A proposed rezoning of the nearly 1,200-acre Koenig Sand & Gravel property along Lakeville Road will be discussed by the Oxford Township Planning Commission at its 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11 meeting.
Springwood Park LLC (also known as Biltmore Properties in Troy) has applied for a ‘conditional rezoning? of the property whereby the developer voluntarily agrees to limit the number of residential units it will build in exchange for the township permitting a higher density than allowed for by the current zoning.
‘It’s certainly an unconventional approach,? said Jeremy Lopatin, an associate with the township’s planner Carlisle/Wortman Associates, Inc.
The proposed conditional rezoning would allow Springwood Park to build a maximum of 2,500 residential units on the Koenig property, no more than 1,000 of which would be attached units.
It’s estimated the development would take 10 to 15 years to complete.
Lopatin said he’s dealt with such agreements in ‘two other communities I’ve worked in,? but on a ‘much, much smaller scale.?
‘Never 1,100 or 1,200 acres,? he said.
Currently, the majority of the Koenig property is zoned Suburban Farms 2 (SF-2) with a gravel and sand overlay as the property has been used for mining purposes since 1924. SF-2 zoning means the minimum residential lot size for future development is five acres.
About 157 acres of the property’s northwestern side is presently zoned Central Area Development (CAD), again with a gravel and sand overlay.
Springwood Park has proposed that 1,156 acres be rezoned as Residential-Multiple Family (RM) and 10 acres as local commercial (C-1).
Although the requested RM zoning would allow for a maximum density of 10 units per acre, the developer has proposed placing voluntary, but legally binding, conditions on itself designed to restrict the use and development on most of its land.
Conditional rezoning is ‘a fairly new concept? which Oxford has never dealt with before, according to township attorney Gary Rentrop.
‘Essentially, the applicant asks for a zoning classification, then offers conditions that would attach to the project,? he said. ‘In this case, for a majority of the site, they’ve requested multi-family (zoning) with conditions that certain areas would be used for lesser (densities).?
Springwood Park is proposing three sub-districts (see map on page 1) totalling 812.2 acres, each with maximum densities less than the 10 acres per unit allowed by RM zoning.
The conditional zoning agreement calls for:
n A 281.9-acre sub-district (designated as ‘MD?) where the density would not exceed six residential units per acre.
n A 301.5-acre sub-district (designated as ‘SF-A?) with a proposed maximum density of four units per acre.
n A 228.8-acre sub-district (designated as ‘SF-B?) that would allow for up to two units per acre.
Attached dwelling units are not permitted in either the SF-A or SF-B sub-districts, according to the proposal.
Only one sub-district (designated as ‘HD?) would permit the 10 units per acre allowed for by the township’s RM zoning.
Two areas ? 157.3 acres located in the property’s northwest section and 57.8 acres situated in the southeast ? would be part of this HD sub-district under the proposed plan.
Lopatin noted that ‘conditional rezonings in general were only recently approved under the (Michigan) Zoning (Enabling) Act,? approved last year.
‘They have been done from time to time in other communities under the auspices of a development agreement, but it’s never been expressly permitted under state law until just recently,? he explained.
To sweeten the pot, Springwood Park is offering the township a few incentives to agree to the conditional rezoning.
The developer has offered, in writing, to pave Ray Road from Oxford Road to M-24 and convey, at no cost, 32 acres of land for public use by the township and other government agencies.
Included in that public use land is two acres for a fire station, five acres for a senior citizen center and 25 acres for a community center/school.