There’s no doubt Legacy 925 is on the tip of people’s tongues these days.

Concerns, questions and issues related to the 208,000-square-foot, multi-use building (formerly named the Legacy Center) at 925 N. Lapeer Rd. were raised at all three Oxford Township meetings last week – the zoning board of appeals, the board of trustees and the planning commission.

The comments covered many topics, including a stop work order, sewer capacity, the process for approving new uses inside the building, signage, parking and the proposed liquor license.

“There is a whole plethora of items that need to be addressed with the Legacy Center,” said Planning Commissioner Jack Curtis. “And I believe they may have to come back in here (with) a revised site plan.”

“I’ve gotten some complaints from people out in the community about what’s happening there,” said Commission Chairman Mike Young. “We really need to tidy that up, I think.”

“We have a lot of wrinkles that need to be ironed out and none of them are,” said Planning Commissioner Tom Berger.

Stop work order

Legacy 925 owner Christian Mills hit a snag in his plans to open a restaurant/bar and event/conference center inside his facility, which opened in 2015.

It was brought up during both the township board and planning commission meetings that the Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) has a stop work order in place on his proposed project.

It was issued Dec. 15.

“You are hereby ordered to immediately cease construction of the above referenced location until the required paperwork and plans have been submitted and you have received approval from this Division in writing,” wrote Public Health Sanitarian Supervisor Michelle Estell in the order.

The stop work order was originally issued because the project was “being constructed without the required approval of plans from” the OCHD and “the facility failed to submit all of the required completed paperwork.”

In a Dec. 20 follow-up letter from Environmental Health Supervisor Kevin Paladino, it was stated that Mills had met with the OCHD on Dec. 19 and the division was “in receipt of a food service application and plans.”

Mills told this reporter, “We’ve been working with the health (division) every week. We have a new plan and we’re working through it.”

“We’re in the middle of the review process,” he explained. “Most of the information is submitted. Now, we just have to adjust our seating.”

Sewer and water systems

It was stated in the Dec. 20 letter that the stop work order is still in effect as approvals must be obtained for Legacy’s on-site sewage disposal system and water supply, which is derived from an independent well.

The OCHD “cannot approve the additions for the proposed food service operation and entertainment center” because based on “the current information provided,” Legacy’s sewage system “is near capacity and the addition of the proposed food service operation and entertainment center may exceed the capacity.”

“In addition, the Type II (noncommunity public) water supply is out of compliance,” the letter stated.

In his food service application, Mills originally applied for a 300-seat restaurant/bar and 650-seat event/conference center.

“We hope that Legacy becomes the community event center of choice (for) weddings, graduation parties, seminars and corporate training,” stated the operating plan submitted by Legacy to the township as part of its liquor license application.

According to the OCHD, “the existing on-site sewage disposal system is undersized for the proposed usage” and “the proposed flow in gallons per day would exceed the allowable capacity of the current on-site sewage disposal system.”

“It is recommended that you contract with a licensed professional engineer to design an alternative on-site sewage disposal system for the current proposal OR connect to the available sanitary sewer (provided by the township),” stated the OCHD in its Dec. 20 letter.

These recommendations were repeated later in the letter. “OCHD wants to again emphasize the importance of planning for a replacement on-site sewage disposal system that will be capable of supporting your business needs into the future,” the letter stated.

The township has an existing 10-inch sanitary sewer line located on the adjacent McDonald’s restaurant property, according to township Engineer Jim Sharpe.

Sharpe said it’s located approximately 75 feet south of the Legacy/McDonald’s property line and about 350 feet from the Legacy building.

Mills is not required by state law to hook up to the township sewer line because it’s located more than 200 feet from the building.

Mills said “it’s not feasible” for him to connect to the township system because it would be extremely costly to do so.

To connect to the municipal sewer system, the township charges $3,500 per Residential Equivalent Unit (REU). Single-family homes each have a value of 1 REU, whereas businesses may be assigned multiple REUs depending on the type of services they provide.

The number of REUs that would be assigned to Legacy 925 has not been determined.

“Now that a significant portion of the building has been built out, we could perform a fairly accurate REU analysis, but we have not been (asked) to perform any such analysis at this time,” Sharpe wrote in an e-mail.

As for Legacy’s water supply, the OCHD indicated it’s “currently out of compliance with the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act.”

“An arsenic treatment system was installed without a permit,” the Dec. 20 letter stated. “In order to bring the water supply into compliance, an arsenic treatment permit application must be completed and submitted to the Oakland County Health Division and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.”

According to Mills, the only reason the OCHD has issues with Legacy’s septic system is because of the number of seats – a total of 950 – he originally requested for the restaurant/bar and event/conference center.

“Really, it’s just question marks about capacity,” he said.

“Part of the issue is just formulas,” he explained. “The formulas that are given by the health department are, in my opinion, always very conservative.”

When asked why he requested so many seats, Mills explained, “We were trying to maximize our seating capacity there,” he said.

