Community expresses concerns with potential development project

TROY — A residential development project from GFA Development, Inc. has raised some concerns for community members that live around Ottawa Drive.

At the Troy Planning Commission’s Jan. 14 meeting, a preliminary site plan review for the proposed Oak Meadow site condominium development project was approved 6-2, with Michael Hutson being absent.

GFA Development previously submitted an application for a 16-unit one-family cluster development at 400 and 500 Ottawa Drive in an area that’s south of Ottawa, north of Square Lake, and west of Rochester. It is currently zoned as a one-family residential district.

In a 7-1 vote, the application was approved for recommendation by the Planning Commission in 2018. However, the applicant later requested that the application be placed on hold and did not go before City Council for consideration before later  withdrawing the application.

“When I was here in 2018, we had six or seven issues that we talked about,” Gary Abitheira, a representative for GFA, said during the meeting. “One of them was density. We had passed 16, and now I’m back with 10. So I’ve lowered the density by 40%.”

The current application includes a 10-unit site condominium, consisting of one-family detached homes, with nine of the homes expected to be new and the other an existing home.

One home is also expected to be removed to create access to the road. On top of that, sidewalks, trees and a stormwater facility located near the southern facility detention basin that is north of the 100-year flood plain are being considered to be added as part of the development plans.

“Any sort of stormwater management plan, and potentially any impact on the flood plain, would all be reviewed by engineering as a part of the final engineering plan,” Benjamin R. Carlisle, the president of Carlisle/Wortman Associates, said when he was presenting the initial plans during the Planning Commission meeting last month.

Community members have listed a multitude of concerns about the project.

“You know, it’s not the multiple houses we were dreading,” Rosemarie Thommes, a resident who lives near the Ottawa Drive area, said. “What’s the future look like for our existing subdivisions in Troy? Can we expect that to happen in the future to our neighborhoods — that builders are going to come in purchasing single-family homes, destroy them, and put in multiple homes in one lot.”

Marcia Bossenberger, also a resident who lives near Ottawa Drive, shared her concerns.

“The platted boundaries was not properly described — definitely concerns about emails not being read,” Bossenberger said. “(I) was disappointed, also that  . . . the flood zone area hasn’t been updated in 19 years by FEMA. I think that’s significant. We’ve changed a lot in 19 years.”

Given that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy identified wetlands on the site, totaling 0.29 acres, the potential impact on the wetlands was another concern that was raised.

Bossenberger said that she had seen Abitheira, or workers associated with Abitheira, potentially clearing out 2 acres from the 500 Ottawa property in 2023.

“I had called EGLE . . . multiple times that I’m concerned that he’s clear-cutting the property, and according to EGLE’s wetland map viewer, that it’s marked hydric soil in that area,” Bossenberger said.

Bossenberger also said that an EGLE representative was out there to assess her concerns and found that apparently wetland delineation markers had been bulldozed over and allegedly the markers were not seen while the area was being cleared, though Bossenberger contests that they were hard not to see.

“My issue is to the east of the property, there’s a stream that runs right through it, and right through all the tagged wetland areas. And then on the wetland map viewer, you can see where it picks up on the east side of the property,” Bossenberger said.

During the Jan. 14 meeting, Abitheira didn’t addressed the claims. However, he did say there were no wetlands there when he went to a Planning Commission meeting six years ago.

“Since then, the wetlands have gotten there, “ Abitheira said.

Abitheira also mentioned that there is a process of transferring wetlands to another area, known as a land bank, that is being considered.

Another concern from community members is traffic. According to OHM Advisors, an architecture, engineering and planning firm, the projected numbers for Oak Meadows  is nine trips per hour during peak morning hours and 11 trips per hour during peak afternoon hours, totaling 121 trips per day.

“We have to walk in the middle of the road with our hands up in the air yelling ‘slow down’ because people coming from Livernois, on Ottawa, they fly, and they take that corner without even touching the brakes. And the entrance to the new subdivision is 65 steps away,” Bossenberger said.

Thommes also shared another perspective.

“It’s ludicrous because this road in the middle of two homes that were built … in the early 1960s. (It) just doesn’t fit,” Thommes said. “It’s creating like this multi-street intersection now, which is very confusing, and I honestly question if any of the city Planning Commission (members) has even actually been in our neighborhood to look at the site in person to see any of this before they approved it.”

Some residents also felt they were not made aware of the item being included on the Planning Commission’s agenda in a reasonable amount of time.

“I feel like it was intentional to do this at the very last minute,” Bossenberger said. “We had to scramble to get a lawyer and have him get prepared to come to our meeting, which, that was a disaster in itself.”

However, Community Development Director Brent Savidant noted that the Planning Department listed the development on the planning and development portal as soon as it was submitted.

“The portal was updated to reflect the date of the Planning Commission meeting as soon as the date was confirmed,” Savidant said in an email. “There was enough notice provided to provide neighbors opposed to the development to post numerous  signs opposing the development along Ottawa Street prior to the meeting. Over 30 people opposed to the development attended the Planning Commission meeting. Everyone who attended the meeting was provided an opportunity to speak at the public meeting.”

During the meeting, Abitheira also discussed criticism that was submitted via emails to the Planning Commission from community members, with potential biases of city officials being the subject of the criticism.

“I don’t mind people always taking shots at me, which is fine, but I do not get special treatment here,” Abitheira said. “I’m knocked down four or five times on projects sometimes, and I keep coming back because I listen to what everybody wants and I come back, and I come back, and I come back, and I still go to City Council and get knocked down.”

Bossenberger did note that some of her concerns, as well as other community members, has to do with Abitheira having a spot on Troy’s Building Code Board of Appeals.

“Do I think Gary’s talking with the people on Planning Commission? No, I don’t,” Bossenberger said. “Do I think maybe he has a little more insight with (the) engineering or planning or building department? Maybe, because he’s free to come and go.”

Planning Commission members Toby Buechner and Dave Lambert voted against the agenda item.

“He’s met a lot of the criteria that’s been asked for, but as I read the site plan, standards to enhance the character of the surrounding area , I mean it’s not enhancing the character of the surrounding area,” Buechner said. “I think what we’re trying to do is make it as good as it could be.”

Although Lambert said that Abitheira does have a right to build homes in the area, the sidewalk was one of the concerns that he expressed.

“I don’t think it fits with the joining subdivision because there’s no sidewalks there,” Lambert said. “I think this would be an opportunity for us to adopt a plan that would allow better control of flooding by eliminating the sidewalk and putting in the same kind of bioswale. So that’s why I have a concern about the plan as presented.”

The rest of the Planning Commission members approved the agenda item, although they did add some conditions to the approval, which includes revising plans to reflect accurate parcel numbers and a continuing sidewalk along the west side of the internal road.

“I am inclined to say yes to this project because I am in favor of single-family homes being built in a single-family area,” Planning Commission member Jayalakshmi Malalahalli said.

Planning Commission member Marianna Perakis shared her rationale for approving the agenda item.

“I … feel for the neighbors because this is a big change for them to have this road and they’ve been there for many years and they’ve enjoyed the woods in the back, but I do feel like our hands are tied in this situation and that it does meet the standards,”Perks said.

An EGLE permit will be required for final site plan approval, which also involves a review of detailed engineering drawings.

At press time, there was no information about when that will take place.

Those living around the Ottawa Drive area are consulting with a lawyer to further address their concerns with the development project.

Abitheira could not be reached for further comment at press time.

For more information, visit troymi.gov.