The Larco Family tradition continues in Downtown Auburn Hills! We are pleased to announce the grand opening of Larco Bros. Pizzeria at 3329 Auburn Road. This new Italian restaurant is located near the intersection of Auburn Road and Squirrel Court, in the building previously occupied by Jo’Angela’s Pizza and Deli. The restaurant interior has been updated to offer a quaint and cozy dining room that provides guests a pleasant dining experience they will be sure to enjoy.

Larco Bros. Pizzeria’s menu offers a wide variety of items including signature pasta dishes, salads, sandwiches with delicious deli meats and cheeses, minestrone soup, delectable desserts, and their gourmet hand-tossed pizzas made with daily fresh ingredients and baked over a stone deck oven.

In addition to a quaint and cozy atmosphere, Larco Bros. Pizzeria offers takeout, delivery, and catering to serve your needs best.

Be sure to stop in and discover Larco Bros. Pizzeria today!

 

Brandon Skopek, Director of Authorities

As major road construction in our downtown comes to an end in the next few days, it is important for the City to protect its investment through traffic management. Well over $3 million was spent on new streets, landscape, sidewalks, round-a-bout, and underground utilities to position our downtown for its next growth phase. We are most grateful to our downtown merchants who have endured months of inconvenience but have persevered through it all and to the many citizens and visitors who often had to detour around it.

As part of the complete opening of all of the streets downtown, we will begin enforcing limitations on truck traffic today. We have already observed very large trucks continuing to use our downtown as a pass-through; driving over sidewalks, jumping curbs, and significantly damaging landscaped surfaces. New traffic control orders that go into effect today (November 8, 2018) will require trucks to use specific routes to get to our downtown for local deliveries only. No truck traffic, including for local deliveries, will be permitted on North Squirrel Road from Auburn Road to the M-59 interchange. Citations will be issued to truck drivers who disregard these traffic control orders.

It is our intention to make certain that we provide the information necessary to prevent truck drivers from receiving unnecessary tickets due to lack of knowledge about this change. Therefore, we encourage those who might be impacted by this change to learn more about it by visiting: http://auburnhills.org/news_detail_T2_R387.php

We look forward to the cooperation that we expect to receive from all truck drivers in the interest of preserving our downtown infrastructure and keeping it safe as a pedestrian-focused area of the City

 

Thomas A. Tanghe, City Manager

When is the last time you visited Auburn Hills City Hall?  Have you ever wanted to learn more about the services provided at City Hall and meet the people who deliver these services?

Join us on November 12 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. to learn more and get a behind the scenes look into our departments, tour the City Council Chambers, and more.

Attendees will have the chance to fill up their City Hall “Passport” by visiting various departments and be entered to win a $25 gift card to an Auburn Hills business.  We will also be providing light refreshments and an Auburn Hills t-shirt for each attendee.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to learn more about the duties and responsibilities of our highly trained and professional staff.

Let us know you’re coming by joining our event page!

 

Stephanie Carroll, Manager of Business Development and Community Relations

Last week I had the opportunity to join the management at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, along with Mayor McDaniel, to celebrate the opening of the new children’s play area. With its Michigan theme, the play area is located in the middle of the food court where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a meal or a drink while keeping an eye on the kids in a fun-filled play environment.

Kids can take a walk over the Mackinac Bridge or get inside of a colorful lighthouse. All of this is just in time for the start of the holiday shopping season. Congratulations to Great Lakes Crossing Outlets for bringing in this great new addition.

 

Thomas A. Tanghe, City Manager

Volunteering is a phenomenal way to get involved, give back, and get to know your community. Whether on your own or in a group, it is a fulfilling experience. And not to mention, it keeps programs and events that define our community running smoothly. It’s important to remember that volunteers are needed throughout the whole year – not just at big events. Truthfully, volunteers are the lifeblood of our community and of our Community Center.

We have plenty of volunteer opportunities at the Auburn Hills Community Center and there is always something new coming around that we can use your help at.

Kitchen Help – The Auburn Hills Community Center is looking for volunteers for our monthly Senior Parties and daily meal service. Daily meal service includes packing meals for Meals on Wheels, as well as, serving meals on site to our seniors. We also have monthly Senior Parties. This includes set up, food service, tear down, and clean up. These parties have monthly themes and are a lot of fun for our seniors and volunteers.

