A Glimmer of Hope for Canton's Housing Market

One of the few housing developments underway in Canton passed a crucial step this week when then township's planning commission agreed to relax some design requirements.

Because the changes are with landscaping and building design, not the site itself, the board's approval is all the builder, Bloomfield-based Robertson Brothers, needed to move forward.

The commissioners unanimously agreed and appeared anxious to avoid scaring away the .

"This would have been unthinkable a few years ago," said Greg Greene, the planning board's chairman, referring to the boom between 1999 and 2005, when the township issued an average of 1,000 building permits a year. In 2007, fewer than 70 building permits were granted.

The planning commission, once accustomed to scheduling 20 meetings a year, has had so little business lately, members met just 10 times this year.

So commissioners were attentive during Tuesday's presentation by developer James Clarke, Robertson Brothers's president. He asked the board to endorse a landscaping delay and 50 percent less exterior brick and stone than was promised in the plan by Villas at Maple Creek's original builder.

The initial plans called for lavish amounts landscaping with homes featuring brickwork, natural stone overlays and steeply pitched roof-lines. Clarke wants to reduce landscaping requirement to installing greenery as new units are built; he asked permission to use 50 percent less brick and stone on the buildings.

Commissioners pushed back, but Clarke told them, "I can't add a nickel to this project until I know we're successful."

Classic Tradition Homes, the Ohio company that originated the project with the Farmington Hill-based partner, Cypress Partners, and a Brighton-based firm, RBS Construction, is no longer licensed to build in Michigan, according to Canton's community planner Jeff Goulet. Classic Tradition Homes abandoned the development and it was returned to the bank.

The move left behind eight homeowners at Villas at Maple Creek with no prospect of seeing their community completed until Robertson Brothers bought the remaining property from the bank in July. Jim Clarke said in phone interview Thursday the new units will sell for between $171,000 and $173,000.

The news appeared to relieve two of the eight homeowners at Villas at Maple Creek, an over-55 enclave of 4-unit condominiums at Geddes and Beck. The community was supposed to have a total of 13 buildings and home that sold for between $200,000 and $240,000. Only two were completed, with a third building left unfinished.

One Villas at Maple Creek resident, Lillian Path, said she came to Tuesday's meeting to protest Clarke's plan, but after seeing a revised design, she changed her mind.

Path and other resident, Michelle Pemberton, told the commissioners they've been frustrated for years by the unfinished neighborhood. Township Treasurer Melissa McLaughlin, a planning board member, described the homeowners as orphans.

Over the years, Villas at Maple Creek neighbors developed their own coping strategies. Pemberton said she and another neighbor paid thousands to have a wrought iron fence installed after a 3-foot ridge developed between their land and the next lot; they also had brickwork installed along the area to act as a retaining wall, though it's already shifting. Path said the driveways were never properly completed and she worries about the the snow and ice that cascades off her steeply pitched roof onto her doorstep.

"Sometimes you can't even get the door open," she said.

To add insult to injury, the IRS disbanded the homeowner's association after the builder failed to file the proper paperwork, according to township officials.  

In July, after Robertson Brothers bought the property, company officials met with residents and began completing the shell of a third unit and tearing out trees and shrubs planted in 2004 that languished and died from neglect.

In order to move ahead and build on the empty lots, Clarke told planning commissioners Tuesday, the buildings' exterior designs would have to be changed to make them more affordable in today's depressed housing market.

Some changes, inside and out, will allow the Robertson to comply with new building energy codes.

Clark said he'd met with the current eight homeowners to learn what they needed and how the company could help.

That's when he learned about the snow problem and decided to add covered porches on the new buildings and reduce the roof pitch.

"It's a 55-and-older community," he told the board. "It's probably not fair to put all the water and ice at the front door."

He said other design changes give the homes more of a Mission-style look.

The new look received a mixed reaction from the eight homeowners, he said, but "as a builder, we can't put everything on that was there before and still be successful."

The recently completed third building is a fully functioning model, with full-time staff, he said.

"We're getting more traffic at the Villas in Maple Creek than the entire rest of the company. It appears something is there," he said, referring to potential buyers' interest.

At the same time, Robertson representatives are working with the existing homeowners to resolve outstanding issues. Clarke promised the board that a new homeowners' association would include the existing residents. It was unclear what, if any, solution can be found for the potentially dangerous issue the existing roof design presents during winter weather. The commissions and township officials tossed around ideas ranging from canvas awnings to more permanent structures.

After commissioner Brad Cambridge suggested replacing a shingled surface with brick, Clarke replied with polite bluntness.

"I'd prefer to do all stone and brick but at $88 per foot, what I don't want to do is sell the four units we have and fail a second time," he said. "I don't mind upgrading as the market lets us … it sounds crazy to say a little brick here and a little brick there matters (but) economically, we are supremely challenged."

Commissioner Damon Garrett asked how landscaping would change.

Clarke said the original plan called for "landscaping you'd have expected and required 10 years ago. It's over the top."

The cost to comply with the original landscaping plan, Clarke said, is $350,000.

He asked the board to agree to a plan which would allow the developer add landscaping as each unit is sold.

Pemberton asked if she and her neighbor would get help in reducing or eliminating a 3-foot drop next to their homes and if Clarke would agree to put in more streetlights.

The lighting, she said, was "more of a safety concern. It's very dark ... we are off Beck. I'm usually out there walking."

The original plans called for each home to have a porch light and each garage to have carriage lights. McLaughlin pointed out that streetlights are the responsibility of homeowners.

Clarke said the dirt ridge could probably be graded to resolve the problem altogether.

When Commission Chairman Greg Greene again pressed the issue of landscaping along the main road, Clarke returned to the delicate marketplace.

"We have to sell, so I'm as concerned as you. But we have to sell," Clarke gently insisted. "We don't have the money to put in all the landscaping and hope to sell … we just can't afford it."

Township Treasurer Melissa McLaughlin urged Clarke to install lights at the development's entrance and when he responded by saying it was not a requirement, she said the township had the rule well before 2004.

"I'll check. If it's required, it'll go in," Clarke said.

"I appreciate Robertson taking this on," said Greene. "I live close to that and look at it all the time. I'm going to be anxious to see your success."

Green also thanked Clarke for meeting with the eight residents and keeping them informed.

"It does help," Path said, nodding along with Pemberton.