A 38-acre parcel on Parkview Avenue that has been farmed for decades could become a residential neighborhood under a rezoning request the Oshtemo Township Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend for approval Wednesday night.
The request comes from Michigan Housing Partnership LLC, affiliated with Allen Edwin Homes, on behalf of the property owners. The company is asking the township to rezone 38.53 acres on the 6,000 block of Parkview Avenue from R-5 residential district to R-4 residential district. The Township Board makes the final decision.
What’s proposed
A representative for Michigan Housing Partnership told the commission the company plans a primarily single-family residential development on the site. The plans include a mix of ranch homes and two-story homes ranging from roughly 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom ranches up to 2,000-square-foot four-bedroom homes, with some attached housing also under consideration. Specific site design comes in a later stage. The company will return to the commission for a full site plan review once the rezoning is in place.
A small slice of the property, 1.24 acres in the northeast corner, is excluded from the rezoning at the property owners’ request, retaining its commercial zoning. That corner contains an irrigation pump house that serves Fountain Springs, the manufactured housing community immediately to the west.
Why R-4 instead of R-5
The distinction between the two zoning designations matters here. R-5 is the only residential district in Oshtemo Township that permits manufactured housing communities. R-4 allows a broader range of uses including single-family homes, duplexes, multifamily, senior housing, and planned unit developments as a special exception, but not manufactured housing communities.
One commissioner raised this directly: as the township builds more conventional housing, the stock of land zoned R-5 shrinks, and lower-cost housing options become harder to develop. Oshtemo Township Zoning Administrator Hutson noted this may be the last vacant R-5 parcel in the township, and that Oshtemo Township once had about 30 percent of the county’s manufactured housing residents within its boundaries.
The commissioner said the concern was real but not a reason to oppose this request as other zones can still accommodate lower-cost housing, and a manufactured housing community isn’t the only way to serve that need. He said he had no hesitation moving forward.
Notably, R-4 zoning would actually result in less density than what the current R-5 designation allows. The 2045 Oshtemo Township Comprehensive Plan designates this area for neighborhood mixed use, and staff found the rezoning consistent with that vision as well as with surrounding land uses, which include Huntington Run manufactured housing community to the west, multi-family developments along Parkview Avenue and Stadium Drive, and senior housing facilities nearby.
What neighbors are watching
Two residents from Huntington Run spoke during the public hearing, and both pointed to the same issue: traffic.
The intersection of Parkview Avenue and Atlantic is already a problem, one resident said indicating the existing entrance is not adequate for current traffic, let alone what a large new development would bring. He noted that a stub street was built years ago on Atlantic in anticipation of office development that never came, and that the broader corridor has been waiting for infrastructure improvements for decades.
Another person asked the commission to study water, sewer, streets, lighting, and safety at the Parkview and Atlantic intersection before the development moves forward. She put it plainly: the entrance is not usable for any more traffic in its current condition.
Commission members and staff acknowledged the concerns and were clear that specific site design, access, and traffic questions are addressed at the site plan stage, not at rezoning. Any site plan submitted for this property would need to satisfy those requirements before receiving approval. Staff also noted that an extension of Atlantic Avenue has been in planning for years through the township’s Downtown Development Authority, though negotiations with the Road Commission have stalled the project.
What comes next
The commission’s recommendation now goes to the Oshtemo Township Board of Trustees for a final decision along with another opportunity for public comment on the recommended rezoning. If approved there, Michigan Housing Partnership returns to the Planning Commission with a full site plan at which point traffic, access, utilities, and design are on the table in detail.
