By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
 LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Village Council approved the Orion Villas condominium review, the Peninsula condominium review and the Peninsula right-of-way license at its meeting on April 8. The approvals mean construction can begin.

Orion Villas Condominium

The Orion Villas condominium project consists of eight attached town homes at the project’s development site, 597 East Flint St., near the Orion/Flint/Miller roads roundabout.
The site contains two parcels – one in the Village of Lake Orion and the other in Orion Township. This split calls for an interlocal agreement, meaning differences in who is in charge of specific services that may not be experienced by developments located entirely in Orion Township or entirely in the Village of Lake Orion.
Water and sewer services, along with fire and public safety services, will be under the township’s jurisdiction, according to planning and zoning coordinator Gage Belko.
All performance guarantees and reimbursements for engineering reviews, inspections, services and “other typical costs and expenses” will also be paid to the township, according to the interlocal agreement. All 911 medical-response calls made in the development will be sent to the township fire department.
The entire development is subject to village ordinance review standards, while police services will be provided depending on the address of the unit a resident calls from.
Each unit will have a two-car garage and additional parking for guests. The units range in size from 912 square feet to 1,006 square feet.
The developer is assuming all costs of the development.

Peninsula Condominium and Peninsula Right of Way

Located at the intersection of Darling Drive and Lake Street, the “Peninsula of Lake Orion” development consists of three detached single-family condominium units on a site containing a single parcel. The project is part of the Moceri Starboard development at the Orion Marina location south of W. Flint Street.
The marina located on the site will change operations in October, at which point the permit licensing docks will be amended to reduce the number of boat slips in the area to one for each house in the new development, according to Moceri construction coordinator Dominic Moceri.
President of the Lake Orion Lake Association (LOLA) George Dandalides told the village council the association is “very concerned about overcrowding on the lake.”
Dandalides wrote in a letter on LOLA’s website that the association has seen an increase in boat traffic on the lake within the last four to five years. This increase and the “varying levels of boating experience” of boat operators has become a safety concern for LOLA. According to the letter, some boaters do not follow the counter-clockwise flow or observe no-wake areas, tow skiers and tubes outside of legal hours without a spotter and more.
Lake Street is in the same location as the larger Starboard development. Including the condominiums, the Starboard development will consist of eight total buildings, plus boathouse and gas dock renovations, new docks and parking. The fuel pump in this location of the lake will remain.
“We’re not getting rid of (the pump) by any means,” Moceri said. “I think we’re going to be finding an operator or we’re going to be operating it ourselves, but that gas pump is going to remain.”
Lake Street’s right-of-way will see landscaping and grading work and maintenance including boulders, shrubs, flowers, a section of retaining wall and mailboxes for condominiums in the Peninsula of Lake Orion.
Moceri Properties is assuming all costs of the peninsula condominium development, and all costs of right-of-way improvements and maintenance, according to the council action summary sheet.