Dewitt residents shoot down new hotel on South I-94 Service Dr.

A group of about 40 residents from Dewitt Street and surrounding area attended a neighborhood meeting at Van Buren Township Hall last Thursday with the developer of a proposed hotel — and convinced him to go away.
“You’re saving me a lot of money and a lot of hassle,” said Bharat Patel who had planned to invest $6 million in a four-story hotel on the South I-94 Service Drive at Dewitt.
That was before the residents began a one-hour, angry, verbal assault on the project.
The last time that parcel was scheduled for development was when Tucker Insurance wanted to construct an office building there. Dewitt residents bragged that they got him to go away, too.
VBT Planning and Economic Development Director Ron Akers explained that a couple of months ago the township board passed a public participation process that offers communication between residents and a developer before a project starts.
He said there has been nothing filed with the township on the hotel yet and the developer wants to hear the residents’ comments before putting the final details together, so their desires could be part of the final plan.
Director Akers said the parcel is zoned C-1 and C-2, which includes hotel by right.
Before Patel could speak of his plans, a woman asked how many hotels were in the township right now and VBT Trustee Sherry Frazier said there were five.
“He’s decimating our quality of life, for hundreds of residents,” the woman said.
Patel said he has developed other projects including a Comfort Suite hotel in Michigan City, Indiana, off I-94.
Trustee Reggie Miller said she was from that area and knows that hotel. She said it a very nice building.
Patel said he was interested in building on this site because it has easy access to the freeway, is zoned for a hotel, and is half way between the airport and Ann Arbor, a prime location for a hotel. He said it would be a Comfort Suite costing guests more than $100 a night. It would be a two-and-a-half-Star hotel.
Akers suggested he explain the Star designation and Patel said it referred to the amenities. He said the 90 rooms would be suites, with each having beds and a pull-out couch so three people could fit in each room. He said there would be no food at the hotel and no minibars, leading to the Star designation.
He said he planned shuttles to the airport every two hours.
“This is an idea,” Patel said to the hostile crowd. “I want to find out if you like this idea. In order not to bother you, there will be a tree barrier and a six-foot-tall fence. There would be 94 parking spaces, including barrier-free spaces.”
Akers said there would be no curb cut on Dewitt to keep traffic out of the subdivision. There would be one entry on the South Service Drive. He said curb cuts are reviewed by Wayne County to make sure of proper placement.
A woman called out that Supervisor Kevin McNamara has pull with the county because of his father having been county executive. She asked if he will be pushing this through.
Akers said Patel may have to do underground storm water detention where it is held and pumped into a drainage ditch. He said he is required to keep the water on his property. Underground detention is expensive, but the space is limited on the site, he said.
As complaints piled up, Patel said, “We haven’t bought the property yet. This is exploratory. It’s under contract to purchase. We don’t have to do this. We don’t want problems with you guys.”
He said before they build, they do a market study which gives them an educated guess on the project’s success. The market study looked at 10-15 hotels. He said it is not going to fail and would probably have a 65% occupancy rate.
The complaints on having a hotel at that site included: it would be like two of the township hotels, where people live, and there are drugs and prostitutes; their property values would be reduced; people would be able to look out the hotel windows into their bedroom windows; the parking lot lights would disturb their lives; the person who lives across Dewitt from the site said he doesn’t want to “look out the window at something nasty”; the area has brownouts and this would pull too much electrical power; it would make too much noise; among other complaints.
“We’re appealing to you to help,” a man said to the three board members present. It was pointed out this would not go before the board and the planning commission would make any decisions on the hotel.
Trustee Paul White said he is looking for a premiere community in Van Buren Township, but this case is hard because it is zoned for a hotel. He pointed out several changes that could be made on a site plan displayed on screens on the wall.
“We do not want a hotel,” stated a resident of Venetian and his statement was followed by loud applause. “Is this going to be enough to make you stop?”
“I understand,” Patel said. “We will decide. This meeting was for your feedback.”
“Please, don’t build,” the man urged.
Akers said as long as Patel meets the ordinances, he could build.
“There’s nothing we can do legally to stop this,” pointed out another man.
“Before I put in a lot of money, I wanted to hear what you thought,” Patel said.
Trustee Miller said to the audience, “This will affect their quality of life once it is built.”
“We had opposition in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and we didn’t proceed,” Patel said.
Akers said if this doesn’t go through, the township can change the master plan to make this controversial site residential.
Trustee Miller advised the residents to call Supervisor Kevin McNamara with their comments. She said he was unable to be present at this meeting.
One man asked Patel if he would want to have people peeking in his windows to look at his wife and children.
“If this goes up, I’ll picket,” said another man and a woman added, “So will I.”
“We’re not going to let it happen,” said yet another woman.
That’s when Patel said the residents were saving him a lot of money and a lot of hassle.
“You have my final decision,” Patel said, indicating that he would not build the hotel.
Later, Patel said he has been looking at other property in the Belleville area for another development.