Farmington Hills council denies Mulberry Park/Tabernacle PUD after months of debate

Farmington Hills City Council voted 4–3 on Aug. 11 to deny a proposed planned unit development called Tabernacle–Mulberry Park, a mixed proposal that would have placed 63 residential units on 12.46 acres along 13 Mile Road west of Middlebelt Road.

The denial came after 16 months of review, six city hearings and a packed public-comment session in which dozens of neighbors cited traffic, stormwater, tree removal and compatibility with surrounding single-family neighborhoods.

The PUD would have divided the site into a western, age-restricted “Tabernacle” portion of 31 ranch-style units intended for 55-plus occupancy (an extension of the Baptist Manor campus) and an eastern “Mulberry Park” portion with 32 for-sale townhome units. Developer revisions before the Aug. 11 hearing reduced the project from 65 to 63 units, converted the southern-most east-side buildings to one-story ranch duplexes, increased several internal side-yard separations from 20 to 25 feet, and reduced total room count from 229 to 221 rooms, the project team said.

Charmaine Kettler Schmaltz, the city’s director of planning and community development, summarized the review history and the changes since earlier hearings. Joe Tangari, the city planning consultant with Giffels Webster, outlined technical adjustments including a reduced southern rear setback on the Mulberry portion to 74 feet (previously roughly 85.6 feet) and a listed shortfall of 49 replacement trees that remain unresolved in the submittal.

Developer Aaron Schaefer said his team had met with many residents and offered options to address the tree shortfall: “We did express that we would be willing to plant trees on their properties. However, the majority said they would rather just see more hardy trees, like an evergreen tree that retains foliage on all four seasons,” Schaefer said, adding the developer could upsize on-site trees or work with Baptist…