Time: Varies, 10am-12pm or 10am-1pm
Place: Community Center

 

Meals on Wheels – Our Community Center is looking for Meals on Wheels drivers. Meals on Wheels is a program that delivers nutritious and well-balanced meals to home-bound seniors Monday – Friday. The Community Center is the starting point for Meal Delivery in Auburn Hills. Volunteers pick up meals to be delivered and deliver them to the home-bound seniors designated on each route. We are looking for consistent individuals, as well as, back-up help for this fulfilling program. This is great for groups or individuals.

Time: 10am – 12pm, Monday through Friday

Homebound Library Program – The Auburn Hills Library needs volunteers to help deliver library books and materials to home-bound residents. Volunteers are needed every 3 to 6 weeks depending on the need, and materials are picked up at the library. Delivery takes about an hour. If you’re interested in helping our home-bound seniors, then this might be the volunteer opportunity for you!

Time: Varies

Rake and Run – Do you have a group that is looking to get involved and help seniors in the community? The Rake and Run program is a perfect opportunity for you! Rake and Run takes place over 2 weeks in fall, and groups are assigned to houses belonging to Auburn Hills seniors who are unable to rake the leaves in their yard. Groups are able to select any of the dates (listed below), but supplies (rakes) are limited. Groups are welcome to bring their own rakes or lawn supplies (bags are supplied). Groups will pick up supplies at the our Community Center, and then head out into the community to rake and bag leaves. This is a great group opportunity!

Dates: October 24th – November 7th
Time: Varies by group preference and supply availability

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, visit our website and fill out a Volunteer Application. You can email, mail, or bring the application back to the Community Center. For more information about any of these opportunities, feel free to contact Natalie Stasyk, the Senior Services Volunteer Coordinator at 248-370-9353.

We’re pleased to report that Bacall Development LLC has submitted a development application to the City of Auburn Hills to construct a $20 million multi-family residential development called Fountain Circle of Auburn Hills on 16.4 acres of land generally located north of Auburn Road, east of College Drive. The project is proposed within the City’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) District.

The luxury apartment community will feature 258 residences in seven buildings of various sizes, with a clubhouse, pool, and park areas. The buildings will be constructed with high-quality interior and exterior features, including exteriors of masonry and stone veneers with complimentary materials for architectural details. The residences will consist of one, two, and three bedroom units ranging from 575 square feet to 1,375 square feet. The developer anticipates rental rates to be comparable to other new apartment complexes in the surrounding area.

The City of Auburn Hills acquired this property from Mound Steel and Superior Concrete in 2012 and has since conducted an environmental clean-up of the site to prepare the land for development. As part of the new project and land sale, Bacall Development LLC will build a segment of Parkways Boulevard through the site allowing the roadway to extend from Squirrel Road to Adams Road per the City’s Downtown Master Plan.

Those interested in learning more about this proposal are encouraged to attend the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 10th at 7:00 p.m., in the Council Chamber at City Hall. A final decision on the application is anticipated by the City Council on Monday, October 22nd.

If approved, construction is expected to begin this Fall.

 

Steve Cohen, Director of Community Development

I often joke that when I attended OU from 1985-1990, earning both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees during that time, OU was a one room schoolhouse. Well, not quite. But I do remember the excitement surrounding a milestone of having a student body that crossed the 11,000 mark. Now, with a student body that hovers around 20,000, OU is an even more exciting and inviting place for higher education.

Today I spent some time with my staff at Grizzfest, a tremendous event drawing hundreds upon hundreds of students to the area out front of Kresge Library where students could learn about the many things that OU has to offer them as they return to class. If you’re a Freshmen, it’s a “must attend” event. Looking around campus today, this year’s class is welcomed by many new and exciting additions to the campus such as the new 750-bed Hillcrest Residence Hall, and the incredible and newly expanded Oakland Center. Walking through the Oakland Center today I was envious of new students who get to take advantage of its many modern amenities. Frankly, just having enough seating for everyone is going to be a great achievement. And best of all, both of these new facilities are located in Auburn Hills!

Congratulations to OU and to the entire OU student body who are the recipients of these great new amenities. With all of the excitement around campus, there’s no doubt that more and more students of all ages will be giving serious consideration to OU not only for its quality and affordable education, but also for the amenities that it offers in the category of mid-sized universities. OU has it all. GO GRIZZLIES!

Thomas A. Tanghe, City Manager