Court Battle Begins for Mill River

LYON TOWNSHIP, MI-Lyon Township is locked in a legal battle with developer Schonsheck Inc. of Wixom, MI, over a $97 million, mixed 189-acre residential and light industrial project. Planning consultant Christopher Doozan said the township is giving depositions in the case, filed by Schonsheck after the township rejected the company’s rezoning request in August for residential homes and light industrial.

Chris Olson, the township superintendent, told GlobeSt.com that the property is zoned at R1.0, meaning one house per acre is allowed. Schonsheck wanted to rezone about 80 of the acres in the north part of the property to light industrial, and about 100 acres to the south to R.5, allowing a residential development with two houses per acre.

The Mill River project, proposed for an area west of Milford Road, will cost $97 million to build, according to the company. A company official told GlobeSt.com in December the plan is to build 30 lotsof research and light industrial buildings on the site. The buildings,build-to-suit or lease facilities, would each be about 35,000 sf. The other half of the site would hold about 80 houses priced at about $400,000.

However, almost 1,000 residents signed a lengthy petition against the project. According to the petition, the development plans should be stopped because they do not conform to the township’s zoning and 1999 adopted master plan. Residents say they are concerned about a decrease in property values, and the benefits of having an industrial development would be diminished if the cost of enforcement and monitoring were considered as well.

Doozan said a date has been set in Oakland County Circuit Court for next week to discuss preliminary aspects of the case.