Ann Arbor to Detroit Regional Rail Project will get the train rolling in southeast Michigan

Mass transit in southeast Michigan is going forward, despite efforts by some local officials to drag their feet and stay anchored in the past.

The regional planning agency the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) announced they are in final talks with the railroads to get trains running in the much anticipated Ann Arbor to Detroit Regional Rail Project. SEMCOG expects a few commuter trains a day will be up and running starting in Ann Arbor with stops in Ypsilanti, Metro Airport, Dearborn and Detroit near the end of 2010.

The project began as the Ann Arbor to Detroit Rapid Transit Study Alternatives Analysis, and it intends to use existing tracks and infrastructure when possible. The project is being managed by SEMCOG, along with partners that include representatives of all communities in the corridor, Wayne and Washtenaw County officials, state and federal representatives, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the local transit operators (AATA, DDOT, and SMART), Amtrak, representatives of Norfolk Southern (NS) and Canadian National (CN) Railroads and members of the business community.

That's in sharp contrast to the stalled Washtenaw Livingston Line (WALLY) commuter rail line that would create a Howell-to-Ann Arbor rail link. Livingston County, the fastest growing county in the state, is a bedroom community, and many residents work in both Ann Arbor and Detroit. A link up from Ann Arbor to Detroit would make the system even more violable.

However, the shortsighted, all Republican Livingston County Board of Commissioners decided in September to not only not provide any money to the project, but it will also not be part of the coalition that wants to form a taxing authority.

However, the project is not dead, and the coalition partners - Washtenaw County, the City of Howell and the Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce – are going forward. Local business leaders are also stepping up, such as Green Oak Township developer Earl LaFave who plans to build $77 million in commercial, residential and other development in Howell and Northfield Township in Washtenaw County along the planned rail line.

That effort may be helped with the introduction of House Bill 6114 in the Michigan House of Representatives that will create the Transit Revitalization Investment Zone Act. Under the act, a new kind of tax increment finance authority could be created that would promote development, including "transit revitalization improvements," within a specially designated transit revitalization zone.

It would permit local units of government to create tax increment financing authorities (TIFA) that captures future increases in property taxes within that district for the authority to use to finance public infrastructure improvement projects within the district. It's similar to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Local Development Financing Act (LDFA) used to establish industrial parks.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Royal Oak, on May 13 and referred to the House Transportation Committee where it is awaiting action.

Developer will provide steam for proposed rail line

The push by Green Oak Township developer Earl LaFave should give the stalled Washtenaw and Livingston rail Line (WALLY) the steam it needs to get rolling.

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus reported LaFave plans to build $77 million in commercial, residential and other development in Howell and Northfield Township in Washtenaw County along the planned rail line from Howell to Ann Arbor.

Washtenaw County, the City of Howell and the Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce are part of a consortium that plans to form an authority to secure federal funding for the 27-mile rail line will ease traffic and stress on U.S. 23 traffic where many county residents drive to work in Ann Arbor.

Last month the all Republican Livingston County Board of Commissioners decided not to become part of the coalition or to provide any money to the project. Despite the shortsighted decision, the consortium is going forward, and LaFave’s input will help it along.

I personally know LaFave, and I know he gets things done. I first met him when I was covering Green Oak Township for the South Lyon Herald back in 1998. Back then, GOT was known as Green Joke Township, and it was a target rich environment for a reporter. There were lots of lawsuits and conflict, and one of them was with LaFave and his brother who wanted to build the Hidden Lake development on the former gravel pit the brothers mined located behind the old township hall on Silver Lake Road.

The township originally granted the rezoning, but the township board then rescinded it when a group formed to place it on the ballot and voters rejected it. The argument was it was too large and the homes would be “cookie cuter.” The Hidden Lake issue drove GOT politics for a while in the late ‘90s. Anyone who has seen the finished development would be astonished by that description.

LaFave filed a lawsuit, and I came on the scene when the case was slowly making its way through the courts, and I mean slowly. I got to know him during the biweekly township boaed meetings when the board would go into closed session to talk about the many lawsuits, usually around 10 p.m., and just the diehards were left until the board came back into session. The LaFave offices were right next door to the township offices.

After months and months of delays he won the lawsuit, and the development was built. A few years later I got the opportunity to interview him in his home in the development for a feature story. It was and is the most beautiful home I have ever seen.

He started with one truck hauling gravel. He then took the next step of owning what he was hauling. Since s stone quarry needs to be reclaimed he took the next step of building a marina development, and the first one was in Northville.

With someone like that behind the project, we will finally see a reliable mass transit system in the region. I have heard the plan criticized because taxpayers will have to subsidize the mass transit system.

That argument holds no water when you consider how much tax money is spent on repairing, maintaining and building roads.