Considering a fence for Units 1-14?

Per the Addendum to the Manors at Central Park Condominium Bylaws, fences are only permitted for Units 1-14 and the Board of Directors has the right to standardize the architectural design of permitted fences.

The Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association has decided to adopt the same standardized fence design criteria as used by the Gardens at Central Park, the Meadows at Central Park and the Central Park Master Association.

The standardized architectural design criteria for permitted fences are as follows:

• Materials: extruded rectangular aluminum (additional ornamental components may be permitted upon request)
• Color: black
• Maximum Height: 48 inches

Owners of Manors Units 1 through 14, inclusive, may request permission from the Board to erect a fence in their rear yard by reviewing the information below and following the instructions on this web page.

The Board's approval will be granted strictly on the basis that the material, color and height of the proposed fence meets the Association's standardized requirements.

Co-owners of Units 1 through 14 who desire a fence remain responsible for

1. making certain that your proposed fence complies with the Shelby Township fence requirements and obtaining all necessary permits.
2. determining that your proposed fence does not encroach on or outside your property lines.
3. familiarizing yourself with the location and nature of all easements that run through your rear yard and obtaining approvals from the easement holder(s) before erecting any portion of the fence within an easement.

The Board particularly wants the co-owners of Units 1-14 to be aware that there are a number of easements that run across the rear of your property and that there is the potential for future problems should the fence be placed on an easement without securing approval from the easement holder. For example, the very rear of each lot contains a "20 foot wide construction, maintenance and operation easement" which grants Lombardo Homes and the Kensington Condo Association the right to use it for access to their property for new building construction and on-going building maintenance. That easement was granted because by design, the existing and proposed Kensington Condo cluster buildings are only about 5 feet away from the rear property lines of Manors Units 1-14.

In the absence of an approval from the easement holder(s), it is the co-owner who assumes all risks stemming from a decision to place their fence within the easement area(s); such risks include but are not limited to having the fence damaged or removed by the easement holder or being sued by them to have you remove it from the easement. Since the Board's granting of a fence approval is based only on whether it meets the specified architectural design criteria, there exists no liability on the part of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association should the easement holders decide to enforce their easement rights.

First Amendments to our Condominium Documents

On Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, representatives of Lombardo Homes hand-delivered to each co-owner's front door a copy of the First Amendment to the Master Deed and Bylaws of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association. The amendments are the result of changes initiated by the developer so that they can market Units 1-14 as "site condos".

Click here to read the post I wrote on April 17, 2009 that explains the practical effects of the Amendments and how the changes to the "Percentage of Value" were determined.

Note that the First Amendments were recorded on April 16, 2009 and that you did not receive your copy of the amendments from Lombardo Homes until 107 days later, despite the fact that Article IX, Paragraph (E) of the Master Deed states, "Co-owners... shall be notified in writing of proposed amendments not less than (10) days before the amendment is recorded...."

Not only did Lombardo Homes fail to provide advance written notification of the amendments, they attempted to pass off the duplication and distribution costs off to our Condominium Association (which would have been a $400+ hit to our budget).

On June 19, 2009, I sent an e-mail to Lombardo Homes asking whether the amendments had been recorded, since we had not yet received copies of them despite the fact they had just installed advertising banners on the Van Dyke entrance announcing the new models for Units 1-14. I received a reply indicating that they had been recorded on April 16th and that a digital copy had been sent to Kramer-Triad for reproduction and distribution to all co-owners.

We responded by pointing out that

• Article IX, Paragraph (K) of the Master Deed states that "A person causing or requesting an amendment to the Condominium Documents shall be responsible for costs and expenses of the amendment...."
• Kramer-Triad would therefore assist Lombardo Homes only by providing them with a set of pre-addressed mailing labels they could use to make an accurate distribution.

The address labels were mailed to Lombardo Homes on June 30, 2009, yet it took them another month to get the amendments copied and distributed to you.

If you compare the "Percentage of Value" numbers in my April 17th post with those contained in the First Amendment documents you received, you will notice that the percentages do not match.

