✅ The Royal Oak 2050 Master Plan has been officially adopted. At 12:33 AM this morning, the City Commission unanimously voted to adopt the Master Plan. The long process is now complete.

🍜 Now open: JINYA Ramen Bar at Main and 2nd St. downtown Royal Oak.

The City of Royal Oak launched a survey about improvements to 11 Mile, including potential options for wider sidewalks, bike lanes, and on-street parking. Take the survey here: royaloakmi.seamlessdocs.com/f/dub9tyo2rnjh

Motion to approve the Master Plan (with the addition that typos, inconsistencies and other non-substantive errors will be corrected before it goes to the City Commission) PASSES. It will go to the staff to fix the typos, then to the City Commission.

🍿 The public hearing for the Royal Oak 2050 Master Plan will take place at tonight’s Planning Commission meeting. It’s sure to be a calm, orderly affair with minimal accusations and conspiracies. City Hall, 7 PM Proposed Master Plan can be found here: planroyaloak.com/wp-content/u...

Interesting story about the ~100 year old rail viaduct over 11 Mile, owned by Canadian National, which is showing signs of wear. “Canadian National is planning to remove the cosmetic concrete this spring and take it down to its core structure.” www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2...

2050 Royal Oak Master Plan next steps: ➡️ Public hearing at the 4/8 Planning Commission meeting (7pm). ➡️ Results of the comment period from local entities (mostly neighboring cities) will be reviewed. ➡️ Commission may approve or deny the plan.

✅ The Planning Commission approved the conditional rezoning at last night’s meeting.

Is SHEETZ coming soon to Royal Oak? On the agenda for the Feb. 11 Planning Commission meeting, the conditional rezoning of a site on 14 Mile near Coolidge for a Sheetz gas station, restaurant, drive through, outdoor cafe, car wash, and convenience store.

Lots of buzz during public comment about the Master Plan at last night’s meeting. Unfortunately, people still don’t understand that the renderings are conceptual for what *could* be built in the futur, not a plan for what *will* be built. Reading comprehension…

The conditional rezoning for a 12-unit residential building at 13 Mile and Prairie from Neighborhood Business to Multiple-Family Residential was approved after second reading at last night’s City Commission.

The new pedestrian plaza designs in downtown Royal Oak were approved.

If you go anything over 35 MPH on Belle Isle, there should be traffic calming measures that will damage your vehicle.

Up for approval at the Jan. 27 City Commission meeting, the final concept designs for the Fifth Street Plaza. Design includes a boardwalk, seating areas, tabletop intersections on Washington and Center, trees, lighting elements, grass areas, and more.

First item was taken off the agenda, and the second was tabled.

Two agenda items of interest on the upcoming City Commission agenda (Jan. 13): ➡️ Second reading to rezone 723 N. Main rezoning (Bianchi’s Salon) to PUD for 24 residential units. ➡️ First reading to rezone 111 N. Alexander to PUD for a 3-unit development.

Back on the Planning Commission agenda (1/14 meeting): Lincoln Place, a 5-story, 209 unit residential building at Lincoln and 7th. The petitioner is asking for a special land use permit and site plan approval. There are now more units compared to the previous iteration (158).

Draft #2 of the Royal Oak Master Plan is here. There’s a much bigger emphasis on the Mobility section, which now includes detailed proposals for “right sizing” roads including Main St. and Woodward. Also more detail in the “Preserve Neighborhood Character” section.

🏗️ Royal Oak projects to watch in 2025: ➡️ 505 S. Lafayette mixed-use ➡️ Bianchi Flats residential ➡️ Residential at E. 3rd & Knowles ➡️ Finalized version of the Master Plan

Some notable decisions from last night’s Planning Commission meeting: 505 S. Lafayette: APPROVED E. 3rd & Knowles: APPROVED 111 N. Alexander: DENIED

A project to convert a single family lot into three units is on the agenda at tonight’s Planning Commission meeting. The local NIMBYs are already rallying against this one.

Also on tomorrow’s Planning Commission agenda, special land use and site plan approval for a 6-story, 59 unit residential proposal at E. 3rd and Knowles next to the courthouse. pub-royaloak.escribemeetings.com/filestream.a...

NEW: Up for site plan approval at tomorrow’s Planning Commission meeting, the 10-story, 54 unit mixed-use project at 505 S. Lafayette, with updated renderings from Krieger Klatt. Details: pub-royaloak.escribemeetings.com/filestream.a...

I focus on posting renderings of buildings in Royal Oak (because they often get no media coverage), but this plan for the RenCen has to be one of the wildest set of renderings I’ve ever seen. Story via Detroit News (linked below)

Pretty decent transition from parking lots to community space in Royal Oak. Many fought against this, claiming that removing surface parking would spell the end for main street businesses. One lot was replaced by a parking deck that features free parking for the first two hours.

Never built Royal Oak, MI: a mixed use proposal at 10 Mile and Main. The Griffin (apartments and commercial space) was eventually built at this location (but without a car dealership).

There’s a whole world of real estate agents out there creating the most insane clickbait YouTube thumbnails paired with the most bland, low effort content humanly possible. “ROYAL OAK EXPOSED! Watch me click around on Google Maps for 20 minutes.”

This proposal passed the Planning Commission vote last night. It will go to the City Commission next.

Rezoning & site plan approval request for a 4-story, 24 unit residential building at the site of Bianchi’s Salon on Main St., across from Hollywood Markets, for the Planning Commish’s consideration. The petitioner is asking for a rezoning from Neighborhood Business to Planned Unit Development.

Tomorrow’s Planning Commission agenda contains multiple administrative site plan approvals, including: 🏗️ 4-level mixed use building at 702 S. Washington downtown (site pictured). 🚻 new public bathroom at the Farmer’s Market. Full list: www.romi.gov/DocumentCent...

Anyone here enjoy renderings from a mid-sized midwestern suburb?