Goodrich Schools- Goodrich School officials say the proposed mobile home park would drastically change the composition of the district.
‘Our services and programs would just be too overcrowded,? said Ray Green , Goodrich superintendent.
‘If the park is built, then the district definitely has choices to face. We would either have to add onto existing schools or build a new one altogether.?
Green’s response came following a series of questions from Sue Arnold, a Goodrich resident at the May 12 Goodrich School Board meeting regarding a proposed 500 to 1,000 unit mobile home park to be located within the school district.
For now, the schools do have a little room to breathe added Green, but could not handle the amount of new growth that the mobile home park would bring.
‘What type of impact will this have on the school district?,’said Arnold.
‘Could the Goodrich High School, Middle School and Elementary Schools adequately equip hundreds of new students from all levels??
Board members responded to the series of questions regarding the possible added need of schools by reviewing their current plans.
In 2002, the board purchased property on Coolidge Road with hopes of building an elementary school.
The Coolidge Road property is a very distressed, unpaved, dirt road which concerned Arnold because the vehicle trips per day would double, if not triple with the added traffic from the new school.
‘The land we purchased is really not ideal. One, it’s on a dirt road and that’s not ideal. Two, we have no existing sewer hookups and that’s never ideal,? said Green. ‘It basically met the acreage we were searching for over two years.?
Currently the land is vacant and will be farmed this summer.
Green said the land could be sold at a later time for a bigger parcel,
When a school system plans for construction of a new facility, they basically have five years to estimate expansion and student growth.
‘When we started the construction on the Goodrich Middle School in 2000, we were done two years later. It’s hard to predict growth when the project is already half way done.?
The school and residents are responding to a recently adopted Atlas Township Mobile Home Park District ordinance.
The change will allow an averageof approximately eight homes per acre. This criteria could support 500 to 1,000 new homes.
Updated on Nov. 20, 2002 under the Master Plan the following criteria must be met before any type of development can begin.
n Mobile Home Park District
? Access to two public roads, one of which is a major thoroughfare, capable of handling the traffic generated.
? Close proximately to existing or proposed public sewers, comunity facilities and services.
? Substantial, effective pre-existing buffering from incompatible adjoining land uses.
? Non-buildable sites such as toxic dumps and tracts substantially located in a floodplain/wetland are excluded from consideration.
? In the interest of avoiding future spot zoning contrary to the Master Plan, there shall be no infringement into the planned future Commercial, Industrial, or Rural Estate Districts. Nothing shall preclude the location of a Mobile Home Park adjacent to a Commercial, Industrial, or Rural Estate District.