Despite a slight delay, members of the City of Northville Planning Commission unanimously approved a Planned Unit Development (PUD) preliminary application for development at the Northville Downs site.
The project was determined to be “generally complete” by commissioners during the Feb. 15 meeting attended by about 170 individuals both in person and on Zoom. The next step in the process is the scheduling of a public hearing so community members can comment on the merits of the preliminary site plan itself. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the Community Center with a Zoom (online) option available to the public.
Chairman of the Planning Commission Donna Tinberg said there were several steps yet to be completed before the project was approved in the city.
“There was a narrow scope to the meeting: to determine if the application was complete. And commissioners found that it was. However, a complete application does not mean that the site plan itself was approved.”
Commissioners focused on the “completeness” of the plan noting that issues such as character, housing mix, traffic flow, integration and accessibility will be addressed as the process continues through regular development systems in the city.
“This is a long process,” Tinberg said. “We have to focus on it step-by-step. We'll do good work at each step and then move on to the next one. When you care a lot, as residents do, it's hard not to let the fears carry you beyond that step. It may seem that our review is purely factual and technical, but we (commissioners) live here too and are feeling some of the same things as people in the community. We want to see that the best possible, most charming addition to Northville is built here. We want to work with the community and ask that they stay in step with us.”
