100-year-old farm in Denton to become research & dev. site

After more than 100 years of being a family farm, 75.57 acres in Denton is scheduled to become a research and development site.
Last Wednesday, the Van Buren Township Planning Commission held a public hearing on the rezoning with conditions request of the Harold Smith property from R-1C, low density single family zoning, to M-1, Light Industrial, and then recommended the township board rezone the property.
The property, 50015 and 50061 Michigan Avenue, is on the south side of Michigan Avenue between Denton Cemetery and Rawsonville Road.
On Tuesday, the township board approved the first reading of the zoning ordinance change, with the second reading scheduled for the next regular meeting. Then developer Ben Griffin can move forward with the site plan.
The change in the zoning started last year when the master plan had to be changed before it could be rezoned. The legal steps in the change took all this time, but now it’s almost over.
A town-hall gathering for neighbors was held on June 11 so they could get information and ask questions on the project in their residential neighborhood. At least one person was concerned about the traffic, so VBT Police Sgt. Alex Schultz and Officer Mark King were brought to the June 13 meeting to talk about traffic enforcement in the Denton neighborhood.
At the commission meeting, attorney Mark Heusel spoke on behalf of the property owners, Griffin, and his client who have been in discussion on the future use of this site.
He said they have offered a conditional zoning request and have embraced the concept of a residential protection zone.
He said the name of the entity interested in the property is confidential at this time, but it is an automotive company interested in doing research and development at the site.
“We think it’s a perfect use considering the work” nearby, he said, referring to the autonomous vehicle facility in Washtenaw County next door.
He said it will be a light, non-invasive use of the property with hardly any trucks and a lot of engineers. He said there is a 400′ protection buffer around the property on the east and southwest sides. It’s a landscape buffer with a 10′ berm around the entire site with trees and a detention pond in the lowest part of the site to the southeast. The driveway entrance will be on Michigan Avenue.
Harold Smith will retain his homestead with the house and barn and will remain in his home the rest of his life. In the future, if they decide to tear down the buildings, it will remain part of the buffer.
“It adds to the aesthetic value of the site and adds to the village to the east,” Heusel said, referring to Denton village.
He said there has been a lot of interest on this site from the state, county, and local level.
Dave Shreiber from Wayne County Economic Development Corporation said he was excited to see this high-quality development and he said research and development was right at the top of the list in development. He said R&D tends to remain funded during recessions.
He said the county is in support of this. He said the county is running out of buildings to use and he sees lots of construction going on.
When asked about the size, Heusel said it will be a building from 60,000 to 75,000 square feet in phase one, with future development to the south. It will bring 101 new jobs plus 38 existing jobs moved there. There probably will be 150 jobs total for phase one and could exceed 200 jobs by the time they are done.
Carol Thompson, chairwoman of the planning commission, said she lives in Denton village and has been a neighbor to Smith and his farm for 25 years. She said the farm has been for sale for 17 years and he has been very patient.
Smith said the property had been rezoned to residential years ago when he wanted to stop farming and a subdivision was being planned. But then the economy fell apart and that didn’t happen.
“We hope to see this development go at rocket speed,” Heusel said.
Harbour Club Apartments
A public hearing was held on applicant Diversified Dock & Lift’s request for special approval to construct a non-commercial, multi-docking facility that can accommodate more than six watercraft at one time on a single parcel. The property is located at 49000 Denton Road on the south side of Denton west of Beckley.
The Harbour Club Shoreline Improvement project is to build a 184′ seawall for shoreline protection from erosion and to replace the existing boardwalk and 4 docks.
The hill is sliding into Belleville Lake and a light post also is slowly going into the lake, they said.
They said they planned to take 20′ of the dock out to access the project, but found they wouldn’t be able to replace it, so they will leave it in place and work around it.
No one spoke against the project and the public hearing was closed. Chairwoman Thompson they can come back with drawings for a future meeting.