Editor’s note: this letter was submitted to developer Jeff Schmitz and Lake Orion Village Manager Joe Young and printed with permission from the writer.

Good Afternoon Jeff & Joe,

I hope the holidays brought about good times for you & your families. I am writing in regards to the recent development of 120 S. Broadway and the proposed development at 44 Flint St. We built our home in the village in 2011 because we wanted to have walkable access to downtown, parks, etc. for our family. We did so with the hope that downtown would continue to grow and develop into something more. We do a lot of travel on the west side of the state because we love many of the downtown areas that we visit there. Many possess a mixture of old charm, new development, great restaurants, and retail offerings unique to those towns. A mixture of things that make them special.

Over the last few years we’ve watched in delight as our own downtown area has started to blossom into an area that is in line with many of our favorite places. With the addition of places like 20 Front St., Fork & Pint, Lockhart’s/313 Pizza, Anita’s Kitchen, A Bean To Go, the soon-to-open Oat Soda, many wonderful shops and the stunning property at 120 S. Broadway, which includes the amazing Bitter Tom’s. This is in addition to the many improvements that have been made to the fire station, parks, Paint Creek Trail, signage updates, etc.

We walk downtown many evenings or take our kids to play at the park and while doing so we watched the construction process of 120 S. Broadway excitedly wondering what might occupy the restaurant and retail space. Now we know of course, but we also appreciated the fact that Mr. Schmitz’s developers did a great job of respecting the village and it’s residents by keeping their site clean and safe throughout the construction process.

Therefore, when I consider what Jeff has already brought to the community and the manner in which he did so I can only hope that the village would choose to partner with JS Capitol once again to continue bringing great things to our wonderful village. We built a new home in the village with hopes like these in mind and it’s been wonderful to see how far we’ve come in a short time. I really hope the development at 44 Flint St. moves forward.

Thanks for your time & Happy New Year,

Chris Thompson

Lake Orion