UPDATED: May 3, 2008.
NEW:
Members of the Bedford Watch organization and this web site were nominated for the 2008 Citizen of the Year award.
"The group leaders of Bedford Watch organized the community to act during the last six years against building a Wal Mart in Bedford Township. They are model citizens and they deserved to be recognized." To read the latest article from Bedford Now, CLICK HERE.
More than 13,315 people have visited our web site in the past year. There are approximately 31,000 residents in Bedford Township. Thank you. This website is updated continuously. We will keep you posted on any new developments.
Please e-mail us with any questions or concerns. All of our e-mail addresses are located in the light gray area to the right below the links.
Monroe County postpones Rauch Road repair work. To read the latest article from the Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Bedford Township to ask voters to continue 1-mill fire levy. Please continue this levy. Voting takes place on August 25, 2008. To read the latest article from the Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Wal-Mart is allegedly looking at a North Toledo site after it was unable to secure a location in Bedford Township. To read the latest article from the Toledo Free Press, CLICK HERE.
Ball: Wal-Mart is not right for North Towne. To read the latest article from the Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Bedford Township's New Town Hall is open for business. To read the latest article from Monroe News, CLICK HERE.
Burning rules for Bedford Township are modified. To read the latest article from Bedford Now, CLICK HERE.
Bedford Township zoning map now official. For the latest article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Jon Whitman and Whitman Ford are defeated in the Bedford Township lawsuit and Jon Whitman did not appeal the judge's decision. To read the latest article from The Monroe News, CLICK HERE.
Public input prime factor in Wal-Mart controversy. To read the latest article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Judge rules against proposed Wal Mart. To read the latest article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
To read the judge's final decision, CLICK HERE.
If the recently proposed Wal Mart were built in Bedford Township, over 76,000 vehicles per week would have destroyed our nearby roads. To read the traffic study from walmartwatch.com, CLICK HERE.
Bedford Township is one of Toledo's largest suburbs and among the fastest-growing areas of Monroe County. To read the latest article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Bedford Township Board approves a preliminary 147 unit new subdivision at the NW corner of Secor and Smith on 63 acres of land. For more information from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
Two different court cases for Bedford Township recently. They include 2 different judges with 2 different decisions. Developer gets OK for new Bedford Township subdivision. To read the latest article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
The goal of befordwatch.com is to protect the residents of our community. Our members are residents of Bedford Township in Temperance, Michigan that care about the great community in which they live, work and raise their families. Bedfordwatch.com was formed in 2001 as a limited liability corporation after Jon Whitman from Whitman Ford tried to sell 57.8 acres of land that was zoned C-2, C-3 and residentially zoned R-2A to Wal-Mart for millions of dollars in profit, without a care or concern for the infrastructure of the township or his neighbors, some of which would of had a big box store within 60 feet of their property lines.
"Whitman Ford knew that the western portion of their property was zoned residential," said township attorney David Landry. In previous testimony, Jon Whitman, President of Whitman Ford, said his father Paul Whitman, the corporation's former president, did know the western portion was residential. To read the complete article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
During the trial, Mr. Hanson tried to compare a 1,220 square foot established restaurant that was granted C-1 zoning with a 200,000 square foot big box store that would destroy Bedford Township and its infrastructure. The restaurant, at the corner of Sterns and Douglas, has been in operation for many years. But when the owners recently presented plans to expand the facility, it was discovered that the property was still zoned residential. To read the complete article from The Monroe News, CLICK HERE.
Judge strikes accountant's testimony from trial. To read the complete article from The Monroe News, CLICK HERE.
In the court proceedings, David Landry, the attorney representing Bedford Township, said that "he saw no material basis of fact" in any of Whitman Ford's case. To read the complete article from the Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
"A livid residential community." CLICK HERE for a recent article from The Toledo Blade.
