Tree removal on Trail Tree expansion complies with plans

Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter
·2 min read

COLDWATER — Construction on the expansion of Trail Tree Village is underway, and contractors bulldozed down trees at the rear of Thompson Blvd homes, raising concerns.

City records show no basis for the concerns.

The trees behind these Thompson Blvd. home were bulldozed down last week.
The trees behind these Thompson Blvd. home were bulldozed down last week.

City councilman Jim Knaack said at the April 22 council meeting the developers, "They said they were going to leave as many trees on the property line as they could. They wiped them. There's three or four houses where they took every single tree out."

Mayor Tom Kramer, who sits on the planning commission, agreed, "They were going to leave a lot of those trees to give buffer."

City manager Keith Baker talked to contractor Parrish Excavation, who said he follows the approved plans for the 76-site expansion west of the current 143 original modular home development off Michigan Avenue.

A review of the June 5, 2023, Planning Commission meeting showed the work complies with the site review approved by the commission.

At that meeting, Frank Rinaldi from Weidman Engineering detailed site plans that showed the removal of these trees, including those along a city utility easement.

The approved plan requires planting three staggered rows of evergreens, eight to ten feet tall, on both the project's west and south sides after construction.

The approved designs allow the initial planting to be 20 feet apart so they grow together.

Last year, Cambio Communities of Southfield purchased the modular home park, first developed in 1995.

Prior story Trail Tree housing expansion approved by Coldwater Planning Commission

The planning commission and city expressed hope that the developer could finish before the end of last year, with Coldwater needing more of all types of housing.

Opponents around the site referred to the project as a mobile home or a trailer park. 

The planning commission delayed approval a month for site plan revisions.

The commission and residents requested a buffer between the newly developed standard construction homes on Thompson's west side of the expansion.

Construction started last week on the expansion of Trail Tree Village.
Construction started last week on the expansion of Trail Tree Village.

The entrance off Seeley Street was moved away from Thompson Blvd to the east. Plans moved the dumpster away from that side of the property.

All the city-purchased lots along Thompson Blvd. now have homes. The Branch Area Career Center owns four lots on Thompson and Michael Drive.

The vocational building trades program hopes to construct a home on those lots, one every two years, to train students for the construction industry.

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The Branch Intermediate School District board contracted with Parrish Construction on Wednesday to dig the basement and foundation at lot 27 Michael Drive before classes begin in August.

---Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Tree removal on Trail Tree expansion complies with plans