(Lakeside, MI) - Victory has been claimed, at least for now, in a nearly one year effort to stop new housing from going up at Lakeside Woods.

 

Developer Curtis McDonald, who owns the 16 acre undeveloped parcel containing wetlands, has tentatively agreed to sell the land to the group, Lakeside Neighbors Against Development (LNAD).

 

“We are so grateful to Curtis and his team for sharing our conservation vision,” said Barry Friedland, Communication and Marketing Officer for LNAG.

 

LNAD now has six months to raise $1.3 million for acquiring the property at Lakeside Road and Warren Woods Road.

 

“We’ve received pledges for $300,000, which already puts us at nearly a quarter of our goal,” said Tom Gold, president of the LNAD board.

 

Once the land has been purchased, Friedland said the intent is to donate the land to a local and respected conservation group that preserves green spaces ranging from beaches to farmland in southwest Michigan.

 

The effort to save Lakeside Woods was in response to plans by McDonald to construct 18 “tiny homes” on the property consisting of 12 acres of wetlands along with thousands of species, including the endangered Indiana bat, LNAD officials said.  Native species at the site include spotted turtles, tree frogs and snakes like the eastern Massasauga.

 

In addition, Lakeside Woods is a water source for the Great Blue Heron and migrating Sandhill Cranes, said Donna DePaolo, a founding member and vice-president of LNAD.  DePaolo said the site is also home to nesting Indiana bats, whose estimated total numbers have dropped by more than 50 percent over the past 10 years.  The mosquito eating Indiana bat is listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

“A 50 percent decline is staggering, making protecting and saving Lakeside Woods, its wetlands and the species that depend on them even more urgent,” DePaolo said.

 

Another reason cited for wanting to preserve the land is eliminating issues with population and density that occur from actions like placing homes on traditionally one home lots.  LNAD officials said such a development at Lakeside Woods would go against the “spirit” of the community and the surrounding rural area.   

 

“It’s also a fight against overdevelopment of green spaces,” Gold said.

 

People wanting to donate can do so at SaveLakesideWoods.com.