During the court proceedings involving Whitman Ford vs. Bedford Township, Jon Whitman claims, "He had no idea" that the site wasn't commercial even though Whitman Ford never paid commercial property taxes for the R2-A disputed area and the Bedford Township Board never rezoned the R2-A land. The Toledo Blade reported that for all seven of the previous rezoning requests, township records show, the western part of the Whitman property was listed as residential R-2A. To read the article from The Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
The zoning of a property cannot be justified by a clerical error. Bedford Now reported on January 12, 2007 that David Landry, attorney for Bedford Township, said "Whitman Ford sought to rezone (57) acres right next to a residential development that had been in existence for 50 years. Every reviewing body in the planning process reviewed the proposal and denied it. Zoning is determined by the board, not by a map."
Property folders identify the exact zoning for a parcel and this property is zoned C-2 and R2-A. Whitman Ford's main building is zoned C-3. To view the Whitman property folder from Bedford Township hall concerning the disputed land, CLICK HERE.
Steve Lennex has the property listed as C-2 only. CLICK HERE to see how he listed this property. His for-sale sign on the south corner of the parcel clearly states the proper zoning- R2-A residential. CLICK HERE to view his sign.
At the trial recently, Steve Lennex said "We were looking for something good for the community...and the big box fit that criteria."
We feel that it might fit someone's wallet a little bit better than it might fit this community. Our township, our infrastructure and our property values would be ruined in the process if the sale of this property goes thru to a big box store. One of the township’s largest subdivisions, Indian Trails, borders this contested land.
Reportedly, Lennex Realty Company stands to make a 10% commission from the 4.5 million-sale price.
In the latest engineering and survey study that was requested and paid for by the Bedford Township Board, Wade Trim and Associates Inc. reported, “The area surrounding the Whitman property is predominately residential, not commercial. The rezoning is incompatible with adjacent residential uses.”
This is the same exact thing that was brought up in court recently by township planning consultant Julie Johnston of Wade Trim and Associates Inc. To read the article from the Toledo Blade, CLICK HERE.
FACT:
We are trying to stop Jon Whitman from destroying over 50 million dollars in property values in a predominately zoned R2-A residential neighborhood that surrounds the proposed Wal Mart. We also do not want a Wal Mart to destroy the infrastructure of Bedford Township at our expense.
The tax base from a new 20 million dollar Wal Mart store would only generate $1.99 per resident per year. Would you trade a loss of millions of dollars in property values and the destruction of Bedford Township for $1.99 in yearly tax revenue from Wal Mart? If you are convinced that a Wal Wart would be great for this community, then take one minute and read this study.
We do not have anything against someone selling a piece of property for millions of dollars in profit. However, we do have something against a 203,819 square foot big box store located in a R-2A residentially zoned neighborhood.
National estimates indicate that almost 1 million criminal/police incidents occurred at Wal Mart stores in 2004 – or 2 criminal/police incidents per minute in 2004. "A quick search of reported cases reveals that Wal Mart parking lots are a virtual magnet for crime.” This is a quote from Judge L. Starcher. To view the article, CLICK HERE.
To read the complete 29 page report "CRIME AND WAL MART- IS WAL MART SAFE?" - CLICK HERE.
Bedfordwatch.com did a study on the amount of crime that Wal Mart brings to an area. The Sylvania Township Police Department provided us with police reports on the nearest Wal Mart on Central Avenue in Toledo (10 miles away from the proposed Wal Mart at Lewis and Sterns). In about a 2 ½ year period, Wal Mart had 646 crime reports at the Central Avenue location. It takes approximately 1½ to 5 hours to process each crime report according to the Sylvania Township Police Department. This includes paperwork and arresting certain individuals. Some of the crimes included: forgery, passing bad checks, felony, grand theft and shoplifting. Bedford Township presently has 6 full-time police officers with an additional 4 officers joining the force sometime around January 1, 2007. We do have a police log of the crimes committed at Wal Mart from the Sylvania Township Police Department and we will be happy to share this information with you.
FACT:
Jon Whitman has 8.49 acres of C-3 commercial land at 7555 Lewis Avenue in Temperance, Michigan. Wal Mart will not build a store on 8.49 acres of land without ample room for parking. They must get the other 25 acres of residential land rezoned to commercial for parking. Jon Whitman knows this and so do we.
