Residents living near a home on Waldon Road, that they say has a motor cross course in the backyard, asked the Orion Township Board of Trustees for help on Feb. 7, but were told that the township has no ordinance governing that type of property use.
Bill Hadden told the board that his Waldon Road neighbor, Jeremy Kolewski, had on-going construction of a ‘dramatic? motor cross course going on in his backyard, since last May, featuring ‘extremely high hills of dirt that serve as a landing pad for jumps off a very large wooden jumping ramp.?
Hadden said he, and some of his other neighbors, were concerned about both their children’s safety and their property values.
He said that boulders, supporting three elevated and ‘awkwardly placed? pine trees, had been placed in the yard in an attempt to conceal the course at the west end of Richards Way, a dead end street.
‘The image created by these objects and activities have ‘artificially? altered the natural beauty of this area,? Hadden said. ‘This has created an aesthetic risk to the value of homes in the immediate surrounding area, and a safety risk, particularly for young children, in the neighborhood.?
Hadden also complained that Kolewski road recreational motorcycles and ATVs, resulting in the emission of gas and oil fumes, altering the quality of the air. He said the riding also generated clouds of dust and created excessive noise.
‘Imagine you had a nice, quiet neighborhood and home, and then this started going on next to you,? he said.
?(Kolewski) is suspected of operating a commercial landscape company from the residence,? Hadden said. ‘Along with the confirmed parking of commercial landscaping equipment on a discretionary basis. This also provides an unsightly view that detracts from the physical attributes and equity of the property (of nearby homes in the Baldwin Woods Subdivision).
‘I don’t begrudge Jeremy his property rights to enjoy his land,? Hadden said. ‘But there has to be an equitable solution…We asked him to move the dirt pile so it’s not 20 feet from my home. It’s three acres, there’s gotta be someplace else to move it.
‘If a motorcycle lost control…something very dangerous and tragic could happen,? Hadden said.
Kolewski said he purchased the home because it was on three and a half acres, and said he was not trying to create a motor cross course, but just a single jump.
‘I enjoy riding ATVs,? he said. ‘I don’t feel the use has been excessive or a nuisance…I put blue spruces and boulders there for privacy.?
Kolewski said there had been ‘numerous incidents? where he’d found neighborhood children on his private property.
‘Where are the parents?? he asked, adding that he would put up no trespassing signs if he had to. ‘The recreational vehicles I use are no more harmful to the environment than a weed wacker or any other power tool.?
Kolewski said he does run a landscaping company, and that vehicles were only parked at his home when he was using them.
‘I do not store any equipment at my home address,? he said.
Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk noted that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department had been called about the situation, as well as building official Tom Berger.
‘No violations could be found,? he said. ‘There is no nuisance ordinance, so there’s little we can do.?
Trustee Michael Gingell said he could understand the safety concerns, but he could also understand the reasons Kolewski purchased his property.
‘Right now, we have nothing to regulate this,? he said. ‘We could decide if we wanted to make an ordinance (as the township did with bow hunting), but I’m not sure at this point that’s the best solution.?
‘We don’t have the authority to say ‘move a hill,?? Dywasuk said.
Trustee Matthew Gibb recommended the neighbors and Kolewski go through a mediation process to resolve the issue. Both sides said they would be willing to do that.
‘It opens up too broad of a spectrum of things (the township) has to regulate (if the township steps in),? Gibb said.