Sheffer Farm could be big, both in size and symbolism.

The proposed 52-acre Garfield Township development would include 61 single-family homes, 120 assisted living units for senior citizens, three 12-unit apartment buildings, a bank and a convenience store/gas station. If it happens, it could mark the return of the big residential developments not successful since the early 2000s.

The project, slated for the southwest corner of Zimmerman and North Long Lake Road (near TC West High School), received a mixed reception at a recent Garfield Township Planning Commission meeting. 

“This will cause a tremendous increase in traffic volume,” nearby resident Judith Danford told the group. “I’m also not in favor of the gas station and have concerns about the lack of open space.”

Planning commissioners said they like the additional housing, but questioned the viability of the convenience store/gas station, the bank, a lack of open space, and the overall density of the project.

“The convenience store, to me, is an absolute no,” said chairman John Racine, who noted that nearby West Senior High School is a closed campus and that it would be inappropriate to put a convenience store in that location where students would be lured away from school to buy snacks and drinks.

Doug Mansfield, project applicant and engineer for the developer, OTTC, answered questions about the project from both the public and the commissioners.

“We’re working around two primary roads,” explained Mansfield. “We think we have just the right mix of uses in this project. We want to move this ahead, and I’m looking for guidance.”

Toward the end of the 90-minute hearing, Mansfield agreed to make changes in the development’s design – doing away with the gas pumps, reducing the number of housing units by 37 and cutting three individual home sites to allow for more open space. He’ll be back before the planning commission at its Feb. 26 meeting.

Sheffer Farm would be one of the largest new residential complexes in the TC region in years.

“Sheffer Farm is the first application we’ve received in years for a large-scale ‘blank slate’ single family residential development,” says Brian Vandenbrand, deputy planner of Garfield Township. “A number of other approved developments which include single family homes have been subject to project amendments to try to get things moving, but again, nothing new. “

Vandenbrand points to several single family or mixed used developments that have stalled or failed due to the economic crash, including Ashland Park, Traditions, Lone Tree, Copper Ridge, The Crown and Westbrook.

“There are still a tremendous amount of single family lots out there, so I don’t know if the market supports the return of subdivision construction at the level of the ‘90s and early 2000s,” he adds.