UPDATED Nov. 19, 2009:

This is because in the original Master Deed, Article X, Section 10.1 Central Park Master Community states that, "All assessments levied against the Co-owners and their Unit pursuant to such Master Declaration shall be equal and shall not be apportioned among the Co-Owners in accordance with the percentages of value assigned to the Units owned by them." Therefore, the annual dues for the Central Park Master Association had to be backed out of the percentage of value calculations which resulted in the 0.17422% and 0.64185% values you find in the recorded Amended Master Deed.

Amendments to our Master Deed and Bylaws

All co-owners of units at the Manors at Central Park will soon be receiving in the mail a copy of the "First Amendment to the Master Deed of the Manors at Central Park" as well as a copy of the amendments to the "Manors at Central Park Condo Association Bylaws".

These amendments should be kept with the "Manors at Central Park Documents" book you received at your condo closing. You do not have to respond to these amendments, they are being sent to you since they amend legal documents which you agreed to with your signature at the time you closed on your condo. However, since they consist only of the amended portions of the document, reading them will not tell you the full story of what is happening. I have prepared the following summary for you that explains in plain English why and how the changes were made.

Lombardo Homes, the "developer" of Lots 1 through 14 (Lot 15 no longer exists), desires to create and market the single detached units to be built on those lots as "site condos". Lombardo Homes looked at the possibility of creating a new and separate Condominium Project for those 14 site condos, but has since decided that they should remain a part of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Project, which will now consist of a total of 166 units at completion. Therefore, the developer has exercised his rights under Article IX, Paragraph H of the Manors at Central Park Master Deed to amend our Master Deed and Bylaws so as to redefine the unique set of ownership and maintenance responsibilities that will exist between these 14 site condo co-owners and the Association.

Co-owners of a site condo own and are responsible for their own exterior maintenance and replacement, including the structure, driveway, front walkway and landscaping. Therefore, because of their greater amount of individual ownership in their units, each of the 14 site condo co-owners will have a lesser "percentage of value" ownership in the overall Manors at Central Park Condominium Project. Thus, they will be charged a correspondingly lesser monthly Association fee to reflect the exclusion of allocated maintenance and replacement costs which are unique to the 152 regular condo units on Lots 16-167. When it comes to voting rights, each co-owner of units 1 through 14 will be entitled to (1) vote when voting on those issues that are to be determined with "voting by number" as defined in the Master Deed and Bylaws. When voting on issues that are defined as being determined with "voting by value", each co-owner of units 1 through 14 will have a vote equal to the "percentage of value" assigned to their unit. The maximum total number of votes cast when "voting by number" will be 166. The maximum total of votes cast will be 100% when "voting by value".

As your elected member on the Board of Directors, I have been working closely with Lombardo Homes and Kramer-Triad to determine a fair "percentage of value" for the two types of condo units we will now have in the Manors at Central Park. The "percentage of value" for each type of condo was determined by looking at all line items in the 2008 budget and then allocating them in accordance to the amended Master Deed responsibilities into "equally shared", "partially shared" and "non-shared" costs. "Equally shared" line item are those that all co-owners own and benefit equally from and thus each co-owner bears 1/166th of the costs associated with the line item. "Non-shared" line items are those that pertain to only to the regular condo units 16 through 167 and are allocated to those 152 units. "Partially shared" line items are those in which the site condo co-owners have a partial ownership and benefit.

The "partially shared" category involved most of the work in determining the percentage of value that has been assigned to each of units 1 through 14. For example, the asphalt private access drive in front of units 1-14 is owned and maintained by the Condo Association but unlike the driveways and front walks of units 16-167, the co-owners of units 1-14 will own and maintain their own driveways and front walks. Based on this new difference in responsibilities we looked at the 2008 budget line item for snow removal and estimated what percentage of it is directly attributable to the total square footage of the road surfaces. On a square footage basis, we measured the roadway portion of the snow plowing work to be 25% of the total area that is kept clear, with the remainder consisting of the sidewalks, front walkways and driveways. All 166 eventual co-owners own and can benefit equally from our roadways, therefore, each eventual co-owner of units 1-14 has been allocated 1/166th of 25% of the total 2008 snow removal budget line item cost.

