On Aug. 1, the Verwood Apartment tenants were told, via a notice posted on our bulletin board: “Broadway Street will be closed beginning 5 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24 through Sunday, Aug. 25 and no access will be available to the entrance to Verwood Apartments off Broadway.

“Parking is available at the Lake Orion Administration Building, The Ehman Center, Blanche Sims Elementary School and Caruso Chiropractic Clinic (from Saturday, Aug. 24 at 1 p.m. through Sunday night only. Residents will be able to enter off Lapeer Street from Flint Street.).”

This means our only entrance/exit will be closed. The Ehman Center and LOCS Admin. Building are five blocks north and Blanche Sims is at least eight blocks northeast.

I called the Verwood Apartments owner. He told me he just found out this week (right before Aug. 1) and he was told this is what was going to happen. He said he was never consulted about the parking lot closure.

I called Caruso Chiropractic Clinic and asked if their parking lot was for Verwood tenants only. They said, no, it’s public parking and they have about 10-14 spaces. There are 18 apartments in the Verwood.

We went to the village planning commission meeting at Village Hall on Aug. 5 and asked the commissioners why our parking lot had to be closed, and, Would they like it if a festival was in front of their driveway and it needed to be closed?

They answered by saying, “Everything has been approved and no, we wouldn’t like it if our driveway was closed.”

The Verwood parking lot has never been closed for a festival. Barricades were put up so that the general public could not use the roads, but the Lake Orion police were there to move them so that we could have access to our parking lot. This worked great. Never any problems or accidents.

We asked why we couldn’t have this again this year? The answer was, “We don’t know, but everything has already been approved.”

Then the planning commissioners suggested we attend the village council meeting on Aug. 12 and they might have some answers for us. Meanwhile, village Manager Joe Young was going to call me with any updates.

Seven tenants went to the meeting and asked if the council had any solutions for us. They all looked at each other like they had no clue what we were talking about. I reminded Joe Young that he was supposed to call me. He said there was going to be another meeting on Aug. 13 and he would call me after that.

We contacted him (after the Aug. 13 DDA meeting) and were told LOPD Police Chief Jerry Narsh would contact us to discuss his ideas. He told us there is nothing he can do because “Everything has already been approved.” However, we can park at Caruso Chiropractic or the Lake Orion United Methodist Church, but we are not allowed to park in our own parking lot. I left three voicemail messages for Chief Narsh, but he never returned my calls.

We asked what was going to be in front of our parking lot (during Dragon on the Lake) that at it had to be closed off to the tenants and we were told, “We’re really not sure, but everything has already been approved.”

(In a post in the Lake Orion Chat Room) Orion Art Center Director Karin Starick stated, “There is nothing that can’t be worked out if we just communicate with one another.”

Where was the communication prior to Aug. 1?

(The Lake Orion Village Council approved the Dragon on the Lake application during a special meeting on July 25, when there was supposed to be a public hearing on the application during the Aug. 12 meeting.)

Not once did anyone say, “We are sorry for the inconvenience to the Verwood tenants.”

The Verwood tenants are not against any of the festivals. We just do not understand why our “driveway” has to be closed off and why could we not get an answer to our questions, other than: “We really don’t know, but everything has already been approved.”

What happened to “Do unto others as you would have done to you?”

What happened to respect and communication?

There definitely was no communication, so obviously you do not respect the tenants of the Verwood Apartments.

Debbie Parsons

For the Verwood tenants