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Commission approves final site plan for Northwestern mixed-use PUD; grants 60-tree waiver in exchange for extensive off-site improvements
Summary
The commission approved the final site plan for a planned-unit development at 32905 Northwestern, including a request to waive 60 required trees; the developer said it will fund and construct substantial off-site road and utility improvements.
The Farmington Hills Planning Commission on March 20 approved the final site plan for Planned Unit Development No. 4 of 2021 at 32905 Northwestern, subject to addressing outstanding planning, engineering and fire-marshal review comments and granting a waiver for a shortage in required street trees.
The developer and their design team said the project covers two residential buildings (a four-story building to the north and a three-story building to the south), surface parking, courtyards and common areas, and a detention pond. The commission’s review noted updated lighting plans, dumpster-enclosure details and sidewalk additions (including along Highview Avenue and Ludden Street) that influenced tree placement and counts.
Staff said the ordinance would require 125 replacement/required trees given the site’s scope; the applicant’s final plan provides 65 trees and requests a waiver for the remaining 60. The developer explained that some previously cleared areas, the detention pond and added sidewalk and parking footprints reduced areas available for planting. Project representatives also said they will carry out roughly $2 million in off-site improvements — paving several nearby streets and installing utilities — that do not directly benefit the site but serve the surrounding neighborhood.
Given the off-site public improvements and the practical limits on tree planting on-site, the planning commission voted to approve the final site plan subject to resolution of outstanding staff and engineering comments and to grant the requested waiver for 60 trees; commissioners recorded a majority vote with at least one commissioner opposing a full waiver and preferring a partial waiver instead.
Conditions of approval require the applicant to address outstanding items in the city planner’s and city engineer’s review letters and to meet the fire marshal’s requirements. The developer will also complete a final landscape plan and is responsible for coordinating required permits and the Brownfield request noted in the application file.
The approval advances the long-running PUD project toward building permits once the stated conditions are satisfied.
