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THE FUNCTION or PLANNING INTHE
[CHARTER TOWNSHIP FORM OF‘GOVERNMENT: .
THE CASE OF MERIDIAN CHARTER TOWNSHIP

Thesis for the Degree of M. U. P. .
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
RICHARD WESLEY WILBERG
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ABSTRACT

THE FUNCTION OF PLANNING IN THE CHARTER TOWNSHIP
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: THE CASE OF MERIDIAN
CHARTER TOWNSHIP

By
Richard Wesley Wilberg

The urbanization of rural areas often requires unique
governmental forms and planning programs to c0pe with the
problems of development. This need was acknowledged by the
legislature of the state of Michigan in l9u8. Under the
Charter Township Act, townships were modernized to handle
rural and urban problems through the adoption of a state
charter. Since the creation of charter townships, critics
point out that charter townships have not fulfilled their
legislative intent-~to provide a transitional governing
function. Instead, they have developed as quasi-cities or
self-perpetuating entities which merely duplicate the
efforts of more efficient urbanized forms.

This thesis investigates the situation with the
aim of determining why charter townships have not fulfilled
their expectations. Two approaches to the problem are I

taken.

Richard Wesley Wilberg

Egrm.—-The form government assumes largely,
determines the legal parameters within which the functions
of government are executed. Charter township government
may be examined as a transitional form of government.

Function.—-The functions assumed by government
within the rural—urban fringe are a direct result of
the forces of urbanization. This thesis examines the
relationship between the function of government and
the process of urbanization in Meridian Township using a
case study approach. The conclusions of the case study
illustrate the function of charter townships as a tran-
sitional government.

The relationship between the form and function of
charter township government is expressdd through the
quality of a community's planning program. Planning seeks
to reconcile form with function by providing an intermediary
role between the citizenry and government. As such,
planning becomes the key element in discussion of the
weaknesses of charter townships.

This weakness is a direct result of planning's
preoccupation with admininstrative detail at the expense
of a more comprehensive approach. No doubt due to the
suburban style of like, planning finds itself a victim
of its own achievements. There are few significant

advantages in abandoning charter township government in

Richard Wesley Wilberg

favor of more urbanized forms. The suburbanite cannot
be convinced that other forms of government will not
destroy the type of environment he has sought and achieved.
Suburban development is derived from a necessity
to escape urban patterns of growth. Charter townships
have encouraged this type of growth. How, then, may
charter townships be expected to function as a tran-
sitional government? The inability of planning to
resolve this dilemma is directly responsible for the
inability of charter townships to function as transitional

governments in the process of urbanization.

THE FUNCTION OF PLANNING IN THE CHARTER TOWNSHIP
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: THE CASE OF MERIDIAN

CHARTER TOWNSHIP

By

Richard Wesley Wilberg

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER IN URBAN PLANNING

School of Urban Planning and
Landscape Architecture

1969

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES.

Chapter.

I.

II.

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . .

The Problem
Thesis Objective

Form . . . . . .
Function . . . . . . .

Thesis Approach
Thesis Limitations

URBANIZATION IN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP

Introduction
Development in Meridian Township

Early History . . .
Meridian' s First Settlement.
Michigan Becomes a State. .
Meridian's First Government. .
Michigan Agricultural College .
The Influence of Industrialization

Suburban Development-~The Artifactual
Environment. .
Urbanization--The Social Environment
Urbanization--The Institutional
Environment
The Basis for Democratic Government
Formulating a Theory of Democratic
Government. . . . . . .

Chapter Summary . -. . . .

ii

Page

iv

NH

(DUI DON

10

10
13

13

l7
19

21

23
26

29
3O
33
35‘

Chapter

III.

IV.

APPENDIX

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT

Introduction
Forms of Township Government
Powers and Duties.

Taxation

Bonding

Planning and Zoning

Chapter Summary
PLANNING IN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP.
Introduction
Factors Initiating Meridian Township' s
Planning Commission
Problems . . . . . . . . .
Meridian's Planning Efforts . .
Necessity and Administrative Planning
Comprehensive Planning Activities.
De Facto Planning-—Cases in Point.
Redefining the Public Interest
A New Role for Planning in
Meridian Township . .
Regaining the Planning Function
Chapter Summary . . . u .
Judgment
CONCLUSIONS.
Introduction
Form .

Function.
Further Investigation

LIST OF REFERENCES

111

Page

86
92

93
95
98
98
99

100

105

115

117

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
1. Regional Location . . . . . ._ . . . . . 6

2. A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis

of the Process of Urbanization . . . . . . l2
3. Development In Meridian Township . . . . . . 16
A. Meridian Township Public Open Space

and Waterways Master Plan . . . . . . . . 83
5. Meridian Charter Township . '. . . . . . . ll6

iv

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Problem

 

The urbanization of rural areas often requires
unique solutions to problems of development. As the
rate of development increases so do the demands upon
government. This problem was acknowledged by the
legislature of the State of Michigan in 1948. It was
their belief that the township form of government,
being the principal form of local rural government,
could not adequately meet the demands of an urbanizing
area nor could it cope with the pressures placed upon
it. The township's responsibility to administer its
own development was so seriously hampered by statutory
limitation that some claimed that all areas in the
first stages of urbanization should immediately in-
corporate in order to assure adequate means for
operation.

The state legislature, realizing the need for a
transitional form of government - a government legally
able to handle both rural and urban problems - saw fit
to modernize township government by providing the option
for townships to adopt a state charter. The aim of this

act was to create an interim governing function; a form

of government which has been described as a "halfway
house to urbanization."l
The powers granted to the charter township

under the Charter Act included expanded powers to tax
and to plan. The power to tax provides government
with the ability to assume needed programs while the
ability to plan assures their efficient and equitable
implementation. Thus, the power to plan would seem
to be the key feature of a government concerned with
bridging the gap between rural and urban development.
As a result, the inability of this form of government

to function in a transitional role may be traced to

a similar inability within the planning function.

Thesis Objective

 

The objective of this thesis is to illustrate
why planning may not operate within the charter town-
ship form of government. Also I Will illustrate how
this apparent failure of planning relates to an un—
favorable judgment of charter township government in

general. Two approaches to the problem are taken.

Form
The form township government assumes largely

determines its ability to cope with the problems of

 

1Robert B. Hotaling, Charter Township Act 359,
Public Acts of l9A7, State of Michigan (East Lansing:
MSU, Institute for Community DeveIOpment, 1960), p. l.

 

 

suburban development. The Charter Township Act

provides a suitable structure for townships to remedy
these problems through broad taxing and bonding powers.
In addition, charter townships are permitted to eXpand
personnel and public facilities to a level rivaling

that of cities. The relatively low tax rate in con-
junction with statutory limited eXpenditures has proven
desirable for the governing of residential development.
The conservative influence of rurally oriented officials
tends to carry over after a township charters, producing
a moderating influence on development. Thus, both rural
and urban interests receive adequate concern as charter
townships provide personalized government to the

citizenry in the form of the lay planning commissions.

Function

The major disappointment of this form of govern-
ment is a direct result of its achievements. There
are few significant advantages in abandoning charter
townships in favor of more urbanized forms. This is
due in part to the style of life that charter town-
ships have encouraged. Suburban development is de-
rived from a necessity to escape urban patterns of
growth. Governments function in response to the wishes
of the polity; however, government may miscontrue the

desires of the electorate for one pattern of growth

over another. This is especially true as government
begins to become a bureaucracy and tends to lose
contact with the public interest.

Definition of the public interest as the
'actions of government' is not compatible with suburan
growth due to the absence of a unified public interest.
This type of growth represents an influx of outside
interests to an area that was previously self-sufficient.
As a result, the planning commission experiences
difficulty identifying proper lines of action to satisfy
all. This situation is worsened by planning's tendency
to lose its autonomy through its close interrelation-
ships with government. This tendency is accelerated as
planning assumes a greater share of government's
administrative burdens as it neglects the comprehensive
approach.

Special interest groups tend to dominate planning
as its distance from the public's ideology increases.
Planning has not fulfilled its intermediary function
between the citizenry and their government. Likewise,
it does not respond to the wishes of the citizenry re-
garding the type of development they are seeking.
Planning represents the primary function of a form of
government concerned with problems of develOpment.
Thus, a concern for the functions of government must
begin with an analysis of the function of planning and

how it relates to the process of urbanization.

Thesis Approach

 

Chapter II analyzes the process of urbanization
in order to create an understanding for the function
of planning in charter townships. ~Urbanization is ex-
plained as a three—part process of intervening patterns
of human activity. These patterns are designated as
the physical, cultural, and institutional.

Within this conceptual framework, the process of
urbanization in a typical suburban community is invest—
igated. The selection of Meridian Township for a case
study as a typical suburban community may be questioned
by some. Certainly, there is no one typical community,
for every area faces problems which are unique to its
own particular circumstances. However, MeridianTown-
ship, Ingham County, Michigan, located Just east of,
and adjacent to, the urban area of Lansing-East Lansing,
is similar enough with regard to locational factors to
other central Michigan suburban areas to warrant its
use as a case for study of Michigan townships. Figure 1
illustrates the regional location of Meridian Township.

Other characteristics of Meridian Township can
also be used to Justify this selection of a case for
study. Among these are the following:

1. Meridian's greatest period of growth occurred
during the post war push to suburbia period when

population from 1940 to 1950 was increased by 91

per cent. A 52 per cent increase from 1950 to
1960 also indicates a high level of growth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' _ MERIDIAN -
INNSHIP:

 

 

 

 

 

despite annexation to East Lansing of several
populous areas of the Township.1

2. Development-wise, Meridian Township has pro—
posed city incorporation on the November 1969
ballot. Thus, a study of this township,
urbanized enough to contemplate city incorpora—
tion may be used to more completely illustrate
the process of urbanization. ‘

3. Meridian Township also contains a population
composition of age, ethnic origin, race, educa—
tional attainment, income, and type of employ-
ment which is similar to most suburban areas.

A. Meridian Township has three concentrations of
population. One is located at the western end
of the township adjoining the East Lansing city
limits; another is in the northeast corner
around Lake Lansing, including the unincorpor-
ated village of Haslett; and the third, and
largest, is situated close to the center of the
township and includes the unincorporated
village of Okemos plus the surrounding sub—
divisions. The rest of the township is open
country, with relatively denser settlements
along main roads providing a good basis for
study of the rural-urban balance.

Chapter III approaches the thesis objective from

 

a legal point of view. Here the concern is with an
analysis of the £93m of township government as it relates
to the process of urbanization. However, it is shown
that an institutional form cannot be evaluated without

a discussion of its function. The power to plan is
shown as the greatest single difference between the two
forms of township government.

Chapter IV investigates the planning process as

 

consisting of two separate, though usually compatible,

 

1United States Dicennial Census (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1950).

 

activities. The chapter is directed toward this

planning process as it best explains the function

of charter township government. Planning in

Meridian Township is found to be a disappointment

as its failure to recognize the needs and desires

of the citizenry has precipitated the inability of

charter townships to achieve their legislative intent.

Although planning has successfully implemented sewer,

water, and other public programs very necessary to

the urbanization of the Township; it is shown that

planning has not followed the best interests of the

community with regard to the administration of

commercial development. Limited administrative success

cannot overshadow the failure to plan comprehensively.

As such, this has tended to be the most serious weak-

ness of charter township government in Meridian.
Chapter V is concerned with establishing a con-

clusion to the objective of this thesis. Here the form

and function of charter townsnips are analyzed as they

pertain to the discussion of previous chapters.

Thesis Limitations

 

The scope of a thesis employing a case study approach
is difficult to define. I have selected an analysis of the.
planning function as I believe it best expresses the
function of charter township government. Certainly,

charter townships may be discussed using other criteria and

judgments rendered accordingly. However, only that
material pertaining to the thesis objective, as identi—
fied in the introduction of each chapter, forms the

basis of this thesis. From this discussion, judgment

is drawn.

CHAPTER II
URBANIZATION IN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP

Introduction

 

The process of urbanization may be expressed as
a cumulative effect of specific human activities.
These activities may be thought of as consisting of
various form-creating subsystems. Perhaps the most
obvious of these is the physical environment in which
we live. This arti-factual subsystem has tended to
be the traditional indicator of levels of urbanization
for those concerned with the process of urban growth.
Nels Anderson illustrates:
Levels of urbanism can . . . be visualized by
various concrete types of evidence, although
the measure normally used is the number of
people . . . moving from rural to urban places.
Also, it means the landscape becoming urbanized.
The deveIOpment of this artifactual subsystem and
its ultimate appraisal is dependent upon cltural meanings
and values. These characteristics of our society form
the basis of the second subsystem of human activity.

The cultural subsystem may be used in examining the

process of urbanization. According to Weaver:

 

lNels Anderson, Urbanism and Urbanization (Leiden,
Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 196A) p. l.

10

11

It is human beings who, today, are shaping the
vast metropolitan areas which house some two
thirds of the population in this Nation.
Consequently, it is in terms of people that
urban problems must be perceived and their
solutions developed.

The balance between the physical environment and
the cultural sphere is achieved through the institutional
subsystems.2 Perhaps the most significant component of
the institutional subsystem is represented by government.
This form-creating component is recognized by Sokolow who
has found that general patterns exist in the governmental
response of most rural communities to the pressures of
urbanization. They are:

1. Change from restrictive regulatory measures to
facilitative service programs.

2. Change from extensive to intensive services,
involving a shift from low to high financial
and administrative requirements.

3. Change from stability to change in the struc-
tures of local government, with emphasis on form
of representation and legal and financial
abilities as well as the professionalization of
government. ‘

 

1Robert C. Weaver, The Urban Complex (Garden City,
New York: Doubleday & Co., 1960), p. 26.

2Pitirim A. Sorokin, Society Culture and Person-
ality (New_York: Cooper Square, 1962), pp. 69-85, 93-99.

3

 

 

Alvin D. Sokolow, Governmental Response to Urban-
ization: Three Townships on the Rural—Urban Gradient .
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1968),
p. 1110 '

 

 

12

Hence, the process of urbanization may be examined
as a conceptual framework consisting of three subsystems
which combine to give form and meaning through the
institutional subsystem to the patterns of human activity.
Figure 2 illustrates this conceptual framework used in

this chapter.

'Subsystems of
Human Activity

 

Form and
Meaning in the
Physical
Environment

Artifactual

.FIGURE 2.--A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of
the Process of Urbanization

13

.Development in Meridian Township

Early History

 

The origins of development in Meridian Township
may be said to have resulted from the pattern of early
state history. Although Meridian was not officially
recognized as a political entity until 1841, the
geographical form of townships was due to the provisions
of the Northwest Ordinance of 1785.

