By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp.-Residents on Wolfe Road along with the township planning commission are awaiting a speed study from a company that wants to operate a concrete recycling center at 104 Wolfe Road. The company came to the planning commission on Feb. 8 for a special use permit, and the issue was postponed until the company could conduct a speed study.
“They want to have a recycling center for concrete, where they break it into smaller pieces and reuse it, and the reason they need a special use permit is because that is not permitted without one,” said Dick Lowthian, planning commission chairman.
“That property is zoned general industrial, and there are a lot of things permitted there, but that is not one of them.”
Residents who attended the February planning commission meeting took issue with the heavy truck traffic on Wolfe Road, which is a dirt road. There was also an issue with the trucks that come from Grange Hall Road in Groveland Township instead of M-15, as the property is less than a mile from M-15.
“That seems to be the issue with the neighbors, and the noise,” said Lowthian. “These double bottom gravel haulers come down Wolfe Road, especially in the times of the year when it’s a little rough, and it rattles the windows in their houses.”
The applicant, listed on the planning commission agenda as Bell Site Development, suggested that part of their proposal is that they will pave Wolfe Road from their entrance to M-15, and that they will tell all of their contractors to only come in from M-15.
“But the resident’s aren’t buying that,” said Lowthian.

The applicant also said they would construct the driveway in such a way that it would be angled, so trucks could only turn right into the facility with the hopes of deterring drivers from coming in off of Grange Hall Road, as they would have to turn left into the facility.
The other concern residents had was traffic on M-15, and the planning commission wanted a traffic study done in that area of M-15 before granting or denying a special use permit.
“That’s another thing that’s a big concern, the traffic on M-15 trying to get on and off Wolfe Road, especially near the high school and middle school,” said Lowthian. “They talked about 100 trucks a day. They said that estimate would cover it for sure, and it would probably be less. The applicant also explained that those aren’t all semi-trucks, could be dump trucks or pick-up trucks. But the ones residents are concerned about are the semi-trucks.”
Bob DePalma, Groveland township supervisor responded to the project.
“The position the applicant is taking is that the trucks are only going to come off M-15,” said DePalma, who attended the last planning commission meeting. “The posting on Wolfe Road where Grange Hall is in Groveland Township is ‘Local Traffic Only,’ that’s a Michigan State Police traffic order. What that means is, if you have a location on Wolfe Road you cannot restrict the trucks from going down there. Even if the (Brandon) planning commission decided to approve the permit, I have no way for the Michigan State Police or the Oakland County Sheriff  or anyone to write a ticket because of how it’s set up in the traffic rules.”
It could be a truck every six minutes, DePalma added.
“If they back up on M-15, do you really think they are not coming down Wolfe Road?” he said. “Or, if the businesses on M-15 start complaining about it, they are not going to send them on Wolfe Road? You can say you can’t use Wolfe Road but the sheriff or MSP can’t write them a ticket. It’s a catch-22.”
The issue will come back to the planning commission once the applicant conducts the traffic study. Agendas are posted ahead of time at brandontwpmi.documents-on-demand.com.