Oakland Township Blossom Ridge Snafu

Ryan Felton wrote a nice piece last week in the Oakland Press, regarding the township's failure to properly file the Blossom Ridge paperwork with the county.

So here's a summary:

The proposed site for Blossom Ridge, a 238-unit senior living community in Oakland Township, borders the city of Rochester Hills.  State zoning laws required the township to seek a recommendation from Oakland County's Coordinating Zoning Committee for any proposed rezoning situated on a municipal boundary.  The township never submitted anything before the rezoning was approved in August 2012 by the previous Board of Trustees.

Moceri/DM Investments LLC, the developer of Blossom Ridge, has been going back-and-forth with township officials over the proposed project at the northwest corner of Adams and Dutton Roads since 2011.  To clarify the complex issue, the township received four legal opinions, including one from Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Charlotte Burckhardt, of the county zoning committee, said the county would normally receive such projects from the planning commission, but that the statute is loosely worded.  "So, it's usually then up to the township, who they designate to do that," Burckhardt said.
Township Supervisor Terry Gonser, who contends the planning commission should've submitted Blossom Ridge to the county for review, said he first learned of the requirement when he received the letter from attorney, Mr. Need.

Marc Edwards, an Oakland Township resident and former trustee who also previously sat on the planning commission said he was not aware of the required procedural step.  He said another Moceri housing development, The Oaklands, borders Rochester Hills and was never submitted to the county for review.

"This has never been a requirement of the Planning Commission approval process," Edwards said.  Edwards' remarks corroborate Burckhardt's assumption as to what may have gone wrong.  Burckhardt said projects requiring a recommendation are few and far between.  If the township doesn't have a set procedure for how to submit such projects to the county, it may be a problem, she said, especially if officials aren't aware of the requirement.

Township Planning Commission Chairman James Carter echoed those remarks.  "The first I heard of the county committee to consider this sort of this was after it was brought to light by the new board," said Carter, who has chaired the commission since 2008.

Carter said, to his knowledge, nobody on the commission was aware of the procedure.

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Here's the procedure for the Goodison Plan - EXACTLY the same as the Blossom Ridge proposal... 

CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF OAKLAND PLANNING COMMISSION: October 2, 2012, PC Meeting Minutes:

“Mr. Nix described the steps for making this a part of the Township Master Plan.  He said that the first step would be to send this document to the Township Board for consideration of distribution to the surrounding municipalities and Oakland County for comment….After some discussion, the Commission agreed to send the Goodison Plan forward to the Township Board for distribution to the surrounding municipalities.  Chairman Carter thanked the subcommittee and Planner Nix for their efforts…”  Motion was made by Saputo, seconded by Marc Edward to submit the 10/1/12 Goodison Plan to the Township Board for review and distribution. CARRIES

Charter Township of Oakland Board of Trustees, October 9, 2012: Approved Meeting Minutes:

(page 107)… “Planning Consultant Nix stated that the Planning Commission approved the draft Goodison Sub Area Plan, and it is now before the Board for their review and approval to distribute to adjacent communities and regional entities as required under the Planning Enabling Act…”

Moved by Trustee Bailey, Seconded by Kathy Thomas, passed unanimously by board, including Marc Edwards.

So as the late Paul Harvey used to say....'Now you know the rest of the story."

Good job, Maureen Thalmann!  Clearly you were willing and able to do your homework.

Click here to read the full article at The Oakland Press.