Van Buren Township planners approve Cobblestone Creek amended site plan

After almost an hour of discussion during its regular meeting on Oct. 25, the Van Buren Township Planning Commission unanimously approved granting site plan amendments of elevations for new houses in the unfinished Cobblestone Creek Woodlands development.
The development is located on the east side of Hoeft Road, east of the Cobblestone Ridge development, south of West Huron River Drive.
Applicant David Straub requested the amendment to include revised single-family architectural models and elevations into the approved project plans.
Dan Power, director of planning and economic development, said there are 69 remaining unbuilt houses in Cobblestone Creek, which has combined attached and detached condos.
This request for the “Brooklyn” model would require an amendment to the Planned Residential Development that was originally approved in 2005, Power said.
The long discussion was mainly on how to make sure 30% of the homes would be side entry as required by the PRD.
Straub said the 32 side entry lots of the 69 left would be a hardship because the side entries have significant cost and consumers are not willing to pay that premium.
He said the subdivision has been under construction for two decades.
“There’s a price ceiling for communities out there,” he said. When asked why side entries cost more, he said there must be embellishments in front of the home, additional windows, additional loads, and additional concrete.
Commissioner Bernie Grant, an architect, said it would mostly be the concrete and additional windows.
Commissioner Jeff Jahr said the PRD contract is already written and, if the 30% is to be changed, it would need to be changed by the commission’s recommendation to the board of trustees.
Jahr asked Power or Straub to collect information on how many side-entry garages there already are in the development.
Commission chairman Brian Cullin said he concurred with Commissioner Jahr and he would like to see an elevation for side-entry garages. Straub had provided four elevations of the new “Brooklyn” model, but none of them were side-entry.
Jahr said there are side-entry garage models that had been approved with the PRD.
“We could end up that the last 40 houses need to be side-entry garages,” Jahr said. He said he would like the builders to present a plan on how they are going to meet the 30% required.
Commissioner Jackson Pahle asked when they want to start building and was told December. He asked how long it would take to change the PRD and was told a public hearing is involved and it would take a while.
Commissioner Medina Atchinson pointed out this is a new owner.
Power said it is all one project, broken into phases.
“I don’t want to slow down your building the houses,” Jahr said, adding the commission sees a plan that doesn’t address the 30%. He said he would like them to come back with a plan for abiding with the plan or apply for a change. He proposed this could happen at the next meeting, Nov. 18.
Chairman Cullin asked Straub if he could provide the information in two weeks and he replied, “I think so.”
Joseph Boji, owner of the property, M/I Homes of Michigan, LLC, stood to address the situation.
“This is an addition to our plans,” he began. “This is just an addition. We don’t want to delay. There is no risk.
“We want to get ready with the models so we can start selling,” he said.
Power asked them to map out the locations of their lots for the commission and they said they could.
“Other models could be built in the PRD,” Jahr said and Boji said there are at least eight elevations approved. He said it depends on what the customer wants on the lot the customer wants.
Commissioner Grant asked how many building permits they were seeking now and Straub replied the models and 3-4 others.
Boji said they could map where the buildings could go.
Jahr made the motion to approve the elevation amendments with conditions and Commissioner Peter Creal seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
In other information at the meeting, it was noted that the tower sign at the Mobil station has finally been brought down so the builder can move forward with rebuilding the station at the corner of Haggerty Road and the North I-94 Service Drive.