Council delays decision on 13 Mile Mulberry Park/Tabernacle PUD after residents and staff raise traffic, density and tree-loss concerns

City Council on March 3 continued the public hearing and voted 6–1 to postpone action on Planned Unit Development (PUD) 02/2024 — the Mulberry Park and Tabernacle multifamily proposal on 13 Mile Road — after weeks of revisions from the developer and lengthy public comment from nearby residents.

The applicant, Schaeffer Development, presented a revised plan that reduced the total units from 76 to 69 and reconfigured the site to move stormwater to a single eastern basin, increase the rear setbacks facing Holly Hill Farms, add sidewalks and two small park spaces, and provide a proposed frontage area for public art. The developer also proposed a direct connection into the Baptist Manor campus and removal of several blighted structures on the property.

The proposal drew sustained opposition from residents of Westgate and Holly Hill Farms who said the plan remains too dense, will worsen traffic on 13 Mile and increase noise and privacy impacts despite the setbacks. Several speakers urged the council to require a lower unit count and more single-story units along the southern property line. Council members and staff said the city’s review of a developer-submitted traffic study raised technical questions and arrived too late to give councilors sufficient time for full evaluation, prompting the motion to continue the hearing to May 12, 2025.

Why it matters: The 13 Mile corridor parcel has been the subject of earlier proposals and community concern for years; it is adjacent to long-established single-family neighborhoods. The PUD would change how…