It was this primary piece of legislation, by a
nation yet recovering from the War of Independence, that
was to act as a preliminary step in the development of
our present ststem of local government. The Ordinance
of 1785 provided for the survey and sale of lands ceded
to the national government by the various states and
Indian tribes. By this survey, the congressional town-
ship, a 36—square mile block of land, was designed for
the purpose of locating and dwscribing land within its
boundaries. The typical township contained 36—square
miles, each square mile called a section and designated
by a consecutive numbering sy tem beginning from the
northeast corner of the township. Any parcel of land
within the section could easily be located as a given
distance from two adjacent sevtion lines. Likewise,
any particular township could easily be located by the
Iqumber of townships between ii and the territorial

east—west baseline. This distance was known as the range

14

of the township while its distance east or west of
several principal meridians pinpointed the township's
exact location.

In 1787 Congress conferred upon the Governor of
the Northwest Territory the power to create counties
out of groups of townships. However, it was not un-
til 1805 that Congress created the Territory of Mich—
igan. The newly appointed Governor was empowered to
incorporate townships and provide for the election of
government officers to supervise territorial affairs.
By 1825 the Michigan Territorial Legislative Counc11
was the only legislative entity having jurisdiction in
the vast wilderness that was Michigan. In 1827 the.
Council created the Township Meeting form of govern-
ment, which was the first of its kind to be adopted in
a territory west of the Allegheny Mountains. The
Congressional township provided the geographical
boundaries for this embryonic form of government.1

The territorial governor during this embryonic
period was Lewis Cass. In office from 1813 to 1831,
Governor Cass was influential in the initial forms of

Michigan local government.

 

1Arthur W. Bromage and Thomas H. Reid, Organization

 

and Cost of County and Township_Government (Detroit:
Committee of Inquiry of Government, 1933), pp. 6-9.

 

15

Governor Cass was thoroughly imbued with New

England ideas of local self-government under

which he was born and brought up. He was, more

than anyone else (sic), who instituted county

and town government in Michigan. He gradually

abandoned the appointment of county and township

officers, and urged, nay, required the people to

elect them.l

Ingham County was surveyed in 1829 and officially
became a county in 1838 with a total population of less
than 100. The County was settled relatively later than
those in the surrounding areas, no doubt due to the
absence of early transportation routes within its
boundaries. In 1830 the Territorial Road was surveyed
from Ann Arbor to the west connecting Jackson, Battle
Creek, and St. Joseph. Early settlers went west from
Detroit along this road and gradually infiltrated north
into Ingham County. Oakland, Livingston, and Clinton
Counties were also settled prior to Ingham County by

pioneers who followed Indian trails northwest from

Detroit over the Saginaw Trail.

Meridian's First Settlement

In November of 1832, E. Pierce purchased the first
land in Ingham County at the location of what is now
present-day Okemos. Figure 3, Development in Meridian

'Township, illustrates the general location of this pioneer

 

1Edward W. Bemis, Local Government in Michigan and,
the Northwest (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1883), pp. 12-13.

 

l6

DEVELOPMENT IN MERIDIAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOWNSHIP fl 3
_ f I

32' 4’ II 26; \

I” I f. I {P‘s/I

#1 // >4 ”g; ”J?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1895 1928

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l7

settlement as well as the other major developments in
the Township's history. At that time, Okemos was the
main center of Indian activity for a band of approxi—
mately 500 Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Led by Chief
Okemos, the band roamed all of Ingham County while
planting creps and burying their dead in the Okemos
area. By 1833, three land claims were located in
Okemos. It would be another three years until the first
land was to be claimed in Lansing.

In 1835 the Marshal brothers became the first
residents in Meridian Township by building a log cabin
near Pine Lake (Lake Lansing). This settlement preceded
the first settlement in Lansing by two years. Freeman
Bray arrived in Okemos in 1840 and bought the land claim
of Pierce. Bray then platted the Village of Hamilton
which, in 1858, was changed to Okemos in honor of the
Indian chief. By 1842 Okemos was a booming lumbermill
town, and it appeared that it might be destined to be the

metropolis of central Michigan.1

Michigan Becomes a State
However, the troubles which had plagued the newly
created State of Michigan (1836) reached crucial pro—

portions after 1846. The State capitol at Detroit, with‘

 

1Frank M. Turner, An Account of Ingham County from
Its Organization, Vol. III (Lansing: National Historical
Association, Inc., 1924), pp. 264—267.

18

its cosmopolitan population, its proximity to French—
Canada, and its recent disputes with the State of Ohio
over their common boundary, no longer appeared a
desirable location for the offices of government. In
1847 the State Legislature enacted a bill that moved
the State Capitol to Lansing Township where free offers
of land were plentiful. By December of 1847, a group
of temporary structures had been erected and legislators
began moving into the Capitol in the wilderness.1

The first legislative session at Lansing met in
the spring of 1848. The Legislature did not reconvene
until 1850 when the State Constitution was revised
giving township government the general form it has to
this day. By 1852 talk had ceased regarding moving the
Capitol to a more "hospitable environ" as Lansing began
to assume a dominant role as an economic center as well
as the nucleus of state government. Likewise, a more
responsible role in local government was assumed when
Lansing became a city in 1859. Following the Civil War,
Lansing became a marketing center for farm produce and
timber products, earning the name of the "best wheat

market in Michigan".2 By the 1880's, few people heard

 

lIbid., pp. 82—89.

2Birt Darling, City in the Forest, The Story_of
Lansing (New York: Stratford House, 1950), p. 195.

 

19

of Okemos outside of those in the Lansing area. Okemos

became a subdominant agricultural center to Lansing.

Meridian's First Government

 

In 1841 Meridian, Delhi, and Lansing Townships
were carved out of the larger Alaiden Township. Govern—
ments were organized for each, and George Mathews was
elected first supervisor of Meridian Township. At this
time, the population of Meridian Township was approxi-
mately 50 people. Most of these early settlers were of
English descent but there were also a few Germans, as
evidenced by the early gravestones in the old cemetery.
These settlers were instrumental in constructing the
first recorded road in the Township (Okemos Road).
Other early roads include Shiawassee (Green Road) and
Meridian Road. By 1850 it became obvious that a better
road was needed between Lansing and Detroit, and construc-
tion began on the Howell Plank Road (Grand River Avenue).
The road was completed to Detroit by 1860 and one could
ride a stagecoach from Okemos to Detroit for three
dollars and twenty four hours of bumps and rolls. By 1858
the Detroit—Milwaukee Railroad constructed a line through

the township, bypassing Okemos in favor of Lansing.

Michigan Agricultural College

 

The Lansing area appeared to be developing as a

center for other than agricultural and governmental

20

activities when the Michigan Agricultural College was
formally dedicated eastwardly of the city in 1857. This
institution, the first land grant college established
under the Morrill Act, consisted of a president, four
faculty members, and one English tutor who doubled as
a farm economy instructor. Students worked for their
room and board by clearing and fencing the original
sixty acres of the M.A.C. campus. By 1887 the College
had grown to such large proportions that available land
surrounding the campus was being eyed for development.
The City of Collegeville was platted that year and
construction began in housing for workmen employed by
the College.1

In 1895 additional land was platted adjacent to
the Collegeville plat in order to provide more housing
for workers and professors. Demand was also increasing
for commerical establishments and for an elementary
school system. This fledgling community became the City
of East Lansing in 1908.

By 1890 logging in Meridian Township had pretty
well depleted the available supply of timber. The second
railroad in the Township (now the Grand Trunk), built in

the late 1870's, bypassed Okemos again in favor of a

 

lTurner, pp. 127-134.

21

northern route. In the years that followed, some of
the merchants moved from Okemos to Haslett in order
to be on the rail line. Haslett had its first platted
village in the 1880's and began to rival Okemos as a
business center. The combination of these and other
factors resulted in Okemos becoming little more than
a farm service community. By the turn of the century,
it was obvious that Meridian Township as a whole would
suffer the same fate as Okemos.
The Influence of
Industrialization

However, several developments of the late 19th
century were to have significant impact upon the regional
development of the early twentieth century. The most
important of this period was the rapid industrialization
of Lansing. From 1890 to 1910, Lansing nearly doubled
.her number of industries even though quite a few had
folded during the financial crisis of 1893. The most
important of these industrial firms was the Olds Motor
Works Company, which was established in 1904. By 1908
Lansing's industrial base was expanded to include the v
IUEO Motor Car Company and the Prudden Company (Motor

Wheel).

In a few short years, from 1901 to 1914, Lansing '
had changed as few cities in the world had
changed before or since, and future sociologists
will no doubt choose this city for a study of the
impact of the automobile industry upon the life
of a people who, from simple artisans and farmers,

22

found themselves caught in the whirpool of

profound change.

Another development which had a profound effect
upon the growth of Meridian Township was the incor—
poration of the City of East Lansing and the completion
of the State's first strip of concrete highway between
Lansing and East Lansing in 1914. As a result, the East
Lansing grew and prospered, it gradually attracted
Lansing's industrialists to make their homes in the
serene surrounding of the college town.

By the 1920's, East Lansing had earned the reputa-
tion of having some of the finest homes in the Greater
Lansing Area. Business boomed, college enrollments
expanded, and the subdivision of residential land spread
along Grand River Avenue into the eastern areas of
Meridian Township. These areas were promptly annexed to
the growing city. Prosperity and growth suddenly halted,
however, as the entire nation suffered through the great
depression. During the 1930's, Okemos, and to a lesser
degree Haslett, regained some of the dominance they had
lost to Lansing during earlier days as people in Meridian
Township began to identify less with Lansing due to the
poverty they experienced at home. With the return of
prosperity during the 1940's, the suburban trends begun

during the 1920's continued to shape the rural areas of

 

lDarling, pp. 165-166.

23

the township into a distinct physical form. The
significance of suburban development is a prerequisite
to understanding the development of the cultural sub~
system in Meridian Township.

Suburban Development The
Artifactual Environment

 

 

The development of suburbia, common to the fronges
of most urban areas, has been largely explained as a
twentieth century phenomenon. The suburbs of the early
twentieth century housed the upper class of Lansing's
urban society. However, it was not until the peak of
post World War II prosperity that Meridian Township began
to change to a great degree. With the advent of increased
transportation technology and increasing national income,
middle class families joined the rush to suburbia.
Although few of those making the transition during this
period could actually afford a home in suburbia, they
were buoyed by the anticipation of ever—increasing
income and the prospects of ultimate return upon their
landed investments.

Foremost among these instigators of this suburban
anticipation was the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
guaranteed mortgage program, which in conjunction with
the land developer, set the scale of extensive residential
-development. This pattern of development reached to
lower income levels of Lansing's population following

World War II through Veterans Administration (VA)

24

I
mortgage programs which granted veterans bigger
mortgages at lower rates for longer periods of time.
Conventional loans also became available on a much
broader scale. The wide availability of credit,
increasing housing technology, higher levels of
prosperity, the influx of war—weary veterans seeking
the peace and solitude of the suburbs, income tax
breaks for middle income families, larger families for
younger newlyweds all helped contribute to the post
war housing boom and the land grab in Meridian Town—
ship.1

The phenomenon creating suburban development is
dwarfed, however, by the magnitude of environmental
changes directly responsible to the middle class exodus
from the city. Principal among these is the obvious
impression upon the rural landscape, creating the physical
form of our metropolitan area .

Land in close proximity to East Lansing was quickly
grabbed by land developers hungry_to~populate the fringes.
As the demand for more land increased, potential home—
owners became satisfied with Iraveling greater distances
from home to work. These commuters colonized the rural
landscape, threading their way through hill and dale

upon concrete ribbons creating spread development known

 

lGlen H. Beyer, Housing and Society (New York:,
McMillan Co., 1965), p. 360.

 

25

as urban sprawl. The significance of this is aptly
illustrated by Edward Higbee:

The push to suburbia seems a magnificent in-
spiration to all aspiring refugees from the
city. Each downtown mugging, each outbreak
of juvenile violence terrifies more parents
into risking whatever credit they can muster
just to get away where the whole family might
feel safe; where the children could receive

a better education and associate with more
desirable companions. Blurbs in the Sunday
papers that depict endless delights at River-
forest Heights put their minds in a giddy

spin. "Excellent schools," "low taxes,"
"next door to Open country," "short drive to
town," "exclusive community of friendly

neighbors"-such pablum to the harassed is

very attractive especially when it is sweetened
with "low down payments" and "monthly install«
ments just like rent" and "you own your own

home." The catch, of course, is that no one gets
anything for nothing even at Riverforest Heights,
despite all the "savings by experienced builders."

While local taxes may have been low the year
Riverforest Heights was on the drafting board,

by the time 500 happy families have moved in and
demanded services a rather remarkable meta-
morphosis has begun which never seems to end.

More children arrive each year, and each September
the school enrollment goes up. Taxes seem to have
a way of growing up with a growing community.
Meanwhile, new subdivisions rise all around River-
forest Heights. The leafy trees on the horizon
are replaced with utility poles, while the river
that was there for a summer is boxed up in a
concrete culvert and buried by bulldozers to make
room for more house lots. The short drive to

town takes longer and longer as more and more
commuters share the once open road and throttle

it with traffic. The irrespressibly enthusiastic
promotors liquidate their Riverforest Builders,
Inc., hitch up their office trailer, and move on
to create "Meadowland Farms," a few miles farther
out where it is again "next door to open country"
and "taxes are low."1

 

1Edward Higbee, The queeze (New York: William
Morrow & Co., 1960), pp. 105-106.

 

26

Gottman is quick to point out that sprawl may
not be the net result of the popular notion equating
it with lack of planning. He maintains that the
planning function is not bound with a theoretical
reluctance to direct the economy but with a natural
reticence to innovate. Lack of innovativeness,
according to Sokolow, is a trait of rurally controlled,
agrarian—oriented government.1
The answer to this planner's dilemma is
probably that the citizen's dream is to achieve
a mode of life combining all the advantages of
a rural setting and urban life and excluding all
the short-comings of both. He is reaching land
and heaven, for security, opportunity, comfort,
and excitement all at the same time. This
multifaceted target makes for progress and for
sprawl, but also for disorder and frustration.2
This disorder and frustration is exhibited in the
clash of interest groups resulting from suburban devel-
opment.

