Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2012-09-11MINUTES OF THE 1,029TH PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, September 11, 2012, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,0291h Public Hearings and Regular Meeting in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. Lee Morrow, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: Scott P. Bahr R. Lee Morrow Lynda L. Scheel Carol A. Smiley Gerald Taylor Ian Wilshaw Members absent: Ashley V. Krueger Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, and Ms. Margie Watson, Program Supervisor, were also present. Chairman Morrow informed the audience that if a petition on tonighfs agenda involves a rezoning request, this Commission makes a recommendation to the City Council who, in tum, will hold its own public hearing and make the final determination as to whether a petition is approved or denied. The Planning Commission holds the only public hearing on a request for preliminary plat and/or vacating petition. The Commission's recommendation is forwarded to the City Council for the final determination as to whether a plat is accepted or rejected. If a petition requesting a waiver of use or site plan approval is denied tonight, the petitioner has ten days in which to appeal the decision, in writing, to the City Council. Resolutions adopted by the City Planning Commission become effective seven (7) days after the date of adoption. The Planning Commission and the professional staff have reviewed each of these petitions upon their fling. The staff has furnished the Commission with both approving and denying resolutions, which the Commission may, or may not, use depending on the outcome of the proceedings tonight. ITEM #1 PETITION 2012-08-02-15 COSTCO WAREHOUSE Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2012-08- 02-15 submitted by Costco Wholesale requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(a) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct a gas station on a portion of the property at 19540 Haggerty Road, located on the east side of Haggerty Road between Seven Mile Road and Eight Mile Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 6. September 11, 2012 25259 Mr. Taormina: This is a request to construct a gas station. It is located east of Haggerty Road between Seven Mile Road and Eight Mile Road. The subject property lies immediately to the south of the Costco store off Haggerty Road. The parcel, in its entirety, is about 6.35 acres. Its an L-shaped parcel. Costco is interested in acquiring and developing a land area about 240 feet in width by 229 feet in depth, which makes up about 1.27 acres of the 6.35 acres. They are currently in the process of rezoning the property from the current PO High Rise Professional Office classification to G2, General Business, where gas stations are allowed as a waiver use under Section 11.03 of the Zoning Ordinance. City Council has given first reading to that rezoning and is awaiting the site plan for their final action. The remaining parcel would remain zoned PO, Professional Office. They are only seeking to rezone the 1.27 acres that would be developed for the fueling facility. The proposed gas station would be contiguous to the Costco property. Customer access to the fueling area would be via an extra wide driveway that would conned to the existing drive aisle that runs east and west along Costco's south property line. Vehicles would enter the site from the north and continue south to a series of fuel pumps, and then they would exit out the back or the south side of the fueling area to a main drive aisle that circulates in a clockwise direction along a 24 foot wide drive aisle that would be provided along the west side of the fueling area. The fueling area would then conned back up to this existing drive that runs east and west, but in a westerly direction it connects directly to Haggerty Road just south of the University of Michigan Medical facility. This fueling station would have eight gas pumps. It would have the ability to service 16 vehicles, one on each side. The gas pumps, like the facility on Middlebelt Road, would be restricted to Costco members only. They are entirely self -serve and their patrons would pay at the pump. There is a small controller enclosure that is located on the property. Its about 128 square feet. There would be an attendant present during the hours that the fueling facility is open. The small building is available for them to get shelter, and they also sell, I think, a couple of items from that small building, but not much. The building is made out of pre -finished steel faced panels. There is a canopy above the fueling area. Its height is about 17.5 feel, so its within code, where we limit the height of these structures to 18 feet overall. It would be supported by columns that would be encased with masonry or CMU, masonry units. The landscape plan shows a number of trees, mostly along the perimeter, both canopy and evergreen -type trees. I believe there are nearly 30 trees shown around the gas station. Lastly, in terms of signage, they are not showing any ground signs, but they are proposing four fascia - mounted signs, or wall signs, on the fascia of the canopy on all September 11, 2012 25260 four sides. Each sign is about 20 square feet, so the total area that would be proposed for signage is 80 square feet, which is typically below the 100 square foot maximum that is allowed. I'm not sure of the value of those signs, at least not initially, because if you look at it in the context of the larger area, it's only the sign on the north fascia of the canopy that's going to be visible. Maybe the one on the west side, as well, but certainly from the east, I'm not sure that there's visibility from the expressway, and to the south there is very limited exposure to that sign. With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll conclude my remarks and go on to the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Please do Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 4, 2012, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced waiver use approval request. The written legal description provided is correct. The address of the Costco Store is 20000 Haggerty Road. This proposed fueling area is located on an adjacent parcel for which the address is confirmed to be 19540 Haggerty Road. The petitioner is hereby notified (via copy of this comsspondence) that any site changes which would impact public utilities, road right-of-way, easements, or changes in storm or sanitary sewer volumes must be approved by the Engineering Division of Public Works. Should this project proceed, it is important that the developer's architect/engineer address storm water drainage changes as a result of these site changes, to ensure that then= is no negative drainage impact to any property. Storm water detention is required, as well as a Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Permit." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 24, 2012, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the plans for approve this petition to construct a gas station on a portion of the property at the above referenced address. 1 have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fester, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated August 27, 2012, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. 1 have no objections to the proposal" The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 10, 2012, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. The following is noted. The assumption has been made that restrooms will always be provided for patrons at the Costco September 11, 2012 25261 store. Only fuel is sold at this site. If products other than fuel are sold from this site in the future, restrooms may need to be added. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Does the Commission have any questions of the Planning Director? Mr. Bahr: Mark, do you by chance know the distance from the pumps to the main drive coming in? I think it showed 128 feet on the one you showed here. Do you know how that compares to the Costco over on Middlebelt? Mr. Taormina: I think it's very similar. I'm going to let Mr. Johnson speak specifically to that issue because he's the designer of both facilities so he will be able to tell you how the two compare. I believe Mr. Miller looked at it and commented to me that it was a similar distance. Mr. Bahr: Okay. Thanks. Mr. Morrow: Anyone else? Seeing no further questions, we'll go to the petitioners representative. We will need your name and address for the record please. Theodore Johnson, TJ Design Strategies Ltd., 2311 W. 22nd Street, Suite 208, Oak Brook, Illinois 60523. Good evening. I am Coslco's Development Director for Midwest projects. As far as any further presentation, I believe Mark did a great job describing the proposal. This is very similar to what we have over at Middlebelt. I presented those plans to this Commission seven or eight years ago. Basically, the only difference is Middlebelt is three islands with 12 pumping stations. The one we're proposing here is the new prototype Costco has introduced over the last three or four years, four islands or 16 stations. The depth for the queuing is roughly the same that's over at Middlebelt. One comment that the staff did make that I want to clarify is that the controller enclosure is strictly for housing the safety equipment, the monitors that keep checking the tanks and the pumping system. There is a small area where the attendant can stand behind a window in poor weather, but there are no sales that occur from that little enclosure. The only thing that a member can purchase at the gas station is one of two grades of gas, either regular or premium. No water. No air. No other merchandise. With that, I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have. Mr. Wlshaw: Okay. That would be reasonable. I understand the sign facing the south may be useful in the future. That actually segues nicely into some of my traffic questions about the site. Obviously, Costco gas has been wildly successful at many of your locations, including the Middlebelt store, to the point that actually the queuing backs up past the entire queuing area on Middlebell onto the aisleway of the store at busier times. That certainly has the potential of happening at this location as well, even though you do have more pumps to accommodate the cars. How are you going to deal with cars backing into that driveway that access both the Costco gas station and the store itself? September 11, 2012 25262 Mr. Morrow: Thank you, Mr. Johnson. We'll see if there are any questions. Ms. Scheel: Good evening. Can you tell me what hours the gas station will be open? Mr. Johnson: The gas station opens at 6:30 a.m. It basically depends on the market area. So the earliest would be 6:00 in the morning, and then it closes approximately one hour after the warehouse closes. During the weekdays, the warehouse is 8:00 p.m., the gas station is 9:00 p.m. On weekends, the warehouse is closed at 6:00 p.m., so the fuel facility closes at 7:00 p.m. Its not a 24 hour operation. Ms. Scheel: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: One question I have for you on the signs, and then I'm going to have a number of questions about the traffic flow if you don't mind. You are proposing four signs on the canopy of this building facing all four directions. Cleary, the south facing sign and the east facing are basically going to be not visible to anybody. Is there a need to have those signs there? Mr. Johnson: The one on the east I could see removing that. The one on the south, if you look at the detailed plan, there is a provision for an access drive that goes from the fueling facility to the south. So there is the potential in the future for traffic to be coming up from the south. I like putting signs on the facade to let the public know this is a Costco Wholesale gasoline station. Where some communities do limit us to the number of signs, to the size, in those instances, we find out the attendant has to do a lot of explaining to people who are coming in. Because it's a gas canopy, they can gel gas, and they don't find out until they actually gel to the pump, you have to be a Costco member. I agree with your thoughts on that one to the east. We could remove that. Mr. Wlshaw: Okay. That would be reasonable. I understand the sign facing the south may be useful in the future. That