By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Brighton City Council has turned away a proposal for a townhouse development on the site of the old Lindbom Elementary School.

City Council met Thursday, just three nights after the Planning Commission gave opinions on 4 revisions to the proposed West Village planned unit development. Developer S.R. Jacobson was the latest in a series of builders over the past decade hoping to find approval for a project on the Lindbom site, which suffers from contamination and blight issues. They were seeking to construct 140 3-story, for-rent townhomes on the 10-acre property.

Residents at public comment were again in unanimous disapproval of the project due to its density, building size, landscaping, and traffic generation.

During City Council discussion, Renee Pettingill, who lives near the site, said this proposal is not the right one for it. As a resident of the northwest neighborhood, she said that while she would love to see a development there, they need to make sure that it is the right one, one that fits the neighborhood, and complies with the master plan. She believes West Village is not that project. Pettingill said she has been told by developers that they can’t make money on single-family homes at that location, but that is not the city’s, the resident’s, or the community’s problem.

S.R. Jacobson Vice President Manny Kianicky had stated over previous meetings that in order for the project to work, it needs to be 140 units due to the costs of remediating the contaminated land. That contamination, he has said, scares buyers and lending institutions away, leading to the need to make the townhouses “for rent.”


Much of the evening’s debate centered around the density of the project and interpretations of the City’s master plan around whether or not the site was “adjacent to,” “not adjacent to,” or actually “within” the downtown limits.

Under traditional zoning, the property is moderate density mixed residential, allowing for 8 units per acre. The proposed density was 13.3 per acre.

Jon Emaus pointed out that a PUD is a new rezoning that is its own classification and doesn’t have to adhere to the old zoning numbers. While in favor of the project, he still expressed doubt over whether or not 13.3-units per acre were appropriate for the site. However, he also sees the site as a ticking time bomb for a tragic incident to occur if left as it is.

A successful resident protest petition meant that for the proposal to be approved, it would need a supermajority of support from City Council; that means at least 5 votes in favor, versus a normal 4. A motion to approve the PUD agreement was made but failed 3 to 4. Emaus, Susan Gardner, and Jim Muzzin voted in favor; with Pettingill, Kris Tobbe, Jim Bohn, and Shawn Pipoly voting against.

S.R. Jacobson’s Vice President Manny Kianicki told WHMI that he was disappointed with the vote and that they don’t have a “plan B" for the site. He said this is what they were proposing, and they will evaluate and see if there is any way to move forward with the project from here.