Urbanization The Cultural
Environment‘

 

The suburban phenomena within Meridian Township
may also be explained as a basic change from a popula-
tion originating in the late nineteenth century and
early twentieth century to those born in a later day.

These older residents represented a stage of urbaniza—

 

‘ A

lSokolow, p. iii.

2Jean Gottman and Robert A. Harper, MetrOpolis
on the Move: Geographers Look at Urban Sprawl (New
York: John Willey and Sons, 1967), p. 12.

 

27

tion which may be discribed as the rural-oriented
development process where land subdivision occured
specifically for the sons and daughters of local
resident farmers. Businessmen, for the most part,
were of local origin with strong ties to the histor-
ical background of their community. Outside interests
represented a small minority which was usually coerced
into embracing the majority point of View. Though land
cost and subdivision activity had increased over a
period of time, they were within reasonable limits due
to the fact that everyone felt to be the neighbor of
every other resident of the community. As a result, like
treatment begate like treatment with the result that no
one really stood to gain at anyone's unjustified expense.
In addition, social ostracization served as a potent
substitution for limited governmental regulation.1
Suburban development represents departure from
the rural—oriented pattern. This state of development
usually evolves out of this rural-oriented pattern and
is represented by a marked increase in outside interests
within the area. These interests, usually non-agrarian,
may be the result of:

1. an expanding sphere of influence of an adjacent
urban center;

 

lLeo Schnore, "The Growth of Metropolitan Suburbs,"
American Sociological Review (April, 1957), pp. 165-168.

28

2. improved transportation and communication;
3. an untapped potential recently discovered;

4. a shift of the resident attitude toward the
desirability of greater economic returns.

Whether in combination or singly, each of the factors
is usually instrumental in initiating the transforma-
tion process from rural to urban. For here marks the
orgin of suburbanization as that type of growth
evolving out of the influx of outside interests into
a previously self—sufficient community.

Dr. Duke identifies the social makeup of such a
community as consisting of oldtimers and newcomers.
Newcomers differ from their counterparts in that they
do not share the same historical ties with the
community. They are largely emmigrants from urban areas,
younger in age, of higher income levels, largely white
collar and tradesmen and professionals. Generally,
these emmigrants possess higher levels of education,
less group identity, and an increased interest in partic-
ipation in government in order to improve their vested
interests. They are commuters, generally working in
one area and living in another. Largely dominated by
economics, they are concerned not with what government

can do for the community but what government can do for

 

1Richard D. Duke, Planning in the Urban Fringe
(East Lansing: Institute for Community Development,

1963), p. 1.

29

them. They are greater demanders of government
services and are willing and able to finance various
improvements. In general, they represent the anti-
thesis of the oldtimers resulting in increased friction
in group interaction.1

One result of this increased friction of group
interaction is a necessity for a more representative
form of government. For the newcomers, a government
more able to fulfill their demands is desired; while
for the oldtimers, a government more able to hold
back on runaway development (as they see it) and to
protect their vested interests is necessary.

Urbanization——The Institutional
Environment -

 

Governmental activities have been the greatest
form-creating component of the institutional sub—
system. Governmentrepresents an intermediary regula-
tory function between the artifactual world and man's
social environment. Regulation within the social
environment is a function equally maintained. It is
this activity which brings forth Sorokin's greatest
criticism of government in regard to community organ—

ization.2 The character of community organization is

 

lSylvia Fava, "Suburbanism as a Way of Life,"
American Sociolggical Review (February, 1956),

pp. 34-37.
2Sorokin, p. 69.

3O

expressed by how a government functions in regards to
problems of urbanization. Therefore, one must formulate
a theory of the proper role of government before entering
upon an analysis of the function of charter township
government in Chapter IV. I

An analysis of our American political heritage is
a necessary prelude to the formulation of a theory of
democratic government.
The Basis for Democratic
Government

American local government, often attributed to a
Jeffersonian ideal of self-determination, owes its
existence to the European political philosophers of the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. From
men such as John Locke, Jean Rousseau, and John Stuart
Mill, American democracy received its foundation, reflected
in the thought of various authors up to the present day.

Our political heritage is founded upon theex-
haltation of the common man and his relation to the
organization of government; which, according to Locke,
was created by man to handle certain activities that man
could not accomplish alone. According to Locke, govern—
ment is obliged not to interfere with certain natural
rights of man. Should government transgress upon these,
rights, man should be able to dissolve the government in

anticipation of-more ameniable forms. This concept of

31

government at the will of the government at the will
of the governed was expanded in Rousseau's social
contract theory.l

Rousseau visualized government as existing was
described as an agreement not to violate the principal
rights of man which were expressed as the General Will.
This general will, often equated by modern theorists
to a conception of the public interest, acted as Rousseau's
mandate to rule. Rousseau explained that though govern-
ment could interpret the public interest, and act in its
behalf through virtue of the social contract, the final
repository for judgment of a government's actions was the
power to formulate the public interest. The government
held the power of its implementation. Rousseau realized
that government may, through malice or other cause,
misinterpret the public interest. Given this circumstance,
Rousseau joined Locke in claiming the power of the
citizenry to dissolve the government whenever it over—
stepped its bounds. .Likewise, though the majority of
the citizenry expressed the public interest, only the
totality of the populace could act in its formulation.
Hence, Rousseau alluded to the problems of majority rule
when he said that society is not an entity in itself but,
a collection of minorities. Similarly, the government

may be construed to be the servant of the people but not

32

separate from public desires. These desires, according
to Rousseau, are the foundation for public participation
in government.1

,Mill, drawing on the theories of Locke and Rousseau,
more precisely circumscribed the prOper role of govern-
ment in his classic distinction between liberty and
authority. Mill begins with the thesis

that the sole end for which mankind is warranted,

individually or collectively, in interfering with

the liberty of action of any of their number, is

self-protection.2
Liberty can only be restricted when the restriction is
intended to prevent harm to others or unintentional harm
to ourselves. The liberty to commit acts which are other—
regarding may be inhibited while acts which are specif—
ically and intentionally self-regarding can never be
prohibited.

As a champion for minority rights, Mill advocated
representative government though he feared the tyranny
of the majority and the standardizing pressure toward
public conformity. As a result, although Mill never
discussed federalism, he indicated the need for the
separation of governmental activities in many of his

writings.3

 

llbid., pp. 575-596.

2John Stuart Mill, On Liberty in Utilitarianism,
Libertykand Representative Government (London: Dent, 1910),
pp. 72-730

BSabine, pp. 665-668.

33

The American democratic heritage, certainly not
the direct result of any one of these theorists, has
evolved as an eclectic of various theories. Locke,
Rousseau, and Mill represent three basic foundations in
the development of modern democratic theory——a theory
difficult yet necessary to define.

Formulating a Theory of
Democratic Government

 

 

In considering the difficulties in explicating a
theory of democracy, one should realize man's total
involvement in an economic, political, and social system
in which certain basic objectives are fulfilled. These
objectives are: equality, representative government
chosen by election, protection of basic rights, popular
participation, and mass education. These objectives
are fulfilled in the manner of our American democratic
system.

American democratic theory is founded upon the
concept of equality. This term is interpreted to mean
equality of opportunity, or that form of society in
which every man has a chance and knows he has it. To
obtain equality, the people must be able to express their
desires and needs through chosen repreSentatives. This.
requires a system of election so that government is
representative of a majority of all. To ease the im-
balance of the majority over the minority, a democracy

must enumerate and provide basic freedoms and rights

34
for the protection of the minority. This does not mean
that there will be dead—level equality; it implies that
every man adjusts to his proper place like players on a
baseball team. Fraternity, rather than absolute equal-
ity, is the result. A result of fraternity is that all
men participate in it and so do not play passive roles
as they might under a monarchy or oligarchy. The
intelligent cooperation of the citizens rests upon
their social sense and not upon fear of coercion.
Therefore, democracy is a social, ethical concept which
pervades everyone's life. By this individual aspect,
democracy seeks to recognize the personality of each man
to shape society agreeable to all.

Perhaps this is somewhat idealistic, but it seems
to be a worthwile goal. This exhaltation of the common
man has required democratic government to continually
educate the masses. This stewardship formula has re—
quired our government to be more-than government of the
people, by the people, and for the people but a govern—
ment 22 the people. That is to say, the twentieth
century welfare state has become that power of govern-
ment to do the job that has to be done.

Democracy, then, in its highest and purest forms
recognizes the needs of every individual. This is
responsible government, and one towards which we all
muSt strive. Township government, by its early form,

recognized the necessity for personalizing government.

35

However, as governmental systems evolve to more urban-
oriented forms, the possiblities for interpersonal
relations tends to decrease. This danger of growing
bureaucracy may be seen within townships as well as
other forms of government. The swell of bureaucracy
typifies Sokolow's analysis of the evolution of rural
to urban governments. He points out that the chief
distinction separating urban from rural is the form
which government assumes.

The State of Michigan realized the necessity for
a separate form of local government to be able to cope
with the problems of physical development as well as
with the divergencies of a heterogenous social system.
Hence, the adaptability of the two forms of township
government to rural and urban development was assured
through the Charter Township Act. This adaptability

is discussed in the next chapter.

Chapter Summary

The historical development of Meridian Township
has resulted largely from the Spin—off of growth in
adjacent communities. As early as 1848, dominance in
the region was captured by Lansing, although Meridian
Township contained the earliest settlement in the
region. By the turn of the century, patterns of future
development in Meridian were struck with the incorpora-

tion of East Lansing. Following World War I, East

36

Lansing, and to a lesser degree Meridian, became
dormitory communities for the well-to-do of Lansing.
Following World War II, Meridian no longer depended
upon spill-over development from East Lansing but
was able to attract development on its own in the
interior of the township. This development set
Meridian apart from the historical pattern of
regional subdominance.

Meridian, like many other communities during the
last twenty years, became caught in the problems of
rapid suburban development. There developed a growing
schism in the community's population between the older
established residents and new subdivision dwellers.
More of a state of mind that an actual occurance,
development in Meridian Township during the early 1950's
was still overruled by rural interests, making an
identification of the beginn ng point of urban dominance
quite difficult. In fact, I

despite the ubiquity and and convenience of the

dichotomous classification, urban vs. rural,

most students of urbanism have long agreed

that it is but a crude device at best.1

Thus, with any attempt to analyze development at a

particular stage, on the rural—urban continuum, certain

 

1Paul K. Hatt and Albert J. Reiss, Jr., Cities

and Society (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe,
1961), p. 35.

 

37

difficulties must be assumed. According to Sorokin:

In reality the transition from a purely rural

community to an urban one . . . is not abrupt

but gradual . . . There is no absolute boundary
line which would show a clearly cut cleavage
between the rural and the urban community.

However, when viewing the change on the rural-
urban continuum frOm a point later in time; it is not
impossible to isolate trends which tend to illustrate
concometant changes in a population's attitudes.
Attitudes are an expression of a community's vested
interests. Thus, as the community's dependency upon
outside interests increases so changes the community
attitude and social makeup.

Meridian Township's response to these pressures
was twofold. In October of 1957, the Township Zoning
Board recommended to the Township Board the formation
of a lay planning commission. In December of that
year, Meridian's first planning commission was established.
Secondly, Meridian applied for, and was granted, charter

status on December 14, 1959; making Meridian the second

township to operate under charter status in Michigan.

 

lPitirim Sorokin and Carle C. Zimmerman, Principles
of Rural-Urban Society (New York: Henry Holt, 1929),
p. 14.

 

 

CHAPTER III

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT

Introduction

 

Various degrees of urbanization necessitate
different forms of local government to satisfy citizen
demands. In Michigan, the township is the usual
government of the rural areas where the charther town-
ship is more adaptable to the needs of semi-urban areas.
Though these two forms of government share the name
"township", they are as unlike in fuction as villages
and cities. Hence, an analysis of the legal qualities
of each is necessary to understand the functions of
each. Through an examination of fOrm of charter town-
ships, one may gaininsight into both the legislative
intent and the actual potential of charter townships
to develOp as transitional governments. Thus, an
anlysis of form is a prerequisite to a discussion of

the function of charter townships in Chapter IV.

Forms of Township Government

 

During the ensuing 140 years since the creation
of the Michigan township, there have been few significant
changes in its organization. The Township Board was

created by an act of the Territorial Council in 1830 for

38

39

the purpose of licensing taverns and regulating their
operations. By 1850 the powers and duties of the
members of the Board were broadened by the Michigan
Consittution as follows: property assessment for taxa—
tion was the duty of the Supervisor; tax computation
and general bookkeeping was the duty of the Clerk; tax
collection and fiscal management was the duty of the
Treasurer; and two justices of the peace were responsible
for maintaining the peace through the enforcement of
township ordinances.l

The Township Board consisted of five members,
all of whom submitted to partisan elections on a yearly
basis. These officers met in the spring of each year,
together with any interested citizens who wished a
voice in government, to administer the affairs of the
township. Organization remained relatively the same
until 1909 when minor changes were made by the State,
granting township officials more leeway in the execution
of their duties. However, townships evercise their
powers and duties only to the extent that they are

permitted through enabling legislation.

 

1Claude R. Thorp, A Manual for Township Government
in Michigan (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1948),
pp- 3-5- I

 

4O

Contrary to the opinions of such great jurists as Thomas
M. Cooley, townships remain wards of the State.1
In 1943 terms of township officials were extended
from one to two years. Of greater significance was
the Charter Township Act of 1948 which was the greatest
change in Michigan local government since the Constitu-
tion of 1850. The Charter Township Act provided the
option for townships (hereafter referred to as general
law townships) to submit to the electors a proposition
of charter status if it has population of 2,000 or more
and is contiguous to a city of at least 25,000; or if it
has a population of at least 5,000 people. The Charter
Township Act also removed the two Justices of the Peace
from the Township Board replacing them with two Trustees
elected at large, within the township. The Township
Board may elect to have the Supervisor appoint an
additional two Trustees bringing the total membership
of the Township Board to seven. Another option open to
the Township Board considering charter status is the
addition of a Township Superintendent (a city manager
for township affairs) to relieve some of the pressures
from the Township Supervisor. Thus, the Charter Town-

ship Act of 1948 attempted to modernize the role of

 

1James and Marilyn Blawie, The Michigan Township
Board: Its Powers and Duties (East Lansing: Govern-
mental Research Bureau, M.S.U., 1957), pp. 7.

 

41

local government, to keep the form of government

responsive to increasing demands for higher degrees
of service and local control over local affairs.1
Just how far this control extends is the subject of

the following section.

Powers and Duties

 

Perhaps the most significant difference between
the two forms of township government is due to differing

powers with regard to taxing, borrowing, and planning.