FACT:
Bedford Township’s master plan "recognizes the city of Toledo, Ohio as a business center serving both the local customer population and sub regional market base. This plan also encourages commercial development to locations where compact and coordinated development can occur without impacting residential land uses." The Bedford Township Master Plan is available at Bedford Township Hall.
JUDGE DENIES INTERVENTION IN WAL MART-WHITMAN LAWSUIT.
In a recent article from the Monroe News, Thomas Hanson, the Ann Arbor-based attorney representing Mr. Whitman, objected to bedfordwatch.com members or adjacent property owners from joining the lawsuit as a third party. "This lawsuit has been pending since 2004. It's been well publicized. They certainly knew about the lawsuit. If they wanted to intervene the time has long passed. Now, 13 days before the trial they are saying they want to be a part of it?" Mr. Hanson said.
Mr. Hanson, we are fully aware of the fact that the lawsuit has been well publicized between Whitman Ford and Bedford Township since 2004. However, this Wal Mart "deal" was done behind closed doors and was not publicized until October 24, 2006 at Bedford High School. According to our calendar, that is only 7 weeks before trial (October 24-December 11). CLICK HERE to read the latest article from the Monroe News.
After bedforwatch.com members were denied intervention, a new court date was set. This is not the first time that this lawsuit has been delayed. CLICK HERE to read the case register of actions on this lawsuit.
The Bedford Township board members are (click on their name to write them a letter):
Walt Wilburn, Supervisor
Bob Schockman, Clerk
Sherri S. Meyer, Treasurer
Larry O'Dell, Trustee
Rick Steiner, Trustee
Dennis Steinman, Trustee
Paul Francis, Trustee
San Diego, California is successful in limiting the size of big box stores. CLICK HERE to read this new story.
RECENT NEWS:
THE INITIAL WAL MART DEAL WAS DEFEATED 5-0 BY TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
CLICK HERE for the latest article from The Toledo Blade.
CLICK HERE to view the Whitman Ford vs. Township of Bedford lawsuit.
CLICK HERE to view the Bedford Township answer to the lawsuit.
We would like to thank the Bedford Township Board members for unanimously voting to deny any settlement of the proposed Wal Mart deal with Jon Whitman on November 14, 2006. We would also like to thank the Bedford Township residents and Local 14, who strongly voiced their opinions against the proposed Wal Mart in Bedford Township.
RECENT NEWS:
On November 22, 2006, three of the bedfordwatch.com members received another anonymous letter. Although we do not know if all of the allegations contained in this letter are correct, we felt that we should share this letter with you. The first anonymous letter that we received on October 9, 2006 did contain many accurate statements.
On November 14, 2006, Paul Francis said “I have been advised by our legal counsel that I do not have a legal conflict of interest in the Whitman lawsuit matter. The state of Michigan defines a legal conflict of interest as having a pecuniary or financial interest in the issue to be considered by the board. For the record, I do not have nor have I ever had any financial interest in the Whitman Ford Company or in any properties owned by the Whitman family.”
If we find out that Mr. Francis does have a business relationship with Jon Whitman, including monetary gain thru being his accountant or CPA, we will report this to you and find out from legal counsel what our next step should be. All we can do is ask the right questions and hopefully find truthful answers. Opinions or false allegations do not mean a thing to us, facts do. Facts have merit in a court of law. Opinions are what you will find in the editorial page of the local newspaper. CLICK HERE to read this new letter.
We appreciate the fact that Paul Francis, a new trustee, abstained from voting involving the Whitman proposal. The Toledo Blade recently reported that Paul Francis, a cousin of Jon Whitman, has received political contributions from the Whitman’s. We trust that Mr. Francis will continue to abstain from voting on this issue in the future. On November 14, 2006 we presented Paul Francis and the township board members with 500 letters from residents against the settlement and over 1,000 petitions that show we do not want a Wal Mart in Bedford Township. CLICK HERE to read this very important comprehensive article from The Toledo Blade.
