A parcel on the east side Baldwin Road, just north of Brown Road, remains in limbo, with the property owner intending to address the township board for the second time in as many months next week.
Last week, the township planning commission upheld their action, denying a request to change the hours of operation stated in the original special land use approval for PC-2007-11.
The hours requested by land owner Eugene Scypinski and his family were from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. The currently conditioned hours are from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The planning commission was told to examine the request for a second time by the township board in early February.
Had they approved the request, it could have paved the way for developers of a drive-thru restaurant, possibly a Del Taco, to purchase the land from the Scypinskis, who have owned property on that block since the 1970s and recently saw a similar deal with a restaurant developer fall through.
‘Normally Orion Township only goes to a certain hour at night,? said Building Official Tom Berger. ?(The Scypinskis) are willing to open later in the morning, but normally the township won’t allow a business to be open until 2 a.m.?
The hours are an issue because residential properties border the potential development.
Homeowners on Georgia Road, who abut the property in question, have spoke out against the proposed drive-thru several times, to both the planning commission and the township board.
Martin Scypinski said those residents bought their property knowing of the business zoning in their backyard. He added his family has tried on several occasions to purchase the homes on Georgia Road at a fair price, but have gotten nowhere.
The Scypinski’s hired an attorney, who spoke on their behalf at the Feb. 4 board meeting.
There, a motion by Trustee Matt Gibb remanded the issue to the planning commission meeting. But it will now be back in front of the board next week, according to Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk.
Dywasuk said he met with the Scypinski’s and some of the concerned homeowners about a year ago in hopes to resolve the issue.
Now it looks like the board will have to resolve it, and that could be a problem.
‘There seems to be a bit of a division on the board,? Dywasuk noted, saying the board will have to come to some agreement next week.
‘I know I wouldn’t want a drive-thru in my backyard,? he added.
Dywasuk attended the March 5 Planning Commission meeting, becoming the latest board member to show an interest in the matter.
Both Gibb and Clerk Jill Bastian have addressed the planning commission on the issue in the past, and both drew some heat from fellow board members for those actions.
Berger said the Scypinskis have likely spent a good chunk of money on the property and have taken the correct steps, but added they knew it was a tricky piece of land to begin with.
‘I don’t believe the township ever misled anybody,? he said. ‘You want to blend commercial, but you want to make sure residents can still live in your community. (The homes on Georgia) are zoned right now as residential use.?
Berger said it’s important for the township not to set a bad precedent, but noted all the property from Georgia to Baldwin will likely be business eventually, due to its future land use designation in a recent township master plan.
In the meantime, the issue between some homeowners and the Scypinskis has escalated, as Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputies have been called to the property multiple times over the past year.
There had been talk of one development taking over the entire block, but Martin Scypinski said that’s simply unrealistic.
‘The whole area is not going to go together,? he said. ‘If that’s the case, my son might inherit the land, or his son, before anything happens.?
He would like to see some action taken by the board so he and his 78-year-old father can go back to their business.
Whether that includes a development on Baldwin remains to be seen.