Taxation

The general law township, bound by what has
traditionally become known as the "15-mill limitation",
differs from the charter township which has no overall
limitation. More explicitly the general law township,
after assessing the total value of the township, submits
to the County Allocation Board a request for operating
funds to be divided among the county, the school I
districts, Special education, and township operations.
Based on expressed need, the County Allocation Board
allocates millage upon the assessed valuation if the
total request for all millage purposes does not exceed

15 mills of assessed valuation as equalized by the State.

(S.E.V.) An additional three mills can be voted by the

 

1Hotaling, pp. 1-6.

42

electors for a period of not more than twenty years,
raising the total Operating millage ceiling to 18 mills
of State Equalized Valuation.

More often than not,

townships have not faired very well under the

15-mill limitation. Because of the demands of

other units of government, especially school

districts, the amount of property taxes levied

by township (for townships' operating purposes)

rarely exceeds three mills and frequently is

one mill or less.1

In order to circumvent this problem, the Charter
Township Act permits a charter township to levy up to
5 mills of State Equalized Valuation without vote of
the electors. The electors of the township may vote
additional millage above 5 mills not to exceed a total
of 10 mills of S:E.V. for additional operating ex-
penses. Consequently, charter townships are given a

broader fiscal base upon which to expand the operations

of government.

Special Assessments

 

Other sources cf revenue include the township's
ability to raise money by special assessment procedures
which are governed by the Township‘and Village Public
Improvement Act. (M.C.L. s 41.411-41.414, M.S.A. 52411-

52414) Both forms of government are equally subject to

 

lKenneth Verburg, A Study ogpthe Legal Powers of
Michigan Local Governments (East Lansing: Institute
for Comminity Development, l9h0), p. 23.‘ .

 

43

the provisions of this law which allows townships to
levy special assessments to provide garbage and sewage
disposal plants, water facilities, public lighting,
public transportation, streets and sidewalks, and other.
public facilities. In order to qualify under the Act,
a system of benefits received must be cemputed. The
cost of these improvements must be paid out of special
assessments to benefiting property owners given that
65 per cent of these freeholders have signed a petition
requesting the public improvement. Special assessments
may not exceed 150 mills with a total for all special
assessment millage not to exceed 450 mills of S.E.V.
These assessments may not be spread over more that ten
annual payments for streets; thirty payments for water
and sewer mains; and forty for water and sewer facilities.
The Township and Village Public Improvement Act
has been an important constraint upon tempering the
eagerness of general law townships to finance all types
of improvements by special assessment. It has prevented
'many townships from going over their financial heads, as,
the limitation on special assessments is an
important matter since general law townships
do not have broad powers of taxation. They are
perhaps more dependent upon special assessments
than are cities because many public improvements
in a township are of a less general benefit than
they might be in cities. Public improvements
in townships tend to be of a special rather than
general benefit because of the degree of urbani-

zation differs widely from one area to another,
whereas in cities, the pattern of urbanization

44

is more compact and the effect of many public
'improvements is general rather than Special.1

State Shared Taxes

 

In recent years, the principal source of revenue
for township eXpenditures has been decreasingly dependent
upon property taxation and increasingly reliant upon state
returned taxes. Since 1957 shared taxes have accounted
for two thirds of all township monies.2 These monies
include a share of the State sales tax receipts. By the
constitution, townships are assured at least 1/2 of l
per cent of each sales tax dollar collected or 1/4 per
cent return on all sales. These monies are distributed
to all local units of government by the county based
on the local units' percentage of total county population.
These monies are receivable into the township's general
fund. ‘With the recent enactment of the State income tax,
township general funds have enjoyed an additional boost
in revenue, usually second only to sales tax receipts.
These monies are also distributed to township general
funds on the basis of the last dicenniel census. In-

tangibles tax returns, which make up the smallest portion

 

lIbid., p. 25.

2A.L. Edwards, A Study of Local Government Debt
in Michigan (East Lansing: Institute for Community
Development, 1960), p. 33.

 

45

of State shared taxes, also go into the general fund.
These receipts are distributed equally to all units
of local government based on population.

Shared taxes with receipts earmarked for particular
purposes include the liquor license fees which are 85
per cent returned to the township for use in financing
police departments. General law townships are not per-
mitted to operate police departments, and Justices of
the peace are not considered to be law enforcement
officers. Therefore, general law townships are not
eligible for these funds. Charter townships do qualify,
however, for their share of the monies. Other shared
monies include parimutual funds, public utility taxes,
and cigarette and tobacco taxes all earmarked for
particular uses.

Townships may resort to their ability to impose
fines for violations of adopted ordinances and to collect
fees for permits of various kinds in order to complete
their treasuries. By law maximum fines and penalties
may not exceed $100 for the violation of any township
ordinance. Justices of the peace in general law town-
ships must turn over to the county clerk the total of
all fines collected, while charter townships are per—
mitted to retain these receipts in their general funds.
Monies received through the salefof permits are retained

in the general funds of both forms of township government.

46

Bonding

In the area of bonding, the differences between
general law and charter townships are not as significant
as the constraints upon taxation.

It should be noted, however, that consideration

of bonding should not be separated from

consideration of general taxing powers. Perhaps

it is not so much the bonding and debt limits

'which hamper the activity of townships as it is

the lack of power and authority to levy taxes

to repay the bonds.1
Because of this, general law townships rarely approach
legal debt ceilings with regard to general obligation
bonds (G.O. Bonds). These bonds are payable out of
the general fund and guaranteed by the full faith and
credit of the township. Consequently, bond underwriters
are also apt to charge high rates of interest when
adequate fiscal responsibilities cannot be guaranteed.

Charter townships, having a broader base for
taxation, may issue up to 10 per cent of their S.E.V.
in G.O. Bonds as long as payments do not exceed 30
mills of S.E.V. in any one year unless authorized by
the electorate. G.O. Bonds may be authorized by the
Township Board without a vote of the citizenry.

Bonds to be repaid by special assessments for

public improvements may be one of two kinds. The most

common bond is that which is guaranteed by the full

 

1Verburg, p. 27.

47

faith and credit of the township, making the township
liable for the collectionof the special assessments.
The second variety makes the assessed property owner
liable for repayment. This form of bonding is most
difficult to write and this, in conjunction with‘
exceedingly high interest rates, makes it quite un-
popular.

Generally, G.O. debt in Michigan is declining as
a percentage of long term debt when compared to that of
the United States. In addition, "G.O. debt financing
has not been an important revenue producer for Michigan
local governments."1

The remedy for what would seem to be the unavail-
ability of bonding for general law townships is the
Revenue Bond. This bond differs from the G.O. Bond in
that the guarantee of repayment is assured through the
revenue producing ability of a public improvement. The
attractiveness of the Revenue Bond to a municipality
. with a poor credit rating is also enhanced by the fact
that Revenue Bonds allow improvements to pay for them-
selves, costing the municipalities next to nothing.

The Revenue Bond Act of 1933 states that townships
may issue Revenue Bonds without vote for sewer and water
and other similar projects. (M.C.L. ss lhl.lOl-lhl.l36,

M.S.A. ss 5.273l-S.2766) The bonds must pay at least on

 

lEdwards, p. ll.

us

a yearly basis with the first payment due not more
than five years after completion of the project.
Payments must be made on both the principal and the
interest; sinking funds are not legal issue according
to the Act. Payments may not be spread over more
than forty years. The Charter Township Act further
expanded the list of projects which may be financed
through revenue bonds by including housing facilities;
garbage, rubbish and sewage disposal plants; incinera-
tors; public markets; bridges; ferries; yacht basins;
harbors; docks and wharfs; community buildings; parks
and recreation facilities; parking facilities; air-
ports; and reforestation projects.

Although revenue bonds are still a popular issue,
they arelosing ground in the area of small project
financing due to several factors. Revenue bonds command
higher rates of interest than G.O. Bonds. 'By the early
1960's, many townships and villages in Michigan had
received charter or incorporated status giving them
better credit ratings in the G.O._Bond market. Secondly,
there is an increasing tendency on the part of local
governmental officials to make the general taxpayer
legally responsible for indebtedness incurred and not .
to trust the revenue producing capability of small public
improbements.l In the area of larger capital improve-

ments, the revenue bond is usually preferred. It is felt

49

that current taxpayers should not bear the full burden
for the development of a long term project which will
be of greater benefit to future generations and
possibly non—taxpayers from outside the community.

In addition, bonds for larger projects are easier to
market as their revenue producing potential is usually

unquestionable.

Planning and Zoning

 

The power to zone by township boards, with
particular regard to dangerous or offensive nuisances,
predates the first official enabling legislation by
twenty—six years. This opinion of the State Attorney
General has never been tested.1 To date, there are
three primary statutes involved with regard to township

planning and zoning. They are, as amended:

1. Act 285 of 1931 (Sec. 5.2991 MSA) - City, Village,
and Municipal Planning Act.

2. Act 18“ of 1943 (Sec. 5.2963 (1) MSA) — Township
Rural Zoning Act.

3. Act 168 of 1959 (Sec. 5.2963 (101) - Township
Planning Act.

Under Act 184 townships are empowered to establish
zoning boards which are solely advisory to the township
board. Their powers extend only as far as zoning. Any
planning mast be accomplished by the township board

because independent lay planning commissions (permitted

 

lBlawie, p. 47.

50

for cities and villages under the 1931 act) were denied

to general law townships.

In 1952 the Municipal Planning Act was amended to

include townships and charter townships, granting them

equal powers with cities to establish their own nine

member lay planning commissions. Some of the major

powers and duties granted to planning commission under

this Act are to:

l.

Appoint such employees as it may deem necessary
for its work, and to contract with planners,
engineers, architects, and other consultants

as it may require;

Make and adopt a master plan for the physical
development of the municipality, including
any areas outside of its boundaries which, in
the commission's judgment, bear relation to
the planning of such municipality;

After the adoption of the master plan, approve
or disapprove the construction of any street,
square, park, or public way, ground or open
space, or public building or structure;

Prepare coordinated and comprehensive programs

of public structures and improvements, and
annually prepare such a program for the ensuing
six years, which programs shall show those

public structures and improvements, in the
general order of their priority, which in the
commission's judgment will be needed or desirable
and can be undertaken within the six year period;

Employ means of publicity and education of promote
public interest in and understanding of the plan;

Have all powers heretofore granted to the zoning
board of the municipality; and,

Adopt regulations governing the subdivision of
land within its jurisdiction.

51

One important aspect of this Act, although
frequently overlooked, is Item 3 - the review function
of the planning commission. Various departments within
some municipalities plan, purchase, and sell property,
and generally duplicate the work of other departments
when no effort at coordination among governmental
agencies is attempted. The planning office is the
logical place to function as a clearinghouse for all
development information, and as such, can indicate
appropriate lines of action which are in conformance
with the adopted development plan.

Another good feature of the Act with regard to
the implementation of the development plan is the
requirement that the planning commission shall communi-
cate its reasons to the township board for denial of
development proposals. The board, then, may overrule
by a two thirds vote. This feature guards against
arbitrary judgments by the planning commission. Al-
though similar judgments can also be reached by the
township board; at least they are the elected represent—
atives of the people and must answer to their constit—
uents. Thus, the law provides for the planning function
within local government where the need has always existed.
Yet, the Act is also careful in designing a means for
checks and balances to keep planning within its prOper role.

Act 285 has gained the reputation of doing just this.

52

Act 168 of 1959 removed whatever doubt might have
existed since 1952 that general law townships could be
included in the provisions of the 1931 Act. Act 168
represented a radical departure from the City Planning
Act of 1931. It refers specifically to general law
townships and cuts to a great extent the planning power
previously granted to general law township planning

commissions.

_§hapter Summary
Basically, then, these are the two forms of town—
ship government which exist in the State of Michigan.
Regarding township government, Professor Brake has
noted that
the Michigan Township is a transitional form of
local government in many respects and for this
reason has been of considerable value under
certain local conditions. Traditionally, it
was designed to take care of the needs of rural
areas. New townships lying on the fringes of
large cities have been adapted through legislative
acts to the needs of suburbanites. Some students
regard the township as mainly a half-way house
to urban status.l
Although Professor Brake generously includes the
general law township within the category of transitional
governmental forms, the charter township alone more

accurately qualifies. The general law township remains

as a limited effort on the part of rural interests to

 

lHale D. Brake, The Michigan Township (East Lansing:
Institute for Community Development, 1962), p. 1.

53

provide the lowest semblance of organizational structure.
Conversely, the charter township induces a broader
governmental structure with expanded powers to tax and
to plan. These two characteristics of township govern—
ment, possibly the most important functions of any level
of government, reveal the potential for a community's
response to the pressures of urbanization. The power to
tax provides government with the ability to assume
needed programs while the ability to plan assures their
efficient and equitable implementation. Thus, when one
is concerned with the function of charter township
government, an analysis of the planning process provides
a valid approach.

It is difficult to weight the impact of planning
upon determining the existing pattern of land develop-
ment. It is equally difficult to envision the form
that a township could assume given that no planning
occurs. Nevertheless, townshp planning has been'
criticized more for what it has not done than for what
it has done. It has been labeled the patron of the
developer, a devil's advocate for destroying the environ—
ment that oldtimers in the community wish to preserve.
As seen by the land developer, the newcomer, and land
owner turned potential land broker, the lay planning
commission is stodgily conservative. It is with these

two faces that the planning commission sits as unpaid

54

servants to the public, mediating the problems of
deveIOpment. The following chapter will investigate
planning in Meridian Township with the aim of determining
why the planning function has proven detrimental to

charter township's transitional intent.

CHAPTER IV

PLANNING IN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP

Introduction

 

Ideally planners should endeavor to consider

every possible facet of a particular problem before

rendering a decision. This attitude has come to be

known as the comprehensive approach; and one which

tends to distinguish planners from other administrators.

However, the planning function in government does

consist of both administrative and comprehensive

activities. Perloff explains these compatible but

separate activities.

One stream of development in the city planning
field has been more or less typically
professional in character; that is, the evolu—
tion of a separate professional skill group
here, a skill group concerned with shaping and
guiding the physical growth and land use arrange-
ments of urban communties, through making and
applying comprehensive plans and designs cover-
ing the location of various types of public

and private improvements . . . The other stream
of development . . . has been the evolution of
an administrative function of planning within
municipal government. This has been essentially
a staff advisory function.l

 

 

1Harvey S. Perloff, Education for Planning:‘ City

State and Regional, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1957),

pp.

