The story of the Sterling Oak attracted the attention of a local TV reporter for WXYZ Channel 7 with comments from residents. Watch the piece below:

The website story appears here: Sterling Heights Residents Hope To Save 250 Year-Old Tree From Being Cut Down (archive)

Sterling Heights repeats 8-acre preservation falsehood

It is one thing to make a mistake, to have a misunderstanding. But after many residents have repeatedly called out this deception, going back to the very vote and presentation on the development, Sterling Heights regurgitated the statement to the media. It is simply not true.

“This development includes 10.5 acres, of which eight acres will be preserved as open space. The two acres being developed will be along the roadway, which is mostly void of trees.” – City of Sterling Heights to WXYZ, April 14, 2025

In our previous post, we showed how the “2 acres” aren’t only 2 acres because of the extensive cut and fill operations needed to develop the floodplain and raise the building. We also showed how the State of Michigan already preserves the roughly 4 acres of land along the river in the regulatory floodway.

The “mostly void of trees” includes 14 landmark trees. There are 6 wetlands there. There is a grassy area because … the city continually mows it.

The City’s own consultant, HRC, presented a slide in advance of the vote on August 7, 2024, showing that 8 acres are NOT being preserved. The grey-shaded area will be destroyed and clearcut. The area of “Floodplain Restoration” will be completely clearcut and compacted by construction earthmovers to dig a giant ditch to restore the floodplain capacity taken up by the building.

Wetland Destruction

Something HRC did not mention, however, is shown, but not labeled on their slide. The dashed areas inside the property boundary are the wetlands previously identified in the surveys. (Link to EGLE document) These were also noted in the property timeline on our site but conveniently omitted from city development presentations. You can see that the bulk of the wetlands will also be destroyed if this project moves forward. HRC is a major contractor for many city engineering projects.

So, why would the City of Sterling Heights continue to make statements about 8 acres of preservation, ignore the wetlands, and only note that the area is “mostly void of trees”? The City’s proposed update to the Master Plan – a nice document overall- has the following as the very first objective under Environmental Stewardship:

This project is contrary to ALL of those goals. Here, we can preserve a keystone species like the Sterling Oak, which enhances biodiversity more than other tree species, protect the existing tree canopy with 14 landmark trees, and NOT destroy 6 wetlands.

North Van Dyke Master Plan

The City of Sterling Heights also mentions to WXYZ in the piece:

“Smart Growth initiatives centered on sustainability have enabled the City to revitalize areas like North Van Dyke and the former Lakeside Mall with projects that are far more environmentally friendly then when first developed years ago.

The Master Plan for North Van Dyke was developed after significant public input to revitalize an area that has been experiencing vacancies and varying degrees of blight for many years.“

North Van Dyke already has an environmentally friendly place, one of the few in the district, where the Sterling Oak lives. One of the first comments you see from the public input when looking at the North Van Dyke Master Plan is this:

Public input into the North Van Dyke Master plan called for tree preservation and protection of this area as well as creating park space. Using this area for a park was also presented as an option, with cautions about development in the floodplain.

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The City of Sterling Heights really got it wrong with this one, and it doesn’t help to continue trying to deceive the public with doublespeak and falsehoods. The Pathways to Play and Preservation millage passed by a slim margin last year. If this is the City’s representation of “preservation,” maybe the residents should be concerned about how much preservation will actually take place.

This isn’t about the patronizing “change can be difficult.” Municipal planning does require balance. Sterling Heights is supposedly trying to correct a lack of balance by focusing more on sustainability efforts, planting trees where they’ve been destroyed by overdevelopment for decades, contributing to the overall low canopy and high impervious surfaces across the entire City.

Tree planting means nothing if you can’t protect the historic trees you already have. This project isn’t about balance, it’s about respecting natural assets the City supposedly cares about — writes fancy documents about — living keystone species likely here in the times of Native Americans, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

Indeed, change can be difficult. Swallowing lies and propaganda is much harder.