Rochester Hills City Council on Monday approved a proposed consent judgment resolving a lawsuit concerning three contiguous parcels at the southwest corner of Cloverport Avenue and Rochester Road. City attorneys and planning staff described a negotiated settlement that converts the disputed property into an 11-lot single-family subdivision with limited ordinance variances designed to preserve existing tree cover and conform to the character of Cloverport.

Staff said the site is roughly four acres of heavily wooded, steep-sloped land and that the property was rezoned in 2022 from an industrial designation to residential because it was effectively landlocked and incompatible with industrial use. Property owners subsequently filed litigation alleging a taking and due-process violations; city counsel negotiated the consent-judgment plan as an alternative to a costly trial.

Under the agreement, two lots fronting Cloverport will have a 75-foot lot width (current ordinance calls for 80 feet), a sidewalk requirement will be waived for the project, and the road right-of-way will be reduced from 60 to 50 feet to maximize tree preservation. Staff said the proposal must still meet the city's 40% tree-preservation requirement.

A nearby resident, Nancy Riley of 69 Cloverport, told council she received notice of the consent-judgment action only the day of the meeting and requested a copy of the agreement so neighbors could review it. City staff explained that settlement communications are constrained while litigation is pending but that the city had mailed notice per its policy and that council was being asked to approve the consent judgment that evening to avoid the cost and uncertainty of trial. Council voted unanimously to approve the proposed consent judgment.

Councilmembers said the negotiated settlement produced a plan more compatible with adjacent residential uses than the industrial self‑storage concept the developer had originally proposed.