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Council sets hearing for Childress/Enid paving SAD, postpones Dunning Road request after resident objections
Summary
Council accepted an engineer's report and set a Dec. 15 public hearing for a Childress Avenue/Enid Street special assessment paving project affecting nine properties, then postponed consideration of a separate Dunning Road SAD after a resident criticized the limited scope and council sought more information.
Rochester Hills — The City Council on Dec. 1 accepted an engineer's report for a special assessment district (SAD) paving project on Childress Avenue and Enid Street and set a public hearing for Dec. 15, 2025. The packets and staff presentations showed nine properties in the proposed Childress/Enid SAD.
Public works staff described the Childress/Enid project as following the city’s SAD policy and noted a draft assessment roll had been included in the engineer’s report. "There are 9 properties in the proposed SAD," a staff member said while asking the council to accept the report and schedule the hearing.
Later in the meeting, staff presented a similar SAD engineering report for a segment of Dunning Road east of Eastwood Drive covering nine properties. Resident Dennis McCurry, who lives at 3451 Dunning, testified that asking nine households to carry the special assessment was unfair and noted the additional annual taxes the assessment would add for fixed-income homeowners. "I don't want it," he said, arguing it made little sense to pave only one end of the road when the remainder would remain gravel.
Council members questioned whether the narrow scope produced poor economics of scale and whether the city should provide a larger, more comprehensive cost estimate so neighbors could consider a wider petition. Council discussed petition rules (current policy guidance was cited as a 2017 base of $12,000, adjusted annually for inflation and described in the packet as "just over $15,000") and payment terms (staff said property owners have an option of paying over a 15-year period or paying in full).
After discussion, Councilmember (Attorney) Neubauer moved to postpone the Dunning Road item to an indeterminate date to allow staff and council to gather additional information and to contact residents for further input. The motion passed by voice vote. Council recorded that postponing would also delay the public hearing that would otherwise have been scheduled for Dec. 15.
What’s next: Staff will coordinate with council and residents to answer questions on the record, provide expanded cost comparisons, and determine a future hearing date if the SAD proponents proceed. The Childress/Enid SAD public hearing remains scheduled for Dec. 15, 2025.
