The Lake Orion Village Council will hold a public hearing to get public input on a proposal to redevelop the former Lake Orion High School, also known as the Ehman Center, during the council’s regular meeting on Monday.

The public hearing for the mixed-use planned unit development (PUD) preliminary plan is at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers at Lake Orion Village Hall, 21 E. Church St.

Kyle Westberg, owner of West Construction, is proposing to renovate the existing building at 55 W. Elizabeth St. and parcel at 330 N. Lapeer St. to create loft-style apartments and an event space with a capacity of 200 people, according to plans submitted to the village.

In addition, Westberg is proposing to construct a new four-story apartment building behind the current building, with a total of 89 units for the two buildings.

The plan also includes up to 5,000 square feet of commercial/community space.

West Construction is also seeking a parking variance for the project. Under the village’s current ordinance, the developer is required to provide two parking spots per unit. The proposed plan would provide roughly 1.6 spots per unit.

Westberg is also proposing to redo the parking lot on the corner of Lapeer and Elizabeth streets across from the Ehman Center, and make curb and on-street improvements at his own cost.

After the public hearing, council members could discuss the proposal and potentially vote to approve the PUD preliminary plan, approve the plan with conditions or deny the plan.

The Lake Orion Planning Commission held a PUD preliminary plan public hearing on the project during its Oct. 4 meeting. Twenty-one people spoke about the proposed redevelopment, with 17 citing concerns or outright disapproval of the project.

The planning commissioners then voted to recommend that the village council approve the PUD preliminary plan for the project.

Anyone who cannot attend the public hearing can email comments to the village clerk at villageadmin@lakeorion.us, or by mailing printed comments to Village Clerk, 21 E. Church St., Lake Orion, MI 48362 by the close of the public hearing to be included in the record. – By Jim Newell