6L8.

55

56

The development of the planning function in
Meridian Township may be compared to what Perloff has
described as the "professional skill group" concerned
with compreshensive planning. Perhaps it was overly
professional. The township board recommended that a
more representative cross-section of the community
could be obtained with fewer educators and profes-
sional planners! Nevertheless, the changing function
of the planning commission from the "professional
skill group" category concerned with comprehensive
long—range planning to short-range_functions concerned
with administration of zoning regulations is signi-
ficant, and has resulted in the failure of charter
townships to respond to the wishes of the citizenry.
Within this chapter, I examine the decline of the
comprehensive function of township planning as
promoting the failure of charter township government
to realize its transitional role.

The chapter traces the growth and development of
Meridians's planning activities, closing with suggestions
for a new role for planning. This role, which may also
be applied to charter township government in general,
calls for a more responsive attitude on the part of
government ot the wishes of the public. These wishes,

abridged in the application of ordinances and plans is

indicative of the need for a more comprehensive approach

to the process of urbanization.

Factors Initiating Meridian Township's
Planning Commission

 

 

According to the "Meridian News" at the time of
commission formation, "The creation of a planning
commission for Meridian Township is already five years
late.“1 However, as of December, 1957, only one other
township in the State had established a planning
commission under the provision of Act 285. The position
taken by the "Meridian News" must be assumed to refer to
the existence of local problems of such a serious nature
that planning had been needed for quite some time. And

indeed it had!

Problems

Under the provisions of Act 184, Meridian Town-
ship established its first zoning ordinance in 1948.
Not unlike other communities' first attempts at land
use regulation, the content of Meridian's ordinance
sought to limit development rather than regulate
growth. It was not uncommon in those days for local
residents to receive preferential treatment in the

granting of variances and rezonings while petitioners

 

lMeridian News (Ingham County, Michigan),
December 5, 1957, P. l.

 

58

from outside of the community encountered serious
Opposition.l Administration of the zoning ordinance
I was executed in an equally selective manner.

Zoning was viewed as an extension of the
building code which applied to site design. As long
as no detrimental consequences of a particular
development were obvious, a petitioner usually had
little trouble before the zoning board.

Detrimental consequences of the future, if they
became known at all, were of little concern. This
attitude was not a reflection of the community's
apathy. Rather, it was a result of the inability to
visualize the future of the community. Consequently,
the township was rezoned, spot by spot, largely
contributing to initiating the patterns of developing
existing today.

Meridian Township officials became aware of the
dilemma of unplanned growth when the Ingham County
Health Department reported in June of 1957 that the
Township was approaching a situation of overdevelop-
ment with regard to the ability of the soils to
accept more septic tank effluent. Recent tests by
the County had indicated that an outbreak of hepatitis
was possible unless the Township could seek measures

to better dispose of sanitary wastes. The situation

 

lIbid., December 19, 1957, p. l.

59

was not to approach critical proportions, however, until
1959 when the County refused to accept any more plats
without sanitary sewer hook-ups. In the meantime, the
Township officials became aware of the repercussions of
unplanned growth.

Fiscal problems facing the Township during the
1950's were also instrumental in illustrating the need
for planning. The rapid growth experienced by the
Township between 1950 and 1960 was almost entirely in
single family residential development. As a result,
the demand upon the community's services increased
faster that the ability of this type of development to
add a proportional amount to the tax base. Consequently,
the Township fell behind in its payments to the County
for drain improvements which, at this time, were assessed
against the Township at large.

In an effort to meet the increased costs of govern-
ment, the Township Supervisor ordered a reassessment of
the entire Township. The effect was colossal. Immedi-
ately, a citizen's group organized to consider the
feasibility of incorporating Okemos as a city. It was
their belief, that the direction of the Township was
one of disaster; and that they, as a separate govern—
ment entity, could receive greater benefits from the tax

dollar than under the current arrangements.1 The

 

lIbid., March 13, 1958, p.1.

60

situation was further worsened in the autumn of 1957
when the residents of the Marble School District
sought annexation to the City of East Lansing. At
that time, the Marble area comprised 27 per cent

of the Township's assessed valuation. Figure 5 in
the appendix illustrates the annexation areas.

In response to the threat of annexation, the
possible incorporation of Okemos, and the deteriorating
financial situation, another citizens; group was
formed to discuss the possibility of the incoporation
of the City of Meridian. Hopes were dashed following
the successful vote on the Marble School District
annexation. This loss of land placed Meridian below
the minimum population necessary for city incorporation
under State law. 5

Further expressions of disappointment over the
inability of Township government ot plan for its future
resulted in the formation of other citizen groups.

They were concerned with such problems as cleaning up
Lake Lansing, planning for parks and schools, and
establishing a method for obtaining sanitary sewer
service. Although they met quite infrequently, these
groups may be identified as the predecessors of an
official Township planning commission. Walker explains
the evolution of interest groups to institutionalized

forms of an example of the "Theory of Functional

61

Accretion." He describes the process as consisting of
four essential steps in which government assumes a
needed community function - in this instance, planning.

1. New services and activities are developed
outside government by private organizations.

2. These organizations, aided by supporting groups
and prominent individuals, bring pressure to
bear on government to take over and finance
the service.

3. When first taken over by government, the new
services are generally administered by an
autonomous or semi-autonomous board.

A. Most of these services are later integrated
with other governmental activities and
deprived of their initial autonomy.

The Theory of Functional Accretion may prove valid
for explaining the evolution of planning in Meridian
Township. The theory is also of value for an explanation
of planning's reaction to the pressures of an urbanizing
area. These activities are typified by the necessity
for the planner to spend more time on the day—to—day
problems of administering development. As the political
unit grows, the autonomy of the planning board decreases
due to its close interrelationship with gormalized

government. Subdivision regulations, zOning ordinances,

and land use plans provide the link between government

 

1For an elaboration, see Luther Gulick, "Notes
on the Theory of Organization," in Luther Gulick and
L. Urwick, "Papers on the Science of Administration,"
(New York: Columbia University Institute of Public
Administration, 1937).

62

and the autonomous board. At the point where the planning
commission activities are indistinguishable from govern—
mental policy, Walker's final stage of group integration
is reached. The following section considers the implica-
tions of the loss of planning autonomy as attributed to
the failure of charter townships to instigate the desire

for more urbanized forms of government.

Meridian's Planning Activities

 

According to Township Supervisor McClure, "the
rapid growth and changing status of Meridian Township
from a rural to an urbanized community has created

the urgent need for an up—to-date program of general

1

township planning." He further outlined the more

serious problems the new planning commission would
have to face:

1. School districts are planning on their own
without regard to the township as a whole
resulting in excessively high school taxes
and duplication of services.

2. Zoning at present is entirely based upon
individual desires. A new rationale must
be devised.

3. Alternatives to unchecked residential growth
must be sought to supplement the tax base.
Such alternatives could be in the form of
industrialization which can be designed to be
architecturally appealing.

A. More attention needs to be givern to the
encouragement of aesthetically pleasing

 

lMeridian News, November 14, 1957, pp. 1-2.

 

63
surroundings while discouraging the mixing
of incompatible land uses.
5. To prevent losses to future annexation, the
planning commission must devise methods by
which the residents may be supplied with a
higher level of urbanized services than they
could receive through annexation to East
Lansing.1
Meridian's new planning commission held its first
meeting on February 7, 1958 and established four

committees aimed at the most pressing problems confront-

ing the Township. They were:

1. Master Planning Committee

2. Zoning Committee

3. Platting Committee

4. Capital Development Committee

The composition of the planning commission was by
no means typical of other suburban communities. In
fact, the high proportion of educators and planners
attests to the influence of the University in molding
the composition of the newcomer population. As a
result, Meridian Township was fortunate in achieving a
competent commission from the very beginning——a
composition which many communities never equal.

By the summer of 1958, Meridian had its first
parttime planning staff which was responsible for

collecting and analyzing data, and preparing the

 

l1bid., October 31, 1957, pp. 1-2.

64

necessary base maps and graphics for develOping a
Township master plan. The Township Board had allocated
$4,400 for financing these activities.

In early January 1959, the problems which had
instigated the formation of the planning commission
reached crucial prOportions. During that month, the
planning commission was informed by the Ingham County
Health Department that no further residential platting
would be permitted without sanitary sewers. Construc-
tion ground to a halt. Meridian Township officials
were also informed by Ingham County that the Township
was so far behind in drainage assessments that sales
tax and other State shared taxes distributed by the
County would be held in leiu of a payment on the out-
standing debt.1

The planning commission, realizing that it would
be impossible for the Township to sell any G.O. Bonds
for financing a central sanitary sewer system with the
drain debt outstanding, sought another approach. They
suggested that the Township incorporate as a charter
township for several reasons:

1. Meridian needed greater taxing powers to pay
past debts.

 

lUnpublished minutes of the Meridian Charter

Township Governmental Study Committee, June 12, 1968.

65

2. Chartering would enable the Township to obtain
better interest rates to finance a central
sanitary sewer system.

3. Recent annexation and the threat of future
annexation had indicated a growing dissatis-
faction among the citizenry with current
Township government.

4. The inability of the residents of Okemos to
identify with the rural—oriented Township had
resulted in the formation of a citizen group
favoring the incorporation of Okemos as a
separate political entity.

5. Other interest groups favored other forms of
fractionalizing the Township. Among them were
proposals to incorporate all of Meridian as a
city while at the other extreme was the pro-
posal to incorporate only the urbanized areas.

6. The impact of the suburban migration during
the 1950's was being felt to a greater degree
each year. Newcomers' demands for more urban
services fell upon apathetic township officials
who were not financially to finance public
improvements. Confrontations over school
expansions were equally illustrative. In 1957
and 1958, a $3.5 million proposal for the Okemos
School Plant additions was defeated twice before
passing on a third attempt after the proposed
budget had been but by an amazing 46 per cent.1

With the election of a Republican supervisor in
May of 1959, the prOposal for chartering gained addi-
tional public support. Supervisor Robinson, defeating
Democrat McClure, actively pursued a $1.5 million
central sanitary sewer network which would provide ser—

vice to all portions of the urbanized Township. That

 

1Gary W. King, Walter E. Freeman, and Christopher,
Sower, Conflict over Schools: Sociological Analysis of
a Suburban School Bond Election (East Lansing: Institute
for Community Development, 1963), p. 10.

 

 

66

November, the electors of Meridian Township handily
certified charter status.

By 1960 most of the fiscal problems which had
plagued the Township had been alleviated. With the
County's allocation of an additional two mills for
operating eXpenses and the redistribution of State
shared taxes based upon the 1060 census, Meridian
was able to pay off its drain debts to the County.
The financial picture was good, but would be better
if the Township had a new zoning ordinance based
upon zoning districts rather than zoning uses.

On Tuesday, October 4, 1960, Ordinance No. 22
was adopted by the Township Board in order to obtain
a better break on the interest rates of the upcoming
sewer bonding. However, with the expedient, there
is often the innovative. Meridian's ordinance was to
prove itself a questionable experiment in zoning - an
ordinance quite unlike any other in the metropolitan

area .

The Use and Misuse of Zonigg

 

Two items distinguished the new zoning ordinance
from the old one. They were:

1. Zoning of the entire Township by districts as
opposed to zoning by uses.

2. The incorporation of a special use provision
into most districts which would necessitate

67

site plan approval by the planning commission

before certain uses would be permitted within

a district. v

The first item of change was a direct result
of Meridian's bad eXperience with the effects of spot
zoning. District zoning, by setting out districts
ahead of time, could feasibly allow the community to
develop as planned. Rezonings then, if in conformance
with a development plan, would not be spot zoning;
while changes of use permitted in a zone would not
require rezoning. Item Number 2 became necessary to
insure that these changes in use did not escape formal
regulation by the Township. Secondly, the special use
permit was mandatory to insure the viability of the
zoning plan for no one could really tell for sure that

those districts proposed in 1060 would be valid in the

future.

The Special Use Permit

Cunningham illustrates the justification of the
special use permit,

In order to escape the stigma of spot zoning
and to combine flexibility with comprehensive
planning . . . Unfortunately, however, not

all zoning ordinances which provide for special
exceptions set forth in any detail the standards
which are to guide the board of adjustment in
granting special exceptions. -

 

1Roger A. Cunningham, "The State and Local Prob- .
lems," Iowa Law Review No. 2 (Winter 1965), pp. 399—400.

 

68

Thus, the argument is that the special use permit is
but a safety valve for unanticipated development;
which, though different than spot zoning, achieves
the very same thing. He further explains that

the consequence of all this has been that the
"Euclidean" system of dividing the community
into districts based on the principle of
compatibility has more and more tended to
break down. An increasingly complex urban
community requires particularized adjustments
among competing land uses which cannot always
be made in advance. The problem is to find
techniques for making the necessary adjust-
ments as individual cases arise. And the
problem is a two-pronged one. On one hand,
the crudities of a priori classification have
increased the number of cases where rezoning
of relatively small parcels of land must be
sought. On the other hand, traditional
"Euclidean" zoning techniques have been hard
to apply in large tracts. 0n the urban fringe,
in areas just becoming ripe for urban develOp-
ment, territorial division into use districts
may be especially different.1

The special uSe permit was viewed as a welcome
relief by those in Meridian who had clearly experienced
the helplessness of Township government under the old
ordinance. Though there was some reticence on the part
of the community toward the concept of district zoning,
especially among those older residents with large land
holdings, the general feeling was that special use
permits would personalize the law by permitting govern-
ment a greater say in the process of land development.

As such, it softened the impact of zoning by districts.

 

lIbid., pp. 395—396.

69

Still, there were objections from those individuals who
felt their property had been "zoned down" from a
potential they could have achieved under the old
ordinance. The arbitrariness of some boundaries was
shown and changes were made accordingly. Meridian's
planners took extra effort to win support for the new
ordinance.1

The ordinance was not unreasonable; in most cases,
district boundaries encompassed previous uses of the
same type. No undue hardship was placed upon any
property owner if it could not be justified on the basis
of the best interests of the community. The best inter-
ests of the community were graphically depicted on a
future land use plan. This map, though unadopted by the
Township Board, served as the justification for commission
action until 1964 when the Township Board adopted a Plan
for Parks and Recreation, which included a proposed
development plan. Figure 6 in the appendix contains a
reproduction of the development plan.

During the mid 1960's, the commission's strict
adherence to the letter of the ordinance was commendable.
Under the special use permit provision the Township's
segregated housing supply was broadened to include a

greater share of rental units for.lower income classes.

