By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
The Lake Orion Village Council approved the Ehman Center owners, Legacy LO’s, plan Monday night to develop the historical almost 100-year-old building into a multi-faceted living and working center with five conditions.
Legacy partners presented a conceptual plan for an optional 46 to 57 unit mixed use facility, incorporating office use, retail, residential housing, an event space and potential caf? as part of a Planned Unit Development.
The council acted on the recommendation of the Village Planning Commission, who supported the project last month in a 6-0 vote.
With a 5-0 vote, council members voted for Legacy LO to be eligible for consideration as a PUD based on their conceptual plan meeting the eligibility requirements.
Attached to the council vote are requirements of five conditions the site plan must meet before village council ultimately approves it. One of the conditions is rezone the site from single family to multiple family.
The next step for Legacy LO is to formally apply for a PUD with the village before the development may proceed.
Conditions for final PUD eligibility approval include: acquiring control of all parcels involved in the concept plan, including the parcels owned by the village and other entities; contingency upon the village approval of RM zoning, or multi-family zoning; the PUD must not exceed the number of residential units per the ordinance; the PUD must be modified to resolve the parking deficiencies; and Legacy LO must submit written evidence of the right to cross the school property adjacent to the main site.
Legacy owners said they would proceed with plans to meet the five requirements.
The bulk of the project would be renovating the historic building itself to include all the different uses, while maintaining as much historical integrity as possible, co-owner Kellie MacDonald said.
Lake Orion’s first kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade-school is stocked with different size class rooms, suitable for office space, townhomes and lofts.
The first draft of the conceptual plan shows 39 townhomes at 1,200 square feet each, four lofts on the upper floor at 600 square feet each, and 12 to 14 third floor office units at 650 sq. ft. each.
Immediately surrounding the center would be public space, including a garden center, a potential caf?, a possible trailhead to the Paint Creek Trail once it is extended, and several seating areas and bike racks.
MacDonald said the development, being only two blocks away, could be an extension of the downtown area.
‘We worked really hard with the village, the township the county, the Downtown Development Authority, everyone , to make sure we are doing something that is going to benefit the community. It’s a really exciting plan,? she said.
Legacy LO is composed of local entrepreneurs and Dragons MacDonald, Christian Mills, Todd Garris and Scott Garretson. They purchased the near 88-year-old building from the Oakland County Treasury Department for $45,000 in 2014.?
Mills is also a village council member and told the body that he would recuse himself from any voting or discussion on the issue.
However, Village Manager Darwin McClary said council members should vote to exclude Mills to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest. The board did so and Mills left the meeting while the issue was discussed and voted upon.
Legacy LO sees the project as an integral investment to the community.
While the conceptual plan is still in the first stages, residential density must be tweaked in order to provide adequate parking spaces. This could be achieved by purchasing one of the original Ehman Center parcels, a portion of the parking lot right across the street, from the Village of Lake Orion.
‘I think we can find a middle ground. We would ultimately like to keep enough flexibility to find a useful and viable use of that building,? MacDonald said, noting each owner is invested in this community.
Editor Dan Shriner contributed to this story