Ann Arbor's green belt is loosening up so it can get a bit bigger. The City Council approved extending the boundaries for its green belt one mile in each direction.
The move is meant to streamline the Greenbelt Program and allow it help local municipalities secure the development rights to more property. Top officials from Pittsfield, Scio and Webster townships are all on board with the expansion.
The program provides funding to preserve and protect open space, natural habitats and farms in the Ann Arbor area by purchasing development rights. The city acquires these rights from willing sellers who apply to participate in the program.
Ann Arbor voters approved a 0.5-mill millage over 30 years to establish the Greenbelt Program in 2003. Since then the program has acquired the rights to more than 700 acres. The most recent is of John and Beverly Alexander's 70-acre farm in Northfield Township. The city spent $1.015 million on the purchase, utilizing a $335,000 federal grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Federal Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program to partially subsidize the transaction.
Source: City of Ann Arbor
Writer: Jon Zemke
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