By a narrow margin, Weiming Education Group, a private company based in the People’s Republic of China, cleared the first hurdle in the process to construct a housing facility for international students in Oxford Township.
Last week, the planning commission voted 4-3 to grant preliminary site plan approval for a proposed two-story, 55,377-square-foot dormitory on a 2.71-acre site, owned by OXI, LLC, on Market St., just east of M-24 and west of Oxford High School.
A laundry list of conditions was attached to the approval. These must be met in order to potentially gain final site plan approval.
Voting to approve the preliminary site plan were commissioners Jack Curtis, Tom Berger, Ed Hunwick and Chairman Todd Bell.
Voting against it were commissioners Mike Young, Mike Spisz and Kallie Roesner-Meyers.
The proposed facility, which would be constructed, owned and operated by Weiming, would contain 104 dorm rooms, each containing 120 square feet of space and capable of housing two international students for a total of 208.
Weiming has a 20-year deal with the school district through which Oxford has agreed to educate international students brought here.
Oxford Superintendent Dr. William Skilling told the commission ‘most of the students will be from China,? however, rooms will be available for students from other countries. For example, he noted the district expects students from its sister schools in Mexico to stay there.
Skilling noted the students will all be high school juniors and seniors, age 16-18.
The question of liability for these students was raised during the meeting.
‘We do not have responsibility for the safety of the students after-hours,? Skilling explained. ‘Our responsibility is during the school day as it is with any student in our building. But they (Weiming) have the guardianship and they have the responsibility for after-hours just like parents would have responsibility for their children. We do not have responsibility for the students after school hours unless they’re involved in (a) school activity at school.?
The proposed dorm also contains eight rooms for resident assistants/teachers, eight classrooms capable of accommodating 30 students each, a cafeteria that’s nearly 4,000 square feet in size and student common areas. The grounds include a volleyball court, basketball half-court and outdoor patio space.
According to Skilling, the dorm’s classrooms would be ‘Oxford classrooms.?
‘That’s in our agreement (with Weiming),? he said. ‘This campus here is going to be predominantly (for) our college classes as well as our virtual classes.?
During the discussion regarding the preliminary site plan, a number of issues were raised by the township’s consultants and planning commissioners.
Potential contamination?
Commissioner Curtis raised the issue of potential contamination on the site for the proposed dorm.
‘Many of us believe there’s some bad soil in there,? he said. ‘We know what was dumped in there years ago. We know it was a dump. We know that there were things dumped in there and believe there could be some bad soil.?
Given this, Curtis requested the township be provided a copy of environmental testing results.
‘The current landowner is doing some environmental testing out there,? said Jim Butler, president of the Troy-based Professional Engineering Associates, a firm working on the Weiming dorm project. ‘I can’t speak for them. I don’t represent them, but I will ask them if it’s in their interest to release that information.?
‘It’s in (the township’s) interest,? Curtis replied.
Providing those test results was made a condition of preliminary site plan approval.
‘We all know something is there,? Curtis said.
This reporter contacted Larry Lax, a representative for OXI, LLC, and he confirmed environmental testing is being conducted on the site.
‘We think whatever it is (there) is very minor,? he said. ‘But we are confirming everything. (Results) should be back shortly. We don’t think it’s a major problem at all.?
Lax explained for many years, the site was used by American Aggregates, which partnered with OXI to develop Waterstone, to process sand and gravel. It also used to contain a roundhouse, a building used by railroads for servicing trains.
It’s his understanding there are things such as railroad ties and ‘some concrete debris? on the site, but nothing of a chemical nature. ‘Not to my knowledge,? Lax said. ‘If there is, it’s minor.?
Lax said the environmental testing is part of ‘our typical confirmation to make sure (the site’s) clean and whatever we feel might be minor is taken care of so the building can proceed.?
Where is everyone going to park?
The proposed site plan shows 46 on-site parking spaces.
Township Planner Brian Oppmann, of the Ann Arbor-based Carlisle/Wortman Associates, expressed his concern this amount wasn’t adequate given the school district’s original plans for this facility.
‘It’s our understanding this (facility) would be used for community education at night and outside of normal 8-5 (hours). That’s pretty common in every school district,? he said. ‘Now, maybe (the classrooms) won’t all be used at once, but you’re only providing (46) spaces on the site. I think that’s very problematic.?
At a public forum held in October, Skilling told the crowd the additional classroom space could be used ‘after hours? to ‘house Chinese language and culture classes that will be open to students and the public.?
If that happened, Oppmann feared the lack of parking would ‘become a real issue for those neighboring business owners on Market St.?
‘I imagine that’s going to create a major problem, especially at night,? he said.
The preliminary site plan called for the use of 50-plus parking spaces at OHS for the dormitory. But Oppmann said these spaces can’t be counted as dormitory parking because the high school is 1,500 feet away ‘as the crow flies? and there’s no access except for a two-track path across another piece of property between OHS and the proposed dorm site.
