The Orion Township Planning Commission and Board of Trustees have granted approval for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) concept plan for condos at Indianwood and Fernhurst Roads, but neighbors in the area say alternatives still need to be considered.
Developer James Faycurry of SR Acquisitions plans to construct four buildings, each with 15 units for a total of 60 condominium units, on the property. His PUD concept plan, which was approved by the planning commission on Jan. 22 and the township board on Feb. 3, also includes a Special Assessment District (SAD) for a new road on Fernhurst.
“The condos will be ranch and carriage level, 1,100 to 1,700 square feet,” he said.”They are all two bedrooms with attached garages.”
Faycurry said the plan also includes “adequate” parking, per the township’s requirements.
“We have additional parking for guests, and then the attached garages,” he said.
Faycurry, who submitted his first plan for the property to the township in Oct. of 1999, said he has been working with the neighbors throughout the process. He revised his plan from 72 units to 60 and from six buildings to four.
“(This plan) gives them more land…and (Fernhurst Road) was always trouble for the township, because it erodes into the lake,” he said.
“We’ve been talking with the neighbors on a regular basis…I’m sure they’d probably prefer to see nothing on the property.”
Fernhurst resident John MacMillan said something the neighbors would like to see is the township remedy a mis-rezoning on the property.
“The property was incorrectly zoned and not consistent with the master plan in the 1970s,” he said. “It was rezoned from single family to multiple for apartments to be built.”
MacMillan said the apartments were never finished, but the rezoning remained the same.
“Our biggest problem is with the township having a piece of property incorrectly zoned,” he said. “We’ve been trying to find a way to work with alternative development options with Mr. Faycurry.”
MacMillan agreed that what is currently before the township is a better alternative than the previous plan.
“The advantage of the PUD is you have a simple product as opposed to rental units,” he said. “But those buildings are bigger in the PUD…that’s kind of a bummer. Nevertheless, we think a higher value on the units, the better.”
The township still needs to consider maximizing the protection of the area’s wetlands, as well as the question of cost versus benefit for the neighbors regarding an SAD for Fernhurst Road, MacMillan said.
“I’m not sure everyone on Fernhurst can afford an SAD,” he said. “I think there needs to be more value to the neighbors in the SAD.
“The neighbors believe the trustees have an obligation to do whatever they can to come up with an alternative use for the site,” MacMillan said. “Although we know they weren’t responsible for the rezoning.”
At the township board meeting, Orion Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk said he still wasn’t entirely convinced the project was worthy of a PUD.
“In approving a PUD, the major question is what is the substantial benefit to the township,” he said. “I still don’t see it.”
Faycurry told the board he had submitted seven full packages in the life of the project to the planning commission, and was recently asked to submit more.
“I’m at my wit’s end,” he said. “If you want to disapprove (the PUD), go ahead and I’ll submit my plans for apartments.”
Orion Township Planner Don Wortman said under the current zoning, Faycurry could put about 70-80 one-bedroom apartments on the property. “That’s what we call the comparison or ‘ugly’ plan,” he said.
Wortman went on to explain to the board that the PUD concept plan was merely step one of a three step process.
“There is still the preliminary PUD and then the final plan,” he said. Wortman added that Faycurry was donating an acre of land for the right away for building a new Fernhurst Road, and was providing a staging area for the Polly Ann Trail at Indianwood and Fernhurst.
Wortman said that landscaping and parking concerns that board members may still have could be addressed later in the process.
“This is a far superior product in my opinion,” said treasurer James Marleau of the condos.
Todd Rachel, an Indianwood resident who lives across the street from the property, and also sits on the board of directors for the Indianwood Homeowner’s Association, said the neighborhood isn’t going to accept the current plan.
“The board has to do something,” he said. “I hope they can certainly find some alternatives. In our mind, it’s an absolute travesty for this to occur. To put all that high density housing in this area.”
Rachel said its up to the board to “reverse what was done wrong in the past,” in regards to the rezoning.
“We don’t understand why they’re doing that,” he said. “We hope they get the message somehow. They need either low density housing or to rezone it.”
At the board meeting, Rachel asked the trustees to table the concept plan and search for an alternative use.