actually segues nicely into some of my traffic questions about the site. Obviously, Costco gas has been wildly successful at many of your locations, including the Middlebelt store, to the point that actually the queuing backs up past the entire queuing area on Middlebell onto the aisleway of the store at busier times. That certainly has the potential of happening at this location as well, even though you do have more pumps to accommodate the cars. How are you going to deal with cars backing into that driveway that access both the Costco gas station and the store itself? September 11, 2012 25263 Mr. Johnson: Based on the analysis by our Traffic Engineer, and I believe there's a memorandum from Kittelson in your packet. We don't believe with the four islands that we have here that we're going to have that condition of it backing into that. The queuing depth that we've provided based on years of experience with our fuel facilities, we believe will allow people to gel in and out without that backup. With Middlebelt, I've got a warehouse with a three island gas station that's serving two warehouses' members. In that report, because you have to swipe your membership card when you're at the gas station, we can track where the members are from. I think it was roughly six or seven percent of the sales over at Middlebelt are from people who carry a Livonia 2 membership card. Once this one is open, we believe you're going to see a drop in the use over at the Middlebelt gas station, and that should alleviate any problems of that three island facility. Mr. Wilshaw: I'm certainly one of them that will be moving over to this location as well. I can understand that. I have seen the Commerce location north of this, which is a four island pump, and it does seem to not back up quite as much as the Middlebelt store. The other question regarding traffic is the potential future roadway that would cul through to the south. Do you know what the odds are of that actually getting developed at some point or is that on the radar or is it just hypothetical at this point? Mr. Johnson: I think we wanted to keep the flexibility for that to potentially happen. I don't see it on the radar. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. I do think it would be very helpful to not only the gas patrons to be able to exit that direction but also just to add better flow through the entire site. Mr. Johnson: As soon as the owner wants to develop the remainder, that's when this would become a reality, and I just don't have any clues when that's going to happen. Mr. Wilshaw: The only other traffic question I have, and this goes toward the exit and entrance that's south most on your properly, which would be to Haggerty Road, basically due west of your gas station. That's where most people are probably going to be coming in to the site to use the gas station and also then going to exit the site when they're done filling their gas tanks. That driveway right now is the width of two vehicles. It's a light width of two vehicles only allowing for one vehicle to enter and one vehicle to exit whether they're headed northbound or southbound. During busier limes al the store can gel backed up September 11, 2012 25264 quite a ways if there is someone wailing to tum left or southbound onto Haggerty. When you add all the gas traffic to that, my question is, is there any potential for that driveway to be widened to a three lane exit so that you can have one enlmnce lane, and then northbound and southbound exit lanes? Mr. Johnson: Again, these site plans have been reviewed by our lreffc engineers as well as our civil engineers. Because of our peak demand which is between noon and 2:00, and not the peak of the roads, they didn't seem to have a concern. If it does become a problem, Costco would definitely look at ways to alleviate that problem. We want to make sure our members can get in and out safely. As its designed now, we believe that will happen. I'm doing a redesign of our Toledo, Ohio, warehouse. One of the far entrances is a full entrance and we're having problems with people exiting out to the left and potential accidents. We're redesigning that to eliminate that tum. It's something we constantly look at our site plans. If there's a way to improve them because of a problem that does come up in the future, we are there to solve that problem. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, because I spent len years on our Traffic Commission dealing with traffic issues around the City, and I'm sensitive to those types of things. This site is a little bit unique from some of the other Coslcos I've been to. I've been to most of the ones in this area, and this site is a little unique because the gas station will pretty much funnel in and out of that one entranceway onto Haggerty Road. You do have another drive that's north of there towards the Target properly, but that's quite a ways away from the gas station. Your typical person is always going to go to the nearest drive to where they're located. They're not going to meander through an entire shopping center just to gel to another drive, typically. Your other Coslcos have multiple places of ingress and egress from the gas area. Middlebell has, you can double back and go to the light. You can go to the regular entrance that's on Middlebell. You can go up to Schoolcraft. There's several entrances and exits on that property. This one is a little bit more limited. I have a suspicion that might become an issue during some of those peak times, but I'd certainly implore you to keep an eye on that and address R if it does become an issue. Thank you. Mr. Johnson: Thank you. Mr. Taylor: I have the same kind of questions that Ian has. I think it might be up to Mr. Jonna when they develop that other property to make an egress into that property a little easier to get into. I think it might happen at that time because of getting into the September 11, 2012 25265 property to the south. I would imagine that would be a good time to make that happen. Widen up the driveway and put an ingress and egress so you can gel into that store because Ian is right. I go to that store and no one used to use that driveway, but they found it and now everybody uses it. The light is down about another quarter mile, but people don't use that light most of the time unless they're coming out of Target. Do you have ethanol gas there or whatever they call it, F85? Mr. Morrow: E285. Mr. Johnson: We do in the Illinois warehouse that I fill up at. Mr. Taylor: I was just curious. Mr. Johnson: In the Chicago area we do. I'm not sure about here. Mr. Taylor: This may be a question for Mr. Jonna about the stonmwater detention. Are we taking care of that? It was mentioned in the Engineering Department's letter. I assume that's on the plan someplace along the way. Mr. Johnson: Yes. Our joint engineer has submitted calculations to the City to show that the exisfing detenfion on the north end of the exisfing property by Target, that delenfion pond has the capacity to handle the water runoff from this 1.3 acres. Those calculations were submitted three or four weeks ago, and we're still waiting to hear back from the City. Mr. Taylor: The kiosks that you have, there's one attendant. Right? Mr. Johnson: Yes. Mr. Taylor: Is he roaming around or is he in that kiosk all the fime? My question is that some of those pumps are a long ways away from the kiosk. If they have a problem, and I don't know the business that well, if a pump fails and the gas starts running out, does he shut it off or does it automatically shut off? Mr. Johnson: If it's at the pump itself or within the distribution system, the monitors will shut that off. If a member is pumping gas through the pump and is overflowing their vehicle, there are manual shutoffs to shut that pump off. Mr. Taylor: By the attendant? September 11, 2012 25266 Mr. Johnson: There's another on the enclosure. There's a button, and there's another one on the far end. We do have several safety shut off features within the facility. Mr. Taylor: You do have a lot of pumps here, and I just wondered if you could see all of them to see if there was a problem going on. Mr. Johnson: Yes. That's how we place the location of the kiosk. There's a window on it and he can see the pumps, but he is supposed to be walking the area unless its inclement weather. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Are there any other questions? Then at this time I'm going to go to the audience. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I'll close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Bahr, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-72-2012 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 11, 2012, on Petition 2012-08-02-15 submitted by Costco Wholesale requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(a) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct a gas station on a portion of the property at 19540 Haggerty Road, located on the east side of Haggerty Road between Seven Mile Road and Eight Mile Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 6, which property is in the process of being zoned from PO to G2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2012-08-02- 15 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Concept Site Plan -Overall marked DD1.1-01 dated May 14, 2012, prepared by Mulvanny G2 Architecture, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Concept Site Plan -Enlarged marked DD1.2-01 dated May 14, 2012, prepared by Mulvanny G2 Architecture, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That the Landscape Plan marked L-1 dated August 1, 2012, prepared by Smithgroup JJR, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 4. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding; September 11, 2012 25267 5. That underground sprinklers are to be provided for all landscaped and sodded areas and all planted materials shall be installed to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department and thereafter permanently maintained in a healthy condition; 6. That the Elevation Plan marked DD3.1-01 dated July 31, 2012, prepared by Mulvanny G2 Architecture, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 7. That the gas pump island canopy shall not exceed eighteen feel (18') in height and its support columns shall be covered with the same back used in the construction of the Costco Wholesale store; 8. That all corner clearance requirements shall be maintained; 9. That any illumination of the pump island canopy shall be restricted to the undercarriage and all light fixtures shall be recessed and made flush with the established ceiling; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to those specified signs which are expressly allowed by the Sign Ordinance; 10. That this site shall meet either the City of Livonia or the Wayne County Storm Water Management Ordinance, whichever applies, and shall secure any required permits, including storm water management permits, wetlands permits and soil erosion and sedimentation control permits, from Wayne County, the City of Livonia, and/or the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE); 11. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feel (20') in height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize stray light trespassing across properly lines and glaring into adjacent roadway; 12. No outside storage, placement or display of merchandise shall be permitted at any time on this site, however the foregoing prohibition shall not apply to the display, on the pump islands only, of oil based products as permitted in Section 11.04(a) of the Zoning Ordinance; 13. That signs on the canopy shall be limited to the north, west and south fascias, and that any additional signage shall be September 11, 2012 25268 separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals; 14. That no part of the pump island canopy fascia, with the exception of the embossed logos, shall be illuminated; 15. That no LED lightband or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the pump island canopy, building or around the windows; 16. That the specific plans referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time the building permits are applied for; and, 17. