Concerns regarding increased traffic for ANY development is an issue.  On this project, the developer reduced the number of units he could have included by ordinance in order to have the total traffic density equal what would exist if he developed it as a residential development.  Because of the type of traffic from the proposed usage, the traffic during peak hours is actually less than what would occur if it was developed as a residential community.  This analysis was confirmed by the Oakland County Zoning Committee in March.

Throughout the public’s comments about Blossom Ridge perhaps the most frequently voiced concern was that the development would create more traffic and make the Adams Road- Dutton intersection more dangerous that it already is. Members of the community doubted that the three traffic studies done by licensed traffic engineers were correct.

The Township Government understands that this corner property is desirable and that someone will want to develop it. Development causes traffic so, when evaluating the traffic impact of rezoning for a proposed development, the proper thing to do is to compare the effect on traffic of the proposed rezoning to the traffic caused by development under current zoning.  Under the current zoning,  a developer could build 61 homes on this 42 acres of land.

The developer responded to this concern by reducing the number of proposed units from the originally proposed 284 to 238 because with this smaller number of units,  the traffic added by the development would be less than 1% more than the traffic added by 61 new homes on the same land. This traffic would be significantly less during rush hours when things get backed up.

Can you accept the 0.36% increase in traffic throughout the day that Blossom Ridge would bring?
Or
Do you want 39% more traffic when you are going to and from work and school everyday? This is what you will see if a normal 61 family subdivision is built in the same place.

Jim Foulkrod