City Council to Ask Mayor Bing to Remove New Apple Orchards from Palmer Park!

**jtf1972** · May-30-12, 05:50 PM

Posting this for People for Palmer Park

Yesterday, City Council passed a resolution urging Mayor Bing to remove and relocate the orchards.
We need your help to save the orchards, now!
Please email City Council asap and come to the meeting, tomorrow Thursday, May 31, 1-2 pm, City Council Chambers

CouncilPresidentPugh@detroitmi.gov
CouncilMemberBrown@detroitmi.gov
councilmemberjenkins@detroitmi.gov

CockrelK@kcockrel.ci.detroit.mi.us
bjones_mb@detroitmi.gov
CouncilmanSpivey@detroitmi.gov
councilmembertate@detroitmi.gov
K-Kenyatta_MB@detroitmi.gov
WatsonJ@detroitmi.gov

Yesterday, City Council passed a resolution urging Mayor Bing to remove and relocate the orchards. Please read our response to City Council and Mayor Bing from People from Palmer Park, below, as well as comments below from one of People for Palmer Park activists.

Please spread the word. We are asking every resident, friend and supporter to provide representation at the City Council hearing this Thursday at 1-2 pm, to show them the community support of the park, the orchard and all the efforts occurring within the park. So for those of you who have flexible schedules please head over tomorrow to the Coleman E. Young building, City Council Chamber.

**jtf1972** · May-30-12, 05:57 PM

In my opinion, this is ridiculous. Why should the city spend money to remove what people are doing to improve one of the major parks in the city? I've helped plant some of these trees. This is not something that has caught anybody by surprise. It has been planned, and all the trees and work donated to do one thing: restore Palmer Park to being a great place.

Now that it is being implemented, people want to destroy it. It's not like this will create a public nuisance, foul odor or anything but apples growing on land that has for years been neglected.

This makes absolutely no sense to me...

**Eastside** · May-30-12, 07:32 PM

Doesn't the city council have bigger things to worry about? This is ludicrous.

**MSUguy** · May-30-12, 08:08 PM

Here is a copy of the resoltion. It's says a number of residents living on Ponchartrain Dr complained at a city council meeting about not being informed about the planting of the orchard, they also complained dust and noise pollution,etc. If you download from the facebook page and zoom in on the the picture you can make it readable.
.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...type=1&theater

**rex** · May-30-12, 08:09 PM

pointless thing for the council to want... However, This is about on par with how much influence, power, and responsibility I am comfortable with them having

**gazhekwe** · May-30-12, 08:15 PM

Let me get this straight. A group of people living near the park complained that they did not know about the planting. They complained about noise and dust [[associated with the planting? or with the apple trees?) So, council solves this problem by requiring someone to spend money to remove the trees, creating more noise and dust? Who greased whose palms?

**poobert** · May-30-12, 09:10 PM

Because the worst thing about Palmer Park is the orchards.

This city is a joke. A total backwater. The people in government are unable to think creatively. They adequately represent how uneducated much of their constituents are, however.

**Gistok** · May-30-12, 09:25 PM

What kind of apples are we talking here... just flowering trees... or fruit bearing trees?? Just wondering... since the word "orchard" generally means fruit bearing...

**mwilbert** · May-30-12, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by gazhekwe

Let me get this straight. A group of people living near the park complained that they did not know about the planting. They complained about noise and dust [[associated with the planting? or with the apple trees?) So, council solves this problem by requiring someone to spend money to remove the trees, creating more noise and dust? Who greased whose palms?

These are not sensible people. These are people [[both the neighbors and the council) who are more concerned about process and their theoretical prerogatives than about reality. As you say, if they were actually concerned about noise and dust, they would just leave the trees alone, as in my experience apple trees once planted are neither dusty nor noisy.

**Goose** · May-30-12, 09:54 PM

AHHH... but what about the gangstas that will show up on the weekends to frolic amongst the trees, picking red apples and sharing with their beau's..... and exchange gun fire with the green apple gangs....????

**jtf1972** · May-30-12, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

What kind of apples are we talking here... just flowering trees... or fruit bearing trees?? Just wondering... since the word "orchard" generally means fruit bearing...