After thoroughly analyzing the 2008 Budget in this manner, we have determined that each co-owner of Units 1 through 14 will be assigned a "percentage of value" equal to 0.21271% (0.0021271). Accordingly, each co-owner of Units 16 through 167 will be assigned a "percentage of value" equal to 0.6383% (0.006383).

These percentages of value add up to 100% as follows: (14 x 0.0021271) + (152 x 0.006383) = 1.0000000 or 100%. For reference purposes, previous to these amendments, each co-owner of the 166 units would have had an equal "percentage of value" of 0.6024% ( 1/166 = 0.006024).

Based on the 2009 Budget spending and the assigned "percentage of value" of 0.21271% for each of Units 1 through 14, the co-owner's estimated monthly Manors Condo Association fee would be $60 which will be paid starting when their house is issued a certificate of occupancy. There is no change to the 2009 $175 monthly Association fee for each of occupied Units 16 through 167.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions about these amendments. After a long process that could have potentially resulted in Lots 1-15 having two-story buildings and being spun off as a separate Condo Association, I think these results are the best we could have hoped for.

Board of Trustees approve Lombardo request

At their March 3, 2009 meeting, the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees approved Lombardo Homes' revised site Plan modification request.

The details of the approved request were the same as those acted on by the Planning Commission at their Feb. 9, 2009 meeting.

Several residents including myself spoke at the March 3rd meeting regarding the discussion held at the Feb. 9th meeting about the exterior colors that will be made available on these new units. At that meeting it was stated that they will be drawn from a palette that will be compatible with the Manors existing color and finish scheme and determined in conjunction with the Planning Dept. At tonight's meeting we expressed the desire that the petitioner and Planning Dept. follow through on that plan and we even mentioned that the palette could also be drawn from the color and finish schemes used on the Kensington condos. Based on our comments, Trustee Paula Filar asked for and received permission to modify the motion and added an additional condition to that effect.

Planning Commission Recommends Approval

UPDATED Feb. 13, 2009:
This request now moves to the Twp. Board of Trustees for their final approval at their meeting on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

At their Feb. 9, 2009 meeting, the Shelby Twp. Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation to the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees that Lombardo Homes' revised site Plan modification request be approved.

During his presentation, Greg Windingland of Lombardo Homes noted that there had been some changes made to the revised proposal they submitted on Jan. 23, 2009. He explained the changes and made the following comments and commitments:

1. The units to be built under this revised proposal will be:
   a) a true ranch style, no one-and-a-half story options
   b) limited to just one floor plan, a 1,499 sq. ft. model (with basement) called the "Silverado" - the other two floor plans shown at our Jan. 21st meeting and mentioned in the Jan. 23rd letter have since been removed from the site plan modification request
   c) the "Silverado" will be offered with any of the four exterior elevations previously shown; Elevation "C" shows "false dormers" and there is no living space behind them; available exterior colors will be drawn from a palette that will be compatible with the Manors existing color and finish scheme and determined in conjunction with the Planning Dept.
2. Mr. Windingland estimated that these units will sell in the $170K-175K price range
3. because of the odd shape of two of the Lots 1-15, the "Silverado" will not fit within their building footprint; therefore, they are requesting that the site plan be modified to show a total of only (14) 44 foot wide lots, with seven lots on either side of Walter Ct.
4. Lombardo Homes will not push for a creation of a separate condo association for these 14 units, they would remain as part of the Manors Condo Association; left open was the possibility that they would push for a change to the Manors Master Deed that would change the maintenance financial responsibility for these 14 units.
5. Lombardo Homes is committed to building low-rise ranch clusters on Kensington's Walter and Stebbins Courts; these clusters will be similar to those that were first built at Kensington.
6. the site plan will be revised to identify the sidewalk that will lead to Walter Court and the addition of refuse walkway pads between the access drive and Central Park North.
   

Feb. 9th Planning Commission Meeting

The Shelby Township Planning Commission will meet at 7:00 PM on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009 to review the revised site plan modification request being submitted by Lombardo Homes.

