Construction at the corner of Van Dyke and Central Park

UPDATED Sept. 18th:

You may have noticed work crews moving earth and making curb cuts at the southwest corner of Van Dyke and Central Park. According to Glenn Wynn, the Shelby Twp. Planning Director, a building for a credit union has been approved for this site and we are seeing the initial stages of its construction. This type of land use is of a much lower intensity than a grocery store and should not cause a large increase in traffic at the intersection. From markings on the curb, it appears that a curb cut is planned on Van Dyke as well as on Central Park. Mr. Wynn indicates that the credit union site plan is available for review at the Planning and Zoning Department. When I get a chance, I will stop by and take a look at it to see what the traffic flow pattern is for the site.

The new credit union will operate under the name of "Genisys Credit Union". It was recently formed by the merger of T & C Federal Credit Union of Bloomfield Hills and USA Credit Union of Auburn Hills. The rumors about a new Kroger store are not true, however, a new one was built a few years ago at the northeast corner of 23 Mile Rd. and Hayes.

While I'm sure we will appreciate a newer, larger and closer Kroger store, this is bound to generate some concerns about increased traffic at that intersection and whether there will be additional curb cuts and deceleration lanes built on Van Dyke so that all of the traffic does not have to use Central Park. Considering how difficult it can be at times to make a left turn onto Van Dyke from Central Park, this new development will hopefully drive the eventual installation of a traffic signal at that intersection.

Sept. 16th Paving

UPDATED Sept. 17th:
The signs announcing paving pertains only to the Kensington Condo development. Moore Ct. and the Broadway loop (East, North and West) will be getting a final top coat of asphalt on the 17th or 18th. The only impact to the Manors will be a temporary closing of West Broadway at Lexington South while the roadway is paved. Manors residents will still be able to park normally and enter/leave via Lexington West.

New Rules and Regulations

(click to enlarge comic strip)

All co-owners should have received a letter by now from Kramer-Triad with an enclosed copy of the new rules and regulations that were recently adopted by the Board of Directors. The cover letter and rules and regulations can also be viewed here.

The cover letter in the mailing also stated that copies of Articles VII and XII of the Association Bylaws were to have been enclosed for your reference but they were inadvertently omitted. The full Bylaws, including these Articles, were included in the "Documents" book that you received at your closing. Rather than incur the expense of an additional mass mailing, if you need a copy of these particular Articles, you can either request them from Kramer-Triad or view them on this web page.

Volunteers needed for a work party

I'm looking for some volunteers who are willing to get their hands dirty with a project that needs to be completed before the snow flies. On Saturday Oct. 4th at 9:00 AM (rain date is the 5th), we will meet on the private access drive that parallels Central Park North. We will be installing concrete patio stones to create four walkways across the median that separates the access drive and Central Park North (the proposed walkways are shown in red on this drawing).

These walkways are necessary to provide a hard-surfaced path for Manors residents on Central Park North to use when setting out their trash during the winter. The Shelby Twp. waste collection contractor only picks up items placed at the curb of Central Park North and after the snow has been piled up by the plows, it can be impossible to safely climb over the frozen piles to get to the curb. We can have our snow removal contract stipulate that paths be kept cleared for use by these residents, but the contractor requires a marked, hard surface on which their crews can use their snow shovels and snow throwers.

The need for these walkways became very evident during last year's harsh winter. Since this project was not anticipated in our 2008 budget, the Board has approved expenditures for the materials, provided we volunteer the installation labor.

We will be installing (26) 1 ft. by 1 ft. concrete patio stones to create each of the 2 ft. wide walkways. We will first have to remove the sod and prepare a level, sandy base before we lay the stones, which weigh about 22 lbs apiece.

If you can help, please contact me by e-mail or phone (they are listed at the right side of the page). We will also need a couple of wheelbarrows and rakes. I will have the materials delivered in advance, so we will only have to move them from from the nearby drop-off point to their final positions.

Proposed Amendment to Central Park PUD

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission will hold a study meeting on Sept. 10, 2008 regarding a request by the Lombardo Homes to revise the building elevations for the proposed detached units to be built on Manors at Central Park Lots 1-15, which are located on Central Park North between East and West Broadway [map].

The site plan documents that were approved for the Central Park Planned Unit Development (PUD) contain building elevations showing that these lots are to be developed with detached ranch type units with elevations identical to those that have already been built on Manors Lots 16-32 [map].

A request by Lombardo Homes to amend the PUD to permit the construction of detached two-story condo units on Lots 1-15 was tabled by the Planning Commission on Feb. 27, 2008. You can read the approved minutes of that meeting on this web page. Since the request was tabled, the petitioner has the right to come back before the Planning Commission and try again to get a decision from them.

The first step in the process is a "study meeting" at which the petitioner describes their proposed amendment and the Planning Commission has the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the proposal, however they cannot make any decisions at this type of a meeting.

Following the study meeting, a public hearing meeting will be scheduled for a later date at which there will be a formal presentation by the petitioner followed by public comment. The Planning Commission will then close the public hearing and discuss the proposal and then make a decision.

Representatives from each of the four Associations in Central Park have been invited to attend the Sept. 10th study meeting. I will attend as the representative of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association. Following the study meeting, I will post a message here to let everyone know how the discussion went between the petitioner and the Planning Commissioners. I will also let you know as soon as a date is set for the public hearing so that we can get a solid turn-out like we had on Feb 27th.

UPDATE - Sept. 10th:

I received an advance copy of the materials submitted by the petitioner and I have scanned and uploaded them to this web page so you can see what the petitioner is planning to present at the Sept. 10th Study Meeting.

UPDATE - Sept. 12th:

The petitioner's Sept. 10th proposal was very similar to what was presented back on Feb. 27th, except for the inclusion of a roof height comparison drawing and several more proposed two-story model elevations, for a new total of (10). Send me an e-mail and I will respond with further details about the Sept. 10th meeting.

Back to Once-a-day Watering

The hot dry spell that started back in the third week of July has finally broken and we are seeing cooler and wetter weather. Therefore, as of Saturday, Sept. 6th, the lawn sprinkler controllers have been reset to water once a day during the early morning hours.

According to my rain gauge, here are the recent monthly rainfall totals for the Manors at Central Park:
May - 3.1 inches
June - 4.6 inches
July - 3.7 inches
Aug - 2.8 inches