March 14, 2022
By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com
Hamburg canton officials have approved a deal for a new housing development that would include several homes for the elderly.
At a recent meeting, the board of directors of the canton of Hamburg approved a planned unit development agreement for Murie Glen. Murie Glen will feature 51 single-family residences on 48 acres located between the Mystic Ridge development to the west and Merill Road to the east. Thirty-one of the homes will be licensed under PUD Open Spacing regulations, with the other 20 designated as Senior Housing Opportunity Units or ECHO Units. ECHO units are designed as smaller units that allow seniors to age in place at a lower cost.
Trustee Patricia Hughes sits on the Planning Commission and had concerns about a part of the agreement that requires overall site improvements to be installed before the final five certificates of occupancy are issued. This number triggers the point at which the developer must halt housing construction until improvements are made.
Hughes made a motion that pushed that number to 10, but it fell through 2-2, with three Council members absent from the meeting. She and clerk Mike Dolan voted in favor. Supervisor Mike Dolan and Trustee Cindy Michniewicz voted against. Treasurer Jason Negri and Trustees Bill Hahn and Chuck Menzies were absent.
Supervisor Pat Hohl said he felt giving the zoning administrator some authority to provide override on key construction schedule items would be a good thing. He said some of those improvements, noting sidewalks, street trees and curbs and gutters, could be damaged if put in place too soon. Hohl used a cement truck driving down a sidewalk to pour a foundation as an example of where it could damage the sidewalk.
Hohl presented a motion identical to Hughes’ motion, but which gave the zoning administrator that leeway. The motion, and accompanying development agreement, passed 3-1.
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