“When you apply for things, you always ask for more than what you’re going to do, right? It gives you options,” Mills explained.

He’s in the process of reducing those numbers so the OCHD will deem his proposal compatible with his existing sewage system.

“We meet the requirements if we reduce our seating,” Mills said.

When asked what the new seating numbers will be, Mills didn’t wish to disclose them at this point. “Once they approve it, we can talk about it,” he said. “There’s no sense in stirring up the pot till we get approval from them. But we do have to reduce our numbers that we requested.”

Despite Mills’ reluctance to release his revised numbers, Commissioner Berger did so publicly during last week’s planning commission meeting. He said Mills is reducing the restaurant/bar seating to 190 and event/conference center to 500 seats.

What are planning commissioners and the planner saying about Legacy?

Although it wasn’t an agenda item, the planning commission spent much of its meeting discussing issues surrounding Legacy 925.

Commissioner Jack Curtis broached the subject. Right now, he believes the approval process for everything from uses inside the building to signage is “convoluted” with “some (things) being done by the zoning administrator, some being done by the ZBA, some being done by the township board, some being done by the planning commission.”

Township Planner Matthew Lonnerstater, of the Ann Arbor-based Carlisle/Wortman Associates, Inc., said Legacy 925 has been “a difficult project” to deal with “to say the least” because “it’s such a unique building” with so many different uses inside.

“I think that we need to have some established procedure for dealing with new uses that come in with this,” he said.

Legacy 925 contains a variety of businesses related to recreation, sports, fitness and health, but it also contains other commercial uses such as an insurance agency, hair salon and a cell phone/electronics repair business.

Up to now, the procedure has been whenever a new use is proposed, Lonnerstater determines if it “constitutes a substantial change.”

“Our zoning ordinance says that planning commission action is needed when there’s a substantial change of use,” he explained. Uses can be approved “administratively” if a use is being replaced with a “similar” one.

Lonnerstater indicated what’s happening now at Legacy 925 is “they’re changing a use and then adding things onto it.” For example, he said “the original plan” had a “cafe” in it, “but now” Legacy wants to add a “bar section” and an outdoor patio, the latter of which was “never approved.”

In the operating plan Mills submitted to the township with his current liquor license application, he admitted that “we have poured a cement pad in preparation for a future patio,” but “we would agree to have a future vote by the board of trustees to open the patio in exchange for allowing us to apply for the ‘outdoor service’ permit with the MLCC (Michigan Liquor Control Commission) now.”

Another example Lonnerstater cited is the event/conference center, which he said is something that was never approved as part of the original or amended site plan.

“I would consider that a substantial addition . . . which would require a parking analysis as well as approval by the Oakland County Health (Division),” Lonnerstater sad.

The planner recommended setting up a meeting to outline what can be done administratively and what needs to come before the planning commission.

“I don’t think we should allow things to be administratively done anymore that are obviously big changes,” Lonnerstater said.

In addition to uses, planning commissioners also discussed issues with Legacy’s signage and parking.

“I just don’t feel like there’s enough parking myself,” Berger said.

Proposed liquor license

Legacy 925 was also brought up at last week’s township board meeting. There was supposed to be a public hearing and discussion that night regarding Mills’ application for a liquor license for his restaurant/bar.

However, these items were pulled from the agenda at the applicant’s request.

“We wanted to do our final review and get our ducks in a row,” Mills told this reporter.

“We pulled it off because we are waiting for final approval from the health department.”

In December, township officials voted to rescind their approval of a new Class C liquor license for Legacy’s proposed restaurant/bar. Local approval, which is technically a recommendation to the MLCC, was originally granted in November.

It was rescinded because two different names for the restaurant/bar were submitted to the township and state, and there was a significant difference between what the applicants asked for in their submission to the state and what they proposed to the township.

Although the public hearing was cancelled, Marianne Kainz, a resident of the Stony Lake Village condominium development near Legacy 925, was once again there to express her opposition to approving a liquor license. She did so under public comment.

“The original intent of this facility, when brought to Oxford Township, was that it was going to be a safe haven for youth. That it was going to be a sports activity center for the youth, some place to go and be safe, (a place) for the children to go, enjoy themselves, be off the streets, be productive,” she said.

Given this, Kainz asked, “Does liquor really have a place in that structure at all?”

She doesn’t believe so and she’s upset that there’s already a mural/sign painted on the exterior promoting the sale of alcohol. Depicted are graphic representations of a martini glass and a mug of beer, plus the word “spirits.”

“He doesn’t even have a liquor license, so, to me, that’s false advertising and that should be removed immediately,” Kainz said.

Reginald Shires, a resident of Stony Lake Dr., also spoke during public comment.

Given what happened with Mills’ initial application, Shires asked, “Why would the board continue to want to give him a liquor license?”

“I think he’s trying to pull the wool over (your) eyes,” he told officials.

According to township Clerk Curtis Wright, the liquor license public hearing has not been rescheduled at this point.

“There’s been no date set for Legacy that I know of,” he said. “It could be a while.”