Developers on April 28 passed the final step in their plans to develop the old LS Family Foods property on M-24.
By a vote of 5-2, the Lake Orion Village Council agreed to rezone the property from commercial and residential multiple to Planned Unit Development for the construction of Atwater Commons.
The Aspen Group in conjunction with Tadian Homes is building two commercial buildings and 108 condominiums at the corner of Atwater Street and M-24.
During a public hearing on April 28, Laura Proctor, who lives near the property, complemented village officials for ‘getting all the information out to the public.?
She did ask how construction traffic will be handled. ‘Atwater is already crowded and people are going at a high volume of speed,? she added.
According to LO Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel, the agreement with the developers indicates all construction vehicles are to use M-24 only. Trucks will no be allowed to go east on Atwater.
‘If they do, they will be ticketed. We will be watching,? Van Tassel said.
Councilman Douglas Dendel, who voted no on the PUD, believes there are too many units in the residential section of project.
‘I have no problem with the commercial. But we’ll see a 10 percent increase in (village) population in a small area. The long-term benefits aren’t there.
‘These things are big. We won’t have our small town atmosphere. And there’s no guarantee these people will use the downtown,? he said.
Councilman Tom Albert, who also voted no on the PUD plan, wanted to know if there were any restrictions on commercial delivery trucks.
‘Our intention is for most of them to come off M-24, but that is hard to control,? said Rick Rosin of the Aspen Group.
Rosin doesn’t believe there will be any difficulty. ‘Traffic studies show it shouldn’t be a problem. Most deliveries are early in the morning when there’s very little people out there,? he said.
‘Unit owners will know what they’re buying into. These kind of things (residential/multiple) co-exist all over the place.?
According to David Goldberg of Aspen Group, construction of the commercial building should be done sometime in early winter. Currently, only CVS Pharmacy and Applebee’s Restaurant have committed to the site.
Condominium sales are now underway with completion of some units expected this fall.