Public hearing set for 7 p.m. July 10

Outdoor dining will be temporarily allowed on Legacy 925’s patio, but restrictions were imposed by Oxford Township officials in light of neighbors’ fears that the potential increase in noise could negatively impact their quality of life.

Last week, the township board voted 4-2 to grant Legacy 925 owner Christian Mills permission to use the patio on the west side of his 208,000-square-foot building from now through Sept. 30. Customers will be allowed to eat and drink outside until 11 p.m. and Legacy cannot have any music or televisions in the patio area.

“I realize how important it is for a person to make hay while the sun shines,” said township Supervisor Bill Dunn, who made the motion. “If he’s going to have outdoor dining, it’d be better if he had it right now through September.”

In his motion, Dunn made it clear this temporary permission comes “with nothing guaranteed” as far as the approval Mills must still obtain from the township to operate his patio on a permanent basis going forward.

Voting in favor of the motion were Dunn, Clerk Curtis Wright and trustees Jack Curtis and Margaret Payne. Voting against it were Treasurer Joe Ferrari and Trustee Elgin Nichols. Trustee Patti Durr was absent.

Township officials also voted to conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed patio area at their Wednesday, July 10 regular meeting and notify, in writing, all property owners within 1,500 feet of Legacy 925 about this hearing. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m., but the hearing is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

As a condition of its March 2018 approval of Legacy 925’s Class C liquor license, the township board stated that “no outside dining will be permitted until it is approved” by it.

Mills returned to the board last week requesting the use of his patio area, the cement pad for which has already been poured.

He told officials having a patio is “something that is critical to the success of our operations” in the summer.

In his presentation, Mills indicated the patio, which he said would accommodate 50 to 75 people, would be open until midnight seven days a week and “all TVs and music will be shut off by” that time.

“Obviously, we’ll follow the existing noise ordinances in the township,” he noted.

Mills cited examples of restaurants in downtown Oxford that have patio areas near homes.

He mentioned HomeGrown Brewing Company, which has live music outside, and 24th Street Sports Tavern with its outdoor TVs.

“I don’t think it’s a conflict. I don’t think that they get noise complaints,” he said.

But, Mills’ request was met with opposition from residents of the nearby Stony Lake Village condos.

“It’s the music and the TVs that we have an issue with,” said Cindy Kainz, who lives on Stony Lake Ct.

Kainz explained the reason she calls Oxford home but drives to work every day in Warren is because one of her “favorite things” to do is spend time on her patio where “it’s quiet,” just listening to the birds.

“That’s why I live there,” she said.

Kainz doesn’t object to Legacy 925 having outdoor seating, but she does object to the potential noise from outdoor TVs and music.

She noted that one Friday morning last year, she was watering the flowers in her front yard and she “could hear every single word” of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” emanating from inside Legacy 925 through an open door.

Two of the residents who couldn’t attend the meeting, Les Pratt and Suzanne Fodor-Novak, wrote letters that were read into the official record.

“Noise is a big concern in that we can now hear many different remote car door openers and loud voices carrying as people exit the bar (inside Legacy 925),” Pratt wrote. “Please remember that this is a residential area with 75 homes.”

“Allowing this music and television noise outside will do nothing but disturb our peace and devalue our properties,” said Fodor-Novak, a Realtor in the area for 28 years. “The people who purchased here chose to live here to enjoy a peaceful, private and country-feeling lifestyle.”

Fodor-Novak noted music played inside Legacy 925 can already be heard when the building’s rear doors are open.

“Just imagine what we will be subjected to should you allow them to (play) music outside . . . Would you want to have live music played within 300 yards of your house until who knows what time of night?” she wrote.

Pratt didn’t feel comparing Legacy 925 to the downtown restaurants with patios was fair because the latter is “sheltered by other buildings,” whereas there’s nothing between the Mills’ building and the condos but “an open lake.”

“I believe we have all experienced just how easily sound travels over an open body of water,” Pratt wrote. “Unfortunately, this open body of water is right in our backyard.”

Marianne Kainz, a Stony Lake Village resident, pointed out there are already “outstanding issues” related Legacy 925 with regard to things such as landscaping and waste receptacles, so she has “no confidence that anything agreed to this evening is going to be adhered to” by Mills.

“We’ve had enough,” she told the board. “When is something going to be enforced and when are we going to get what was promised to us?”

In response to the opposition, Mills explained his patio needs to have features such as televisions and music in order to remain competitive.

“I’d be hard-pressed to find a patio that did not have TVs or live music. It’s what people want,” he said.

Mills noted he’s “not asking for an outdoor music hall” and he has no plans to “blast” sporting events on the television. He said most of the time the sound would not be on during games.

“We do need a patio to be successful. And we should have the right to operate it in a competitive manner,” he said.

Mills pledged to work hard to be respectful of his neighbors when it comes to noise levels. and “when there’s an issue, we’ll address it.”

He said he’s already given his cell phone number to them.

“If there’s an issue to be addressed, I’ve always said this to my neighbors, call me . . . I have (had) zero phone calls,” Mills said.

Mills told officials he understood why his neighbors were at the meeting, but “I hope that we don’t make decisions (regarding) businesses that are based on fear or based on what-if.”

With regard to Kainz’s complaint about outstanding and unresolved issues at Legacy 925, Mills apologized for the delays. He indicated he’s still in the process of rectifying things and has a $100,000 bond with the township to ensure everything gets done.

“It’s not as if we’re dodging this in any way, shape or form . . . It is paid for. If we don’t do it, you guys do it for us,” he told the board.

Mills also doesn’t believe Legacy 925 negatively impacts neighbors’ property values.

“I’m pretty sure everybody’s property values are headed north,” he said. “I don’t think one person can sit in this room and say that their property value has gone down because (Legacy 925) has come (in) versus (having the) dilapidated manufacturing center (that was there before).”

Mills noted if his building had been used for manufacturing purposes again, it would have generated three shifts of noise as that type of activity is “not quiet.”

Given that, he believes Legacy 925 is the “optimal” use “to coexist with all of the families” that live behind it.

In response to Mills, Cindy Kainz pointed out that a fair number of downtown’s outdoor dining areas do not have televisions or music, including Red Knapp’s American Grill, Oxford Tap, 5-1 Diner and the Ox Bar and Grill.

She noted the outdoor televisions at the 24th Street Sports Tavern are not very loud and HomeGrown Brewing has live music on its patio on Fridays and Saturdays from 6:30 to 10 p.m.

“It is not something that is every day (at HomeGrown),” Kainz said.

Following Mills’ presentation and the public’s comments, township attorney Gary Rentrop informed the board that allowing outdoor dining at Legacy 925 would be considered making an amendment to the operating agreement originally submitted with the liquor license application, and therefore the township must conduct a public hearing before making a decision.

“If you’re going to expand beyond what you’ve approved in the operating agreement, you have to have a public hearing to address those issues that might arise by virtue of the expansion,” Rentrop said.

But, Mills told officials “waiting another month to open our patio is really hurtful to our business.”

“It’s already June. Most of the restaurants’ patios have been open since May,” he said.

Rentrop advised officials they could give temporary permission to allow outdoor dining at Legacy, but with conditions.

Dunn saw this as the happy medium, which resulted in the approved motion.

“I don’t want to hinder (Mills’) ability to make money, but I also don’t want to encroach on (the neighbors’ rights),” he said.