By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Hamburg Township officials have approved an agreement for a new housing development that would include several homes for elderly residents.

At a recent meeting, the Hamburg Township Board of Trustees approved a planned unit development agreement for Murie Glen. Murie Glen will feature 51 single family residences on 48-acres located between the Mystic Ridge development to the west, and Merill Road to the east. Thirty-one of the homes will be permitted under Open Spacing PUD regulations, with the remaining 20 being designated as Elderly Cottage Housing Opportunity units, or ECHO Units. ECHO units are designed as smaller housing units that allow seniors to more affordably age in place.

Trustee Patricia Hughes sits on the Planning Commission and had concerns with a portion of the agreement that requires the overall site improvements to be installed prior to the issuance of the final five certificates of occupancy. That number triggers the point at which the developer must stop with the housing build until the improvements are made.

Hughes made a motion that pushed that number up to 10, but it failed 2-2, with three Board members absent from the meeting. She and Clerk Mike Dolan voted in favor. Supervisor Mike Dolan and Trustee Cindy Michniewicz voted against. Treasurer Jason Negri and Trustees Bill Hahn and Chuck Menzies were absent.

Supervisor Pat Hohl said felt that giving the Zoning Administrator some authority to provide deviation on key elements of the construction timing would be a good thing. He said that some of those improvements, noting sidewalks, street trees and curb and gutter, could be damaged if put in too early. Hohl used a cement truck driving over a sidewalk to pour a foundation as an example of where that could damage the sidewalk.

Hohl made a motion identical to Hughes’ motion, but one that gave the Zoning Administrator that leeway. The motion, and development agreement with it, passed 3-1.