Genoa Township officials have postponed discussion of a petition from a religious school looking to relocate to a Brighton-area church.

The township’s Planning Commission met with representatives from Livingston Christian Schools Tuesday to review the institutions’ revised plans to relocate to the Brighton Church of the Nazarene on Brighton Road. The school first attempted to make the move back in 2015, but the township refused to grant a special use permit, citing traffic concerns as one of the reasons for denial. The stretch is often congested as a number of schools, neighborhoods, and the church all bring substantial amounts of traffic on their own and around similar times of the day.

That congestion hasn’t lessened in the last two years, which prompted a number of neighbors to attend Tuesday’s public hearing to express their concerns. LCS’s new plans include staggering start and stop times to avoid peak traffic hours.

While their application included a traffic study from the Livingston County Road Commission, it was the study done back in 2015 when LCS made its first attempt. Assistant Township Manager Kelly VanMarter says that study is outdated, but could also be unreliable. The study was conducted in May of 2015, when high school seniors were not in school, and when the Spencer Road on-ramp to I-96 was closed for construction. VanMarter says both of those factors could have a noticeable impact on traffic counts and may not accurately represent the road's typical volume.

The Planning Commission chose to table the issue until their next meeting, November 13th, and asked that LCS return with an updated study. There are a few more issues commissioners want handled before then as well, including a satisfied lease agreement with the church and reconfiguration of the site plan to address additional parking spaces needed. (DK)