Blossom Ridge Plan Reduced in Size, Board Tables Decision

After much deliberation at Tuesday’s meeting, the Oakland Township Board of Trustees decided to table the proposed senior living community so it can have more time to wade through the information before making a decision.

While previous meetings have featured a full house to discuss the controversial plan, few residents turned out to  on Tuesday night to oppose the project, proposed for the 41.84-acre lot at the northwest corner of Dutton and Adams roads.

“Essentially, we’re tabling this motion for more time to study the information … certain board members need more clarity .. and third there may be objections that need to be resolved,” Trustee Marc Edwards said at Tuesday's meeting.

Tuesday night would not have been the final stage in approving the project. If the Oakland Township board was comfortable with the direction of the project, it could have approved the first reading of an ordinance, amending zoning Ordinance 16. By approving the amendment, it would allow the project to be rezoned from Medium Density Residential (MDR) to Multifamily Residential Density with Planned Residential Rezoning Overlay (RM-PRRO). Then township attorney Steve Joppich would have worked out a PRRO agreement with the applicant, Moceri Development, setting conditions per the board’s instructions.

At next month's meeting scheduled for April 24, if the first reading is approved and Joppich and Moceri come to an agreement, then it will return before the board for a second reading. If the first reading is denied, it essentially kills the project.

A change in attitude

Ron Hein and Bob Sirna, township residents leading Blossom Ridge opposition group Residents for Responsible Growth in Oakland Township (RRG-OT), have decided they can now after working out a compromise with developer Dominic Moceri. The large senior living center proposal was cut by 44 units since the last meeting, now totaling 238 units, to appease residents. Fewer units would be less of a burden on area traffic flow and make the density of the project more in line with the township master plan’s vision of three-five units per acre.

“We had lots of going back and forth and quite frankly the 238 number of units, which is what we ended up on, was clearly a compromise. Bob and I started at a much lower number and Dominic shared with us all the reasons why that is not economically feasible in his business plan and we respect that,” Hein said. “I am particularly pleased with it, that we made this progress.”

Hein credited Moceri for setting up the special meeting to work out a compromise and is also pleased that $1,000 per unit will be donated to the township road funds to improve the intersection of Adams and Dutton. Oakland Township Planner Larry Nix gave a rundown at Tuesday's meeting about how far the project has come since June.

Marty McQuade, a member of Residents for Responsible Growth, still opposes the project, saying that even though Sirna and Hein now feel the project is more in line with what Oakland Township should have in a senior living facility, they are speaking for themselves and not representing the group as a whole.

Edwards was impressed with the collaboration between the applicant and residents, saying he has never seen that done at this point in a proposal, considering the 282-unit design was already approved by the township planning commission. Edwards noted he thinks the revised design is better than the one before.

“I think what’s extraordinary is the fact that Jim Foulkrod as an Oakland Township resident, not a planning commissioner, worked with both sides to come up with an agreement that this group agrees with and can support and I think that’s extraordinary … this is a win-win,” Edwards said.

At Tuesday's meeting, Supervisor Joan Fogler asked Moceri to consider ways to encourage use of the Dutton Road entrance to the senior community as opposed to the Adams Road entrance. He agreed signage could be put up to direct traffic flow to the Dutton entrance. Trustee Kathrine Thomas questioned the need for the third floor portion of the main building on the lot.

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