A Birmingham-based real estate firm has targeted 460 acres of land in Northfield Township for a residential development.
Biltmore Development is exploring the possibility of assembling nine properties and building housing along Whitmore Lake Road just west of US-23 and north of Joy Road. Biltmore has an option to purchase the properties from the seven different owners.
But because the Northfield Township master plan designates the land as agriculture, Biltmore is asking for a master plan map amendment to zone the land for medium density residential. Northfield Township’s current master plan was adopted in 2012.
Biltmore’s plans are in very preliminary stages, and the company has not determined the type of housing or how many units would be constructed on the site. A medium density residential zoning would allow Biltmore to develop housing on quarter-acre lot sizes.
The first step, said Biltmore’s David Stollman, is to see whether Northfield Township officials want the land developed for housing.
“We have not done a site plan for the project. We thought it would be presumptuous,” Stollman said. “Ultimately, before we even get to that step, it’s a question of, does the township want growth or does the township not want growth, and does growth make sense to have in this area?”
The master plan map amendment request has gone before Northfield Township’s Planning Commission for preliminary discussion and public commentary. There is a state-mandated process for amending a master plan that involves approvals and recommendations at several public meetings.
The nine properties Biltmore wants to develop consist of vacant land and very low density single-family residential. There are extensive wetland systems on the site. The current agricultural zoning allows for single-family dwellings on five-acre parcels.
Stollman said Biltmore presented the idea of amending the master plan and developing housing on the site to the township; he said it’s up to the township to decide whether it would like to see growth in the area west of US-23 along Whitmore Lake Road.
“If (the township) wants this, we’ll work together to shape a development,” he said.
Since Biltmore applied for a master plan amendment in the spring, many Northfield Township residents have contacted the township and spoken at public meetings to either oppose or support the change to the master plan.
Mary Devlin, a township resident for 40 years, said other townships have seen this kind of growth, but Northfield has not. She said it would be a shame not to welcome this kind of development.
Township resident Gary Wellings said residential development brings in good tax money and development along US-23 should be encouraged and the rest of the township preserved.
Meanwhile, Raven Tuttle said the nine properties are rich farmland that should be maintained and US-23 cannot handle additional traffic.
Other concerns include: negative impacts on a rural area, increased sewer costs and a lowered quality of life for current residents. Many residents are concerned that Biltmore’s request for medium density residential opposes the master plan’s agricultural zoning for the property.
“It’s pretty clear this proposal flies right in the face and is directly opposed to what our master plan says,” said Ed Wojtys, a Northfield Township resident and former Board of Trustee member.
Wojtys said the township had a diligent, years-long planning process before it adopted its latest master plan in 2012. If the township wants to amend the master plan for Biltmore’s development, he would like to see a similar approach used.
“If you take your master plan and set it aside quickly and don’t use a good evaluation process, then what you may be doing is setting a precedent for every other development proposal that comes to your township. …It’s true that sometimes master plans need to be changed. When that happens, we should go through the same process of making changes,” he said.
Wojtys also noted that Biltmore’s request reminds him the township’s seven-year battle with real estate developer Grand Sakwa.
In 2002, Grand Sakwa agreed to purchase and requested a rezoning of 213 acres of farmland at North Territorial and Five Mile roads to allow for high density residential. The township approved the rezoning but limited the density to 450 residential units on quarter-acre lots.
A group of residents, Northfield Neighbors, then organized a successful referendum that returned the property to agricultural zoning, prompting a lawsuit from Grand Sakwa that argued it had spent $1.9 million making payments on the property and pursuing zoning approvals.
In 2005, a new township zoning board then rezoned the property from agricultural to limited residential. Sakwa said that rezoning was done in bad faith. In 2011, a judge dismissed the lawsuit.
The same Northfield Neighbors group that opposed Grand Sakwa’s development has a petition circulating for people who oppose a change to the master plan to allow for Biltmore to develop the 460 acres west of U-S 23.
Wojtys said more than 50 people signed the petition at a recent Planning Commission meeting.
“We are not an anti-growth group. We just think there are better places to do it,” Wojtys said, referring to Northfield Neighbors. “(The master plan) has high density development in some areas but also features the rural aspects of the township that I think some of us enjoy and would like to maintain.”
Added Northfield Township resident Jennifer DeLisle: “Our community has already seen too much strife over a past development proposal, resulting in a referendum to overthrow the decision to rezone farmland for a large development. Since that time, we have worked hard as a community to create a thoughtful master plan based on much community input and planning fairs.”
Biltmore is a century-old development company based in Birmingham. The company also plans to develop a 323-home subdivision along the east side of Staebler Road between Jackson and Park roads in Scio Township.
Stollman said engineering plans for that project should be submitted to Scio Township within the next 30 days.
Southeast of the land Biltmore wants to develop in Northfield Township, Toll Brothers is moving forward with a $10 million plan to develop 109 acres of farmland at Nixon and Dhu Varren roads. The company submitted a site plan for the 491-unit project last week.
