City Council Meeting held in Southfield, Michigan on September 19, 2011.
Topics Include
DTE Smart Meters
Lawrence Tech University's desire to build a new dormitory
The building of a Golden Corral Restaurant
You can find an agenda and other documents related to the meeting here. You can download an audio file of the meeting at here. You can listen to other audio relating to DTE's smart meter program here.
The next big issue involves Lawrence Technological University. The University wants to add housing, but the residents are wary. They are concerned about how the added student housing will affect their neighborhood.
Lawrence Tech has stated that due to a declining regional population in order for the university to remain relevant it must attract students from outside of the local area and in order to do that it needs increased student housing.
The residents feel that a student housing facility (a dorm) would change the nature of the neighborhood. As evidence they point to current conditions within houses in the area that Lawrence tech owns.
Lawrence Tech rebutted those points by saying that there is a buffer zone between the resident's houses, the dorm is only two stories tall rather than 4, and entrance and egress is generally orientated in a direction away from the residents.
I have to be honest here. I snooched the pooch on this one. Some of the planning commission meetings where it was discussed I wasn't at, but here is what I do have.
This issue was discussed in a series of planning commission public hearings. The July 20, hearings were to, change the master plan which sets the tone of what the city's public officials want it to look like in the future, rezone the area so Lawrence Tech could build a dorm on the land it owned, and specifically approve Lawrence Tech's site plan.
A series of city council public hearings on August 22,
and a committee of the whole city council meeting on September 12.
Related Links
Documents agenda and related from September 12, and August 22, City Council Meetings, which include documents regarding this issue.