‘You can’t expect somebody to realistically walk through a field from the high school to get down there, especially when there’s no holes in the fence to really do it. Or if there is, it’s not very easy to access,? he said. ‘Our ordinance allows for off-site parking within 500 feet of the site, provided it’s adjacent to the site and there (are) cross-access easements and agreements made with those various (property) owners.?
But it appears Oppmann’s concern about parking motivated the school district to change its plans for the proposed dormitory.
‘The school board has committed that community education will not take place in this facility. It will happen at the high school,? said Stephen Foster, from the Lake Orion-based Stephen Auger & Associates Architects, the firm that drafted the dorm plans. ‘There won’t be evening parking (at) this facility.?
This was confirmed by Skilling.
‘Recently, we decided not to have the community events here because of the parking,? he told the commission. ‘We saw that being a potential parking issue.?
‘The community classes can be held right at the high school,? Skilling said. ‘As it is now, the Chinese festivals are held at the high school anyway.?
All this was news to Oppmann.
‘Initially, in early discussions, we heard that there was going to be community education. Now, they’re saying tonight that there’s not,? he said. ‘If that’s the case, that needs to be a condition if this project is ever approved because that, I think, is the elephant that will really mess up this site with (regard to) parking and the circulation.?
Oppmann was glad to hear community education had been eliminated from the proposed uses for the facility because ‘that clears up a lot of concern,? however, he was still worried that a few superintendents from now, the policy could be changed, allowing for community education or other functions at night.
‘They could still have a dance or anything that could really, again, impact parking and the adjacent developments,? he said.
Skilling indicated the district’s willingness to put something in writing.
‘We can put that into an agreement or whatever sort of formal document that says there will be no community activities held in the facility,? he said. ‘We changed that because it would require too much parking. We wouldn’t have enough parking based on what your requirements are. So, we can put something in writing on that or whatever we need to do.?
The planning commission took Oppmann’s concern to heart and made the exclusion of ‘community education classroom activities? at the facility a condition of preliminary site plan approval.
‘How do we confirm that condition? I trust, but I like to verify certain things,? said Commissioner Spisz. ‘Who’s going to police it, is really my question. How are we going to know that never happens??
Bell said it would become an ‘enforcement issue? for the township to handle.
Questions were also raised as to whether or not the proposed dorm site would have adequate parking to accommodate OHS students who come to visit the international students.
‘There’s 200 students that are going to be in this facility,? Oppmann said. ‘That’s a lot kids that could potentially have visitors and that’s a lot of cars.?
No cars, no bicycles
School officials told the planning commission the international students living in the dorm will not be allowed to drive or have motor vehicles. They won’t have driver’s licenses, either.
‘None of the kids will have cars,? said OHS Principal Todd Dunckley.
‘In our agreements, we don’t allow students to drive cars because there’s too much liability,? Skilling said. ‘We have the contract with Weiming . . . so, they will not have cars. We don’t allow it.?
One of the conditions of the preliminary site plan approval was a prohibition on resident students driving, owning and parking vehicles at the dormitory site.
Spisz raised the issue of the students and bicycles.
‘Knowing that a lot of the international students like to bike, I’m assuming there are going to be a lot of pedal bikes at this location,? he said. ‘And I didn’t see anything on the plan for bike parking or bike racks or any of that . . . Knowing some of the Chinese culture like I do, they do like to bike.?
‘That’s a real generalization,? replied Skilling. ‘If you’re in Chongqing, they don’t ride bikes. If you’re in Beijing, yes. It depends on the topography. But no, there’s no plans or provision for biking. We don’t see any need for biking and we don’t have a provision for it. We won’t have bikes.?
‘We wouldn’t even have a place to put bikes. There’s no place to store bikes,? he noted.
Going back and forth
School officials said students would travel back and forth between the proposed dorm and the high school via a safety path that’s going to be constructed between the two facilities.
Dunckley told commissioners ‘it’s a walking situation we’re planning right now.?
‘Busing would only occur when there is really tough weather,? he said.
The path would be used during the day by students going back and forth between classes and at night, when they are returning to the dorm from school events such as football games and dances, according to Dunckley. ‘It’s going to be a lit path through there,? he said.
Because it would have to cross part of the 56.48-acre property owned by Burton-Katzman, Skilling said they’ve met with the Bingham Farms-based development company and it’s his understanding ‘we’re going to have a safety path.?
This path was news to planning commissioners, particularly Roesner-Meyers.
She serves on the township’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), which on Feb. 9, granted a setback variance for the residential development Burton-Katzman is proposing to build on its property near the high school.
Burton-Katzman has preliminary site plan approval to build 120 townhouse (condo) units and 240 apartment units on its site.
