WYOMING, Mich. -- A huge development planned for Wyoming would bring new apartment buildings, single family homes and even retail development. Although the proposed site plan is still in its early stages, the city and developer are moving ahead with plans for a public meeting to address any questions and concerns.
Residents living near 56th Street and Wilson Avenue received a notice of an informational meeting in their mailbox just last week, explaining a proposed site plan that could change a lot of things in the surrounding neighborhood, leaving residents like Andrea Buyze confused as what's to come.
“I kind of feel we were misled, we moved here to raise our family and have it be a safe neighborhood and that’s what we liked about it. Now, they’re building this mass living area and not taking in consideration people with homes that are here and why they moved here,” said Wyoming resident, Andrea Buyze.
Andrea Buyze has lived near 56th Street and Wilson Avenue for four years with her two sons and husband, and is upset because she believes the proposed plan to add 150 acres of multi-family and single family homes will create an unsafe environment for her kids.
"I’m worried about the traffic flow, we already have a lot of construction vehicles coming down this road," Buyze said.
But site developer Jason Granger understands this concern and is working diligently to create a site that will please the entire community.
“When multi-family is introduced it can often times be misconstrued or people get bad images in their mind of what a rental community looks like, one of the things were trying to do is change the paradise of multi-family homing that’s available,” Granger said.
That's why the city of Wyoming is facilitating a public meeting between the Granger Group and concerned citizens.
“We started this process back in November to look at what can successfully occur in this area in our community,” said Rebecca Rybrandt, the Director of Community Services for the City of Wyoming.
One month later, the community was notified of the rezoning considerations, but since then proposals were refined and revised.
“Right now there is no official request before the city of planning commission; this is really an ongoing conversation between the developer and the community,” Rybrandt said.
Once an official request is filed, Wyoming's development review team will finalize it, then it will head to the planning commission, and then, to the city council.
So far, nothing is set in stone.
The informational meeting on behalf of The Reserve at Rivertown site plan will take place June 4 at 6 p.m. at the Wyoming Senior Center. Residents that want more information or that want to voice their opinion are welcome to attend.
If you have more questions, contact the Wyoming Planning & Development Department at (616) 530-7258 or plan_info@wyomingmi.gov.
Granger Group plans to file their rezoning application to the City of Wyoming June 18, and hopes to go in front of the planning commission this July.