Residents who received mailed agendas for previous Planning Commission meetings on this subject should have received a mailing this week advising them of the Feb. 9th meeting agenda. Within the next few days, I will distribute a "meeting notice" flyer to the front door of each occupied unit in the Manors at Central Park.

The petitioner's revised request is asking for permission to build detached, single-family, ranch-style condominiums on Lots 1-15 "that will reasonably match the character and appearance of the existing ranches in the Manors". Despite Mr. Sable's promise at our January 21st Annual Meeting, he still has not provided me with any additional information.

This will be the first chance for the Planning Commission to see and hear the petitioner's revised request. There will be an opportunity for public comment during the agenda item. It is possible that immediately following the petitioner's presentation and the public comment, the Planning Commission will move to forward a recommendation to the Township Board.

Lombardo's revised proposal for Lots 1-15

On Jan. 19, 2009, Lombardo Homes withdrew their original site plan modification proposal for Lots 1-15 and served notice that they intend to re-submit a different site plan modification request to the Planning Commission, asking for permission to build "a ranch style home that will reasonably match the character and appearance of the existing ranches in the Manors".

At the Annual Meeting of Manors Co-owners on Jan. 21st, Richard Sable asked to be placed on the agenda so that he could present what his partner (Lombardo Homes) intends to re-submit, plus answer any questions we had. At the meeting, Mr. Sable passed out a few color copies of exterior elevations and floor plans which he indicated would be the basis of Lombardo Home's revised proposal. He indicated that the first floor exteriors would be fully bricked and that the three model floor plans would fit within the originally planned building footprints on Lots 1-15. He also discussed his intention to modify the Manors Master Deed with regards to these fifteen lots and indicated that he would provide more information that could be posted here on this blog by the end of January.

You can view a scanned version of his handout by going to this web page.

Annual Meeting of Co-owners

The 2009 Annual Meeting of the co-owners of the Manors at Central Park was held on Wednesday night, Jan. 21, 2009.

A quorum of co-owners were in attendance for this meeting, of which the main order of business was to elect one co-owner to the Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association.

Michael Grobbel was the only co-owner who was nominated for the position and he was unanimously re-elected for a one-year term.

Following the election portion of the agenda, Mr. Richard Sable was permitted to speak on behalf of the revised site plan proposal for Lots 1-15 that will be submitted to the Shelby Twp. Planning Commission by Lombardo Homes.

You can read the "unapproved" minutes of last night's meeting by clicking here.

Lombardo withdraws his proposal

Late this afternoon, Anthony Lombardo withdrew his proposal for two-story units on Manors lots 1-15. Therefore, there is no need to attend the Jan. 20th Township Board of Trustees meeting. I will try and contact as many folks as possible by phone and e-mail this evening so they do not needlessly attend the Tuesday night meeting.

Above is a copy of Lombardo's withdrawal letter (click on it to enlarge it). Note that they intend to re-submit a new site plan modification request to the Planning Commission, asking for permission to build "a ranch style home that will reasonably match the character and appearance of the existing ranches in the Manors".

I also received the e-mail message below from the Shelby Twp. Clerk.

----- Original Message -----
From: Terri Kowal
To: Mike Grobbel
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 3:55 PM
Subject: RE: January Work Session meeting on SP #02-55 (PUD-1) The Manors at Central Park

Mr. Grobbel,

Great news for you and your neighbors – YOU WON!!!!!! Mr. Lombardo is withdrawing his application, it is coming off the agenda, and he is starting all over again at Planning. Can you please let your neighbors know so that they can save some effort and time tomorrow night?

Once again, it is OFF the agenda and WITHDRAWN!!!!!

Congratulations to all of you.

Terri Kowal

Reminder - two meetings this week!

UPDATE - Jan. 19th

The Lombardo agenda item has been withdrawn from the Tuesday night meeting of the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees.

On Tuesday night, Jan. 20, 2009 at 7:00 PM, the Shelby Township Board of Trustees will hold their regular meeting in the Board Room at the municipal offices at 24 Mile and Van Dyke. During agenda item #7 in the "Planning Commission" portion of their meeting, the Board is scheduled to make a decision on the request by Lombardo Homes to build two-story units on Manors Lots 1-15 instead of ranch style units similar to what is already built to the west along North Central Park. During this agenda item, the petitioner as well as the public are invited to speak on this matter. I intend to speak and present the survey results (see the prior post, below). Please join us at this meeting, even if you do not wish to speak.

