Oxford doesn’t have any four-story buildings in either the township or the village.
But if the Weiming Education Group gets its way, that’s going to change.
Last week, the China-based company submitted to the township a new site plan for its proposed international student housing facility. The plan was designed for a new location.
Planning commissioners will address it at their 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23 meeting at township hall located at 300 Dunlap Rd., just north of Seymour Lake Rd.
This new plan calls for a four-story, 58,279-square-foot dormitory with classrooms to be constructed on a 5-acre site located on the west side of N. Oxford Rd., just south of the high school football stadium.
Weiming has a 20-year deal with the school district through which Oxford agreed to educate 16-to18-year-old international students brought here. Most of these students will be from China, however, rooms will be available for those from other countries, according to school officials.
The 5-acre site is currently owned by Burton-Katzman, a Bingham Farms-based development company that already has preliminary site plan approval to build 120 townhouse condominiums and 240 apartments on a 56.48-acre site located just west of Oxford High School.
Because the proposed dormitory site is zoned Multiple Family (RM), obtaining special land use approval from the planning commission is necessary in order for the project to move forward. RM zoning allows for private elementary, middle or secondary schools, colleges and universities, but only as special uses.
A public hearing regarding this proposed special land use will be held during the April 23 planning commission meeting (see public notice on Page 23).
For those keeping score, Weiming now has two site plans making their make through the township’s approval process.
‘We’re hedging our bets,? said Stephen Auger, owner of the Lake Orion-based Stephen Auger & Associates Architects, the firm that drafted both dormitory plans.
Last month, the township planning commission voted 4-3 to grant preliminary site plan approval for a proposed two-story, 55,377-square-foot dormitory on a 2.71-acre site on Market St., just east of M-24 and west of OHS. A laundry list of conditions was attached to this approval. The site is owned by OXI LLC.
Auger explained that just because there’s a new site plan doesn’t mean the other one is off the table.
‘We haven’t officially changed sites,? he said. ‘Both sites are still in play. Both are under negotiation right now as far as purchase price . . . and when it can be ready (for construction).?
‘Both properties are bubbling. (It) makes it interesting for everybody,? Auger noted.
In Auger’s opinion, the 5-acre site is preferable for this project.
‘This site, I think, functions much better,? he said. ‘It alleviates a lot of the stuff that the planning commission rightfully questioned (about the other site).?
With regard to the 2.71-acre site, planning commissioners and township consultants expressed concerns about the amount of parking, the limited space available for recreational purposes and the lack of a safety path leading to the village.
Plans for the 2.71-acre site call for 46 parking spaces, whereas the 5-acre site plan shows 74 parking spaces, plus the option to add 48 spaces in the future if it’s ever deemed necessary.
?(Seventy-four spaces) covers employees and all the building traffic,? Auger said. ‘The only thing it can’t handle is a maxed-out assembly in the cafeteria.?
The maximum capacity of the cafeteria is 200, according to Auger.
Auger said there’s only ‘maybe one or two times a year? when the cafeteria might get filled for special events and if that happened, the high school parking lot to the north could be used to handle the overflow.
‘We’ve talked with Oxford High School and they’re willing to enter into an agreement for those occasions,? he said.
But why not build all 122 spaces now?
‘We just don’t feel it’s necessary,? Auger said.
He likened it to planning a church parking lot to accommodate the average amount of traffic, not all the extra visitors on major holidays such as Christmas and Easter.
Parking for the international students housed in the dormitory will not be necessary as they will not be allowed to have motor vehicles or drive while living here, according to school officials.
Three bicycle parking areas are shown on the new plan. The old plan contained no such areas and planning commissioners were told the international students would not be allowed to have bicycles.
The new plan shows all vehicular traffic entering and exiting the site from N. Oxford Rd. Traffic cannot access the future site of the adjacent Burton-Katzman residential development based on the plan submitted.
‘They want to keep that separate,? Auger said.
The 5-acre site also includes more space for recreational amenities including a sand volleyball court, badminton court and soccer practice field. Plans for the 2.71-acre site showed only a volleyball court and a basketball half-court.
‘It’s a bigger site,? Auger said. ‘You can breathe a little bit better.?
Surrounding the 5-acre site would be an 8-foot wide safety path that would connect to the existing safety path along the west side of N. Oxford Rd., which leads to OHS to the north and the village to the south.
Both plans show the facility having 104 dorm rooms, each containing 120 square feet of space and capable of housing two international students for a total of 208.
Both plans show eight rooms (360 square feet each) for resident assistants, eight classrooms (900 square feet each), kitchen, cafeteria and student commons.
The building plans differ significantly in layout.
The 2.71-acre site would contain a two-story, X-shaped building, while the 5-acre site would contain a four-story, L-shaped building.
Auger explained the two additional stories were necessary in order to accommodate the site’s topography.
‘We needed a little more compact footprint because of the property,? he said. ‘There’s a big grade change there . . . We had to tuck the footprint in tighter to make it work.?
In addition to obtaining special land use approval from the planning commission, the proposed dormitory on the 5-acre site must also receive two variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
A variance is required for the fourth story because the township ordinance allows a maximum of three stories.
A second variance is needed because the proposed dormitory is 251? feet in length and the township ordinance states 200 feet is the maximum length for a residential building.
Auger doesn’t believe requesting these variances is out of line. ‘I think it’s all in keeping with the spirit of the ordinance,? he said.