They are fruit-bearing trees. They have both "cider" apples & the kinds that are good for just picking & eating. They're mostly to help feed the horses.

**Gistok** · May-31-12, 12:56 AM

A noble cause... but I wonder just how many would end up picked early and sold on main street intersections by the homeless or downtrodden [[like during the 1930s).

**canuck** · May-31-12, 08:08 AM

Totally effing nuts. This is like Kafka and Swift rolled-up into one neat package of looniness. I need me some Kool-Aid, I'm allergic to anything real anymore; like apples...

**jtf1972** · May-31-12, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

A noble cause... but I wonder just how many would end up picked early and sold on main street intersections by the homeless or downtrodden [[like during the 1930s).

That would still be better than just sitting there with a sign.

**gazhekwe** · May-31-12, 09:10 AM

They're mostly to help feed the horses.

Horses? What horses? Could it be HORSES that are at the root of this complaint?

**Wintersmommy** · May-31-12, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by gazhekwe

They're mostly to help feed the horses.

Horses? What horses? Could it be HORSES that are at the root of this complaint?

http://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2...me-in-detroit/

**jerrytimes** · May-31-12, 09:29 AM

I would like the mayor to hold a one word press conference about this. NO! The city council is a bunch of morons who don't deserve any kind of authority. Your schools are dead, you have half of the police force that you really need and your fire department is low on equipment, and this is their priority. Wow....

**hamtown mike** · May-31-12, 10:16 AM

Besides a steaming pile, this is a us/them issue. The "us" being the Palmer Park area residents and the "them" being non-parlmer park people. They're hiding behind the "dust and noise" to cloud their real motive. I'm sorry if you chose to live next to a park. I'm sorry if individuals have done something that might attract more people to the area.

If you want to keep people out, petition the city to purchase it and maintain it.

It's behavior and decisions like this that keep people away and keep people from trying to make a difference.

**Wheels** · May-31-12, 10:22 AM

Nobody want's migrant workers in their backyard!

**Kathleen** · May-31-12, 10:57 AM

Just wondering if the People for Palmer Park actually got permission to plant an apple orchard in the city-owned park. If they did, then they should have some leverage against folks complaining and asking for their removal. If they did not, well, then....

**SWMAP** · May-31-12, 11:05 AM

Kathleen, this is from the article in the Detroit News today:

Leonora King, a member of People for Palmer Park, said the group worked with the support of the city's General Services and Recreation Department.
Rochelle Lento, also with the group, said members sought residents' input over the past 14 months including in community meetings.

**SWMAP** · May-31-12, 11:10 AM

Interesting that Detroit attorney Rochelle Lento gets high marks for advocacy for her city two days in a row: she wasa spokeswoman yesterday for the community effort to rid Paler Woods of the brazen squatter and today she's talking up the orchard.

She's a real estate attorney. I'm sure she will know whether zoning codes were follwoed. But what zoning codes would disallow a planting of trees in a city-owned park? Isn't a vintage park all about the trees?

**jtf1972** · May-31-12, 11:15 AM

The meeting is at 1pm [[45 min from now)

City-County Building, room 1340

**Rolfsy** · May-31-12, 11:29 AM

The Eric Sabree from the detnews article is Deputy Treasurer of Land Management for Wayne County. [[He gave the orchard a firm 'dislike' in the story) My guess is the scope of labor on this project was large enough that any number of zombie-ocracies felt like they missed a paycheck.

More pessimistically, I'm hoping this isn't breaking down into a black/white jewels/invaders thing. It is the usual suspects on the paperwork. Is PFPP predominantly white? It's the impression I've been getting from watching their facebook posts over the last few months.

**Detroitgayhistoryguy** · May-31-12, 12:41 PM

Joann Watson said it was "Disrespecting the city" and she didn't know about it until after it was planted? I'm not on clowncil, and I don't have a full time research staff and I knew about it. What does she and her "staff" do all day? They say this is about "rodents" BS! This is about whitey doing something in "their" city and they don't like it.