The following evening, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009, the Annual Meeting of the Co-owners of the Manors at Central Park will be held at Utica High School, in Room 160 (park and enter at the rear of the building, the room is on your left just inside the rear entrance). Registration begins at 6:00 PM and the meeting will start promptly at 6:30 PM.

In order to legally hold this meeting, we need at least 35% of the co-owners to be in attendance, either physically or through their proxy. Failure to attain a quorum will cause us to have to re-schedule the meeting. If you cannot attend, please fill out the General Proxy form you received in the Jan. 7th mailing and send it to the meeting with a neighbor or call me and I will pick it up from you and take it to the meeting.

Here is the agenda for our meeting:

A) Call to Order (6:30 PM)
B) Introductions
C) Establish that 35% Quorum has been met
D) Comments - Board of Directors and Property Management Group
E) Nominations to Board of Directors
F) Introductions of candidates
G) Selection of Election Inspectors
H) Cast Ballots
I) Guest Speaker - Mr. Bob Hambright, Alcos Insurance Agency
J) Announce Election Results
K) Open Discussion
L) Motion to Adjourn

We intend to end the meeting no later than 8:30 PM. Note that we will have a guest speaker - please bring any condo insurance related questions you may have.

Survey Results - Lombardo Proposal

Below are the results of the survey I distributed to all 86 occupied units on Jan. 10th. As of 2:00 PM, Jan. 19th, I have received a total of 40 responses. I wish to thank all who took the time to respond and I will include the survey results in my remarks at the upcoming Shelby Township Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 20th. Continue reading past the results for my opinions on this subject.

The Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees received plenty of input at their Jan. 7th work session on the Lombardo Homes proposal to build two-story units on Lots 1-15 instead of ranch style units similar to what is already built to the west along North Central Park. The Board is now scheduled to take action on this proposal at their Regular Meeting of Jan. 20, 2009 at 7:00PM in the Township municipal offices. Please plan to attend this important meeting.

In preparation for this next (and final) meeting and recognizing that not everyone from the Manors can attend and speak on this manner, I would like to survey all co-owners for their opinion so I can present the results to the Board of Trustees.

Please read and provide a response for both sections 1 and 2.

Section 1
1. Based on what I know so far about this proposal, I am

(a) _29__ opposed to the Lombardo proposal for Lots 1-15
(b) __4__ in favor of it
(c) __7__ neutral
(d) __0__ need more information

Section 2
The property taxes on Lots 1-15 are delinquent and if this proposal is denied on Jan. 20th, there is a very high likelihood that the County will foreclose on them and that ownership of the 15 lots will change hands by the March 31st deadline. Since the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund (owners of unsold Manors Lots 33 and up) is not interested in acquiring these lots, possible outcomes include:

• an entirely new builder could become involved in the development of this part of the Manors and build on Lots 1-15 according to the original site plan
• the new builder could instead have different ideas on what style of single detached condos to build on Lots 1-15 and we would be faced with another round of Planning Commission and Board of Trustee meetings
• these 15 lots could sit vacant for a very long time.

2. Based on what I know about this proposal including the above information, I am

(a) _21__ opposed to the Lombardo proposal for Lots 1-15
(b) _10__ in favor of it
(c) __9__ neutral
(d) __0__ need more information

The Board of Directors of our Condo Association has declined to take an official position on Lombardo's proposal. This is because the other two Board members also happen to have a fiduciary responsibility to the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund which owns the majority of the unbuilt lots in the Manors at Central Park Condominiums and which has a on-going business relationship with Lombardo Homes that is unrelated to this site plan modification request.

While I do not have a potential conflict of interest that prevents me from taking a position on this proposal, in this situation I am in the minority on this Board and therefore can only speak for myself. For the purpose of this survey, I am "neutral". However, until we can get some assurances that the Township Board of Trustees would protect the Manors from any further changes of this type on lots 33-167, I will remain publicly opposed to this proposal. If we can get those assurances from the Township Board on the 20th (and I think we will), I will drop my opposition.

