Meeting Notice

On Tuesday, Dec. 16th at 7:00 PM in the Shelby Twp. Municipal Building at 24 Mile and Van Dyke, the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees will make the final decision on the request by Lombardo Homes to build two-story units instead of one-story ranch units on Manors Lots 1-15. Copies of the meeting agenda and background information can be found here: http://grobbel.org/condo/dec_16_2008_board_mtg.htm

While this is not a formal public hearing like the one held by the Planning Commission on Nov. 24^th, the Shelby Twp. Planning Director assures me that the public will be permitted to speak during this agenda item prior to the Board making their decision.   Please join us at this meeting - even if you choose not to speak, your presence will make a statement.

At their Nov. 24^th public hearing, the Planning Commission voted to send to the Board of Trustees their recommendation that the Lombardo Homes request be approved.  Armed with that recommendation, it is highly likely that the Board will give their approval at the Dec. 16^th meeting.  However, the Board can also decide to deny, table or refer the proposal back to the Planning Commission for reconsideration, particularly if new facts are provided at the Board meeting. 

Hopefully, I can provide enough new facts regarding the Planning Commission’s lack of interest in certain information presented at the Nov. 24^th public hearing that the Board of Trustees will see fit to refer this proposal back to them for reconsideration.  My detailed analysis of the Nov. 24^th public hearing can be read at http://manorsatcentralpark.blogspot.com/2008/11/planning-commission-votes-7-1-for.html 

However, if the Board of Trustees still decide to give their final approval despite my arguments for a referral, hopefully we can at least convince them to give us the assurances that the Planning Commission failed to do, specifically the written recognition that their approval for Lots 1-15 cannot be used against us for any possible future requests that might come along to build something architecturally different on the remaining unbuilt lots in the Manors.

I know that many of you are concerned that if approved, the Lombardo proposal will have a negative effect on the value of our units.  While those are valid concerns, they have to be placed in perspective with the magnitude of the fallout from the recent crash of the housing and credit markets.  With only 90 out of 167 units sold, the Manors Association is in a precarious position and the longer the unbuilt lots remain that way, the more precarious our situation becomes and the longer our unit's values will continue to decline or stagnate.   I have investigated the possible long-term impact to the Association’s budget resulting from having to maintain the added architectural diversity on those 15 lots, and while it will add some incremental costs, I believe they are relatively minor and manageable (particularly since Lombardo has reduced the number of unique model floor plans being requested from 11 to 5).  Therefore, I do not believe that there is a need to revise our Master Deed to reassign responsibility for those costs, as has been suggested by Lombardo Homes and the Planning Commission.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at (586) 726-0317.

Mike Grobbel – Board Member, Manors at Central Park Condominium Association