Troy City Council Nixes Apartment Project

TROY, MI — A hotly debated 140-unit apartment complex planned for McClure Drive was recently rejected by the Troy City Council on a tight 4-3 vote. To move forward with the project, developer Sam Stafa needed the council to approve a rezoning request on 2.57 acres of land north of Big Beaver Road and west of Crooks Road. But council said no citing safety concerns.

Residents adjacent to the project also voiced strong opposition to the rezoning. One went so far as to threaten council members who supported it. “My property is at ground zero,” said Katherine Bourdeau, who lives on McClure Drive, according to a Troy Times report. She said there were no transitions to the residential neighborhood. “This has been poorly thought out. We will never forget the member of this council who vote yes on this project.”

The proposal would have changed zoning from single family residential to allow for higher density, mixed uses. More than 50 residents spoke in opposition to the rezoning at the council’s April 10 meeting. The decision required a supermajority for approval because residents from more than 130 households signed a petition opposing the rezoning, the Troy Times reported.

Troy Mayor Dane Slater, and councilmen Dave Henderson and Ed Pennington voted for the rezoning. Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Hodorek, councilmen Paul McCown and Ethan Baker, and councilwoman Edna Ibrahim voted against the rezoning. On Feb. 14, the Troy Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend for approval of a conditional rezoning.

The “Big Beaver form based” district zoning was designed to promote high-density and mixed-use projects with vertical integration. Ben Carlisle, of Carlisle/Wortman Associates, the city’s planning consultant, told the council that city management supported approval of the rezoning request, the Troy Times reported.

Residents’ concerns centered on the transition between the five-story building to residential homes, traffic impacts, and safety issues from additional pedestrian and vehicular traffic on McClure Drive, a 20-foot-wide street with no sidewalks, the newspaper reported.

“This is a public safety issue, hands, down,” Mark Beres said at the meeting, according to the Troy Times. Beres lives on McClure Drive.

“It does not protect the character of the neighborhood,” said Ann Bruttell, who also lives on McClure. “It does not meet the zoning ordinance and reduces the value of homes.”

“If you had it on Big Beaver we would be supporting it, but not on McClure,” said Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski, another McClure Drive resident, the newspaper reported.

Several council members agreed. The compatibility with the residential area does not feel right,” Hodorek said. “It seems an inadequate transition.”

“As beautiful as I think the design is, I don’t think the safety criteria has been met,” said Ibrahim, the Troy Times reported.

Photo by Brian Evans via Flickr Commons