I personally believe that the loss of visual and architectural continuity can be tolerated in this isolated area of the Manors, that any impact to our property values will be minimal and that our Board of Directors can manage any incremental maintenance costs resulting from this change. As a member of the Board of Directors, I believe that the petitioner's interest in building single detached condos in this specific location, even though they would be different from those in the original plan, is a positive development in a market that has been on "life support". If this proposal is approved with appropriate conditions and the proposed two story units are successful in the marketplace, they will contribute to the viability of our Association and bring in other shoppers who might be inclined to buy elsewhere in the Manors at Central Park. Also, Lombardo has promised the Township and the residents of the adjacent Kensington Condos that if this is approved, he will build only the low rise ranch-style clusters on Walter and Stebbins Courts (which are just to the north of Manors lots 1-15).

Residents, developer clash over style changes

Residents, developer clash over style changes

KRISTYNE E. DEMSKE C & G Staff Writer
Published: December 31, 2008 in the "Shelby-Utica News"

SHELBY TOWNSHIP - Dozens of residents descended on the Dec. 16 Board of Trustees meeting, angered at proposed changes to the condominium development they live in that could bring about a totally different style of housing for the last 15 of more than 150 units. "The board needs to address the residents' fears that this proposal is going to further damage the already shrunken value of our homes," said Mike Grobbel, a member of the board of directors for the condo association and a resident in the development. "Those of us who have purchased a condo in the Manors (at Central Park) bought there on your promise that it was to be a collection of 167 two-and three-bedroom, visually similar, all ranch-style condos."

The township Board of Trustees announced that it would hold off on a decision to approve building modifications to the Manors at Central Park until after a January meeting they're planning between the board, Lombardo Homes and residents of the Manors who are not pleased with how the development is proceeding.....


[read the full article by clicking here]

Board of Trustees Work Session set for Jan. 7th

The Shelby Township Board of Trustees will hold their promised Work Session on Wednesday night, January 7, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the Shelby Twp. municipal building.

The board will hold a discussion concerning the request by Lombardo Homes modify the Manors at Central Park Planned Unit Development site plans (#02-55 PUD-1). The public, the petitioner and several members of the Planning Commission have all been invited to attend and will have the opportunity to speak when recognized during the Work Session.

The Township Clerk will be sending out a copy of the meeting notice in tomorrow's mail to all of those who received a notice of the Planning Commission meeting. I will also distribute a flyer to all homes in the Manors sometime in the next few days.

Board of Trustees pospone decision on Lombardo proposal

Prior to the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees Regular Meeting at 7:00 PM tonight, the Board conducted a Work Session meeting at 6:00 PM, during which they were briefed on the Regular Meeting agenda items by the various Department Heads. While discussing the Lombardo request to revise the Manors site plan for Lots 1-15, the Board decided that they would not be in a position to make any decision at tonight's Regular Meeting. Instead, the Board wants to have a special Work Session Meeting limited to just this proposal, to which the petitioner, a couple of Planning Commission members and the public would be invited. The petitioner, the Planning Commissioners and the public will all be allowed to speak at this meeting and the Board indicated that they wanted to be able to ask as many questions as needed and to be able to hear our concerns in a more conducive setting.

The special Work Session Meeting will be scheduled for sometime in January and the Board said they would mail out a meeting notice to everyone who had received a notice for the Nov. 24th Planning Commission meeting. I will also post the date, time and place of the meeting on this blog and also distribute a flyer to each door in the Manors.

