Farmington Hills council approves 52-unit Wellspring cluster plan after weeks of debate; developer agrees to expand conservation area

Farmington Hills City Council voted to approve a revised cluster site plan for Wellspring of Farmington Hills, clearing a site for 52 attached residential units on the south side of the property along 9 Mile Road.

Charmaine Kettler Schmolt, the city’s director of planning and community development, told the council the submission covers the southern portion of a roughly 79.61-acre site and that the concept presented calls for 13 single-story buildings with four units each. City consultant Giffels Webster reported that the plan meets the RA-1 cluster qualification and dimensional standards shown in the packet, with a noted discrepancy in tree-replacement counts that must be resolved prior to permitting.

The applicant and its consultants said the design keeps most development south of the Rouge River, avoids the bulk of wetlands and connects by sidewalk to 9 Mile Road. Developer representatives from Eureka Development and PEA Group told the council utilities for phase 1 have been sized to support a hypothetical phase 2, and that a boulevard-style entrance and redesigned river crossing would be required if future expansion occurs.

Residents packed the public hearing to press the council on several recurring concerns: tree removal (one commenter said the plan removes more than 316 trees), the character fit of attached condominiums in a wooded single-family area, stormwater and flooding risk for adjacent basements and yards, pedestrian/traffic safety along 9 Mile and Inkster, whether the units would be owner-occupied and affordable for older residents, and how nearby conservation land would be accessed if a second phase never materializes.

The developer and its attorney responded that the project is mission-driven (targeting 55+ ownership), that a Tetra Tech traffic study scoped by the city’s traffic engineer concluded phase 1 does not warrant 9 Mile Road improvements while phase 2 would require mitigation, and that the applicant proposed a voluntary conservation easement of 7 acres for phase 1 and indicated willingness to expand to 14 acres as a condition tied to council approval.

On a motion to approve the revised site plan, the council attached multiple conditions: all outstanding items in the Giffels Webster review and the city engineer’s and fire marshal’s interoffice correspondences must be addressed to the reasonable satisfaction of city staff; an escrow deposit equal to 150% of the open-space cost estimate must be submitted to ensure completion of landscaping and open-space improvements; and the motion included language to secure at least 14 acres of conservation easement with public access following completion of phase 1. The motion carried by voice vote.

The council directed the city attorney to draft the formal cluster agreement memorializing these conditions for final consideration and to ensure any tree-replacement counts and stormwater engineering are clarified before permits are issued. The developer said demolition of unused buildings north of the river and remediation work would move forward following the final agreement.

Next steps: the city attorney will prepare the cluster agreement and the applicant must return with any outstanding engineering responses and final documentation demonstrating compliance with the conditions the council set.