 

lMeridian Charter Township Planning Commission,
Minutes of Planning CommiSsion Meetings, August 18, 1960
to June 26, 1961. (Mimeographed).

70

Students generally filled these units; and, as their
numbers grew, oldtimers and newcomers tended to find
common ground in their dislike of student housing.1
The planning commission reacted with tightened
controls and more extensive use of the site plan
approval powers of the special use permit. Control
was not excessive, however, as the planning commission
realized that apartment construction was bailing out
the depleting tax base from the effects Of GXCGSSiVG
single family construction. The special use permit
was being used as intended.

Although the zoning ordinance had endured
several revisions by the late 1960's, it became ob-
vious that a major overhaul would be needed. Many of
the zones projected for future use never got Started.
Though land need was calculated through projections
in population, the commission erred in projecting the
pattern of growth. By 1969 three blatent inconsist—

encies became obvious.

Overzoning

 

The wide swath of industrially zoned land
paralleling the Grand Trunk Railroad between Haslett
and Okemos was not less unbuildable than in 1960.

The area suffered from poor accessibility, poor soils,

 

lIbid., August 19, 1964.

71

and poor planning. Largely to pacify the Haslett
School District in 1960, this large portion of land
was zoned with the zoning of similar land in the

Okemos School District.

Incorrect Zoning

 

The 1960 ordinance made large areas of single
family housing in Haslett non—conforming when zoned
for multiple use only. The theory of the commission
was that this area was deteriorating and making the
worst areas non-conforming would accomplish urban
renewal at a cost of nothing to the Township.
Pressures for rebuilding have been strong; conse-
quently, they commission has found it necessary to

reconsider the feasibility of this zoning.

Illegal Zoning——The Misuse of the
Special Use Permit

Perhaps the most serious misuse of zoning
ordinance involves the illegal broadening of the
scope of the special use permit. Following the
rezoning of the Meridian Mall property in 1966 (See
Figure 5, Meridian Township, in Appendix) for a
$20 million regional shopping facility, the desir—
ability of smaller dispersed shopping areas came to
be questioned. Further commercial zoning would tend
to encourage strip development along Grand River

Avenue. Even though the Mall represented a policy of

72

containment of commercial uses, its location in a

relatively undeveloped area along a major thorough-

fare tended to produce the same results. Sokolow

discusses this type of develOpment as the "point of

multiplication in urbanizing growth where one new

urban installation stimulates plans and actions for

future growth."1
Meridian Mall represented a departure in the

scale of development that had previously operated

in the Township. Following the rezoning, numerous

additional plans flooded the commission. Many of

these plans were for a scale of development the

planners had never imagined. Others were simple

requests; but in a time of rapid change, even simple

requests bear an element of uncertainty. As a result,

the planning commission turned to the special use

permit and administratively broadened the context of

its meaning. The special use permit became increasingly

a device by which to avoid a decision. A decision, it

was feared, could possibly be wrong. Thus, it was

rationalized, the special use permit should be contingent

upon not only the performance of various standards but

be subject to the changing attitudes and development of

 

lSokolow, p. 16.

73

the community as well. In this contest, the special use

permit had been prostituted from its original intent.

Case in Point

The Northwestern Law Review indicates that the
tendency of a zoning body to engage in a legislative
act when a special use permit is granted is the fore-
most criticism of the permit.1 An example may well
illustrate Meridian's tendency on this point.

Legislation by administration.--In a recent

 

application for a rezoning, a petitioner requested a
rezoning to a less intensive commercial use in order
to engage in outdoor sales.2 The parcel of land in
question was located in one of the smaller dispersed
shopping areas just off Grand River Avenue about
three—quarters of a mile from the Meridian Mall. The
rezoning would have had several distinct advantages:
1. It would have reduced the potential for strip
development along Grand River Avenue to a lesser
degree while phasing out some of the dispersed

commercial development.

2. It would have allowed the petitioner more
flexibility in the operation of his business.

 

l"Flexible Land Use Control: Herein of the
Special Use," Northwestern Law Review, Vol. 59, No.3
(July-August ), pp. 394-412.

2See Holidays Unlimited Rezoning in Meridian
Charter Township Planning Commission Minutes, February
to August, 1969.

 

74

3. With plantings and shrubs, the petioner's
proposal would have been more aesthetically
pleasing to the surrounding neighborhood than
requiring all of the outdoor displays to be
put under a roof.

However, the rezoning was denied as a request
for spot zoning with the suggestion that the petitioner
apply for a special use permit. A permit was issued
which would effectively negate the rezoning denial (a
legislative act of the Township Board) and substitute
permission by the planning commission (acting adminis—
tratively). How far can site plan approval be

stretched?

Spgcial use and the floating zone.--0ther incon—

 

sistencies in Meridian's administration of the special
use permit are open to attack. Meridian Township has
recently adopted a mobile home park amendment to the
zoning ordinance. The provisions of this amendment
allow for the development of mobile home parks in those
areas zoned for rural residential use. This zone is
primarily reserved for the undeveloped portion of the
Township which lacks sanitary sewers. By application
for a special use permit, developers may propose
location for parks given that they can provide sanitary
sewer facilities to their site. Thus, the mobile home
special use 12 a floating zone, one which will drop at.

the discretion of private devvlopments.

Although the courts have declared the floating
zone illegal, they have not done so when it is cloaked
under the guise of the special use permit. The
distinction between the floating zone and the net result
of the mobile home special use district is insignificant
at best. The distinction is especially difficult to
draw in that the residential zone in which mobile home
parks are permitted covers over 50 per cent of the
grassland area of the Township.

In addition, by allowing other special uses in
practically all zones, Meridian has substituted one
floating zone for many. Thus, the failure to locate
special use districts is multiplied by the number of
districts having such provisions. In addition, the
concept that districts are located when the boundaries
of both are coterminous is false. The smaller the
district the more predictable the possible location of
permissive uses. The multiplication of special use
districts increases this difficulty. An obvious result
of this type of administration is to negate the desira-
bility of zoning at all. In this regard, the planning
function for determining future patterns of land use
no longer rests with the public agency but has

gravitated to the realm of the private land owner.

76

This tendency to relate public decision making to the
aims of private development is discussed in the next

section.

Meridian's Planning Efforts

 

Planning may be visualized as an intermediary
process between the demands of urbanization and the
operation of government. The planning commission,
representative of a coalition of public interests
at its inception, tends to lose its autonomy due to
its proclivity to assume an increasing share of
government's administrative tasks. As these duties
occupy a greater share of the planner's time, he
finds he has fewer hours to spend on comprehensive
planning. The following discussion illustrates this
state of affairs in Meridian Township.

Necessity and
Administrative

Planning

The Meridian Township planning commission was

 

 

formed with the same enthusiasm and gusto as common
to most developing regions. Buoyed with the prospects
for underwriting the Township's future, the commission
believed that the development of a master plan should
receive top priority. However, though the commission
retained its autonomy from formalized government, it

still became the informal workhorse for government in

77

zoning and subdivision matters. As such, the planning
commission became reSponsible for formulating govern-
mental policy on these questions. Consequently, when
Township officials needed a new subdivision ordinance
in 1959, they turned to the planning commission for

guidance.

Street and Highway Plan
Due to the short time in which the ordinance had
to be completed, Meridian's planners were faced with
the design of an ordinance without a basis in a master
plan. The result was the development of "A Master
Plan for Major Streets and Highways", by August 3, 1959.
According to the Plan,
the streets and highways plan has been
coordinated with a tentative land use plan
for the township. This will, in the near
future, be presented in the form of a
revised zoning ordinance and zoning map
for the township . . . To this effect the
major streets and highways plan will be used
as a basis for establishing more realistic
subdivision regulations.
Land Use Plan
Expediency with the failure to recognize the
distinction between planning and zoning characterize

Meridian's first land use plan. Though the planners

did develop a tenative land use plan before the

 

1"Master Plan for Major Streets and Highways,"
Meridian Township, Michigan, 1959.

78

adoption of the new zoning ordinance in 1960, it
represented nothing more than a colored map with-
out any written substantiation. Here, too, the
commission had yielded to expediency over their
professional competency.

The tentative land use plan located public
facilities and private develOpment in a geometrical
pattern based on the total application of standards
without variation for the peculiarities of the Town-
ship. Thus, roads in the Streets and Highway Plan
were proposed with no real assurance that the
furture pattern of development would warrant them.
According to Goodman:

One common pitfall in preparing transportation

objectives is the preoccupation with the effect

of accessibility on urban form. A frequently
stated objective of the transportation system
is to aid the creation of certain urban forms
. . Planners should make certain that the

role of the transportation system in creating
the desired urban form has not been overstated,
otherwise the transportation plan would be
prepared for an unattainable urban form--and
an unattainable goal.1

It would seem that Meridian's planners had done just

this.

Pragmatism aptly characterizes the early work of

the planning commission. Though Perloff would label

 

1William I. Goodman, ed. Principles and Practices

 

of Urban Planning (Washington, D.C.: International
City Managers Association, 1968), p. 155.

 

79

this work as comprehensive planning, the real intent
was purely administrative. The administrative intent
in a planning document would not appear again until
June of 1966. While in the meantime the planning
commission enjoyed a brief interlude.

Comprehensive Planning
Activities

 

 

On December 10, 1962, the planning commission,
realizing that the continued development of single
family homes would not permit the continued financing
of needed community services, sought alternatives to
the sagging tax base. They proposed the establish-
ment of research-park facilities. These industrial
parks, by attracting only "clean" industry, could
relieve some of the tax burden character. Opposition
was notable from those older residents of the Township
who had known the Township only as a rural area. This
attitude was well expressed by one of the many citizens
at a public hearing who stated, "I would rather pay
higher taxes than have industry."1

By 1963 the community's attitude was slightly
changed. The oldtimers were still opposed to industrial

parks, and in the interim had prevented the location of

a large complex along the C & O Railraod south of Okemos

 

lMeridian Charter Township Planning Commission
Minutes, May 22, 1961.

80

However, a more accommodating attitude was evident in
the remark of Howard Cook regarding the rezoning of the
Red Cedar Research Park. He said, "I am definitely
against the rezoning. I don't want industry in this
area although I am not opposed to industry locating
elsewhere."1

The following February the Red Cedar Research
Park became a reality, making Meridian Township the
first community in the metropolitan area to implement
this concept.2 The installation of the research park
is also significant for the light it sheds upon
changing community attitudes toward types of develop-
ment other than single family residential. It
illustrates not so much a change in attitudes but a
shift in the degree of influence interest groups
wield upon government. Though it is difficult to
pick one point in time from which newcomer influence
would continue to dominate the old; it may be valid
to conclude that this change was a gradual one, and
one that would become more evident in subsequent
years.

During 1965 special attention was given to the
development of other new planning concepts for the

‘Township; notably a Church-Park Study and a

 

lIbid., January 14, 1963.

2Ibid., February 10, l9t4.

81

School—Park Study. Both proposals (especially the

former) represented innovative efforts in the metropolitan
area to plan for uses which might be compatibly combined
at a financial saving to the Township. Furthermore,
proposals of this nature considered the desirability of
establishing dispersed activity centers as an initiative
toward the eventual establishment of a community—wide
center.l

De Facto Planninga_
Cases in Point

 

 

The proposal for a community center in June of 1966,
though founded upon previous planning criteria, was, like
other major township programs in the past - a result of
fiscal necessity. In the early part of the year, Township
officials were informed that a rezoning proposal for a
$20 million retail mall was soon to be submitted to the
planning commission for land adjacent to Grand River
Avenue between Okemos and Marsh Roads. This center, at
the proposed site of the future community center posed
several problems:

1. VAlthough this site had been proposed for a
community center, adjacent land to the north

was also available.

2. If the Township was to acquire this land, they
would have to do so before the announcement of the

mall proposal as land cost would be certain to
skyrocket in the area.

 

lIbid., May 14, 1963.

82

3. The Township lacked a definite plan for the
development of the parcel in the event it was
acquired. Thus, a plan would be needed to
justify the purchase.

The Master Plan for Parks and Recreation did just
this by providing a "dramatic new waterways and recreation
plan . . . a striking example of how a community can plan
for the future."1 Figure 4, ”Meridian Township Public
Open Space and Waterways Master Plan", illustrates this
character of the plan.

Indeed it was a "striking plan" but one which fell
flat with regard to implementation. The "dramatic"
proposals were too far reaching both financially and
practically. Though the plan did indicate how funding
could be made available, most of the suggested federal
programs were for planning assistance only. Thus, the
plan tended to assume the connotation of a utopian
Meridian by the citizenry. Township reaction to the
plan has been equally disappointing. No governmental
agency of anykind has attempted to conform to the plan
nor achieve the plan's state objectives. To this day,
the plan is evidence of the changing role of the planning
commission. This plan and the Meridian Mall rezoning

illustrate how the changing population composition in

the Township has promoted the reordering of interest

 

lMeridian News, (September 6, 1966), pp. l-2.

 

NERIDIAN TONNSNIP

83

Figure 4

PUBLIC

OPEN SPACE AND NATERNAYS

AIC

logonl
m mall-nu
I. '1 m
‘w-nl-v

‘ can Iona. «(may
a ~0- o a .- (m0!

"La-”,9

G

 

unm-
\
¥ .1
ix

 

 

MASTER PLAN

 

 

 

3- ~
19,! -
'1
I
II «‘0’ t" a.
E
i
“no
7""
fi
12:1
'-
1.,

 

 

 

 

 

 

*5.

 

7‘7

 

Hr!»

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

84

groups in Township government to the extent that, as
Walker points out, autonomous boards become arms of
government.

These boards, yielding to the pressures of
development and time, tend to effectively transfer
the planning function to private developers. In
Meridian, these developers had little regard for plans
or the best interests of the community at large. Thus,
the definition of the community's best interest, when
transferred to a special interest group, tends to be
twisted to reflect the attitudes of this group. The
development of the Meridian Mall demonstrates the
itransfer of the planning function to a private interest
group; and what must be done to return the function to

governement.

Redefining the Public Interest

Meridian Mall has consistently been referred to as
being in the public interest. This conception pervades
the Township government and is held by those who stand to
economically profit by its location. In Meridian, costs
of a particular development may be characterized by their
high degree of interrelationship with social phenomena
while benefits of the same development largely accrue in
the economic sector. The following facts regarding I

Meridian Mall should be noted:

Costs

F0
O

10.

85

The site chosen was in violation of the Land Use
Plan, which, though unadopted, did serve as the
rationale for other rezoning decisions.

