Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Hamburg Township trustees approve an initial site plan for a new 208-unit apartment complex and clubhouse off M-36, despite some residents raising concerns about traffic, privacy and potential tenants.

"I cannot conceive of this being Section 8 housing, which everybody is referring to. It is not going to be subsidized housing. I would be shocked if it is," said Supervisor Pat Hohl.

"The land is expensive. The development is expensive. The water and sewer taps are expensive. This is not something that is being built in a well-established community that has very cheap utilities, very cheap water and very cheap sewer."

Crossing at Lakelands Trail also calls for a gym, rec room, pool and other amenities, which already cleared the township's planning commission.

Ultimately, Hohl says there is a shortage of rental units in Hamburg Township, and the former Hamburg Elementary site is the best place for it.

"We only have sewer and water in a limited area. That's where these types of things need to go," he said. "I'm sorry to say this, M-36 does not have that much traffic on it. We perceive that it does, but it doesn't when you look at the standards that MDOT has. So, I'm going to support this."

Developers must now go back to Hamburg Township's planning commission to hammer out details.

"What we've got here basically is a general site plan that now the developers have to really go to work and drill down, figure out all of the engineering, all of the details and come back to the planning commission and back to the board," said Hohl.

"That's going to take some time to get that done."