After almost a decade stall, growth is back in Independence Township.
Last year, 170 new home building permits were issued, and 111 permits for new homes were issued through October 2014. Subdivisions platted and started in the mid 2000s are now being completed, said David Belcher, township building department director.
The Oakhurst subdivision off Clintonville Road was completed in 2013, Coulter Lakes subdivision off of Oak Hill and Dartmouth Roads in the northeastern part of the township added 13 new homes, and Morgan Lake subdivision off of Maybee Road added 18 new homes, Belcher said.
Residential building permits numbered about 200 during 2003, 2004, and 2005, but fell to four in 2009, he said.
‘In 2007, 2008, 2009 these subdivisions were under construction and the developers lost some of them to the banks when the economy tanked,? Belcher said.
Other subdivisions finished around the township include Robertson Builders’ 32 homes in the Links of Independence, and Brookstone Hills off Allen Road.
New subdivisions in the approval process at the Planning Commission include 57 homes in Eagle Ridge subdivision Phase I off Maybee Road, with 236 homes in Phase II and Phase III; Ardmore subdivision off Clarkston Road, with 27 new homes; as well as a proposal for 57 homes on Waldon Road near Pine Knob.
The average new home in the township is 2,500 square feet and sells for about $300,000, Belcher said.
With new homes in the township and a growing population, the building director said commercial space is filling up.
A new Starbucks is proposed on Sashabaw Road, and other new small businesses include gyms, hair salons, weight loss and nutrition stores. A sign of the times is older strip malls such as Waterford Hill Plaza on Dixie Highway is filling with tenants, he said.
‘While the residential market stabilizing at about 100 permits per year, the commercial market is taking off with permits to reutilize space,? he said
The township is working to support commercial development on Sashabaw Road north of I-75.
With roadwork planned for the new south exit onto Sashabaw Road, the township is considering extending sewer and water service to the area on Sashabaw Road between Clarkston Road and Flemings Lake Road.
Supervisor Pat Kittle said current thinking regarding the proposed sewer and water district is for the township to fund it and, as businesses come on board, they pay their fair share.
Presently, the first business to request sewer and water funds the line to their business. This was a deal breaker in the past for a proposed Cracker Barrel restaurant at Sashabaw Road and I-75, Kittle said.
With the new plan, businesses pay their fair share, he said.
A Comfort Inn is coming to the township, just east of the present Ruby Tuesday restaurant in the Sashabaw corridor, the supervisor said.
‘There are 192 acres in the Sashabaw Corridor commercial development which does not include the McLaren properties,” Kittle said. “The area is a bit paralyzed waiting on the approval of the proposed hospital. If the hospital is approved, those properties will be high-end medical and knowledge based use, but if the hospital is not approved, Plan B is for a lesser rich mix.?
Both Belcher and Kittle said residents moving into the township generate business for local companies, so both areas are experiencing growth.