FACT:
According to Sylvania Township Police, in about the past 2½ years, the closest Wal Mart on Central Ave. had 646 crimes. There is no possible way that the current police department could handle the overflow of calls from a Wal Mart, so a new Police department would have to be created, at the cost of Bedford Township taxpayers.
We would like to thank walmartwatch.com who is giving this issue in Bedford Township national attention.
VIEW THE LINK TO WALMARTWATCH.COM
We like to thank all of the members of this community who have donated money. Bedfordwatch.com members are in the process of choosing the best land use attorney available and we still need more donations. Please continue to help us protect your community and donate. Make all checks payable to: bedfordwatch.com CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Donations are being accepted to receive a yard sign, just click on this link and e-mail us your name and number: YARD SIGN.
RECENT NEWS:
After a recent meeting with a land use lawyer, one of the things that bedfordwatch.com members were informed of by legal counsel is “If you do not feel that a township board member is representing your best interests as a community, you can proceed with a petition recall to remove that individual from office.” To learn more about what a petition recall is, click on this link: Recall Procedures
On Sunday October 29, 2006, we received hundreds of e-mails from the residents of Bedford Township and the members of bedfordwatch.com as to when exactly the Bedford Township Board members found out about this proposal. We do not know the exact answer to that question yet.
Here is what we do know:
Someone sent an anonymous letter (click on "anonymous letter" to read the letter) in the mail to Judy (a bedfordwatch.com board member) on Monday October 9, 2006. Bedford Township officials informed bedfordwatch.com on October 13, 2006 that a township meeting was going to take place discussing this proposal. Walt Wilburn gave the first public knowledge of this proposal at the close of the Bedford Township Board meeting on October 17, 2006.
The Monroe News on Sunday, October 29, 2006 reported, "Supervisor Walt Wilburn and Trustee Dennis Steinman have been integral in planning the proposed store, Mr. Whitman said, adding that Trustees Larry O'Dell and Paul Francis also have attended meetings that were held at township attorney offices in Monroe where the proposed settlement was hammered out during the past several months."
FACTS CONCERNING THE COMMERCIAL ZONING FROM BEDFORD TOWNSHIP:
“David Landry said at the meeting that the Whitman property is already zoned commercial and they could build a Wal Mart store there right now. To be exact, the C-3 land compiles 8.49 acres of land. Technically speaking, they could build a Wal Mart on this property as it sits, but in reality, there would be no room for parking in the front. Wal Mart would never build a 200,000 square foot store that way. So technically yes, in reality- no. That is why they need the R2-A residential property rezoned.”
FACTS CONCERNING THE ZONING MAP FROM BEDFORD TOWNSHIP:
“The zoning map itself does not entirely control the zoning; the zoning ordinance controls the zoning. When they updated the Bedford Township zoning map, The Monroe County Planning Commission erroneously depicted the R2-A land behind Whitman Ford as C-2. Bedford Township noticed that it should have been R2-A and changed it back to R2-A on the map. Whitman Ford never paid additional taxes because of this erroneous zoning map mistake that was made by the Monroe County Planning Commission. To find out the history of the property taxes paid on this property, file a freedom of information form at the township hall and request the tax history on this property.”
Consider for one moment what this proposed 203,819 big box store would do to our lives. First and foremost, our property values would decrease and our residential neighborhood would be destroyed. Many local stores would be forced to close. According to "60 Minutes" on CBS, every time a Wal-Mart store comes to town, it causes over 100 local stores to close. A big box store would generate traffic and congestion that would require additional fire and police protection. Thousands of additional vehicles every week would put an even bigger toll on our roads. Our roads would be heavily damaged and paid for once again by the Bedford Township taxpayers. Semi delivery trucks on the service drives near our back yards would give us a 4 am wake up call. Round the clock garbage and snow removal. Our sewer systems would become over worked trying to collect over 2 square miles of water after a rainfall. Proposed lighting would turn our bedrooms into 24 hour reading galleries and there would be increased crime in our neighborhood.
Would you want this in your back yard?
