On the eve of approving a development that could add 1,000 students to the Goodrich School District, Grand Blanc Township will now consider a second proposal that may bring even more students to the district.
Bertakis Development will be seeking rezoning of about 154 acres west of Vassar and south of Baldwin roads in Grand Blanc Township. If the R-2 zoning is approved, the developer could build about 300 dwellings with a minimum size of 1,200 square feet. The current R-1 zoning requires 1,650-square-foot dwellings. The R-2 zoning will also increase lot density to 2.4 units per acre.
While Bertakis Development did not return phone calls to The Citizen, the Roseville, Mich. based company currently owns manufactured home communities in Adrian, Bay City, Taylor, and Harrison Township, Mich. A community is also located in Manvel, Texas.
The 154 acres located in the Goodrich School District is adjacent to the proposed Glendale Farms development of 315 acres where as many as 500 units of both condominiums and stick-built homes could be constructed. The plan was first presented to Grand Blanc Township Oct. 30, 2002.
Several Goodrich School District residents, along with some Atlas Township Planners have balked at the recent developments claiming the new homes will swell the School District with additional students. Based on 1.9 students per household the new development could add about 600 students to the district. Currently 2,086 students attend the Goodrich School District; up about 60 students or 3 percent during the 2002-2003 school year.
The district could accommodate a maximum of 632 new students before being forced into portable classrooms, adding on, or completing new construction, said Goodrich Schools Superintendent Raymond Green in a recent interview, although the figure is ‘based on doing things we’d rather not do.?
Completely filling existing facilities would mean shuffling programs and assigning more students per teacher in each classroom, a possibility that neither board members nor administrators welcomed at a recent Goodrich School Board meeting.
The combination of both the Bertakis Development and the Glendale Farms Partnership development could add more than 1,300 students to the district.
A move to redistrict would be based not only on the preferences of Goodrich district residents, but the opinions of those in the already overpopulated Grand Blanc School District. Such a proposal could mean excluding current Goodrich students and should be carefully considered, said Goodrich Board of Education President Michael Thorp.
Atlas Township Vice Chairperson, Rick Misek will attend the Jan. 15 Grand Blanc Township public hearing where both developments will be discussed.
‘The Grand Blanc Township Master Plan is not a ‘plan,? said Misek.
‘There is no plan.?
‘When a master plan is created, it cost taxpayers dollars, consultants? fees, research, and gathering public comment. So people should expect that if they move to an area, like Vassar and Baldwin roads, they receive what they pay for,? Misek said.