No programs have been undertaken to renovate the
existing storm drainage which is presently at
capacity.

Three private businesses have been forced out of
business even before the opening of the new
center in the anticipation of reduced business.

Grand River Avenue and Marsh Road have been
glutted by mud and water for over two years due
to construction.

No attempt has been amde to promote lower cost
housing for the future labor force the mall will
require.

This site will increase traffic on Grand River
Avenue and Okemos Road which are presently more
heavily travelled, and of significantly lower
capacity, than I—96.

Acres of topsoil have been lost to wind and
water erosion since construction began.

The possibility exists that the rational need

for such a large facility cannot be shown. In
fact, its justification as a regional center may
be questioned due to its location on an east-west
axis with poor accessibility to other parts of
the region.

The mall may be defined as the point of
multiplication, an instigation of "growth like
Topsy: which will initiate pressures for additional
strip development along Grand River Avenue.

The ultimate loss in suburban identity to a type of
growth not conducive to a good residential
environment, will be felt by those who moved to
Meridian to escape this type of urbanization.

86

Benefits

1. Increased tax base.

2. Increased regional employment.

3. Centralizing retail facilities for shopping

convenience by decreasing transportation
and parking costs.

4. Catalyst for future development.

Economic determinism is not new, however, the planner
should avoid labeling it as the public interest. He
should refuse to accept such fuzzy thinking as what

is good for the tax base or for business is good for
everybody. The planner must try to examine and balance
such abstract concepts as loss of suburban identity
against tax dollar revenue. In the same manner, other
social costs should be considered as part of the public
interest of which the economics of development are

only one part. When the planner finds he must justify
a particular proposal, he should identify and enumerate
to whom the ultimate costs and benefits will accrue.

A New Role for Planning
in Meridian Township

 

 

I am reminded of a recent discussion concerning
the planning function at the 1969 Michigan Society of
Planning Officials. The speaker, fielding a question
from the audience regarding the establishment of
planning goals, perfunctorily responded that goals

should reflect the best interests of everyone.

87

Interestingly enough, the speaker felt he had provided
the answer; but more importantly, the audience too
was satisfied. This occurance may have resulted from
two possibilities. On the one hand, the audience in
each personal instance, knew through empirical evidence
exactly what was the best interest for every other
individual. I doubt that any mortal will ever possess
such perception except in the most general terms. This
leads to the second possibility that perhaps we, as
listeners, fattened on such nebulous pap, have become
too accustomed to escaping difficult problems through
the utterance of vague rhetoric and hackneyed
phraseology that we no longer respond when the need
arises.

Adequate substantiation for this possibility
may be found withing the introduction of both of
Meridian's adopted plans. These plans present goals
so vague, that one has little indication of how they

may be achieved.1 These so called "apple pie and

 

1"Master Plan for Major Streets and Highways,"
Meridian Township, 1959, p. 1. See also "Master Plan
for Parks and Recreation,: Meridian Charter Township,
1966, pp. 16-17.

88

and motherhood" goals were originally designed to
physically represent the philosophical concept of
the good life.1

With the advent of P.P.B.S. and the policy
planning approach, increased attention is being
drawn toward the need for more definitive statements
of planning goals. Planning is no longer considered
an ivory tower preoccupation, but a rational method
of problem solution. The planner of today muSt
stress the implementation of his programs and expend
less time in intellectual exercises aimed at defining
utopia. For the ultimate measure of the success or
failure of a particular plan will not depend upon its
esoteric qualities but on its ability to get a particular
job done. The inability of Meridian to implement its
waterways plan is an example of this over-reaching of
reality.

Meridian's planners, and planners in general,
should question the nature of goal formulation as well
as traditional planning methodology. Too often in the
past, Meridian's goals were relegated to a visionary

role. The first land use plan which served as a basis

 

1An excellent discussion regarding the problems
of'ranking and classifying goals may be found in K.J.
.Arrow, Social Choice and Invididual Values (New York:
John Willey Co., 1951).

89

for rezoning decisions during the early 1960's is an
example. Here, goals were embodied in a physical
design map but not explicit in a document of planning
rationale. As a result, violations of the plan could
be justified whenever the map was hsown to be wrong.
The definition of right and wrong was dependent upon
each particular case due to the lack of an over-riding
rationale. Thus, the map was either correct or
incorrect with no compromise possible. On the other
hand, planning rationale in documented form is more
adaptable to the push and pull of decision making
with its greater ability for interpretation than the
finality of a map. Thus, as we expect more sophisticated
levels of goal formulation so must Meridian's planners
design more sophisticated methods for their eXpression.
Generalized goals, however, do serve a needed
function in guiding long range growth. However, their
adaptation to the short range development stage has
produced much dismay toward the planning profession
when they are interpreted and defined as the public
interest. Too often, planners faced with the justification
for a particular controversial development such as the
Meridian Mall will rely upon a liberal definition of the
public interest to cover practically everything. Thus,

the term "public interest" has been used to represent the

90

philosophical concept of the good life, induced into
short range planning.

How then does this relate to a new role for the
planner? First, because the planner needs the support
and confidence of his constituency, he must divorce
himself from the utterance of platitudes. Secondly,
the planner must replace vague project justifications
with a concrete cost-benefit analysis; and most
importantly, he must give up the concept of an
economically determined public interest.

A better definition of the public interest of
the community at large may be explained as:

Instead of being associated with substantive

goals or policies, the public interest

survives identification with the process of

group accommodation.1
More eXplicitly, Adrian explains:

When any group announces a policy position, it

seeks explicitly or implicitly to associate

its stand with the public interest. In fact,

virtually every politically active individual

or group claims—-sincerely no doubt--to be
acting in the name of the public interest.

Critics of the stand taken by a particular

group, on the other hand, not uncommonly

complain that pressure groups are selfish

and that they ought to act in the public

interest. With everyone thus Using the term,
it becomes useless as an analytical tool.2

 

1Frank J. Sorauf, "The Public Interest Reconsidered,”
Journal of Politics, XIX (November, 1957), p. 638.

 

2Charles R. Adrian, State and Local Governments
(Second Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967), p. 183.

91

Thus, the planner aiming for group accommodation
errs whenever he identifies a particular course of
action as incumbent of the public interest. As such,
the planner is faced with determining his planning
mandate from a conflicting mixture of public and
private interests. How then may the planner plan if
he is to give up the concept of a unified public
interest?

He should begin with the realization that interest
groups may be coalesced into three categories of
influence groups based on the measure of coercion they
are able to exert upon the planner's decisions. These
groups may be thought of as the peer group or
institutional system, the secondary group of citizenry,
and the technical core or those of the future for
which the techniques of planning are intended.1 Any
particular decision, then, will accrue costs in varying
proportions among these levelt of influence. The
ultimate benefits of which fall to those of each
interest group suffering the least costs.

In Meridian, the planner would find that the

ultimate costs of Meridian Mall and similar developments

 

1For a simlar three level distinction, see James
Thompson, "Organization Goals and Environmental Goal
Setting as an Interaction Process," American
Sociological Review, XXIII (1958).

 

92 -

will be borne by those of the future, the technical
core. Similarly, those of the secondary group,
especially the oldtimers and the newcomers of an
earlier period whose landed investments are high,
suffer equally. Those benefitting, on the other hand,
are those in government who have found the pressures
for urban services difficult to finance. Commercial
development is a simple solution to the complex
problems of surburbia — a high yielding solution
requiring little public investment as well. With

the unfavorable response toward light industrial
development, there really was no other alternative.
Consequently, the planning commission responded to the
mall rezoning, not entirely unaware of the consequences,
but more aware of the responsibilities they had
developed toward government in recent years. 'And
government, more responsive to the demands of the
citizenry, yielded to the pressures of commercial

development

Regaininggthe
Planning

Function

 

In an effort to retrieve the planning function from
Private developers and return to true comprehensive
planning, Meridian applied for, and received, financial
assistance for comprehensive planning during 1968 and

1969. This funding, under Section 701 of the Housing

93

Act of 195” as amended, permitted the Township to
acquire the services of additional planners. These
planners, working independently from the administrative
activities which had characterized early planning in
the Township, are in the process of preparing a
comprehensive development plan. This plan, a
culmination of two years of study, will hopefully fill
the void of earlier planning efforts and provide guide-
lines for Township officials regarding future develop-
ment decisions. In these cases, the plan would "prima
facie" indicate a possible line of action rather than,
as in the past, become a "de facto" justification for
particular decisions. Thus, the distinction between
administrative and comprehensive planning may be
characterized as simply as this. "701" planning has
permitted the Township to recognize the distinction,

and make full use of the potentials of each.

Chapter Fummary

 

Planning may be visualized as consisting of two
separate but compatible activities. According to
Goodman:

If the planning agency is to make its whole
contribution to more effective municipal
government and orderly planned urban growth,
it must emphasize both its substantive and its
administrative responsibility. Preoccupation
with the day-to-day pressures of zoning
administration or review of proposed sub—
division plats leaves little time for advance

9 I}

planning or for the research that must precede
and support long range planning. Furthermore,
neglect of advisory and coordinating responsi-
bilities can lead in time to isolation of the
planning agegcy so that its advice is given
little heed.
The development of planning in Meridian Township may
be said to have more or less followed this distinction
through the evolution of two groups concerned with
planning. The development of a lay planning commission
may be eXplained as an example of the Theory of
Functional Accretion. The planning staff, representing
the second group concerned with planning, owes its
creation to the professionalization of government.
Planning commissions with their integration into
the structure of government tend to divorce themselves
from the raison d'etra for their extence. Administra-
tively, planning fulfills the expectations of the
charter township form of government by providing a
means to acquire efficiently the public and pribate
improvements which are necessary in an urbanizing area.
However, when matters other than the dollar are considered,
planning seems a disappointment. Comprehensively,
planning in Meridian Township has not reflected the best

interests of the community. Father, special interest

groups have tended to dominate as the degree of

 

lGoodman, p. 526.

95

specialization and departmentalization within the
government increased. As such, the lay planning
commission identified with the interests of
government, which did not represent the interests of
the community as a whole. It is difficult for the
township board or for any legislative body to
disassociate itself from the various special interests
groups that have elected its membership. The planning
commission, owing its creatior to the legislature, is
equally influenced, and often deluded to the degree
that the public interest may be defined as that of one
special group.

Planning staff, on the other hand, reflects its
creation by the executive branch whose function has
traditionally been one of coordination and interest
group consolidation. Thus, it is not surprising that
the comprehensive approach to the planning function
would gravitate to the staff. Only by removal from
the pressure of private interest group domination can

true comprehensive planning result.

Judgment

Planning in Meridian Township is representative of
a pattern of response to urbanization; and, has, through
the adaptation and execution of various programs, provided

the direction for charter township growth. The evidence

96

of planning's selective responsiveness to public demands
in the Township has been shown. This failure of planning
to embrace a comprehensive approach in defining the public
interest has created a situation where public actions

are often at odds with private desires.

It is difficult to Judge the value of planning in an
assessment of charter township government. Certainly,
planning has exhibited a limited success in administering
development. However, trying to equate this against a
normative standard of comprehensive excellence produced a
negligible response. I find a tendency on the part of
Township officials and planning commissioners to
acknowledge their shortcomings while stressing their
successes. This philosophy of ”things could be worse"
tends to promote the status quo without making progress
toward improving planning's shortcomings. Though I do

acknowledge successful planning within Meridian Charter

Township, I am not convinced that the "things could be
worse" belief is a proper evaluation. Certainly, some
will argue that an evaluation is impossible due to

personal value systems. Each person determines differently
how much good planning is necessary to offset the bad.
Logically, the correct balance will never be reached as
each individual is of his own opinion.

The solution to this dilemma would seem to rest

with the theoretical basis of both government and planning.

97

The democratic ethic stresses the exhaltation of the
individual over society while our planning heritage has
developed the comprehensive approach. Thus, recognizing
the individual, I would agree with Weaver's cliche which
states that we must plan for peOple and not for things.1
Because the comprehensive approach requires this.
orientation, an evaluation of a planning program must
rest entirely with the quality of this program.
Therefore, due to the inability to weigh administration
planning against comprehensive planning, and the
necessity to judge human activity with a comprehensive
approach, one must conclude that planning in Meridian

Charter Township has been a limited success.

 

lWeaver, p. 26.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS

Introduction

 

The objective of this thesis has been to
critically analyze the £93m and function of charter
township government with the aim of discerning why
the planning function has not fulfilled its intended
role in a transitional form of government in the
urbanization of rural areas. A case study approach was
selected as it was felt that any potential failure could
not be completely attributable to enabling legislation
(form). Rather, it was felt that an analysis of the
application (function) of this system of government to
the process of urbanization in a particular locale
would reveal its basic weaknesses. This chapter
presents may conclusions to this thesis using the
dual approach of form and function. Final judgment of
the charter township, however, must be based upon its
function because the best measure of a system of

government is its application to reality.

98

99

Form

The form government assumes largely determines
the ability of government to cope with the problems
of urbanization. Regarding the Township's ability,
the Governmental Study Committee reported" "Townships
govern land and cities govern people."1 However, I
doubt that the distinction is quite that simple, nor
that limited. Both cities and townships, as viable
units of local government, exhibit all the characteristics
of what have been revered in this country as the
principles of self-government. Of the township, Thomas
Jefferson said,

These wards, called townships in New England, are

the vital principle of their governments, and

have proved themselves the wisest convention

ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect

exercise of self-government and for its

preservation.2
Others, witnessing the development of the township since
Jefferson's day are less kind in their remarks. These

critics direct their attack toward the charter township

which, according to Adrian, "is in essence a special

 

l"Governmental Study Committee Report," for

Meridian Charter Township, Ingham County, Michigan,
1968, (Mimeographed).

2Thomas Jefferson in Joseph A. Parisi, Jr.,
A Manual for Township Officials (Lansing: Michigan
Townships Association, 1963), p. l.

 

100

type of city government, existing through historical
accident."1 The resemblence of the charter township
to its general law counterpart, is, as I have pointed
out, in name only. The charter township has assumed
practically all the duties that have traditionally
fallen to cities; and to quite an efficient degree.
Hence, the "historical accident" to which Professor
Adrian refers would have to be the Charter Township
Act of 1948; the Act, it will be remembered, which
sought to provide the means by which rural areas

might smoothly evolve to more urbanized forms.

