising by to check on things. It's very frustrating, and I'd love to move out to a better city.

carol

Thanks to Mr. Turmel there is a space to enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet. He should be commended for his efforts. I don't live in Warren, but would like to visit his garden. Today, Earth Day, is the perfect time for the city to notice his beautification of the space around him and increase it. No city needs more junkyards.

Dominique

Great story, Brian. I hope drawing attention to Mr. Turmel and his garden will result in a happy ending here. I treasure the tiny green spaces around my own town and cringe every time someone wants to "develop" them or put in more cement.

WagsFTW

I agree that Earth Day is the perfect time for respecting this beautiful space surrounded my industry.

What an amazing article. It is so sad to think that this proposition might pass.

Fight it, Brian! Contact the press. This article is an amazing piece, and the more people in Warren read it, the more people you can get to back up Tom. Turn your passion into a fight.

Hockeytown Blood

I hope the city sees the value in a citizen and resident's initiative, but am also reminded of the Heidelberg Project. Good luck Mr. Turmel and if Warren is as short-sighted as Detroit, I hope it doesn't dissuade you from continuing elsewhere!

Joe

If the land is privately owned and he has been tending to it for 15 years or more, he has a pretty good claim at ownership, or at the very least an easement to continue using the land as a greenspace.

BuddyJ

Regular meetings of the Council are held at the Warren Community Center auditorium, located at 5460 Arden (which is south of 14 Mile Road and west off of Mound), on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 8 p.m.

Show up.

primesuspect

Oh I am definitely going to be there. I already told Tom I was going.

QCH

You know... June 24th should be a Council meeting. 60 EPIC folks all showing up WOULD be cool.

Jason

The best thing you can do is what you're already doing: make as much noise about this as you can, have people call and write the City Council everyday, have them show up and make their case in person, try to get in touch with the mayor, etc.


Good luck.

clifford_cooley

Perhaps sending the local newspaper a link to this thread. It couldn't hurt, especially if it attracts attention to Icrontic.com.

James Marshall

Great article Brian. What a shame about Warren. They'd pave over rosebeds full of cute puppies if it saved them $1 on the bottom line...

Johns

People, first of all Mr. Turmel trespassed, this property is owned by a private development company, not by the city or the government. How would all of you feel if someone took a piece of land you own and use it as theirs? It’s really ridiculous that people can be so narrow minded, this guy TRESSPASSES.
Second, I did not see any magical or beautiful garden. I see a bunch of junk all over the place.
I love the nature and the environment, but we should ask all the facts before judging.

fmueller

johns wrote:

People, first of all Mr. Turmel trespassed, this property is owned by a private development company, not by the city or the government.

For me that's impossible to know, but if you are right, legally Mr Turmel has of course no leg to stand on. If a development company owns the land and wants to turn it into a parking lot, it can insist on the garden being bulldozed, and that's that.

Yet, there is still some hope that people could appeal to reason. For a development company, it would only matter to generate the dollars that the parking lot would create. They might not really care about a parking lot, and they would certainly not care if the parking lot ends up being in the exact spot where Mr Turmel created his garden. If the city could compensate the development company in some other way, or give them another piece of land, they'd likely leave the garden alone. Seems like a good time for the city council to look for some creative solutions!

A city council's role is to serve the people in their community, not to maximize return on investment. Also, laws like the ones about trespassing were created to serve the people, not the other way around.

johns wrote:

It’s really ridiculous that people can be so narrow minded, this guy TRESSPASSES. Second, I did not see any magical or beautiful garden. I see a bunch of junk all over the place.

Whether Brian's photos show a magical garden or "a bunch of junk all over the place" lies in the eye of the beholder. If you let only your view stand, and deride all other views, that would be narrow minded!

Johns

I respect everyones' opinion, the bottom line is that gentlman planted on private property. What and whom gives him the right to do that??! I too want a nice piece of land to plant flowers and have a garden to get away to, does that mean that I can just go and start planting on private property?? No it does not, lets not forget please, that this is private property. If I had a piece of land I would protected and I think the owner has the right to do whatever he/she desires.

Snarkasm

Look, if you have proof that it's private property, let's see it. Until there's proof one way or the other, it's just speculation and nobody can logically have a position on the legality either way.

Winfrey

Snarkasm:

The proposed facility is planned for a 5.6-acre piece of undeveloped land purchased, according to Warren assessing records, by Warren Commerce Center LLC in 1999 for 180,000. The land sits behind commercial frontage along Mound between 10 Mile and Stephens, and to the rear of residential properties west of Mound.

from the newspaper Brian linked in the article

Snarkasm

Fine enough.