The Van Buren Township Planning Commission was originally scheduled to hold a public hearing on the Waverly Development rezoning request at its July 22 regular meeting, but the hearing was postponed as the developers withdrew their request.
Commissioner Jeff Jahr opened public comment to anyone wishing to speak on the matter.
Resident Wendy Winnie spoke in opposition, stating that documentation her husband Andrew Winnie has obtained indicates that the golf course parcels are to remain green space permanently.
At the June 10 Planning Commission meeting, Andrew Winnie spoke during the public comment period for items not on the agenda. He told the commission at that time he was there to ask the planning commission to deny the proposed development of 285 rental units and 92 single-family homes on the former Harbour Club Golf Course, originally known as Lemon Tree Golf & Apartments.
Area residents say that the agreement with Lemon Tree had included keeping the golf course as open land, not for development.
The Waverly developers have submitted a revised rezoning request, and a new public hearing will be scheduled and announced.
In other business at the meeting, the commission:
Approved a motion to recommend the Belleville Road Overlay District (BROD) Height Zoning Ordinance text amendment to the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, concerning height requirements for hotels, senior housing and hospitals;
Acknowledged a phishing scam targeting business owners and emphasized that the township will never ask for money to be wired to them;
Approved the preliminary and final site plan for Planet Oil at 10645 Belleville Rd.;
Discussed a proposed amendment to the Child Care Institution Ordinance and delayed scheduling a public hearing pending commission feedback and a revised draft;
Announced the Joint Planning Commission meeting with Belleville and Sumpter on July 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Belleville City Hall, 330 Charles St.
The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m. Commissioners Brian Cullin and Peter Creal were absent and excused.
Township-Wide Crime Breakdown
While independent aggregate numbers show Van Buren Township’s overall crime dropped roughly 9% year-over-year, property offenses remain the primary trend
Theft from Motor Vehicles: Local incident reporting ranks vehicle break-ins and parts theft as one of the top recorded offenses, totaling roughly 150 unique incidents township-wide. Large, open parking lots in apartment complexes are highly targeted for these crimes.
Larceny and Shoplifting: Generalized theft remains high, with roughly 502 propertycrimes recorded annually, predominantly driven by opportunistic retail and property larceny
Simple Assault and Vandalism: Simple assaults (260 incidents) and property destruction/vandalism (151 incidents) make up a significant portion of non-property neighborhood calls.
Property-Specific Risk Metrics
If you live in or are researching a large complex near major township corridors (such as Belleville Road or Rawsonville Road), consider these factors
Transit Proximity: Large complexes situated immediately off I-94 corridors often experience higher baseline property crime counts due to easy highway access for vehicle thieves.
Per-Resident Rates: Because large multi-family units pack hundreds of residents into tight spaces, the raw number of police calls will always appear higher than a single-family street, even if the individual risk per resident is identical.
The plans original stated where for single family residence. Now the developers want a rezoning to make the property muti family units. In the back yards of current residents.
Putting those residents saftey at risk, by allowing any individual that my choose to look into their private lives. From a second, or third floor windows, hidden from the individual who’s privacy is being invaded and even possibly recorded.
I don’t believe I need to state the variety of opportunities and crime that this could create, by allowing these units to be literally place in the back yards of private residences