Function

 

The charter township has been a limited success.
On the one hand, the charter township has proven
successful in coping with the problems of urbanization.
Its higher taxing rate has permitted government expansion
by providing additional personnel and facilities to meet
increasing demands; while its excellent bonding capacity
has permitted the installation of public utilities at a
level of quality rivaling that of the finest cities.
The traditional conservatism of township government in
conjunction with personalized treatment of development
has tended to have a moderating influence on development

while reducing the possibilities of run-away growth.

 

lAdrian, p. 217.

101

The relatively low tax rate has been instrumental in
encouraging suburban development. This type of
development, usually containing a politically activist
segment of the population, has found charter township
government amiable to their desires. In addition,
charter townships have provided all the amenities of
political self—determination as part of our American
ethic regarding the necessity of local independence.

The major disappointment of this system of
government is a direct result of its actual success.
There are few significant advantages in dissolving
charter townships in favor of more urbanized forms.
When weighed against the attitudes of the polity which
charter townships helped to create, these advantages
seem a weak argument for abandoning a style of suburban
living which the citizenry has sought and achieved.
The Governmental Study Committee listed eitht

advantages for Meridian Township to incorporate as a

city: These are:

1. Stabilization of the tax base. The threat of
annexation of township land would largely be
removed.

2. Prestige. To some this might appear a theoretical

advantage. But commericial and industrial and
residential developers tell us that a city
government structure, by and large, is more
attractive to developers. They consider it more
able and more stable.

3. Higher millage limitation than available to
townships can be set by charter.

102

4. Making the decisions on when and how road work
should be done. Even though the new city were
to contract the road work out to the county,
the decisions on when, where and how to do the
work still would be made by the city.

5. Direct, or centralized control of the police,
if it were desired. It should be pointed out
that the new city, if it desired, need not make
any material change.

6. A city government would have a louder voice in
regional planning.

7. Incorporation will unite people of the township,
while allowing the present school districts to
be maintained. Boundaries of school districts
will not be affected.

8. The establishment of a home rule city. This is
one of the greatest advantages, one that should
not be lost sight of in the talk about the threat
of loss of tax revenue land through annexation.
These advantages, though they may appear pertinent

to those advocating a stronger stature on the part of

'local government, do not provide tangible evidence of

the suburban citizenry. Again, the necessity of crisis

politics becomes obvious within Meridian Township. No
crisis is imminent except the threat of annexation to
which the citizenry has becomcd numbed through years

of exposure to the issue. Consequently, the suburban

dweller finds it difficult to believe that higher

taxes will provide him with a higher degree of

quality of services than he presently receives or even

desires.

 

1"Governmental Study Committee Report,” p. 11.

103

Preference is the key issue and one which tends
to be forgotten in all the hubhub over urbanization.
The suburban dweller, as we have seen in Meridian
Township, tends to be politically active, when in the
minority, to achieve the style of living he desires.
As a newcomer, he is often an influential instigator
of various governmental activities in response to the
process of urbanization. After a time, these
innovations, on his part, tend to lose contact with
the issues from which they evolved and become subject
to higher social laws. Thus, according to Sokolow
and Walker, social movements and organizations become
self—perpetuating entities; and as the charter town—
ships and planning commission evolve, they are caught
in the dynamics of this inexorable law. As a result,
to the detriment of their original intent, these bodies
no longer tend to respond to the wishes of their
creators who say, "stop, we have had enough growth!"
Instead, activities increase rapidly; and, past the
"point of multiplication," they tend to become special
interest groups in their own right.

The most detrimental special interest group in
Meridian Township has been the land developer. Due to
the failure of the township planning commission to

maintain a consistency of action toward the problems

104

of urbanization, the comprehensive planning approach has
taken a back seat to administrative activities. In the
absence of appropriate planning, private development
has filled the void defining their determination of
Meridian's future as the "public interest". Planning,
through its failure to redefine the public interest in
a more realistic manner, has become the most disappointing
activity of Meridian's government. In this respect,
planning has provided the means for transforming a rural
area into an urbanized one; but it has not provided the
type of transitional development the community desires.

At the point when the charter township may
contemplate the transition to a more urbanized form,
the suburban newcomer has replaced the oldtimer as a
numerical majority. At this point, he tends to reject
an alteration of his suburban status quo. Gordon has
identified this phenomena as the "tendency of minorities
to innovate and the majority to regulate."1 Development
in Meridian Township, as I have shown, aptly characterizes
this relationship. City incorporation, largely an
innovation of the business interest minority in Meridian
Township, attempts to go beyond the preference of the
majority for suburban style government. Thus, the charter

township, inspired as the "halfway house to urbanization",

 

lMilton M. Gordon, Assimilation in American Life
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1963), pp. 60—83.

 

105

does not achieve its intent by providing a low cost system
of government able to provide nearly the same level of
operations and services as more urbanized forms. Charter
townships are quasi-cities--a form of growth tending to

inhibit their transitional intent.

Further Investigation

 

There have been many questions raised in this thesis,
some of which have been discussed at length, while others
require new approaches for further investigation.

In the process of examining the need for charter town-
ship government and the proper role of planning within these
systems, I became aware of the transcendental nature of
these problems to other organization forms of government and
over society in general. I found it difficult in some cases
to isolate factors to charter townships and not to govern-
ment in general. This problem is especially acute when
employing a case study approach. The tendency exists to
generalize every conclusion to all charter townships, espe-
cially those thoughts concerning its function. Care should
be exercised in determining each case on its own merit, as
the principle weakness of this type of government lies not
entirely in its form but more in its application to the
process of urbanization. The close interrelationship of
form and function requires this additional care in further

investigation.

106

This investigation whould include an analysis of
other forms of government as they provide alternatives
to charter townships. The following discussion reflects
this author's opinions regarding possible further

investigation into alternatives to charter townships.

The Need for a Comprehensive Approach

 

The chief weakness of charter townships has been due
to an inability to adopt a comprehensive planning approach
to the problems of urbanization.- Regional government has
often been suggested as the best vehicle to hurdle these
difficulties.

The problems of suburbia which'have inspired this
thesis are derived from regional phenomena which transcend
municipal boundaries. This is the age of metropolitan man
whose society is different from any in the past. The
complexities, divergencies, and interdependencies of our
society have produced an environment of great contrasts.

We see on the one hand pockets of great wealth in our
suburban areas, while on the other hand, the deprivation
and poverty of the inner city resident.

To the commuter, the problems of poverty and central
city finance can be largely invisible as he flits along the
freeway. Because they are not a part of his everyday life,
it is easy for him to take comfort in the notion that the

central city and its problems are worlds apart from the

107

green fields of suburbia. Technology has created
this pattern of thought.

Though the automobile and freeway have shortened
the physical distance from city to suburb; the psycho-
logical, social, and economic distances have been
lengthened. Advances in technology have helped to
created the physical metropolis at the expense of
destroying the identity of the metropolitan community.
It is easy to bow to the notion that the community is
contained within the boundaries of the individual
municipality. Charter townships promote this very
notion in the urbanizing process of rural areas. Thus,
the metropolitan concept of community, when introduced
into a political heritage of local autonomy, is difficult
for the suburbanite to comprehend.

Carrying local autonomy and disassociation from
the metropolitan community by the suburbanite to its
ultimate conclusion must certainly end in disaster for
all concerned. Dahl and Lindhlom have called this
development an example of disjointed incrementalism.
This means that within our metropolitan areas decisions
are made by a variation of interest groups. Whether they
be decisions of private enterprise or public bodies
of government, each institution acts in its own best

interest. Within the public sphere alone, townships,

lO8

incorporated villages, cities, counties, school districts,
and various state authorities all contribute to the hodge—
podge of urban development. This development has helped
to promote the isolation of interest groups and duplication
of governmental efforts. Charter townships are but one
more Special interest group added to the already saturated
metropolitan system.

This indictment seems to rest with the potential
of rural areas on the urban fringe to become urbanized.
However, more extensive county government, could stem
the tide of governmental balkanization in order to provide
a higher degree of incentive within specific areas to

incorporate when the time is deemed correct.

County Government

In these cases, the theory of crisis politics
would seem to apply though it need not prove detrimental
to the development of the rural area due to moderating
influence of the county. Thus, only those areas with
concentrations of population would incorporate as a city
111 order to offer better intensive services. The less
concentrated areas would remain under the jurisdiction
(Df the county, whose administrative machinery is geared
tn) the provision of extensive levels of services between

urban.areas.

109

The charter township, on the other hand, through
its use of the same geographical boundaries which contain
the general law township, sets the scale for future city
incorporation of the total area. Just as the urbanized
areas may be transformed into that of a city, so too
must the rural areas as they also are bound by the charter.
Although legally the charter township is not required to
include the rural areas in future incorporations, it is
certain that any suggestion of gerrymandering would split
the vote and no doubt defeat the issue. In addition, the
ethical issue of relegating an area to a lower level of
services than that which could be supplied under charter
township government is equally important. For in the event
of a gerrymandered incorporation, those areas not included
would probably return to general law township status

This theory is interesting, and certainly a step in
the direction toward an expanded role for county govern-
ment. But, the question utltimately becomes: can the
county handle the increased burdens of urbanizing areas?
Certainly such a move would require a more efficient county
government than presently exists.

Adrian acknowledges the expanding scope of county
activities during the 1960's and the need for a larger
role in the future,

Counties are performing an increasing number of

functions of government, particularly counties
that contain a large proportion of urban residents.

110

The traditional functions . . . have been
augmented both through the assumption of new
services and through the transfer to the county
of services once provided by other local govern-
ments, particularly the towndhips . . . In fact,
some counties in some states are today performing
all of the functions of the municipality,
although the number and variety of functions
varies from one county to the next. Despite talk
about the trend towards centralization, the fact
is that functionally the county is of greater
importance today than a generation ago, and
expansion of the services provided by its
government appears likely to continue.

 

The county would appear the best alternative to the

charter township for several reasons.

1.

Expansion of county governing functions would reduce
the detrimental tendencies for Balkanization in
metropolitan areas.

Counties containing metropolitan areas have a
broad enough tax base to finance the intensive
provision of urban services.

Counties are large enough geographically to attack
problems with a comprehensive approach; while

they are still small enough to insure good grass-
roots democracy.

The potential for succe sful modernization of
county structure is greater than the hopes for
the establishment of a new "super-government."

Metropolitan

 

Government

 

Norris Ingells, writing for the "State Journal" on

the prospects of metrOpolitan government for the Greater

Lansing Areas has said:

If someone were to suggest tomorrow that Lansing,
East Lansing, and the surrounding townships give

 

lAdrian, pp. 211-212.

111

up their political autonomy and unite into a
single supergovernment, the chorus would be
deafening. A better approach would entail the
establishment of a voluntary Council of Govern-
ments (COG) in which the elected officials of

the local governments are the same people who

make up the Council of Government. Together,

they establish regional policy and individually,
they - and only they - can carry out this

policy in their local areas. Thus, they can

develop recommendations on the solutions of

regional problems without sacrificing anX
traditional authority or responsibility.

Though the prospects for a COG are enticing, they
have not proven to be viable units of government due to
the lack of appropriate legislative powers. Where
these units have obtained powers commensurate with other
local units of government, they have proven successful
in coping with water, sewer, transportation, and other
problems of an extensive nature. Future prospects for
a COG in the Lansing area are questionable. The
desirability of a COG is equally questionable as they
really do not prevent Balkanization, but merely reduce

its implications.

Consolidation

 

Other alternatives to charter townships are not
difficult to enumerate. However, their applicability
to a particular community will depend upon particular

local characteriStics. One characteristic might be

 

lNorris Ingells, State Journal, June 1, 1967 and
June 2, 1967.

 

112

the geographical distribution of urbanization in
proximity to incorporated political units. Take, for
example, the Wardcliff area in Meridian Township. This
area, largely one of the older residential developments
in the Township, lies contiguous to the similar type

of development annexed to East Lansing in the 1958
Marble School Annexation. One may hypothesize that

had not Meridian chartered in l959, Wardcliff would
probably have annexed to East Lansing in order to
obtain the same level of services which Marble enjoyed.
Meridian chartered, however, and was able to provide
sanitary sewer, thus stemming the tendency to annex.
Consequently, as general law townships are unable to
provide urbanized services on the fringe areas of cities,
the incentives for annexation to an urbanized area are
enhanced. Annexation of this type should be desired

as it represents the logical extension of municipal

growth - the antithesis of urian sprawl.

City Incorporation

 

Another characteristic to be considered in examining
the prospects for alternative forms of government is the
degree of urbanization of areas not adjacent to an
incorporated area. Within general law townships, there
may exist, as in Meridian, pockets of concentrated urban
growth. State law provides that when population density

reaches 500 per square mile with a total population of

113

of at least 750, any area possessing these minimums
may incorporate as a fifth class city. Those areas
having a population greater than 2,000 with the same
density may incorporate as a home rule city under
Michign law.1 The major difference between the two
is that former elects its legislature at large while
the latter's are selected by wards or other suitable
jurisdictions. This type of growth does not
represent a proliferation of government, due to the
fact that cities would incorporate only when all other
alternatives have failed to bring them the level of
services they were seeking.

Just as the charter township might find it necessary
to incorporate, so might theurbanized areas of the general
law township, with the distinct advantage of incorporating
only the urbanized areas. Because the general law
township generally lacks the extensive distribution of
public utilities and urban services, there tends to be
missing the cohesive element which ties rural and urban
togetner in the charter township. Consequently,
incorporation of only the urbanized areas in a general
law township does not tend to generate the same opposition
as might be found when attempting this within a charter

townsnip. In addition, those areas not included within

 

lVerburg, pp. 1—2.

114

the incorporation would remain under general law
township jurisdiction and not suffer a relegation
to a lower level of government as might occur within

a charter township attempting partial incorporation.

Incorporated Villages

 

Other, lesser used patterns of growth in the
State are possible through the incorporation of villages.
Though advocation of such a policy may seem a contradiction
to the discontinuance of governmental proliferation,
incorporated villages may be viewed as a transitional form
of government. Much the same as charter townships,
villages may gravitate to higher forms of urbanization
either through incorporation as a city or through
consolidation with an adjacent urbanized area. However,
the incorporated village has an advantage over the
charter township in that it usually represents a more
urbanized complex, and one which has not invested as
great an amount in capital imirovements. Again, this

represents a rational form of growth.1

 

1Richard R. Duke, Planning in the Urban Fringe
(East Lansing: Institute for Community Development,_l963),
p. l.

 

APPENDIX

115

116

IEIIDIII CIIIITEI TOWNSHIP

 

 

 

 

 

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REFERENCES

117

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