NEW BALTIMORE, Mich. – A neighborhood in New Baltimore is dreading the next big storm. The neighborhood has been flooded repeatedly, and the residents believe a construction project on a wetlands area right next to their street is to blame.
We first talked with the community in Macomb County about a year ago, when construction was just beginning on a condominium project on the wetlands. The condo project was approved by state (EGLE) and city officials.
Several neighbors who’d lived on Woodland Drive for decades told Local 4 that it was rare for their community to flood. But just last month, a storm engulfed the area in water, flooding backyards.
And five months before that, in August of last year, a significant storm left residents wading through their homes in ankle-deep water. Backyards were underwater; property was damaged.
The Woodland Drive neighborhood is right next to one of Michigan’s last remaining wetlands areas, part of which was cleared for the condo project.
Neighbors say that the construction project is the cause of their flooding.
In 2023, flooded resident Jen Mohr said, “What the heck, they let them raise this land up. This is why we’re having this problem. They diverted the water.” That was six months ago.
And now, with the wetlands area directly next to her family’s home having been stripped of trees and other plants, Mohr said, “With the amount of trees that are missing on here and the amount of brush they have taken down every cattail every everything that grows back there helps keep us from flooding.”
Mohr isn’t alone. Other neighbors have been taking photos and documenting the stripping of the former wetlands adjacent to their street.
“With spring coming, there’s going to be a lot of more flooding because the rain is really heavy in this area,” said New Baltimore resident Angela Fresh, adding, “With this land being cleared now, there’s a potential for a really huge disaster because there’s no trees and there’s no ground even holding back any of this water because it’s all dirt it’s just gonna come flooding over here.”
In an email, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy told Local 4 that the construction project is “In compliance with EGLE regulations as of last week.”
On Monday, Local 4 producers visited the former wetlands site and discovered a single pine tree had been spared on the construction site.
Roger Hyde, attorney for Nardone Homes, the condo project builder, sent Local 4 an email Tuesday morning, saying, in part, “The residents complaining about tree removal are misleading you.”
The attorney shared emails demonstrating that the city of New Baltimore has a “Tree Preservation Plan” for the construction project, put together by outside consultants.
In response to our questions, the city of New Baltimore said it is monitoring the construction site with routine city inspections and is in constant communication with Macomb County Soil Erosion and Drain Commissions, as well as EGLE.
Regarding its Tree Preservation Plan with Nardone Homes, the city said, in part, that the plan requires the builder to “replant approximately 40 trees on the site.”