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a period of one year only from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wlshaw: Just one question for the Planning Department. The item that references conforming signage is approved with this petition. What is conforming on this site at this point? Mr. Taormina: Its difficult to say because the allowable signage is based on what is on the building as well. We have a unique circumstance here. Its not like your standard gas station where we allow 100 square feel between the canopy and the building. Here they've far exceeded that 100 square feel on the building alone. It may be that anything they put on the fascia of the canopy has to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals. So the resolution, as ifs been presented, would allow them to seek the four canopy signs before the Zoning Board of Appeals, but I think I heard you ask the petitioner earlier if he could remove at least one of those signs. Mr. W Ishaw: Yes, the one that faces to the east. Mr. Taormina: Then we should clarify that and allow him to seek the variance, if necessary, for the other three. September 11, 2012 25269 Mr. W lshaw: Okay. Do we want to amend the approving resolution to clarify that we are allowing three signs on the north, west and south canopy? Mr. Morrow: Do you want to offer that? Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, I would ask if the maker of the motion is okay with that? Mr. Bahr: With respect, I don't feel strongly about it, but we're dealing with a side that's not seen anyway, and if it's Coslco's standard procedure to put it on each side, I actually don't have a problem with it. I don't feel strongly about it. I guess I would move to just leave it as is. Mr. Morrow: Am I following you? You're going to keep it the way it is, or are you going to amend it? Mr. Bahr: I would keep it as it is. Mr. W Ishaw: Let them try for all four and see what he gets? Mr. Bahr: Yes. Mr. Taylor: Mr. Johnson said that he has no problems, so are you going to eliminate that sign so we don't have to go through the gyrations of doing it? Mr. Johnson: I have no problem with that. Mr. Taylor: All right. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Mr. Bahr, can we follow lhaldirection? Mr. Bahr: That's fine. I really don't feel strongly for it. If it's important to Mr. Wilshaw, then we can amend it. Mr. Morrow: It might help in the calculation of the signage when it goes to the ZBA. That would be one less sign. Mr. Bahr: Okay. So amend the resolution to allow only signs on each side of the canopy except for the east side. Mr. Morrow: Is that all right with you, Mr. Taylor? Mr. Taylor: Right. September 11, 2012 25270 Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #2 PETITION 2012-08-02-16 WALMART-WONDERLAND Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2012- 08-02-16 submitted by Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C., on behalf of Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust, requesting to amend Council Resolution #559-05 adopted on November 30, 2005, in order to extend the Walmart store operating hours at Wonderland Village (Store #2631) at 29555 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Middlebell Road and Milburn Avenue in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 35, from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year beginning at midnight of Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Taormina: This request is to amend Council Resolution #559-05, which was adopted by the City Council on November 30, 2005. The request is to extend the store operating hours of the Walmart located at Wonderland Village. The waiver use was approved in 2005 subject to a limitation on the hours that the store could be open to the public from the time period between 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight only. The petitioner is asking the City to make an exception to this condition and allow the store to extend its operating hours from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year beginning at midnight of Thanksgiving Day. This would allow the Walmart store to stay open an additional six hours on what is known as Black Friday, which is the busiest shopping day of the year. All other conditions of the waiver use approval, including truck delivery limitations, would remain unchanged. If you'd like, I can read the correspondence now. Mr. Morrow: Let's do that Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 4, 2012, which reads as follows: 9n accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced request of Walmart to have extended operating hours the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday. This request will have no impact on any roadways or utilities under the purview of the September 11, 2012 25271 Engineering Division of Public Works, and hence we have no objection to this request." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 24, 2012, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a proposal to extend operating hours at the above referenced address. In order for this office to approve the proposal to be compliant to NFPA code (01 06 Chapter 14.1 Application: Means of egress in new and existing buildings shall comply with this Code and NFPA 101, Life Safety Code) 1 wish to see a written plan with diagrams on how the issue of crowd control and clear egress will be maintained during the expected crush of people on the so called 'Black Friday' sale." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fester, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 4, 2012, which reads as follows: `Large crowds often accompany this shopping day. It is typical for lines to begin forming well prior to the opening of the store. It has been our experience that a police presence at these events helps to ensure a safe and positive experience for everyone. If Walmart's request is approved by Council, we would recommend that a police reserve detail be mandated, with costs being reimbursed to the City. It has been our experience that this shopping day attracts a significantly larger crowd than the norm. Officer Keith Schoen of the Police Department's Community Services section will provide Walmart with the times and number of officers necessary for this event." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 10, 2012, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. This Department has no objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions for the staff? Seeing none, before I go the petitioner, for those individuals in the audience wishing to speak for or against these particular items, we're handling it as two items, but a lot of things you'll hear on the first item will also be applicable probably to the second item, such as crowd control and things of that nature. With that, is the petitioner here? We will need your name and address for the record please. Kenneth Brewer, Walmart, 29555 Plymouth Road, Livonia, Michigan. Good evening, Planning Commission. I represent the Walmart at 29555 Plymouth Road. We are, of course, requesting to have a waiver to allow the store to remain open. If we are granted the September 11, 2012 25272 additional hours, it would allow Walmarl to operate during the tredilional hours that we call the Walmart event, but most known retailers call it Black Fnday. We are also, in addition to that, would like to have the approval for the same extension of operating hours each subsequent year after that. This extension will eliminate the need for the City to review and evaluate any annual identical requests for the temporary and minor operating hours extension. I would like to add that allowing the facility to slay open will allow us to actually create three things I think are critically important. The first thing, it will have a positive impact on public safely. Normally what happens on the event is, we're going to gel the same amount of traffic. The issue is whether that customer will be outside of the facility or inside the facility. That's really what we're trying to manage here. Inside of the facility, we have the ability to increase the associate to customer ratio. Inside the building we'll have 120 associates. So the customer to associate ratio is greater. When the customer to associate ratio is greater, we have more visibility on exactly what is happening to that customer, and we can manage that customer experience a little better. The other thing, it allows us to prevent compression. By compression, what we're trying to manage is, instead of opening the doors to an event that will be three compressed ads, advertising events, pushed into one. So instead of having a 12:00, a 5:00 a.m. and maybe an ad burst throughout the day, and maybe 12:00 the next day, like most stores do, they have them spread out because their facility is open. Ours will be compressed into an opening time of 6:00 a.m. in the morning where we have to open the door and all those items will only be available to customers at that time causing a larger population, or larger density or compression of customers to try to enter the facility at one time. We would like to spread those out as other Walmarts have the ability to do to provide a more safe ingress and egress and less compression at that one time. This is really just an issue of humanity. We really would prefer not to have the customers creating their own devices to stay warm outside. Of course, last year we had an unusually warm day after Thanksgiving. In the event that doesn't happen, we'd like to bring them inside the facility, allow them to be inside so they know what items they want. They have the opportunity to look and read the boxes. They have the opportunity to communicate with the associates about the functionality of the products that they may want to buy. They will have a known quantity of the items that are available so they don't have to worry outside about if I don't get in fast, maybe someone is going to get the item before me. I think the overall anxiety level is dramatically reduced when the stores have the ability to operate on that day as a 24 hour facility. I have seven years of history with 24 hour operations. I have a good data September 11, 2012 25273 base of information to share of why 24 hour facilities are more humane and safer. But I do want to preface that by saying that the first and most important thing is to create, whether we're open or not, to make sure the customers are safe. That's our number one interest, and we will make sure that happens. Mr. Morrow: If I'm following you comectly, you are absorbing the people into the store as opposed to a lot of people outside waiting for the doors to open and you have the crush when you open them for the sales. Is that a fair assessment? Mr. Brewer: Absolutely. That is correct. We would like to open the door, and the interesting thing about it, and this is Walmart lingo but, those tab files. So the ability to purchase the items, it downloads consistently throughout the company at the same time. So there won't be a lot of purchasing going on dunng those times. Il will just be getting the customers inside, give him a better customer service experience for that day, managing the crowd a little bit better because we have more resources inside the building than outside the building, more influence over the behavior of the customer inside the building than outside of the building. So it just allows them to be in a warm, safe environment to create the best customer service environment that we can. Mr. Morrow: Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Mr. W lshaw: Mr. Brewer, I appreciate your presentation so far. You heard we had a letter from both our Fire Department and our Police Department basically expressing the desire to see a wntlen plan with diagrams on how you're going to manage crowd control and maintain clear egress throughout the store when you do have these people inside there wailing for these different sale events. Do you have any difficulty in providing those plans to our Public Safety officials? Mr. Brewer: No. We actually already have the plans. They are already created and approved. I would have to get, and I'm certain we can get the approval through our legal department to release them, but I don't see any reason why they should not be released. I don't think that should be an issue. And question two, and I'm glad you asked it because we are all on the same page with this. It is our intention to have off-duty or on -duty police and to work directly with the police department in Livonia to make sure that we have a physical presence of police officers, and we will absorb that cost. September 11, 2012 25274 Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. That's excellent. I appreciate you addressing that. Now you mentioned there's going to be three primary limes in which a sales event will occur. I guess you have maybe an item that you've advertised that's on sale at a specific time. What are those three times that you referenced? Mr. Brewer: The known times are going to be 12:00 at night and 5:00 a.m. in the morning. And then we have reason to believe, of course, we'll read with another ad during the day. So that wouldn't be impacted by our opening or closing request or waiver to be open because generally it's at noon. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. So its really at midnight and 5:00 a.m. are the two special events that you'd have. Mr. Brewer: And also 10:00 p.m. the day before. Ten, midnight and five. Mr. W Ishaw: Okay. What occurs at those times, you have some item that's a special purchase that's available at a deep discount or something. That's what draws people in for those times? Mr. Brewer: Correct. Mr. W Ishaw: Okay. Of course, you also have other items that are going to be on sale throughout the store that people can purchase besides those items. Right? Mr. Brewer: Absolutely. Correct. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. I think I have everything I need. Thank you. Mr. Taylor: I'm still not quite sure when you're going to lel people in. Are the people going to line up inside or are they going to be mulling around? Mr. Brewer: There are two answers to that question. We have set up strategic and when you see the map, when we publish the map for you to see, you'll see that we call them queue lines. They are strategic lines that will access the actual items that are available, and most of the customers that come into the store, in my experience, they will actually not mull around. They will actually take position in their line to insure that they get the items that they want. And that's a good thing because it allows us to get a good record of how many people are actually in the facility from a capacity standpoint. Each of these lines will also have a team of people that are assigned specifically to that line. Their only function is to make sure the line is orderly, make sure the line doesn't gel loo long, to make sure we don't have more September 11, 2012 25275 people in line than products to support those people. We call them queue lines. There are several. And because I have a 220,000 square foot facility, I mean we spread them out. We have solicited a good crowd management company to help us support us to make sure that we put the queue lines in exactly the right spots so they don't impact any ingress egress areas or that they don't provide a public safety issue by blocking a fire exit. So this map that is being requested is actually a very strategic document. That why we kind of protect it a little bit. But it is a unique strategic document that we put together with a great deal of concern and thought. So, yes, they are not mandated that they have to slay in the line, but we do actually pass out item numbers to make sure that they dont stand in line unnecessarily and don't gel the product of their choice. Mr. Taylor: Have you gone through this before? I mean, not at midnight and what you want to do now, but prior to this, have you done this? Mr. Brewer: Seven years. Mr. Taylor: And it works pretty good? Mr. Brewer: Of success. Mr. Taylor: Because what I see on TV in New York and Chicago, it's bedlam in those stores. And I know they're waiting outside and then get in. I understand that part of it, but I just can't see this going along as smoothly as you're thinking its going to go. I'm sorry, but I'm not in the retail business. Mr. Brewer: I respect that. I've ran $100 million Walmart stores for the last seven years. Smooth is an interesting word, but I will tell you that we do it without incident. We measure, through an experience tracker, the customers opinion on how well it went. We collect feedback and we have been getting extraordinarily positive responses from the customers when the store is open 24 hours as opposed to what happened in New York. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Bahr: Is this unique to Livonia that you've had to be closed during these times in the last few years relative to the other Walmarts in the metro Detroit area? Mr. Brewer: There are very few stores out of the 3,657 operating Walmart units that are not allowed to open. I've operated 12 Walmarts September 11, 2012 25276 and this is the first one that I've ever been manager of that was not open 24 hours. Mr. Bahr: What about delivery trucks coming in the middle of the night? Do you have a plan for that? Will they be coming? As far as managing a noise level for neighbors around there, how does that work? Mr. Brewer: Our freight distribution and logistics plans will not change. There will be no additional trucks. They will not come at different hours as opposed to when they come now. So the community around the store should not expect any. Il should be a totally benign experience for them as far as truck distribution to the facility. Mr. Bahr: Please refresh my memory and also for the record, you had made a comment at our study meeting about the rear gales and the management plan you had for that to try and manage the traffic behind the store. Can you just speak to that? Mr. Brewer: Yes. Behind our facility, for those who don't know, there are actually some gales that we can allow to go up and down. Those will be down. They're part of our strategic crowd management plan that our loss prevention managers put together for us. His name is Andrew and he is sitting behind me here supporting me. Those gates will be down. There will be no access for customers or cars to pass behind the building at all. So it actually will be a lot more tranquil back there than a normal Walmarl day because residential or public traffic can go behind the building. They won't be able to go behind the building on that day. That should be more stable and quiet behind the facility than a normal day. Mr. Bahr: Okay. That's all my questions. Thanks for coming to our study meeting last week and again tonight. I've been impressed with both of your presentations and your reasoning makes sense to me. I've got confidence that this will go smoothly if it is approved, so thanks. Mr. Brewer: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Anything else? So you're business as usual except for this one day that you want to be ready for Black Fnday? Mr. Brewer: That's correct. Mr. Morrow: If there are no more questions, I'll go the audience. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the September 11, 2012 25277 granting of this petition? If so, we will need your name and address for the record please. Claudia Stanton, 19658 Melvin, Livonia, Michigan 48152. I'm here on behalf of both pefitions, but I will address this one first. I don't see it happening because if they wanted to be involved in Black Friday, they should have stayed on Middlebelt. This is not backed up onto Plymouth Road. It is backed up to the neighborhood, and gales or not, I still think the deliveries are going to interfere with it. I think crowd control will not be handled as well as they think it will. I happened to be ala Black Friday on the Middlebell store when we had the police, and there was a rather raucous entrance into the store, and that opened at 6:00 a.m. Thank you. Frank Lupu, 29864 Omngelawn, Livonia, Michigan. Back when it was first proposed back in '05, '04, we went through a lot of meetings and everything with a lot of the City people, and we were promised that this was never going to come up and be an issue. It backs up right to our houses. There are some things that they say won't happen that have been happening. There have been semi trucks parked back there, backed right up to the residential area. We've called Inspection and the answer was, they're allowed to do that. They have been both Walmart trucks and private carriers. So that happens. With the gales that they have that we were told they were going to be put down at midnight. No more traffic or trucks, and they would be let up at 6:00 so the trucks can be lel back in. There is one on the southeast corner of the building that for the last couple months has been blocked by a dumpsler, so it hasn't been working at all. It sounds like they're more worried about getting safety in their store and their people not suing them or whatever to gel in there to get their sale prices. They don't care. Another thing is, they said they're going to have their security people watch the berm that separates the store and our houses. That doesn't happen. Me and my neighbors do our own security and had to chase kids down many times. They're all up there standing there, walking, watching the houses and the backyards and then just harassing us at limes. Not all the time, but yeah at times. So I don't think that they should be allowed to do this. We were told it wasn't going to happen, and here we are. Mr. Morrow: Anyone else? Would the petitioner care to respond to anything they've heard? Mr. Brewer: First of all, I want to thank the community for their response and feedback. I'd like to address the 6:00 opening of the old Middlebell facility. One of the reasons we moved to a larger September 11, 2012 25278 facility is strictly safety and capacity. That building was less than 120,000 square feel. We have an extra 100,000 square feet. I agree 100 percent that opening up at 6:00 a.m. creates a unique dynamic that will not be the same dynamic if the store remains open. So I am consistent with the community's view of what happens when the store opens at 6:00 a.m. Just so that we can rest assure that the gates will down, it will be down. Of course I've only been at the facility for seven months, this 29555 Livonia Walmart. I have identified that the gates need to be down, but I was not aware of any other arrangement that they should be down at night other than for the event, and I will make sure that they are down. We will certainly have the map available so that you can see the number of security that will be available inside. My foremost concern, we as a company, its not about sales. We will do the same amount of sales whether we compress it or not. It is all about the safety of the customer and also protecting the noise in the community also by getting as many people in the building and get them out of the parking lot. Those are my responses. I don't have any knowledge of any of the others things that were going on behind the building, but I do know that we have mandated that there are no trucks allowed to idle. The only trucks that we could not prevent from idling come once a day, and they are refrigerated trucks because they report to a responsibility to maintain a cool temperature of the frozen foods. So their trucks must stay on. And that's not a Walmart mandate. That comes from a higher authority than Walmart that this cold chain, it's called a cold chain, must not be interrupted. So the refrigerated units must stay on. And I have personally went out back to insure that there are no other trucks idling. Thal was something that when I loured the community, it was something I wanted to make sure I did for the community. Mr. Morrow: We've heard the comments. Just take them under advisement and check those things out. Mr. Brewer: Absolutely. Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: With that, there is no one else coming forward. If there are no other questions, I'm going to close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-73-2012 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 11, 2012, on Petition 2012-08-02-16 submitted by Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C., on behalf of Wal-Mart Real Estate Business September 11, 2012 25279 Trust, requesting to amend Council Resolution #559-05 adopted on November 30, 2005, in order to extend the Walmart store operating hours at Wonderland Village (Store #2631) at 29555 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Middlebell Road and Milburn Avenue in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 35, from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year beginning at midnight of Thanksgiving Day, which property is zoned G2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2012- 08-02-16 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That condition #24(a) of Council Resolution #559-05 which reads, 'The hours the store is open to the public shall be limited to the time period between 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight" shall be modified to include the following: 2. Except that the Walmart store at 29555 Plymouth Road shall be permitted to extend its operating hours one (1) day out of the year from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year thereafter commencing at midnight of Thanksgiving Day and ending at midnight on Friday the day after Thanksgiving; 3. That the Petitioner will work with the City Inspection and Public Safely Departments to make sure that appropriate safety measures are put in place to accommodate the additional store operating hours, and that a police reserve detail be maintained with the costs being reimbursed to the City; and 4. That all other conditions imposed by Council Resolution #559-05, which granted approval to construct a new Walmart store containing a gross floor area in excess of 30,000 square feel, shall remain in effect to the extent that they are not in conflict with the foregoing conditions. Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for the following reasons: 1. That by allowing Walmart to stay open an additional six (6) hours on the busiest shopping day of the year is in the best interests of the public including public safety, and 2. That all other conditions of the waiver use approval, including truck delivery limitations, would remain unchanged. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. For the benefit of the petitioner and people in the audience, this is an approving recommendation going forward to the City Council. The City Council will make the determination of whether this petition is approved or denied. If you were notified of this meeting tonight, you will also be notified by the City Council. Is that incorrect? Mr. Taormina: That is incorrect. They will not receive addifional notice. They will have to contact our office. Mr. Morrow: Then can they call the Planning Office to find out when the City Council schedules the meeting? Mr. Taormina: Yes. September 11, 2012 25280 FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Mr. Taylor: I would like to insert the recommendation by Sgt. Gibbs that a police reserve detail be maintained with the costs being reimbursed to the City. Ms. Scheel: Would that be under Item 2 or does that need to be listed separately? Mr. Morrow: I know they've agreed to it. Mr. Taylor: It would be part of Item 2, but it really doesn't stale it. It just says that they will work with City Inspection and Public Safely Departments to make sure that appropriate safely measures are put in place. Ms. Scheel: And you want to add "lo be reimbursed?" Mr. Taylor: I'd like to add 'that a police reserve detail be maintained with the costs being reimbursed to the City." Mr. Morrow: Yes. I think Mr. Brewer has already indicated he would do that, so I have no problem if you want to add that so it's in black and white. Ms. Scheel: I'm good with that. Ms. Smiley: That's fine if its referenced in the letter. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. For the benefit of the petitioner and people in the audience, this is an approving recommendation going forward to the City Council. The City Council will make the determination of whether this petition is approved or denied. If you were notified of this meeting tonight, you will also be notified by the City Council. Is that incorrect? Mr. Taormina: That is incorrect. They will not receive addifional notice. They will have to contact our office. Mr. Morrow: Then can they call the Planning Office to find out when the City Council schedules the meeting? Mr. Taormina: Yes. September 11, 2012 25281 ITEM #3 PETITION 2012-08-02-17 WALMART-MARKETPLACE Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2012- 08-02-17 submitted by Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C., on behalf of Wal -Marl Real Estate Business Trust, requesting to amend Council Resolution #429-08 adopted on September 24, 2008, in order to extend the Walmart store operating hours at Livonia Marketplace (Store #5844) at 29574 Seven Mile Road, located on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Middlebell Road and Pudingbrook Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 2, from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year beginning at midnight of Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Taormina: This request is very similar to the previous one. Its to amend the Council Resolution which was adopted on September 24, 2008, which limited the store operating hours for the Walmart located at Livonia Marketplace. Similar to the facility at Wonderland Village, the limitation on the waiver use at Livonia Marketplace restricted the hours of operation of any big box retail facility at that development to 18 hours. So the language is slightly different but with the same effect, which is to limit the store operating hours to 18 hours a day. I believe they maintain the same operating hours from 6:00 a.m. to midnight each day. The petitioner is asking the City to allow an exception to this condition in order to extending those operating hours for 24 hours one day only, which this year would be on Friday, November 23, 2012, the day after Thanksgiving, and then also for each subsequent year thereafter. All other conditions of the waiver use approval, including the truck delivery limitations, would remain unchanged. In terms of correspondence, again, very similar to the previous petition. Shall I read those out, Mr. Chair? Mr. Morrow: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 4, 2012, which reads as follows: 9n accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced request of Walmart to have extended operating hours the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday. This request will have no impact on any roadways or utilities under the purview of the Engineering Division of Public Works, and hence we have no objection to this request." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from September 11, 2012 25282 the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 24, 2012, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a proposal to extend operating hours at the above referenced address. In order for this office to approve the proposal to be compliant to NFPA code (01 06 Chapter 14.1 Application: Means of egress in new and existing buildings shall comply with this Code and NFPA 101, Life Safety Code). 1 wish to see a written plan with diagrams on how the issue of crowd control and clear egress will be maintained during the expected crush of people on the so called 'Black Friday' sale." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fesler, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 4, 2012, which reads as follows: `Large crowds often accompany this shopping day. It is typical for lines to begin forming well prior to the opening of the store. It has been our experience that a police presence at these events helps to ensure a safe and positive experience for everyone. If Walmart's request is approved by Council, we would recommend that a police reserve detail be mandated, with costs being reimbursed to the City. It has been our experience that this shopping day attracts a significantly larger crowd than the norm. Officer Keith Schoen of the Police Department's Community Services section will provide Walmart with the times and number of officers necessary for this event." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 10, 2012, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. This Department has no objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions for the staff? Seeing none, I think we can go directly to petitoner. We will need your name and address for the record please. Matt VanLenle, Walmart, 29574 Seven Mile Road, Livonia, Michigan. Obviously with being the same company, I have the same request as Mr. Brewer did, but I do have a few things to add that's a litfie bit different for my facility as well. We don't have the gates that he has at his location, but we did have in our plans as well to block that off and have a person out there to make sure that there is no one going from where our garden center ends all the way to where Kohl's starts to eliminate the traffic as well, so no one can go back in the back of the building. Some of the things are similar to what Mr. Brewer talked about. Our truck deliveries will be consistent with the ordinance, where we won't have any September 11, 2012 25283 truck deliveries change because of the time change. All those truck deliveries will still follow that. Mr. Morrow: Are those the only exceptions between the two operations? Mr. VanLenle: Correct. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions for VanLenle? Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Nicholas Thornton, 29579 Nottingham, Livonia, Michigan. Good evening. Noftingham is immediately north of Walmart. I wish for all of you tonight to lake a red pen, crayon, marker and mark on your calendars today. This is the first day that you allowed the first exception. It will be how many days, weeks or months before Walmart is back, or any other store. Sears will be here probably next week asking for the same thing, as will Kohl's, and as will Walmart be back for the day after Christmas, New Year's Day. If you ever read the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, they're going to be back. Once you have one exception, after all the residents who back up to that store were told, oh this will never happen. As a Planning Commission, this will never happen, never, never, never. Well, here's the first drop. Then secondly, I'd like to voice some fmslraton. While Walmart does care about its customers and employees, a couple months ago they lost power for an hour or two hours, and chose to bring in a generator because they have perishable goods. I'm onboard with that. The size of generate was a full 58 fool semi and the noise of the generator generated dozens of calls to your local police department, who basically was told by Walmart, well, we have refrigerated goods. There's nothing we can do. And so it didn't fall into any of the ordinances. Sorry, you're just out of luck. So could we gel a smaller generator? Could we position it in the front of your building instead of backing up to your neighbors? So I'm just concerned that if this building is open during those hours, what happens if they need a generator then? For three days I didn't sleep because this generator is running. Yes, Walmart does care about its clients and its employees, but I beg you, I urge you, to think about what it would be like if you backed up to the store. Thank you. Kali Schmitz, Kohl's Department Store. I am representing Kohl's Department Store, in this case, the one that is neighboring the Livonia Marketplace location. I am here in support of the amendment to the ordinance. I am hoping that you will eventually allow the entire Livonia Marketplace area to amend to have our hours extended from midnight to 6:00 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. September 11, 2012 25284 I am just here to state that I support that and that we are going to move forward with that as well. Thank you. Mustafa Arsiwala, 29619 Nottingham, Livonia, Michigan. Good evening. This is my first time speaking publicly because when I saw the notice from Walmart from the City that they're going to increase Walmarl's hours, it was a wakeup call for me. So this is the first time publicly speaking. When I wanted to buy a home, I looked at the sign when you enter the City of Livonia. It say's "Families First." I really love that, but since then, I have had so many problems. I was there in that place at my home even before Walmart came up. It was Mervyns which has closed down. In many years, there was nothing. I was really happy that something was coming up again, but then the problems started. A few things that Mr. Brewer ... Mr. Morrow: If you will direct your comments to the Board, please Mr. Arsiwala: Okay. A few things I would like to find out. I was hearing him speak. They definitely don't do delivery for the trucks after 10:00 p.m., but what happens is, from the trucks which are parked, they bring out the goods. I am right exactly behind, not even 50 feel. I can hear it like at 2:00 in the night. I have little children, two and four years old. They wake up and cry. If any of you are