Instead of holding the planned agenda item tonight, the Board allowed Lombardo Homes and myself to each briefly address the Board. I gave the Board members, the Planning Director and Mr. Lombardo a copy of my prepared remarks and then delivered an edited version of those planned remarks. My prepared remarks can be read in their entirety by clicking here (bolded text represents the edited portions which I verbally presented). During the petitioner's abbreviated presentation to the Board, I heard them say that the Planning Commission had included in their recommendation a "condition of approval that Manors Lot 124 was not included". Here is the Planning Commission's Motion to recommend approval, judge for yourself:



Also contrary to what some people are being told by the petitioner, the Detroit Carpenters Pension Trust Fund (represented by Fifth Third Bank) has no financial interest in Manors Lots 1-15 and the Bank did not request Lombardo Homes to petition for this site plan modification. Sable Realty Ventures is the owner of record for Lots 1-15 and Lombardo Homes likely has an agreement to purchase them that is conditional on receiving approval from the Township Board for the site plan modifications. On March 1, 2008, those lots were forfeited to the Macomb County Treasurer due to non-payment of property taxes by the owner of record. A PDF file containing copies of the notices for the upcoming Jan. 13, 2009 Show Cause Hearing and Feb. 6, 2009 Judicial Foreclosure Hearing on these lots can be viewed here.

Click here to view a web page with the Dec. 16th Board meeting agenda, plus the background information packet that was prepared for use by the Township Board members at that meeting, including the minutes of the Sept. 10th and Nov. 24th Planning Commission meetings on this subject. Here are my prepared comments that I gave at the Nov. 24th Planning Commission public hearing.

Click here to view an earlier post on this subject, which contains links to a map, the petitioner's proposed models, elevations and site plan modifications, plus the Feb. 27th Planning Commission meeting minutes.

Dec. 16th - Township Board to decide on the Lombardo Request

On Tuesday, Dec. 16th at 7:00 PM, the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees will make their decision on the Lombardo Homes request to build two-story units instead of one-story ranch units on Manors Lots 1-15. While this is not a formal public hearing like the Planning Commission held, Mr. Wynn, (the Shelby Twp. Planning Director) assures me that the public will be permitted to speak during this agenda item prior to the Board making their decision.

Click here to view a web page with the meeting agenda, plus the background information that has been prepared for the Township Board members.

This weekend, I plan to distribute copies of this flyer to every door of the Manors with the details about this meeting.

Planning Commission Votes 7-1 for Lombardo

At the Nov. 24th Shelby Township Planning Commission meeting, a public hearing was held on Lombardo Home's request to modify the Manors site plan to permit two story units on Lots 1-15 instead of ranch style units. Click here to read the remarks I gave during the public comment portion of the public hearing. After closing the public hearing, the Commission voted 7 to 1 (with 1 abstention) to forward a favorable recommendation to the Shelby Township Board of Trustees.

From my video recording of the meeting, the motion to recommend approval was made by Commissioner Jerry Moffitt and seconded by Michael Thornton. They recommended approval based on their findings that the proposal is consistent and compatible with the existing Central Park PUD and that their recommendation was subject to the following conditions:
1) the future development of cluster units on Walter and Stebbins Courts will be limited to the Kensington one-story model that was approved with the original PUD
2) the Master Deed for these units (on Manors Lots 1-15) will be modified to insure appropriate yard and exterior building maintenance
3) the petitioner will be limited to offering only five of the six model floor plans listed in his proposal, (excludes "The Madison"); each of the various exterior elevations shown for those five remaining model floor plans will be permitted.
4) patio/deck sizes and appearances will be limited based on a design standard; no patio/deck shall extend more than 5 feet beyond the rear building envelope
5) sidewalks will be provided on both sides of Walter Court to facilitate pedestrian access.

Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Moffitt - Yes
Mr. Thornton - Yes
Mr. Frame - Yes
Mr. Deyo - Yes
Mrs. Hodge - (abstain)
Mr. Kassab - Yes
Mrs. Dearlove - Yes
Mr. Viar - No
Mr. Toia - Yes

I am not surprised by the Planning Commission's decision but I am very disappointed by the fact that the Commission chose to ignore my comments
a) requesting that a condition be included in any favorable recommendation preventing applicability to Lot 124
b) concluding that changes to our By-laws and Master Deed were not necessary to address the yard/exterior maintenance concerns.

I found it amazing that the Commission accepted without question the petitioner's primary supporting data, which was that Lombardo's Year-To-Date sales have been 160 homes, 138 which were single family homes. That data is irrelevant, since the real issue here involves changing the plan for single family detached condos on Lots 1-15 from ranch style to two-story style buildings. The petitioner failed to provide any data showing an increasing demand for two-story homes as compared to ranch style homes.

