MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, MI - The Planning Commission held a virtual meeting on Monday, September 14th.

The meeting went live at 7:00 pm to discuss a Special Use Permit to expand an existing adult foster care home, located at 5340 Park Lake Road. The home is currently licensed by LARA as an Adult Small Group Home and is looking to expand its capacity to 10 patients. The current capacity is 1-6, which has been in operation since 2017, and Principal Planner Peter Menser gave a presentation of the project and went over the layout of the area, as well as requirements needed for expansion.

Residents expressed their concerns over the project. A married couple that lives south of the adjacent homes of the adult foster care home states that they feel that there hasn’t been a health safety or welfare issue of themselves or the residents at the adult foster home and were in approval for it. Two other residents who reside on Park Lake Rd called in to the virtual meeting and were not in favor of this project and feel there doesn’t need to be 4 more residents added with the 6 that are currently in place because of it being a residential neighborhood.

Commissioner Mark Blumer had no problems with the concept of expanding, but questioned if housing could properly accommodate 10 adults with 2.558 sq ft. Commissioner Holly Cordill also expressed her concerns about the space requirements. The applicant, Elsabeth Engeda, was present during the meeting to answer questions and says, "The single bedroom has to be 80 square feet and then the double bedroom would have to be 180 square feet. The house will have 6 bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms per state of Michigan policy and procedure and has enough space.”

Abraham Engeda, Elsabeth’s husband, spoke to the Planning Commission and explained they haven’t experienced any parking issues, “There is one rectangular space that holds two to three cars and one large entrance where the cars can back out. Normally that is used for moving in and out. We have ample space.”

The Planning Commission will continue this for further discussion at their next meeting on Monday, September 28th with a final decision.