VBT planners discuss Pulte Homes proposal for 2.5 hrs. before OK

The Van Buren Township Planning Commission discussed for more than 2.5 hours the Pulte Homes proposal to build 88 single-family homes on the vacant corner of Walden Woods subdivision, before giving the projects the approval to move forward.
The development would be at the northwest corner of Tyler and Morton Taylor roads and in the past that area had been approved for 200 apartments and a 10-acre commercial strip as part of the 142-acre Walden Woods PUD (planned unit development). Walden Woods currently has about 300 homes.
After much discussion and a legal opinion, it was decided this Cedarchase development was an amendment to the former PUD under another owner, even though Van Buren Township now does not grant PUDs. On Oct. 1 the township board approved the PUD Amendment.
Near the end of the long, Nov. 13 meeting, commissioner Jackson Pahle noted that Pulte Homes came to the township in June of 2022 to begin this project and the commission needs to go forward.
Commissioner Pahle said the township should start to reconsider its regulations and, “We are making it way too hard to build housing.”
He said approving housing construction will “help all of us,” noting the township’s grandchildren won’t have to move to Texas and North Carolina to live, where they are building “way, way faster.”
Commissioner Medina Atchinson, who has been a long-time advocate of building homes in the township so residents don’t have to move to other communities for more suitable housing, asked a Pulte representative at the end of the meeting if Pulte has purchased the 32-acre site in question. Joe Skore, vice president of land acquisition for Pulte Homes, replied, “We don’t close until we have approvals.”
There were three requests on the agenda regarding Pulte Homes, two that needed to be sent on to the township board for final approval and one for PUD preliminary site condominium approval, which is a commission only decision. The final approval was dependent on the first two being sent on to and approved by the township board – special land use for the PUD Amendment and preliminary site condominium approval.
Bill Anderson of Atwell, representative of Pulte, said all the homes will be built and developed by Pulte Homes on 50’x125’ lots with two parks, a pocket park and a play area and nine acres of open space. Pulte will pave Morton Taylor Road north from Tyler to Heatherfield Blvd. and this is part of Phase I.
He said Pulte will clean out the county drain that cuts through the site and put sidewalks throughout the development and along Tyler and Morton Taylor roads.
He said Pulte has redesigned all the houses to be built to conform to VBT’s ordinances. There are four home designs, with 16 different concepts of those homes, in colors of brown and navy blue. They will have brick on all sides of the first floor.
It is a farmhouse design of 1,800 to 2,600 square feet with prices beginning in the mid $300,000s and delivered in the mid-$400,000s.
Planner Vidya Krishnan said the Amended PUD development is less-intensive in use than the original plan, which was approved in 2000 and never completed. Morton Taylor Road was not paved as promised.
“I’m all for it,” said commissioner Atchinson. “Is it affordable housing?”
Director of municipal services Ron Akers replied, “Not sure. I don’t believe so.”
Joe Skore of Pulte said it most likely is not affordable and “attainable” housing is more subjective.
“Planners don’t get into affordable or attainable” which is based on median income and SEMCOG numbers, Krishnan said. And “affordable” doesn’t fit any bracket,” she said.
Atchinson asked where their customers will be coming from and Skore said probably along the I-275 corridor, north of Van Buren Township, where the jobs are.
Pahle said he did a Google search and a median home in VBT is $374,000.
Skore said there are no side-entry garages.
Commissioner Jeff Jahr made the motion to recommend to the township board special land use approval for the PUD Amendment. Atchinson seconded and it was passed unanimously.
Then the commission considered a preliminary site plan for the condos and Krishnan went through nine pages of her planner report that ended with her recommending approval. This, too, must go to the township board for final approval.
She said the township wants a traffic light at the Tyler/Morton Taylor crossing and Pulte has requested that from the county but has not heard back.
She said the density bonus for farmhouse-style homes at Cedarchase is 18.91%. She said there is a problem with the Cedarchase sign being closer to the street than allowed and Pulte could seek an amendment from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Krishnan said there is no interior lighting on the streets, but there is lighting on houses. The garage doors are architecturally enhanced, but there are no side-entry garage doors.