mothers or fathers, you'll understand how much pain it goes through. I also have the same point as the other gentleman. There was a power outage, two and a half days. I phoned the Mayor. Mr. Alex Bishop I phoned too, and also your City Ordinance department, that these people are running a generator. Forget inside. You cannot step outside. It was so noisy I had to sleep in my closet, literally, with the earplugs that they use on a plane. It was miserable. Second thing, there are no gales at the back of the Walmart. Traffic can easily go in and out, and people drive to avoid the slop sign and yield signs. They come right from the back. They don't slop. They dont do anything. And sometimes Walmart has this huge trailer parked right in the parking lot so you cannot see traffic coming from that side or going from this side. As far as the staffing is concerned, I used to shop at Walmart. I don't anymore, but always, they don't have self service check out. There's a person attending to it, and busy days like weekends, there's only one or two persons and long lines of people waiting. I myself have wailed, wailed, waited for things to look for and to buy and I have lett like that. Several times I have called your City of Livonia noise ordinance department, and told them that they have after 11:00, 12:00 in the night, they move sluff. They bring sluff in. They make noise. They came up with an excuse saying, oh, the fire exit door came out or some excuse and nothing is done. September 11, 2012 25285 Ultimately, if this goes through, I'll have to find another city to live in. Thankyou. Sandra Thornton, 15564 Shadyside, Livonia, Michigan. Good evening. If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll ask for a glass of milk. So we asked for the cookie and we got the milk. Pretty soon, you know what's going to come next. Then he's going to want ... those of you who haven't read that children's story, you might want to check it out. Walmart clearly knew what the City rules were before they ever decided to come here with their very first store. They've since decided to build now two permanent stores. They knew Livonia had limits on hours of operation, that we were not a 24 hour city, but since they've come here, they want us to change the way we value things in order to more closely meet their business model. No means no. Their offerings and their ads at midnight and 5:00 a.m. are a choice. They are part of their business plan. Its not something they need to do to stay in business. It's simply a way for them to make more money. Particularly, the Seven Mile and Middlebelt location is so very close to Sl. Martins Street, and for those of you who haven't been there, I would encourage you to drive over there in the next few days and take a look aljusl how close it sits abutting right up to Sl. Martins. There's a tiny little four fool bene that isn't really going to do anything for noise abatement. And the egress from that parking lot to SL Martins, @'s a throughway. Yes, there's a slop sign there which is totally ignored. I can only imagine if we're going to have an open the door early sale, that that's going to be a direct route, St. Martins right through that parking lot. If they're going to do anything, they ought to block that off completely. The noise, the traffic, the lights for the residents who live along St. Martins, the residents who are voting residents who live in the senior citizen towers, they're not very happy with this. I believe it was Mr. Brewer who said he wanted to provide a warm, safe environment for shoppers. Well, that's what the residents want. They would like to have a warm, safe, quiet environment in which to live. We pay our taxes. Its not fair that we should be kept awake for days upon end. And by the way, that two and half or three days that the semi truck was operating its generator, even after the power came back on, because Walmart didn't have a store manager on site that could make arrangements to get the generator turned off. I don't think Walmart is a very good neighbor, and I don't reward people who are not good. Thank you. Claudia Stanton, 19658 Melvin, Livonia, Michigan. In reference to the comment I made on the previous petition about the 6:00 a.m. opening on the Middlebelt store, I don't want to see that in my backyard September 11, 2012 25286 happening at this Walmarl at midnight. In regards to the refrigerated trucks, I thought they had those things in the store where we go and gel our frozen goods and our cold foods, that they shouldn't have to run refrigerated trucks out in our backyard. The ones that they have over here that I have my biggest complaint about are at the holidays around Thanksgiving to the end of the year that run 24-7. 1 would love any of you to come and sleep in my bed and put your ear on my pillow and listen to that reverberate every time it cuts on and off. No, we don't have gales, and yes, we gel trucks before 7:00 a.m. I hope they slick to the plan of closing the back and having it manned. It would be nice if they did it all the time. And other than that, I know this is also going to be approved, so I'm not going to waste any more of your time. Thank you. William Sawyer, 29529 Nottingham Court, Livonia, Michigan. I live in the Nottingham condominiums behind Walmart. I think the biggest issue, or what makes this store different from the Plymouth Road store, is that access to Sl. Martins which comes off of Middlebell or out of Eight Mile down whatever street that is and onto Sl. Marlins. The traffic is heavy. There are signs on the entrance, two of them, that says no trucks. They are regularly ignored. I think its going to be a major public nuisance to a lot of these people to be open all night. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: I'll give the store manager an opportunity to respond if he cares to. Mr. VanLente: Yes. First I do want to say that I do appreciate some of the feedback because with the generator issue, we did get a lot of feedback from residents on that piece, and I know that we have put some things in place to make some changes because that was a major issue we had with the residents as far as how we handle that in the future, as far as having plans in place ahead of time of how to deal with that because it wasn't a very good plan before. The second issue, with the back of the building, the plan that we have has cones and barrlcades to be also manned so that people cant just drive around a sign or anything like that because we want to make sure the whole area back there, that no one can come back there whether it's an associate, whether it's a customer to drive back all because we understand, especially from a lot of the feedback that we've got the last couple months since I've been there, that's the main issue that we're trying to address is to fix that, whether we change some of our delivery schedules so that they come in the middle of day versus later at night so we dont run into that. We actually have refused some deliveries that have come too close to that barrier because we don't want to infringe on that. With September 11, 2012 25287 the crowd plan for this petition, we do have it set up where it will be manned by a person and be blocked off so people can't just circumvent whether it's a sign or something like that so no one can just go around that. Mr. Morrow: You've heard the other things so take that under advisement. We appreciate your comments. Ms. Scheel: How long have you been managing the store? Mr. VanLenle: About six months. Ms. Scheel: Just about six months? Mr. VanLenle: Correct. Ms. Scheel: Do you have a problem with the trucks coming down Sl. Martins instead of coming in the way they're supposed lo? Is that something you can check into? Mr. VanLenle: I can definitely check into it with our logistics team. It's not something that has been reported like a noise complaint. As far as I know, I haven't, but I can follow-up with our logistics team. As far as the drivers have to report how they're getting there, we can communicate that to them where the drivers know which way to make sure they come in. Ms. Scheel: Okay. I know when there's turnover, a lot of times things don't follow through the way they're suppose to because you weren't there when the store was put in place, but if you and your management team could look at the rules that are supposed to be in place to make sure that they're still being followed, or if they need to be changed, come back to the City and find out what we can do to make them change so the neighbors are aware what should be followed and what has been changed. I'd really appreciate that. Mr. VanLente: Yes. I agree 100 percent. Some of the feedback that I've gotten since I've been here were some of the issues that were brought up, and we've made a lot of changes to that, including some of the companies that we use for the cleaning of our facilities. We've added extra maintenance in order to accommodate that, but we will continue to come to you guys with that feedback and any changes that need to be made. Ms. Scheel: Thankyou. September 11, 2012 25288 Mr. Morrow: Our intent is just to mitigate as much as you can the impact on the neighbors with good management. Mr. Wlshaw: We're going off course a little bit not talking about necessarily Black Fnday, but some of the operational issues of Walmart, and I think that's okay because this is an opportunity for both our residents and for you to understand what the concerns are that the residents are bringing to us. To that end, one of the themes that I've heard from residents at both locations is concern over trucks idling overnight. And the explanation is that it's a refrigerated truck, which makes sense that, obviously, if it's refrigerated goods, they have to slay refrigerated. My question is, I know attrucks slops and a lot of places around the country, they have come up with essentially shore power or plugs that these trucks can plug into to get power to ran those refrigeration units so that they dont have to sit there idling their diesel engine all night long to power those refrigerators. Is that something that Walmart has considered offering at their location to have these basically, you almost think of these Chevy Volts how they plug in to charge. A plug in option for these trucks to keep their refrigeration units going but not have the noise of the diesel engines. Mr. VanLenle: Right. That's not something I can specifically speak to from our transportation, but I know some of the avenues that we've approached that with is like in my facility, based on some feedback that we received from residents. We asked for our delivery schedule to be changed where the route that we have is earlier so that way we don't have that issue where even if a truck was there to deliver during that timeframe, that's something that in the last couple weeks we've seen starting to show improvements for us because we've had a lot of issues with that idling. So I can't speak directly to that question. It's something we can follow-up on with our home office logistics, but for us, an immediate solution for us was to just change the delivery schedule where if the truck delivers at 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., and that's why we've actually started refusing trucks that gel even loo close to that time frame where we wont receive it. I actually had two in the Iasi two weeks where it was loo close to the time frame around 9:00 p.m. where we said we'll receive the freight the next day. And they came at 10:00 a.m. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. That seems like a solution as well. I guess I'm over thinking it a little bit, but certainly I think that both yourself and Mr. Brewer need to be aware of and concerned by the noise of idling trucks sifting overnight. I don't care if it's a refrigeration unit that needs to be running or not. The fact of the matter is there shouldn't be trucks sifting there idling overnight in the Mr. Wilshaw: I was going to wail until after the motion was on the table, but I'm going to echo a lot of the comments that Mr. Taylor just made. The first petition that was before us, the previous one was difficult for me to vote on, and this one as well, because there was a lot of concern brought by the residents that live in the areas of both these locations about the hours. They worked very hard and very long with the City and with the developers and with us, to make sure that these stores were not open 24 September 11, 2012 25289 backs of these stores. If that truck needs to go sit at some other location or like you said change their delivery schedules to avoid those situations, that would be very much appreciated by those residents. Ms. Smiley: Mark, would you know if there are other big box stores in the City that are open 24 hours? Is Meijer's open 24 hours? Mr. Taormina: Yes. As far as I know they are. The reslnction only applies to the Target and the Walmart at Wonderland, and the Kohl's and Walmart at Livonia Marketplace. I'm not aware of the same restriction applying to any other large formal retailer in the City. Ms. Smiley: Thankyou. Mr. Taylor: Its funny, because at the study session, I said Walmart is going to ask to be open, and then next week we'll have Kohl's. I think the lady brought it up. I don't know about the rest of the stores in that shopping center whether they can slay open all night or what they can do. I'm old enough to know that many years ago they didn't even open a store up on a Sunday. I know times change, but it seems like the more they can stay open, the longer they want to slay open. I know a lot of it is for convenience for people who work, but sometime you have to say, well, how can we stay open much longer than what we're doing. This situation is a little different than the one down on Plymouth Road. When it was brought in, I know it was very close to St. Martins, and those stores back up right up to Sl. Martins. This is just a little bit different, and I'm having trouble. I knew that the neighbors would be out in this particular situation because of the closeness of the backs of the stores. I'm having a little trouble determining whether one day is loo much or whether they'll be back for staying open 24 hours. I certainly wouldn't support that. I'm going to weigh out pretty much whether this one time, six more hours, is going to make a whole lot of difference. I just want to make sure that the store owners know that this is a one time deal and it's not like the stores are going to be open for 24 hours seven days a week from here on end, as far as I'm concerned. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: I was going to wail until after the motion was on the table, but I'm going to echo a lot of the comments that Mr. Taylor just made. The first petition that was before us, the previous one was difficult for me to vote on, and this one as well, because there was a lot of concern brought by the residents that live in the areas of both these locations about the hours. They worked very hard and very long with the City and with the developers and with us, to make sure that these stores were not open 24 September 11, 2012 25290 hours. And here we are looking at having it open 24 hours on one day. It does offer the potential for a slippery slope of addilional stores and additional days being requested, and it does concern me greatly. The only thing that I'm trying to balance that with on this particular day and this particular request is the safely of people that are going to attend that store for these Black Friday sales. We've seen so many times on national TV and on the news and so on the stores having these openings because they open at some specific time and thousands, literally hundreds or thousands of people trying to stampede their way into a store to gel one of 100 televisions that are available for $100 or whatever it is. That chaos, that panic, is certainly not something that we want to have in our community if we can avoid it. This seems like a solution for this one particular dale to lessen the potential for that public safely risk by allowing people to queue up in the stores or to come in waves over a period of time. That being said, this is a difficult petition to vole on in my mind because I'm doing so with the knowledge that I'm trying to also do what's right for the residents and protect their interests, which is they don't want 24 hours stores at either the Livonia Marketplace or at Wonderland Village as well. So it's difficult. I want to at lead echo Mr. Taylor's comments that if this is approved, it will definitely not extend past any other days as long as I'm silting on this Planning Commission. Mr. Morrow: If there's no other input, I'm going to close the public hearing and ask for a motion. Mr. Bahr: I echo the previous comments, in particular the last one, just the safety issue. I think it's just a really reasonable solution for what is an issue with people lining up outside the store. For that reason, I will offer an approving resolution. On a motion by Bahr, seconded by Scheel, and adopted, it was #09-74-2012 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 11, 2012, on Petition 2012-08-02-17 submitted by Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C., on behalf of Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust, requesting to amend Council Resolution #429-08 adopted on September 24, 2008, in order to extend the Walmart store operating hours at Livonia Marketplace (Store #5844) at 29574 Seven Mile Road, located on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Middlebell Road and Pudingbrook Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 2, from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 0:00 a.m. on Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year beginning at September 11, 2012 25291 midnight of Thanksgiving Day, which properly is zoned C-2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2012-08-02-17 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That condition #23 of Council Resolution #429-08 which reads, 'Thal the hours of operation of any big box retail facility on the properly shall not exceed eighteen (18) hours" shall be modified to include the following: 2. Except that the Walmart store at 29574 Seven Mile Road shall be permitted to extend its operating hours one (1) day out of the year from 12:00 a.m. midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Fnday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and for each subsequent year thereafter commencing at midnight of Thanksgiving Day and ending at midnight on Fnday the day after Thanksgiving; 3. That the Petitioner will work with the City Inspection and Public Safety Departments to make sure that appropriate safety measures are put in place to accommodate the additional store operating hours, including keeping security at the back of the store and the use of temporary barricades, and that a police reserve detail be maintained with the costs being reimbursed to the City; and 4. That all other conditions imposed by Council Resolution #429-08, which granted approval for a Planned General Development consisting of a total of approximately 320,180 square feel of retail building area (Livonia Marketplace), shall remain in effect to the extent that they are not in conflict with the foregoing conditions. Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for the following reason: 1. That by allowing Walmart to stay open an additional six (6) hours on the busiest shopping day of the year is in the best interests of the public, including public safely, and 2. That all other conditions of the waiver use approval, including truck delivery limitations, would remain unchanged. FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. ITEM #4 PETITION 2012-03-06-06 ARTICLE IX LANGUAGE AMENMENT Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Pefition 2012- 03-06-06 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 9.02 and 9.03 of Article IX, OS (Office Services) District Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to modify the types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, real estate and insurance offices, offices of fraternal or religious organizations, and offices of clubs and lodges. Mr. Taormina: The changes proposed to the OS District Regulations are relatively minor in nature. Real estate and insurance office uses, September 11, 2012 25292 Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Mr. Bahr: I'd like to add one more too, and I think they've agreed to R. I think we should add an item in there about keeping security at the back of the store at this location with them not having the gales. Ms. Scheel: The amendment that Mr. Taylor added to the last motion, can we make sure that gels put in this one? Mr. Morrow: Relative to the public safely and reimbursement? Ms. Scheel: Yes. Mr. Bahr: I support that. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Bahr, Scheel, Smiley, Wilshaw, Morrow NAYES: Taylor ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Krueger Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. As I indicated eadier, you will not receive notice but you can contact the Planning Office and find out the date that the Council has a public hearing. With that, good luck at the City Council. ITEM #4 PETITION 2012-03-06-06 ARTICLE IX LANGUAGE AMENMENT Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Pefition 2012- 03-06-06 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 9.02 and 9.03 of Article IX, OS (Office Services) District Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to modify the types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, real estate and insurance offices, offices of fraternal or religious organizations, and offices of clubs and lodges. Mr. Taormina: The changes proposed to the OS District Regulations are relatively minor in nature. Real estate and insurance office uses, September 11, 2012 25293 which are currently classified as waiver uses under Section 9.03, would be moved to Section 9.02 and treated as permitted uses. Additionally, offices of clubs, lodges and other fraternal and religious organizations would be removed from Section 9.03 and would no longer be treated as waiver uses. To the extent uses of this nature are consistent with a general office use, they would be treated as a permitted use under the broader category of Subsection 9.02(b), which allows for offices of any other professional persons or associations. That's really the extent of the changes proposed to the Office Services District Regulations affecting both Section 9.02 and Section 9.03. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions of Mr. Taormina? Seeing none, this is a petition brought forward by the Planning Commission. We are our own petitioner. With that, I'll go to the audience. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I will ask for a motion. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Wilshaw, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-75-2012 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 11, 2012, on Petition 2012-03-06-06 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 9.02 and 9.03 of Article IX, OS (Office Services) District Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to modify the types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, real estate and insurance offices, offices of fraternal or religious organizations, and offices of clubs and lodges, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2012-03-06-06 be approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed language amendments will treat real estate and insurance offices, offices of fraternal or religious organizations, and offices of clubs and lodges as permitted uses in the OS, Office Services zoning district; 2. That the proposed language amendments update the OS, Office Services District regulations of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended; and 3. That the proposed language amendments are in the best interests of the City and its residents. September 11, 2012 25294 FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Morrow, Chainnan, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #5 PETITION 2012-03-06-07 ARTICLE X LANGUAGE AMENDMENT Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2012- 03-06-07 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 10.02 and 10.03 of Article X, G7 (Local Business) District Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to clarify and make certain changes to the types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, various retail stores, personal service establishments, office businesses, veterinary clinics, SDD licensed establishments, and restaurants. Mr. Taormina: Several changes are proposed to the C-1, Local Business District Regulations, including minor revisions and clarifications to both the descriptions as well as the rules that pertain to various permitted uses under Section 10.02, such as removing the five employee limit for bakeries, allowing indoor seating for up to 12 persons in restaurants that are classified as carry -outs, and removing SDM party stores. This eliminates a conflict with Section 10.03 since these have historically been treated as waiver uses. It will allow outdoor patio dining in an amount not to exceed 6 seats in conjunction with a carry -out restaurant and 12 seals for a limited service restaurant, subject to several conditions and limitations which we discussed in detail at our study session. And it will require that the operator of any temporary sidewalk or lent sale also have their principal use of business located on the same premises. Changes to Section 10.03, Waiver Uses, would include removing the requirement for a full-time, duly qualified attendant or veterinarian whenever animals are kept on the premises of a veterinary or animal clinic. The thoughts behind this change are that the current requirement falls a little outside of the realm of a typical zoning regulation, and it apparently does not reflect the current practice at many clinics, and is basically unenforceable according to our September 11, 2012 25295 Enforcement Division. We're also expanding the options for certain SDD-licensed businesses to keep their packaged spirits in locked display cases. We are removing carry -out restaurants, since these would now be treated as a permitted use. And then we're reducing the width of traffic lanes that serve drive -up window facilities from 12 feet to 10 feet. That's something that we see quite common. That is the summary of the changes. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions or comments from the Commission? Again this petition was brought forward by the Planning Commission. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Bahr, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-76-2012 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 11, 2012, on Petition 2012-03-06-07 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 10.02 and 10.03 of Article X, C-1 (Local Business) Dislnct Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to clarify and make certain changes to the types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, various retail stores, personal service establishments, office businesses, veterinary clinics, SDD licensed establishments, and restaurants, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2012-03-06-07 be approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed language amendments provide needed updates and modifications to the C-1 District Regulations by eliminating inconsistencies and clantying the various permitted and waiver uses, including retail stores, personal service establishments, office businesses, veterinary clinics, SDD licensed establishments, and restaurants permitted in a C-1 zoning district; 2. That the proposed language amendments will strengthen the C-1 Distnct Regulations of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended; and September 11, 2012 25296 3. That the proposed language amendments are in the best interests of the City and its residents. FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #6 PETITION 2012-03-06-08 ARTICLE XI LANGUAGE AMENDMENT Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2012- 03-06-08 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 11.02 and 11.03 of Article XI, C-2 (General Business) District Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to make changes to certain types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, various retail sales and retail service establishments, wholesale business uses, gasoline service stations, animal care facilities, restaurants, auto -wash establishments, establishments serving alcohol, dance halls, pawn shops, and open-air businesses. Mr. Taormina: As part of the Commission's efforts to systematically work through the zoning ordinance in order to keep it up -lo -date, we're proposing the following changes that would affect the C-2, General Business District Regulations. Under Section 11.02, which is the permitted use section, the recommendations would include (1) removing pawn shops as a permitted use; (2) expanding the list of possible wholesale business uses; and (3) eliminating the requirement to obtain the written consent of 55% of residential property owners within 400 feet of a planned day care nursery. Changes involving Section 11.03, Waiver Uses, would include: (1) Reducing the required setback for gasoline service stations from 75 feel to 60 feet; (2) requiring gas station canopy lights to be recessed; (3) requiring gas stations to provide free air; (4) eliminating the need for a full time attendant at veterinary clinics; (5) reducing the minimum required traffic lane width for drive -up windows in connection with full service restaurants from 12 feel to 10 feel; (6) including the word ..noxious' with the word "odors' that are prohibited from September 11, 2012 25297 emanating from restaurant operations in order to prevent causing any nuisance; (7) increasing the minimum required parcel width of auto wash establishments from 60 feel to 100 feel; (8) expanding the location options for microbreweries to any C-2 District instead of only Sections 25 through 30. So currently, while we allow these types of establishments in the C- 2 District, they are limited to only Sections 25 through 30. This would remove that restriction and allow them anywhere within a C-2 District within the City, of course subject to your approval and waiver use approval and all of the criteria that are part of Section 19.06. (9) Requiring a paved hard surface for the operation of any open-air sales of utility trailers and recreational equipment. Currently, we allow gravel surfaced lots. This would require that those surfaces be paved. That is, again, a special requirement that can be waived by the City Council under unique circumstances. (10) We're also increasing the restrictions on light truck repair from %ton to one (1) ton. This is consistent with other definition changes we made previously in the zoning ordinance. (11) And then we would allow pawn shops subject to certain conditions and restrictions. If you'll recall, what we're doing is laking pawn shops out of a permitted use section and we're adding those to the waiver uses, and we're adding a number of conditions that pertain to pawn shops to be able to carefully monitor the approval of those types of uses. With that, again, I'll answer any questions you may have. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions? Mr. W lshaw: Just one question about the removal of the consent of 55% of residential property owners surrounding a daycare nursery. It says that proposed daycare nurseries, at least previously, this had to be obtained and fled with the Planning Commission prior to public hearings. I dont recall ever seeing those come before us in the past. Is thaljusl a regulation that was never followed? Mr. Taormina: No. It's not that it has not been followed. It's just that I'm not so sure that the same condition exists across the board. I'd have to look more carefully. We did have an instance where a petition was submitted for a daycare. We haven't seen many lately, but we did have one on the north side of Seven Mile Road that was just east of Joe's Produce. It was proposed a couple of years ago where they did secure some approvals. As I recall, they were right on the bubble of getting that 55 percent. What is unique in this case is that it's a permitted use and this is a requirement of a permitted use. So if it can't be met, the option then is to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals, unlike a waiver use where they could get the City Council to waive that requirement if they couldn't secure the 55 peroent. But I think September 11, 2012 25298 the argument here is, what purpose will be served by securing that when we have a public hearing process? Again, this is a permitted use so we should treat these as a permitted use, and I'm not so sure that's appropriate to have that condition. But again, that's up to you and the Council to decide whether or not 9 should be kept. Mr. Wilshaw: All right. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Are you satisfied, Mr. Wilshaw? Mr. Wilshaw: Yes. My only follow up question would be, is this separate from the home daycare ordinance that the City has in regards to residential daycare? Mr. Taormina: Yes. It is completely different. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. That's the one I definitely want to make sure we maintain. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Wilshaw, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, 9 was #09-77-2012 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 11, 2012, on Petition 2012-03-06-08 submitted by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Sections 11.02 and 11.03 of Article XI, C-2 (General Business) District Regulations, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in order to make changes to certain types of permitted and waiver uses including, but not limited to, various retail sales and retail service establishments, wholesale business uses, gasoline service stations, animal care facilities, restaurants, auto-wash establishments, establishments serving alcohol, dance halls, pawn shops, and open-air businesses, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that 2012-03-06-08 be approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed language amendments provide needed updates and modifications to the C-2 District Regulations by eliminating inconsistencies and clarifying the various permitted and waiver uses, including retail sales and retail service establishments, wholesale business uses, gasoline September 11, 2012 25299 service stations, animal care facilities, restaurants, auto - wash establishments, establishments serving alcohol, dance halls, pawn shops, and open-air businesses permitted in a C-2 zoning district; 2. That the proposed language amendments will strengthen the C-2 District Regulations of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended; and 3. That the proposed language amendments are in the best interests of the City and its residents. FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #7 MOTION TO HOLD A ARTICLE II, DEFINITIONS PUBLIC HEARING MECH. AMUSEMENT DEVICES Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, a motion to hold a public hearing, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of the Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Section 2.10(16) of Article II, Definition of Miscellaneous Terms, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 43, as amended, pertaining to the definition of "Mechanical Amusement Devices." (Petition 2012-08-06-10) On a motion by Wilshaw, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-78-2012 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission, pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, does hereby establish and order that a public hearing be held to determine whether or not to amend Section 2.10(16) of Article II, Definition of Miscellaneous Terms, of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 43, as amended, pertaining to the definition of "Mechanical Amusement Devices." (Petition 2012-08-06-10) FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of such hearing shall be given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as September 11, 2012 25300 amended, and that thereafter there shall be a report and recommendation submitted to the City Council. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. ITEM #8 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,028'" Regular Meeting Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,028th Regular Meeting held on August 21, 2012. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-79-2012 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,028th Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on August 21, 2012, are hereby approved. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Taylor, Scheel, Smiley, Wilshaw, Morow NAYS: None ABSENT: Krueger ABSTAIN: Bahr Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,029'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on September 11, 2012, was adjourned at 8:53 p.m. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Lynda L. Scheel, Secretary ATTEST: R. Lee Morrow, Chairman