Politics & Government

Farmington Hills Officials Approve Gated Development of $300K Homes

Neighbors are concerned about storm water drainage into Chelsea Crossing.

The housing market may be stalled nationwide, but it picked up Monday night in Farmington Hills, as city officials approved plans for Apple Grove, a subdivision of 17 homes expected to sell for around $300,000.

The subdivision will have private streets, with a gate that has been approved by the for emergency access. Attorney Darin Lebeau of Oakland Law Group in Farmington Hills, representing developer Paul Elkow, said provisions will be added to the bylaws for an escrow account to maintain subdivision roads.

Elkow said he already has a waiting list of people who missed out on purchasing in the Halsted Hollow development, located north of Eight Mile Road and east of Halsted. A 22-year resident of the community, he said he expects to sell 50 homes this year.

Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Farmington Hills is coming back," Elkow said.

Lebeau said the developer has met with residents in neighboring Chelsea Crossing subdivision at least four times and made changes specifically to address their concerns.

Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, neighbors remain opposed to plans for a storm water drainage connection between the two subdivisions, and they urged officials to look at alternatives. Resident Scott Alexander said while the developer has addressed many concerns, residents question whether the city has the right to approve the connection.

"There is not one word" in a drainage easement agreement with the city that says anything about being able to connect another neighborhood, Alexander said, adding, "We disagree that there is legal precedent for that to occur." He said homeowners have signed petitions against the connection.

He said the subdivision hired an engineer to look at whether there would be more water flowing into the Chelsea Crossing system with the construction of Apple Grove. "Our engineer says it clearly will be more water," he said. Residents are concerned that additional flow will change the characteristics of their storm water retention pond.

"If you approve ... you are forcing us into a relationship with Apple Grove," Alexander said. "Our goal is not to stop the development. Our goal is to solve the problem now."

Engineer Rick Hirth of Farmington Hills-based Warner, Cantrell and Padmos said the Apple Grove retention pond is build to handle a "100-year" rain, a storm that has a 1 percent chance of occurring, plus a foot of excess storage. He said any excess storm water from Apple Grove would flow through an easement on Chelsea Crossing's south property line, into that subdivision's emergency overflow system.

"It will not be going into basements," Hirth said.

That was little comfort for Kim Mancini, a Chelsea Crossing resident who said the median value of homes in her neighborhood has fallen from $170,000 six years ago to $69,000 today.

"I'm concerned about development in Apple Grove for that reason," she said. "This deterioration of my resale value is killing me."

Council member Barry Brickner pointed out that having higher-valued homes next door usually increases property values all around.

Officials approved the development's conceptual plan, assuring residents that engineers who work on final plans will be able to address the storm water issues. Mayor Jerry Ellis urged residents to "be careful what you wish for," because if Apple Grove were to go away, a project with a greater number of homes could be proposed in its place. The Apple Grove proposal came in at 1.44 homes per acre; the density allowed for the 11.77-acre parcel is 1.8 units per acre.

"This is a very, very good project," Ellis said. "It's good for Chelsea Crossing, and it's good for Farmington Hills ... This is a very easy project to support, because it meets all of our ordinances."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Farmington-Farmington Hills