Plans shown to the ZBA contained no walking path, according to Roesner-Meyers.
‘That’s all greenbelt. There’s no walkway,? she said. ‘We were told that nobody would be going back and forth through there.?
In response, Skilling said, ‘What we heard tonight is different than what we’ve discussed with Burton-Katzman. We need to get clarification on that.?
‘I heard, tonight, from a commissioner for the first time that we’re not going to be able to have a pedestrian walkway through (there),? Skilling noted.
The superintendent indicated if this safety path doesn’t come to fruition, ‘we’re going to have to do all busing.?
‘If we are not able to work out something with Burton-Katzman, then we will have to always bus (students to and from the dormitory),? Skilling said. ‘If we can’t have pedestrian access, we’re going to have to bus three times a day. If we can have pedestrian access, then when the weather’s bad, we will bus on those days.?
This reporter contacted Charles DiMaggio, senior vice president of project development for Burton Katzman, and with regard to a safety path, he said, ‘We have not agreed to that.?
‘As part of our (preliminary) site plan approval, we made it clear to the planning commission that we were not going to permit a safety path through our property,? DiMaggio said. ‘We’ve made it pretty clear that we’re not going to allow a safety path for a number of reasons through our property.?
DiMaggio said one of Burton-Katzman’s concerns is if a safety path is installed, Market St. could be used as a ‘shortcut? for dropping off and picking up high school students, and ‘we’ll have a lot of high schoolers coming through the project.?
‘That’s a big concern for us,? he said. ‘We are not planning on any safety path.?
One of the conditions of the preliminary site plan approval was confirmation as to whether the international students would be bused to and from OHS or use a pedestrian path created through an agreement with Burton-Katzman.
Going to town
Residents Larry Roesner and Andy Clark expressed their concern over how the international students would be able to safely travel to downtown Oxford without a vehicle and without a safety path along M-24.
‘They’re going to be wanting to go to town. And that’s a dangerous road,? Roesner said. ‘I think it’s unrealistic to think that 200 people of that age aren’t going to go to town.?
Clark said it’s ‘absolutely miserable? for pedestrians trying to safely go from Waterstone to the downtown area.
‘I’m an avid cyclist of 20 years,? Clark said. ‘I will not ride on Lapeer (Road), period. You will not see me out there.?
Chairman Bell explained the township has been trying to get a safety path built along the west side of M-24, from Market St. to the village limits, but the project hit a snag because they’ve been unable to obtain all the necessary easements from property owners.
‘We have a property owner that we can’t find,? he said. ‘For three years, we’ve been sending him registered letters, trying to track him down at his own house. We even made an offer on the property just to see if we could flush him out and we couldn’t. That’s the only holdup to finish that safety path from Market St. to the village limits. We’re close, but we just can’t get that last (easement).?
The property in question is located just south of The Burning Oak Smoke House.
Township Engineer Jim Sharpe noted the Market St. safety path project is ‘actually out for bid right now.?
Safety inside the dorm
Clark inquired as to what measures would be taken to ensure the proposed dorm would be safe and secure for its residents.
‘These are minors,? he said.
Skilling indicated each residential wing of the dorm would have a resident assistant living there to oversee things and the facility would have interior and exterior security cameras.
‘There has to be 24-7 supervision in this facility,? he said. ‘Our goal is to tie (the dorm’s cameras) into our own security system.?
Skilling noted the student residents would also have proximity cards to allow them access to the building and to their hallway.
International students will be allowed to have visitors, but, according to Dunckley, there will be specific visiting hours and visiting areas.
There will also be a signout system for students.
‘It will not be a free, open, come-and-go-as-you-please (setup),? Dunckley said.
Recreational concerns
Roesner-Meyers expressed her concern that other than the volleyball and basketball courts, the proposed dormitory lacks an adequate amount of recreational amenities for its residents.
‘There’s nothing for the kids to do,? she said. ‘They’re going to be kept in these little bedrooms. And I don’t see how that’s healthy for them.?
‘I wouldn’t want my child to live in that for two years,? Roesner-Meyers continued. ‘That’s worse than an institution. That’s worse than a penitentiary. There’s no gymnasium. What are they going to do in the winter for activity?
‘You’re relying on outside sources for all of their activities, which becomes a burden for the rest of the community. You’re saying they’re going to use the high school.?
Roesner-Meyers believes ‘there should be a lot more recreational facilities and other things on a property that’s going to house 200 16, 17 and 18-year-old children.?
Skilling pointed out the proposed dorm contains ‘a lot of space for these kids to be involved in activities.?
He noted the cafeteria alone can handle more than 300 students.
‘There’s a lot of space for these kids to do activities (and) gather,? Skilling said. ‘It’s better than most dorms I would say.?
Dunckley noted there are plans to create events and activities where the international students would be able to mix with OHS students.