Two restaurants, a bank and a hotel are on course to become part of the new gateway into Orion Township, in the area of M-24, Dutton and Brown Roads.
The proposed nine-acre development got the go ahead for conceptual site plan approval from the Orion Township Board at their June 5 meeting.
The nine acres are part of a 142-acre, largely industrial development project, to be developed as a planned unit development (PUD).
The board agreed with the unanimous decision from the planning commission to approve the conceptual plan.
Jim Butler, the civil engineer who presented to the board on behalf of the Dutton Corporate Centre, LLC, said was pleased with the board’s actions.
‘It went very well,? he said, noting that the 6-1 vote by the board was a good sign of confidence for the project.
Butler said the submittal of the final PUD to the planning commission should happen by the week’s end, and Dutton Corporate Centre is hoping for construction to begin by the fall.
The nine-acre proposal leaves about 26 acres of property in Orion Township, with the rest of the project residing across the border in Auburn Hills.
Applicant Fred Gordon, from Royal Oak, is currently only seeking the commercial development in both municipalities, with the industrial requests planned for a later date.
Orion Township Zoning and Planning Administrator Beth McGuire said the final PUD still needs to go through the planning commission, and twice through the township board even before the engineering plan will be submitted to the township.
‘It’s going to be a while before the township sees any of this,? said Orion Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk.
The nine-acre plan calls for a sit-down restaurant called O’Charley’s, a Culver’s restaurant with a drive-up service option, a Bank of Auburn Hills branch, and a Spring Hill Suites Hotel, which is a division of the Marriott chain.
Dywasuk said the property is an old landfill that he got involved with about five years ago.
‘My main concern was that the gateway to Orion Township was a landfill,? he said.
He noted that plans were in place to put a regional post office in that location, which he was opposed to because of high volumes of traffic that would come along with it.
Dywasuk said the Dutton Corporate project would be more beneficial for township residents, and Butler agreed.
‘Both businesses and residents will be able to use it,? he said.
Dywasuk added that the development should have little effect on township residents, because of its location on the border of the township.
‘I don’t see it being detrimental to the township,? he said.
However, Clerk Jill Bastian, the lone dissenter, cited traffic concerns and the uncertainty over the industrial portion of the project among her reasons for voting against the conceptual PUD plan.