A controversial proposal to construct a 76-unit multifamily housing project at 98 S. Glaspie St. was slated to be discussed and potentially voted on by the Oxford Village Council at its Feb. 9 meeting.
Instead, the item was removed from the agenda and a public hearing regarding it was scheduled for the next regular council meeting on Tuesday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. Council meetings take place at 22 W. Burdick St.
‘There will be no public comment on it (tonight),? announced village President Sue Bossardet. ‘We had a citizen who filed a (request) to have a public hearing and we’re not going to have two of them.?
Following the item’s removal, most of the audience filed out of the council chambers.
Chuck and Craig Schneider, a father-son development team, want to construct two residential buildings, two and three stories high, as a planned unit development (PUD) on the 3.6-acre former industrial site owned by the village since March 2006. One building would contain 52 units, while the other would have 24.
In a 4-1 vote on Feb. 2, the village planning commission made a recommendation to council that the proposed PUD be denied due to its high density and the developers? refusal to reduce the number of units.
The day before the Feb. 9 council meeting, Kelly Arkles, who resides on Thornehill Trail in the Oxford Lakes subdivision, submitted a letter to the village requesting a public hearing per the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act.
‘In light of the numerous objections raised regarding this PUD proposal, I am disappointed that this proposal was not scheduled (for) a public hearing as I believe that numerous members of the public expected that a public hearing would have been scheduled for this matter,? Arkles wrote.
Because of her request, under state law, council is now required to hold a hearing.
The village planning commission conducted a public hearing about this project at its Dec. 1 meeting. Until Arkles? letter, that was the only one required by law.
Since that hearing, there have been multiple planning commission meetings during which significant opposition has been voiced by homeowners living along S. Glaspie St. and residents of the Oxford Lakes subdivision.
Concerns have been raised regarding the number of units, the impact on the view, the height of the proposed buildings, potential pollution, stormwater runoff, public safety, trespassing, increased traffic volume, the potential adverse effect on surrounding property values and the impact on nearby Round Lake in terms of water level and quality as well as fish population.
Six homeowners who live within 100 feet of 98 S. Glaspie St. signed a rezoning protest petition opposing the PUD and filed it with the village.
Because of this, state law requires that now, if council wanted to approve the proposed PUD, four of its five members would have to vote in favor of it instead of the usual three, according to village attorney Bob Davis. He said the voting requirement in this case has increased from a ‘simple majority? to a ‘supermajority.?
Along with scheduling a public hearing, council also had to change the date of its next regular meeting. Due to the March 8 presidential primary election, council agreed to meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month.
The Schneiders have a $225,000 purchase agreement in place with the village for 98 S. Glaspie St., but the sale has not been consummated.
The village paid $700,000 for the site 10 years ago with the idea of protecting the municipality’s water supply from potential contamination. It appraised for $305,000 in 2014.