PLK proposes 48 townhomes near Factory 52; neighbors and fire officials raise safety, traffic and open-space concerns

PLK Communities representative Mick Oakes updated the Norwood Planning Commission on a proposed 48-townhome development near Factory 52 on Wednesday, saying the developer adjusted internal road geometry, added a second egress option, increased sidewalk connectivity and revised open-space calculations.

Oakes said the project team "placed a property on Robertson under contract" to provide a secondary egress, redesigned interior streets as one-way in and one-way out, and added an extra fire hydrant and ADA-compliant parking. He told the commission the combined parcels for the larger Factory 52 development show "we are still at 35.9% open area, which exceeds a 25% open area requirement."

The update came after the commission removed several agenda items from today’s meeting because of an insufficient legal notice window; no votes on the project were taken. Oakes described several options the developer is weighing to meet open-space standards, including redesigning a detention basin as a permanently wet retention feature and treating the southern wooded parcel as part of the combined development’s open-area calculation.

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