On Monday, Nov. 13, 2017 @ 7 pm Board of Trustees meeting, the township attorney, Bill Hampton, is requesting the Trustees to approve a Consent Judgment. The Bloomfield Hills school board will be voting on November 16, 2017. The school board urges the township to accept this CJ.
It concerns one parcel of land (4.603 acres) on Franklin Rd. owned by Nosan Companies. A proposal was presented to build 5 separate homes at the March 8, 2016 Board of Trustees meeting. The Township eventually denied that proposed site plan on Jan. 23, 2017 Board of Trustees meeting. Those meetings have been audio video recorded and archived here. Lawsuit ensued.
That Franklin Rd. property is adjacent to the E.L. Johnson Nature Center owned by the Bloomfield Hills School District. They also objected to the Nosan Companies redevelopment of that 4.6 acre parcel. The surrounding neighbors also objected for the most part.
Thus, through discussions while this case was in the legal system, apparently the BHSD will give the developer 8.04 acres of school owned property on WING LAKE ROAD and in exchange receive the 4. 6 acres on FRANKLIN RD. adjacent to their nature park. But that is not all...
The Township, however, must accept a SITE PLAN for 10 UNIT site condo residential housing development from Nosan... as Nosan proposes ... subject to Twp. revisions that the developer would agree with on the WING LAKE RD. property. Otherwise, no deal.
If the exchange of land by the developer (Nosan) and the school district (BHSD) and/or the 10 condo plan does not happen within so many days, then the Consent Judgment defaults to the decision that the Township MUST approve the previously denied site plan on the Franklin Road property. Thereby allowing the 5 home development.
This agenda item is NOT a PUBLIC HEARING, therefore no one may comment.... unless they come to this meeting and present their opinion during AGENDA #1 Public Comment.
Below is from the BOARD PACKET for the Nov. 13, 2017 Board of Trustees meeting.
PLEASE READ THE REST OF THE DOCUMENT IN THE BOARD PACKET FOR THE BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2017.
https://bloomfieldtwpmi.documents-on-demand.com/
This comment concerns the Land Swap deal the Bloomfield Township Board and the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education is attempting to conclude with Nosan Venture LLC and that concerns the 8.040 acres of land identified as 7232 Wing Lake Road and consisting of the open field, wetlands and forested area sandwiched between Booth Center and the Birmingham Farms subdivision. The Township Board and the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education has taken little if any initiative to notify the residents of Bloomfield Township or the homeowners in Birmingham Farms and surrounding areas who will be affected by this Land Swap.
ReplyDeleteThe basic facts are as follows:
- Nosan Venture owns 4.603 acres of land at 3355 Franklin Road adjacent to and south of the Bloomfield Township Nature Center.
- Nosan Venture sought a permit from the Township to build 5 new homes on the 4.603 acres. Homeowners in the vicinity objected to the development as did the Township (the latter because of the environmental impact), which denied Nosan Venture’s permit request.
- Because of the Township’s denial, Nosan Venture filed a lawsuit against the Township.
- In an attempt to settle the lawsuit, the Township has proposed a “Land Swap” which is as follows: in exchange for Nosan Venture’s 4.603 acres located at 3355 Franklin Road and foregoing the build of 5 houses, the Township will:
(1) give Nosan Venture the 8.040 acres of land identified as 7232 Wing Lake Road that is sandwiched between the back of Booth Center and the Birmingham Farms Subdivision,
(2) permit Nosan Venture to build 10 new homes on the 8.040 acreage, and
(3) not require Nosan Venture to perform an Environmental Impact Survey despite the fact the acreage is home to a variety of wildlife. (Note that Nosan Venture receives an additional 3.437 acres at no cost.)
The Bloomfield Hills Board of Education is expected to vote on whether to approve the Land Swap during its next Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 7, 2017 @7pm at Bloomfield Hills High School Auditorium. Although the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education’s website represents that:
“The school board considers transparent operations and effective communication with all stakeholders of the district to be of the utmost importance. .... Agendas for all meetings are posted online and on the doors of the Booth Center.”
the “Agenda” for this December 7, 2017 meeting date does not mention the Land Swap or that a vote on the Land Swap is intended to be taken at this meeting; this fact was only disclosed at the last Bloomfield Hills Board of Education meeting. So much for transparency!
Please plan on attending the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 7, 2017 @7pm at Bloomfield Hills High School Auditorium to show your opposition to the development of the land between Booth Center and Birmingham Farms.
A petition on Change.org has been established so residents in Bloomfield Township can voice their opposition to this Land Swap. This signed petition will be presented to the Bloomfield Board of Education during its December 7, 2017 meeting. To sign, please go to the following link: https://www.change.org/p/none-oppose-the-building-of-10-new-homes-on-the-field-and-woods-surrounding-the-booth-center