The Oshtemo Township Planning Commission gave conceptual approval Noember 5 to Miller Station, a 52-home planned unit development on Stadium Drive.
The proposal covers three parcels on the south side of Stadium Drive between Chime Street and South 8th Street, within the Village of Oshtemo. The land is zoned village commercial and sits in the village form-based code overlay zone. The Fruit Belt Rail Trail runs along the south side of the site. The applicant is Allen Edwin Homes.
The commission voted by voice to approve the conceptual plan along with the conditions listed by township staff in its report. The vote is an expression of approval of the overall layout. The developer must still return to the commission for site plan review and special use review.
What is proposed
Staff said the plan calls for 52 single-family condominium units on just under nine acres, at roughly 5.6 units per acre. The village form-based code allows up to eight.
- 34 “stoop” townhome-style homes, with garages reached from the rear, many facing a central open space
- 18 front-yard houses with attached garages
- Homes of about 1,000 to 2,100 square feet, with two to five bedrooms
- 22 off-street guest parking spaces, plus a garage and driveway for each home
- Private interior streets 23 feet wide, with sidewalks and a connection to the Fruit Belt Rail Trail
- About 2.6 acres of open space, roughly 29% of the site, including a central courtyard, a recreation field and a park around a stormwater basin
Staff said the township engineer reviewed the stormwater, water and sewer plans and found they meet conceptual plan requirements. Fuller engineering and landscaping review comes at the site plan stage.
Requested departures from the village code
Because it is a planned unit development, the plan asks for relief from several form-based code standards. Staff described requests covering front building setbacks, the distance between buildings (12 feet proposed where 20 feet is required), ground-floor elevations, garage placement on the front-yard houses and the depth of the stoop townhomes. The plan also needs administrative departures from the township’s transportation and mobility ordinance related to streets and sidewalks. Staff said the sidewalk request looked favorable.
Commissioners asked why the departures were needed. The applicant said the site is narrow and the design has to work financially, and that the homes are clustered at the north end of the site so they can connect to the sewer on Stadium Drive and avoid the drop-off to the south. A commissioner noted that the township does not yet have specific standards for this type of cottage-style development and that the village form-based code section is expected to change as part of the zoning ordinance update. Another commissioner asked about ground-floor heights on the eight units facing Stadium Drive, and the applicant said it would work with staff to bring those closer to the code standard.
Rental community
The applicant said it plans to start Miller Station as a rental community managed by its leasing affiliate, while setting it up as a condominium so units could be sold later. It also said it has had early conversations with the township about offering some homes at reduced rents for workforce housing through the brownfield tax increment financing program. That would be a separate proposal to the Township Board.
Public hearing
One speaker, who said he owns property to the east, called it a nice project and said residential use would suit the area. No one else spoke.
The meeting is available to watch on Public Media Network.
