The new zoning for the site of the former Howe School, now a vacant field, would change from single family housing to condos, a business district and a parking lot.
Nearby residents upset
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – The City Council approved a zoning change for 18000 Oakwood Blvd. on June 11, upsetting nearby residents who don’t want to see development that may worsen traffic congestion.
The site, formerly Howe School and now an empty field, was rezoned from One Family Residential District to Community Business District, Multiple Family Residential and a Vehicular Parking District in a 4-3 vote, with Councilmembers Kamal Alsawafy, Robert Abraham, Mustapha Hammoud and Michael Sareini in favor, and Gary Enos, Leslie Herrick and Ken Paris opposed.
A site plan reviewed by the planning commission proposes stacked condominiums, a parking lot and a business district along Oakwood Boulevard.
The 10.16-acre site was sold in 2017 for redevelopment.
Corewell Health Hospital-Dearborn is across the street from the site, on Oakwood Boulevard, which experiences heavy traffic during peak periods.
Residents spoke up at multiple council meetings, asking for single family homes on the site instead of condominiums, which they contend would exacerbate what is already a congested traffic area.
The property owner, Jawad Heritage Group LLC of Dearborn, has voluntarily agreed to two self-imposed conditions: to build stacked condo units, and to set them back 35-feet from the nearby single-family homes.
The city’s economic developers contend that condos, as opposed to detached single-family homes, are needed to support a younger demographic as well as older residents.
It is also purported that a multiple-family residential district supports residential opportunities for knowledge sector employees, such as those working for Ford Motor Co. and Corewell Health Hospital-Dearborn.
If the developer does not satisfy the city’s conditions for setbacks and development within the approved timeframe, it is possible that the zoning could revert to its original one-family residential district.