Then two hours of discussion ensued including the turning radius for the cul de sac, possible wetland designation, distance of lots from the McClaughry Drain. Most issues were brought by Commissioner Jahr and Treasurer Sharry Budd.
“Fifteen items need to be addressed,” Treasurer Budd began. “Way too much. It’s not historic farmstyle homes. I’m concerned with no side-entry garages. I have a real problem taking this to the board. That’s a dangerous intersection… too many deviations.”
Krishnan said what is proposed are “Farmhouse/Northern Craftsman Style” homes, not “historic.” She said that came across originally, but was corrected.
Jahr said he wants to know what features brought the 19% density increase.
Skore said they’ve been working with the township for two years. He said the original developer was allowed 200 units plus commercial.
“We’re asking for a reduction in density,” he said.
“We put brick on all sides and that’s a lot of brick,” Skore said. “We’ve made a significant amount of changes in the detail.” He said the drain field is a final engineering problem and Pulte is going to do the right thing.”
Commission chairman Brian Cullin said he’s afraid the backs of the houses showing along Tyler Road would look bad to drivers. Skore said there would be landscaping there, but Cullin persisted and Skore said Pulte could enhance the second floor with shutters.
He said he would do whatever the township wanted for the development.
Agenda items 4 and 5 were finally passed unanimously by the commission with stipulations that the commission would get report on how the density was figured, how many side-entry garages the current Walden Woods has. If the density calculations causes a change, the agenda items must be returned to the planning commission rather than the board.
Atchinson said that Pulte is not “Joe Shmo” and they haven’t come to VBT before and is not getting the respect it deserves. She said Pulte has done so much and its homes in Ann Arbor and Pittsfield are beautiful.
Skore said Pulte is the largest builder in SE Michigan and has developments in Canton, Orion, Bright, Ypsilanti Township and a multitude of other places, with an average cost of $550,000. It is the third-largest builder in the country.
“We do what we say we’re going to do,” he said.
New stain for Twisted Rooster
The commission approved, on a 5-1 vote, allowing a façade modification to the existing building for Twister Rooster, 9729 Belleville Rd., with commissioner Jahr voting no.
Matt Rose, representing Rooster Ventures, said they closed a month ago on the property which will be a Morning Belle restaurant.
He said the building looks a little tired, saying the brick was stained grey by the former owner without planning commission approval and it was supposed to be red brick. The new owner wants to stain it off-white with dark grey trim.
Director Akers said trying to repaint it a natural color wouldn’t work out well.
Commissioner Jahr said it now looks like “a weathered combat bunker,” but the ordinance says the brick must be red or brown.
Planner Krishnan said it was stained over a weekend and when the township found out it was too late to do anything about it. She said putting brown on top of grey would not work and it would end up looking a lot worse than it does today. She said it already is in a non-conforming stage.
Commissioner Atchinson said the commission needs to get with the times and the Belleville Road Overlay District that requires red brick has to be looked at closely.
“We’re trying to correct a code violation … and just sticking to red or brown is not the best,” Krishnan said.
Treasurer Sharry Budd said the building was changed when it shouldn’t have been done and the planners also allowed Culver’s to have company colors.
In other business at the Nov. 13 meeting, the commission:
• Approved temporary land use for December 2024 through May 2025 for a mobile refueling station at Ricardo, Inc., 40000 Ricardo Dr., on the east side of Haggerty Road just north of Tyler. This is for hydrogen-fueled vehicles. The exact approval was given to Ricardo in 2016, 2018 and 2023. Ricardo chief engineer Matt Hopkins said they did not do it in 2023 and did it to two vehicles in 2018. He said this time it will be three vehicles;
• Heard Akers say the next planning commission meeting on Dec. 11 would have on the agenda a request from Cosco, an agricultural irrigation pond on Martz Road, and a discussion on housing;
• Heard commission chairman Brian Cullin ask about what is going on at the former Cork & Bottle on Sumpter Road, since they just repaved the parking lot and the building is torn apart. Akers said he didn’t know but he would check; and
• Heard Budd say Camping World has repainted its building and it is working on its updates.
Commissioner Bernie Grant was absent and excused from the meeting.