Bloomfield Hollow banquet hall plan put on hold

By Dana Casadei

A proposal for Bloomfield Hollow, a 15,815-square-foot event center on a vacant 18-acre parcel located west of Franklin Road and north of Square Lake Road in Bloomfield Township, was put on hold Monday, February 16, by the township planning commission which failed to approve an amendment to a zoning ordinance that would have allowed the project.

The request for the text amendment was brought to the planning commission by property owner Zack Sklar, owner and chef at Peas and Carrots Hospitality. If passed, it would allow for Bloomfield Hollow, Sklar’s proposed banquet hall in Bloomfield Township.

Bloomfield Hollow would host private events, such as weddings, receptions, and similar functions, and would have both indoor and outdoor activities on site. Sklar has proposed to be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to midnight, with the outdoor patios closed at 9 p.m.

The agenda item for the proposed text amendment to permit banquet halls in the research park district and B3 zoning districts brought out many Bloomfield Township residents, leading to over 20 participants during the evening’s public hearing that lasted almost an hour. Nearly every single person who spoke was opposed to the text amendment change.

While people were opposed to that change, their opposition was even greater towards what that proposed text amendment, if approved, would have allowed – the banquet hall Bloomfield Hollow. Vehicle access for Bloomfield Hollow would be from Franklin Road via a private unpaved drive access, and no access is proposed from any local residential street.

Currently, banquet halls are only permitted in the B-4 district, which presents a hardship to prospective banquet hall applicants since there are no parcels in Bloomfield Township zoned B-4. 

Regarding Bloomfield Hollow’s location within the parcel, additional landscaping was proposed to provide buffering between the hall and nearby residential properties, with the closest house being approximately 180 feet to the south of the banquet hall. 

The proximity of its location to the nearby neighborhoods was one of many concerns from residents, including a husband and wife who live in a house close to the proposed hall. Both were opposed to Bloomfield Hollow and said that 180 feet just isn’t far away enough, even with the additional trees.

Other major concerns brought up by residents were the sheer scale of this project, which could have up to 600 guests at a time; safety concerns with the venue having alcohol; worries of people from Bloomfield Hollow wandering around their property lines; the noise, especially if a proposed amphitheater were to be added eventually; and the negative impact this could have on their property values. 

Residents also said they hadn’t been communicated with enough on this proposed project, with multiple people saying they didn't even know about it until an article appeared in a newspaper. Others mentioned all they had received was a postcard about Bloomfield Hollow coming into their neighborhood. 

“It just felt like this was going beyond our backs,” said a Bloomfield Township resident. 

“Apparently zoning doesn’t matter anymore,” said one Bloomfield Township resident. ”If you have enough money in this community – if you’re a developer with millions – you can have whatever you want.”

After the public hearing on the amendment had closed, commission chair Jeff Salz wanted to make a few things clear to residents, some of whom said they thought the planning commission had decided to approve the text amendment long before the evening’s meeting,

“I’m going to tell you – who all made up your mind about me and accused me of doing all these bad things – that I’m not going to support changing the ordinance to put banquet hall into it,” Salz said. “I just don’t think to spot-zone is the correct thing to do. I don’t think I can support changing that in it.”

“I would argue it is you who have made up your minds about us before you even sat down,” he said.

As the planning commission meeting ended on Monday, planning commission member Andrea O’Donnell thanked Salz for running the meeting because it had not been an easy one. 

“I’ve been on the board for 15 years, and this is probably the most contentious meeting I’ve ever attended,” said Bruce Selik, planning commission member. “It’s an insult to us, for the time and energy we put forth to represent you and the township and to make proper decisions.”

“This is not something to be taken lightly,” said Valerie Murphy, Bloomfield Township Trustee. “I think it’s all wrong – I didn’t plan on speaking tonight, but I felt strongly – I hope you think carefully for all the residents. I don’t think the community wants to see this in anyone’s backyards. Would anyone really want a banquet hall with 1,000 people regularly in our backyards?”

The planning commission voted unanimously to table the proposed text amendment change until they could get more information, and have developers and contractors work closer with neighbors to address their concerns about Bloomfield Hollow. 

Since the planning commission voted to table their decision about the proposed text amendment, they also had to table their review of the site plan and special land use for Bloomfield Hollow.

The planning commission voted 5-0 on tabling both the text amendment and review of the Bloomfield Hollow site plan and special land use. 

Planning commission members John Kelly and Thomas Petinga were not in attendance at the Monday night meeting.