A mistake was corrected, numerous apologies were offered and it appears a local developer is pressing forward with his plans to have a third story crown a building that he wishes to start constructing this year.

Last week, the Oxford Village Planning Commission voted 7-0 to “rescind” the motion it approved on Sept. 5 to allow developer Dave Weckle to add a third story to the building he’s going to erect at 32 E. Burdick St. The motion further states its intent to “leave in place” the commission’s May 16 approval of a two-story building design.

Weckle was, and still is, hoping to add a single residential condominium as a third floor to the building.

The Sept. 5 approval was a mistake for which village Planner Chris Khorey, of the Northville-based McKenna Associates, took the blame.

“I did overlook a provision of the PUD (Planned Unit Development) agreement and the three-story building that we approved should not have been approved,” he said. “That language is clear. The planning commission cannot approve a three-story building with both office and residential (uses) on the upper floors.”

Weckle plans to have office space in the building, which means he can’t have a third story under the PUD agreement he signed with both the village and Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

Under it, if the building contains office space, it’s restricted to two stories. However, if the building contains “only retail and residential” uses, it’s permitted to have a third story.

“The reason for that restriction is parking,” Khorey explained. “Based on the parking standards at the time of the PUD approval, adding the two (uses, office and residential,) together pushed them over their limit.”

Under the zoning ordinance in effect when the PUD was approved by the village council in September 2016 and the DDA board in November 2015, the 32 E. Burdick St. building would require 114 parking spaces if it contained office space and 112 parking spaces if it contained only residential and retail.

The PUD agreement waived that and is allowing Weckle to have a total of 100 spaces to serve his mixed-used development, which, when completed, will include a total of three buildings containing retail, office and residential uses.

The building-height restriction was not mentioned during the Sept. 5 planning commission meeting, nor was it included in the Aug. 14 review letter submitted by Khorey.

“That was my error and I apologize to the commission and Mr. Weckle,” Khorey said.

Khorey wasn’t the only one to say he was sorry.

“As chairman of this commission, I would like to extend to you my sincerest apology for the omission of this. This falls squarely upon my shoulders and I assume full responsibility,” said Commission Chairman Gary Douglas.

“I’m very sorry for the error that was made. We rely upon Chris to give us good information, but it’s also my responsibility to ensure that everything that goes out is correct and within the letter of the law. So, I want you to know how sorry I am and I hope that this has not presented you with irreconcilable challenges.”

“I guess I’d have to apologize, too, because I read that PUD and forgot about it,” said Commissioner Jack Curtis. “I don’t know how it was caught. Chris, did you study this thing twice or three times or just catch it in your sleep?”

“I suppose there’s a reason we have a newspaper in this town. So, the credit may actually go to (Leader Editor) C.J. (Carnacchio) for catching it,” Khorey replied.

“That’s to be commended because I read this stuff all the time and (with) one detail like that, you’ve got to be a reader to catch it,” Curtis said.

Despite the commission’s decision, Weckle indicated he plans to seek an amendment to the PUD agreement to allow a third-story.

“I think that aesthetically, it’s going to be a good thing for the community,” he said.

Making a change will require approval from the DDA board, a public hearing before the planning commission, a recommendation from the planning commission to amend the PUD agreement and approval from the village council.

To help expedite things, planning commissioners voted 7-0 to schedule a public hearing regarding the proposed third story for their 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 meeting.

“I just want to get going because I want to have that (building) shell put up by December of this year,” Weckle said.

Weckle noted that at 100 spaces, he actually has more parking than is required under the current zoning ordinance, which was amended and adopted in July.

Under the old ordinance, office space required one parking space for every 350 square feet of “gross floor area.”

Under the new ordinance, office space requires one space for every 350 square feet of “usable floor area.”

According to Weckle, his development now requires “approximately 20 percent less parking” than the 114 spaces (for an office use) stated in the PUD agreement, which was calculated using gross floor area.

Khorey said that means it would require 91 spaces under today’s ordinance.

“We’ve had a lot of discussion as an organization . . . about trying to streamline our process and making it more friendly to do business with,” Douglas noted. “To cast an impediment in front of you over parking . . . seems ludicrous. And I think it’s unfortunate that we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

There was certainly no shortage of praise for Weckle at the meeting.

“It appears to me that there’s a good deal of support for you here on this commission,” Douglas said. “And that we want to see you succeed and we want to try to find a way to make this happen. You’re a valuable asset (to) this community and we appreciate the things that you do here and the contributions that you make. I want to see that relationship continue.”

“I certainly pledge my support and will do everything I can to try to make this move as quickly as possible,” the chairman continued. “I don’t think there’s anybody who wants to just have this project collapse over a bureaucratic fumble.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting, village President Sue Bossardet stepped to the podium and expressed her displeasure with the planning commission’s mistake.

“I don’t mean this as a chastisement (of) anybody, but obviously, things that took place with Dave Weckle’s development clearly point out that the village as a whole needs to do a better job with their building department and working with developers,” she said.

“If it wasn’t Dave, it could have been a developer who said, ‘Sorry, I’m not going to do business here’ . . . (It) speaks volumes (about) his character that he’s willing to work with us.”

“There really are no excuses for this,” Douglas said. “We are a very small organization and we have a tendency to rely upon each other for each one’s individual and specialized expertise.

“Unfortunately, a break down in one link of that chain can have very large repercussions,” Douglas continued. “This was a very small fact in and amongst many, many, many facts. Dave’s got a very big project going on. It’s extremely multifaceted.”

Douglas noted he’s “mortified that this entire project” could have been derailed “by one stupid fact about parking.”

“I thank my lucky stars that it’s Dave because this could have been a disaster,” he said.