Move over Waterstone, there’s a new plan in town looking to take your heavyweight title as the biggest residential development in Oxford Township.
Its name is Springwood Park and it could have as many as 2,757 residential units spread across its 1,169 acres when all’s said and done.
But for now, it’s still the site of Koenig Sand & Gravel along Lakeville Road as it has been since the 1920s.
Springwood Park’s potential developers met with the Oxford Township Planning Commission Nov. 10 for a pre-application conference as the first step under the Planned Unit Development (PUD) ordinance.
‘The PUD is designed to give the township and applicant more flexibility than would be allowed under the existing zoning, encouraging development of the property according to its unique characteristics,? according to the ordinance.
An alternative to traditional development, a PUD combines site plan and rezoning approval into one package. The new zoning is tied to the details contained in the accompanying site plan in addition to any other conditions attached to the PUD approval by the township.
Planning Commission Chair Don Silvester told the audience a pre-application conference is a ‘time for nonbinding conversation? with the applicant, a time to give suggestions, direction and discuss the PUD process.
Carmine Avantini, of the LSL Planning, spoke on behalf of the potential Springwood Park developers Biltmore Properties, of Troy, and Ivanhoe-Huntley Homes, of West Bloomfield.
Although the site is approximately 1,169 acres in total, Avantini said 168 acres consist of lakes and regulate wetlands, leaving 1,001 acres which are usable for development.
The Koenig site is bordered by Oxford Road to the west, Ray Road to the north, Addison Township to the east and Lakeville Road to the south.
The proposed development could contain a proposed total of 418 acres of open space including the 168 acres of lakes and wetlands.
The other 250 acres is considered usable open space and includes 25 acres earmarked for an elementary school/community center/recreation area (complete with four soccer/multipurpose fields), 5 acres set aside for a senior citizens center, 2 acres reserved for a fire station and 218 acres of other open space including parks.
While the ordinance requires 250 acres of open space or 25 percent of the site, according to Avantini, the proposed plan’s 418 acres account for 35 percent of the site.
‘A very important component of this plan is the open spaces and the interconnection of those spaces, the ability to access them through a trail system,? he said.
To help separate the development from the more rural areas and horse farms to the north and east of it, Avantini said the northern border along Ray Road will contain ‘very substantial buffering.?
The buffering will begin with a minimum of 300 feet ? the length of a football field ? and widen to a maximum of 800 feet as it extends east toward Daleno Road.
‘I haven’t seen too many projects that have that type of buffering. It’s fairly extensive,? Avantini said. ‘With that buffering, you’re not going to be able to see, from Ray Road, this project.?
As for residential development, the proposed plan right now calls for 1,251 single family homes and 1,506 attached homes such as condominiums, duplexes and town-homes.
‘There’s quite a mixture and variety of housing types in the development,? Avantini said. ‘All high quality units.?
‘None of the products that we’re talking about are rental at all. Everything is owner-occupied,? he noted.
It was noted that no homes will front Springwood Lake (the largest lake on the Koenig property) on the south side along Lakeville Road.
‘You will not drive down Lakeville (Road) and see the backs of homes,? Carnahan assured. The ‘openess? and water will still be visible from the road.
The only commercial development will be an approximately 5-acre strip center in the southwest corner of the site, which, according to Jack Carnahan, of Biltmore Properties, will be a ‘neighborhood service type thing? with businesses such as a dry cleaner and pizza place.
‘With this many people, if everybody decides to go for pizza in the evening, we thought it would be a little silly to have them have to drive all the way into town, and go up and down M-24,? Carnahan said.
As for amenities, Carnahan made it clear they will be providing sanitary sewers and water mains to the development.
When asked how many underground wells they intend to dig, Carnahan replied, ‘It appears that there will be two, perhaps three wells.? However, based on preliminary test results, he said ‘probably two wells.?
Treatment plants for the water will also be built assured Carnahan.
As for the sanitary sewer, Carnahan said they’re still exploring all the options, which include hooking up to the existing sewer system or building an on-site waste water treatment plant and discharging the treated water back into the ground.
Residents attending the meeting, particularly those from the rural northeast area of the township, expressed their opposition to Springwood Park’s high density and potential impact on their way of life.
‘I’m afraid that the pressure is going to be tremendous on our activities, on the farms, on basically what north Oxford Township is all about and what we do out here,? said Tom Schnur, who owns a horse farm on Delano Road. ‘I think it’s going to be the first step in radically changing that whole environment. I think it’s going to be the beginning of the end of all the equine activity out there.?
‘It’s a very nice project,? but ‘does it belong here??
Residents urged the planning commission to protect the interests of the township’s taxpayers as opposed to outside developers.
‘I think these people coming here tonight (the developers) don’t have any rights here at all, except to be heard by you,? said Buck Cryderman, who lives on Ray Road. The planning commission has ‘the responsibility to the residents of Oxford to do what is best for the township now and in the future.?
‘You should be looking out for interests like mine and my neighborhood’s, which is not consistent with this (development),? said Wilbert Hutchings, who owns a 20-acre farm on Delano Road. ‘You’re kinda the gatekeepers. You’ve laid down some ground rules. Why would you think of changing them??
Hutchings has previously stated his support for keeping the Koenig property’s current Suburban Farms 2 (SF-2) zoning, which calls for one residential unit for every five acres.
‘I think most people in my neighborhood just make an assumption you’re going to protect them. And that protection in my mind is what current zoning is,? Hutchings said. ‘I think you should be ignoring these kinds of very large densities that affect our quality of life.?
Some township officials also expressed their opposition to the development’s high density.
Township Treasurer Joe Ferrari, who attended the meeting as a resident, said 2,700-2,800 homes is ‘quite a stretch.?
‘Too much, too many houses,? he said. ‘I don’t know how we could ever handle that here,? he said. ‘I think Waterstone at its max was 1,800 (units) and I think that was a stretch.?
Even Planning Commission Chair Silvester stated he thought the density was ‘too much.?
‘I’m challenging the developer to work on the density,? he said.