So how did we come up with 1475 houses? Do the math. Biltmore optioned 460 acres. As a PUD, 20% must be open space, leaving a total of 368 acres for housing. 368 acres x 4 units/acre = 1472.
In 2014, your Northfield Neighbors submitted a FOIA request to Northfield Township to discover the extent of back-channel communication regarding the subject of Biltmore.
One of the letters the FOIA revealed is below. In the letter Biltmore executive, David J. Stollman, writes to Township Manager Howard Fink about Biltmore's intention to develop the property as a PUD, medium density residential, allowing up to 4 dwelling units per acre. That is - if the Township rips up its 2012 Master Plan.
If you need even more evidence, in the following video clip Township Manager Howard Fink acknowledges the 1500 home plan in this 39 second Youtube clip from the March 4, Planning Commission meeting. He is responding to a question from planning commissioner Sam Iaquinto.
The Biltmore Optioned parcels are shown in red on this Township Zoning map.
Emails uncovered by our FOIA request:
More FOIA-ed emails are here.
The Nine Biltmore-optioned Parcels
- from Lizzy Alfs's MLive.com article on Biltmore's attempted bulldozing of Northfield Township's Master Plan.
`“It’s pretty clear this proposal flies right in the face and is directly opposed to what our master plan says,” said former Township Trustee Ed Wojtys.
Wojtys said the township had a diligent, years-long planning process before it adopted its latest master plan in 2012. If the township wants to amend the master plan for Biltmore’s development, he would like to see a similar approach used.
“If you take your master plan and set it aside quickly and don’t use a good evaluation process, then what you may be doing is setting a precedent for every other development proposal that comes to your township. …It’s true that sometimes master plans need to be changed. When that happens, we should go through the same process of making changes,” he said.'
"We worked hard as a community to create a thoughtful master plan based on much community input and planning fairs.” - a former Northfield Township Planning Commissioner.
Read more of Lizzy Alf's MLive.com article: "Company targets 460 acres north of Ann Arbor for residential development."
Download the June 4th Planning Commission packet and Biltmore Presentation (pdf) here.
Watch or listen to the June 4th Planning Commission meeting here.