I also found it amusing that in response to my voiced concern about this possibly being used as a precedent to justify future changes elsewhere in the Manors, we were told by Commissioner Moffitt that their actions cannot be used to set a legal precedent. A legal precedent is different than the planning precedent I told them we are concerned about. As if to make our point, the discussion among the commissioners then focused at length on the details surrounding the ranch versus two-story approvals previously granted on the adjacent Kensington property. To address my concern about keeping their approval confined to just these 15 lots, all the Planning Commission had to do was include a sentence in their recommendation noting that since Lots 1-15 are geographically separate from the remaining Manors lots, the loss of visual/architectural continuity is more acceptable there than it would be elsewhere in the Manors at Central Park. Since they apparently didn't want to add that kind of conditional wording to their recommendation, they could have at least had some public discussion among themselves as to why this change made sense for only those particular lots. If faced with another Manors site plan modification request in the future, then the members of that future Planning Commission could read the Nov. 24, 2008 meeting minutes and understand the reasoning and limited intent behind the prior Commission's recommendation for approving the request.

Unfortunately, since the public comment portion of the hearing was over, I was unable to make these points to the Commission during their discussion.

The Planning Commission's recommendation will now go to the Township Board of Trustees, who will make the final decision on it at an upcoming regular meeting. As soon as I find out, I will let everyone know when this meeting will be held. At the Board meeting, we still have one more chance to voice our concerns and hopefully get a more favorable outcome. You can be sure that I will raise the issues noted above when I speak at the Board meeting.

I doubt that the Township can force us to change our Association's Master Deed to redefine exterior maintenance responsibilities or any other parts of the document unless we as an Association also agree to do so. Furthermore, the wording of the Planning Commission's condition is very ambiguous, to the point that it is almost meaningless, since our Master Deed already defines the Association as being responsible for the yard and exterior maintenance of these proposed units. However, if it appears that the Board is inclined to approve the proposed site plan modifications we can still request that they eliminate the Master Deed condition and also ask them to add language to their motion to make it clear that
a) none of the five approved models can be built at a future date on Lot 124
b) Lots 1-15 are geographically isolated enough to accept the loss of visual/architectural continuity with the other Manors units.

Nov. 24th - Next Public Hearing on the Lombardo Request

I have received information from the Shelby Township Planning Department that the next public hearing on Lombardo's request for two-story units on Lots 1-15 will be held on the evening of Monday, Nov. 24, 2008.

Keep the date open - I will add the time and location to this post as soon as I find out more.

Within the next week or so, we will also be distributing a flyer to each door with the meeting information.

UPDATE - Nov. 20, 2008

Earlier today, a flyer was taped to every front door in the Manors. Please take time to read it since it contains some of my thoughts on this subject which I would rather not share in this public space.

The public hearing will be held during the “Old Business” portion of the Planning Commission’s Regular Meeting, which begins at 8:00 PM in the Board Room of the Shelby Township Municipal Building at 52700 Van Dyke. It is agenda item “SP #02-55 (PUD-1) The Manors at Central Park (Modifications)”.

Click here to view the previous post on this subject, which contains links to a map, the petitioner's proposed site plan modifications and the Feb. 27th Planning Commission meeting minutes.

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.

Status - Site Plan Modification #02-55, Manors at CP

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission held a public hearing on Feb. 27, 2008 regarding Site Plan #02-55 (PUD-1) The Manors at Central Park; Site Plan Modification. The petitioner, Lombardo Homes, was requesting a modification to the site plan to permit two-story detached condo units on Lots 1-15 of the Manors at Central Park instead of the previously-approved one-story detached condo units.

After hearing from the petitioner about his proposal and then from the many residents of Central Park who spoke in opposition to it, the Planning Commission tabled the request. The Shelby Twp. Planning Director told us there would have to be a study session with the petitioner and Commission before the matter could come back to the Commission and that a representative from each of the four Associations in Central Park would be invited to attend the study session. The ball remains in Mr. Lombardo's court and so far, he has made no attempt to request such a study session.