What cost for city to hit green?

Mich., has some residents teed off

10:05 AM CDT, May 18, 2008

BENTON HARBOR, Mich.—The seeds of a

Lazarus-like resurrection are being planted in

fairways and putting greens, spread across

land that holds the industrial residue of a

bygone era--arsenic, chromium, radium and

other toxic chemicals.

Far from the natural splendor of Augusta,

Pebble Beach and Pinehurst, one of the most

troubled cities in the Midwest—Benton

Harbor—is turning a good chunk of its real

estate and part of its environmental heritage over to

of attracting affluent people who ordinarily wouldn't give a first

thought to visiting this town about 90 miles east of Chicago.

But there are serious obstacles on the seventh, eighth and

ninth holes, the most beautiful on the course, and they form

the heart of a controversy in this economically depressed Lake

Michigan town where the most significant events of the past

four decades have been riots, job losses and a population

exodus.

The point of contention is lakefront parkland donated to the

city 91 years ago by the parents of a child who died in infancy.

Jean Klock Park, with a half-mile of lake shore, was dedicated

by John and Carrie Klock in 1917. "The beach is yours, the

drive is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours," John Klock said

at the dedication ceremony, adding that the deed "will live

forever."

Parts of those three holes—about 22 acres, including sand dunes

overlooking Lake Michigan—would be on parkland. At issue is

turning over the land to developers and the extent to which the

people of Benton Harbor, where the annual per capita income

is about $8,900 and poverty is chronic, would benefit from a

public golf course that charges about $175 to play 18 holes.

Leon Williams, who runs a downtown barbershop near City Hall,

says little will trickle down to people like him.

"The rich will get richer while the poor will get poorer," Williams

said, adding that he doubts he would ever be able to afford to

play the course.

Other opponents of the project warn that turning over prime

Lake Michigan public land for a golf course, even in the name

of economic development, threatens the integrity of land

donations made years ago.

"Forever is forever," said Julie Weiss, one of the leading local

critics of the project.

The golf course is the linchpin of a $500 million project that

includes 800-plus homes, a marina, retail shops and a golf

academy. It would redefine Benton Harbor physically and

economically.

Mayor, council supportive Supporters, including Benton

Michigan argue the project may be the best--and perhaps the

last--chance to revive a sagging city where 40 percent of the

population and more than half of its children live in poverty.

John and Carrie Klock, supporters argue, would certainly

endorse using a portion of the park for golf, especially if it

means a doubling of Benton Harbor's tax base. The state has

offered an incentive package of $120 million to build the

project.

founder, said the golf course "triggers everything else. It

changes the landscape in a positive way and helps the city out

in terms of tax revenue."

"It will make us a tourist magnet and turn a corner for Benton

Harbor, a city that has languished for the past number of

decades," said Upton, who lives in neighboring St. Joseph, just

a short walk to the golf course.

Golfing great Jack Nicklaus visits Benton Harbor regularly to

inspect progress on the course that squiggles its way through

trees, wetlands, old industrial land and still-standing factories.

But work on holes 7, 8 and 9 has yet to begin because of the

parkland controversy.

In October, the National Park Service blocked use of the

parkland, saying land offered in exchange for the 22 acres

does not have "clear and immediate public access." The Park

Service ruling is being appealed, and the fate of the

project--and, as some argue, the future of Benton Harbor—may

hinge on that decision.

Jean Klock Park is sparsely used today and, even with its

natural beauty, it is in great need of maintenance. Sand has

accumulated above the seats of park benches, bolstering the

argument of developers that the land should be used to benefit

the economy of Benton Harbor.

Development controversies almost always turn on

environmental concerns and issues of economic benefits, and

in that regard the spat over the so-called Harbor Shores

development is no different.

Uneasy neighbors But poor and nearly all-black Benton Harbor,

with 11,000 people, is one-half of a combustible twin cities with

affluent and nearly all-white St. Joseph, population 8,600,

where per capita income is nearly three times that of Benton

Harbor. They are communities separated by the St. Joseph

River but joined by a history of distrust, racial animosity and

perpetual suspicion.

Five years ago in June, Benton Harbor erupted into two days

of rioting after a black youth was killed in a police chase. It

was the latest of a series of disturbances stretching back to

the 1960s, when the city began spiraling into industrial decay

while St. Joseph thrived with development and tourist trade.

Some of the resistance to the Harbor Shores project is rooted

in resentment toward people who live in St. Joseph, because

they would be much more able and likely to play the Nicklaus

course than would their neighbors on the other side of the

river.

"I see jobs like cleaning toilets, picking up trash, general

landscaping," said Juanita Henry, a Benton Harbor city

commissioner. "I don't see anything coming out of this for the

city and definitely not for the citizens."

In exchange for the parkland, developers have offered 38

acres of non-lake shore land to the city, and portions of it are

contaminated.

One site on the Paw Paw River is home to a pile of discarded

tires, trash bags and an orange recliner. While developers

have pledged $1.5 million for environmental cleanup, the

condition of some of the land reinforces the belief of critics

that this is a deal that should not be made.

"Would you build Pebble Beach without an ocean?" asked Ron

Eng, director of marketing and sales for Harbor Shores Resort.

What happens if the parkland is not part of the deal? "It would

probably kill the deal," Upton said.