Twin Rivers’ Resident: ‘We Are Having a Health and Safety Crisis’

Even as construction in their neighborhood continues, homeowners in the Twin Rivers subdivision find themselves no closer to securing direct access to Hall Road than when they moved in almost a decade ago.

For resident Juliana Sabatini, the issue is no longer one of convenience, but rather “a health and safety crisis.”

Although an entrance to the subdivision from Hall Road appears on the township's master plan and shows up on GPS systems, the road exists only as an unpaved, pothole-ridden construction entrance.

While residents use the streets of Westchester Farms and River Woods subdivisions to enter and exit their neighborhood, emergency medical personnel are not always aware of these detours.

“I have listened at meetings to other residents talk about the health and safety issues that their families face with regard to emergency medical services in the subdivision,” Twin Rivers’ homeowner Juliana Sabatini told the township board June 13. “What I never expected after hearing these stories was to be personally confronted with my own emergency.”

While having to call 911 was terrifying, Sabatini describes the moments following the arrival of EMS as “nothing short of devastating.”

“The EMS team could not figure out how to get out of our subdivision. They, like everyone else, had found their way through the construction entrance off of Hall Road but after traveling in through that entrance, thought it was too difficult to get out. They needed me to help them get out of the subdivision. Luckily I was able to do that.”

But the question of what would have happened had she been unable to provide such direction still haunts Sabatini.

“In the time that we’re waiting (for an entrance), my fear, not only as a resident, but as a parent, is that the next time someone faces an emergency situation in the subdivision, it’s not going to be another close call, it’s going to be a much more devastating situation.”

While construction of a direct entrance was the responsibility of the subdivision developer, township attorney Lawrence Dloski said “one problematic development is that Twin Rivers doesn’t own the property anymore.”

Forfeited at a tax sale, the property is now owned by a company based in Texas, which the township has so far been unable to contact, Dloski said.

The township is scheduled to take Twin Rivers Development LTD Partnership to Macomb County Circuit Court for trial on Sept. 25.

“The legal process is slow,” Dloski said of the almost two-year case. “It’s agonizing but it grinds on eventually to a conclusion and we hope the conclusion will come sometime in the middle to end of September.”

Until then, any access to Twin Rivers will remain through its neighboring subdivisions.