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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 1999-07-20 16018 MINUTES OF THE 382nd SPECIAL MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION ..r OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, July 20, 1999, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 382nd Special Meeting in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. James C. McCann, Chairman, called the Special Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Members present: James C. McCann Robert Alanskas Elaine Koons Dan Piercecchi William LaPine Michael Hale H. G. Shane Messrs. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, Al Nowak, Planner IV, Scott Miller, Planner II, Bill Poppenger, Planner I and Robby Williams were also present. Mr. McCann informed the audience that if a petition on tonight's agenda involves a rezoning request,this Commission only makes a recommendation to the City Council who, in turn, will hold its own public hearing, makes 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 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 becomes effective seven(7) days after the date of adoption. The Planning Commission and the professional staff have reviewed each of these petitions upon their filing. 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. Mr. Hale, Secretary announced the first item of the Special Meeting is Petition 99-5-2-18 by Sterling & Reid Bros. Circus requesting waiver use approval to operate a 3- ring circus under a "big top"tent from August 13, 1999, through August 15, 1999, inclusive, in the parking lot of Wonderland Mall on property located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Middlebelt and Milburn in the N.E. 1/4 of Section 35. Bill Poppenger presented a map showing the property under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Mr. McCann: Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: We have four items of correspondence. The first item is a letter from the Inspection Department dated June 9, 1999 which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request of June 3, 1999, the above referenced petition has been reviewed. As long as the submitted plan is followed, we have no objection. I trust this provides you with the requested information." The letter is signed 16019 by David M. Woodcox, Senior Building Inspector. The second item of correspondence is a letter from the Department of Public Safety dated July 14, �.... 1999, which reads as follows: " In response to the captioned petition, the Police Department has no objection to the site plan as submitted.: The letter is signed by John B. Gibbs, Police Officer, Traffic Bureau. The third letter is from the Engineering Division dated July 14, 1999, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. The Engineering division has no objections to the proposal at this time. The legal description provided with the site plan is acceptable to this department and should be used in connection therewith: We trust that this will provide you with the information requested. Please feel free to contact this office if you have any questions." The letter is signed by John P. Hill, Assistant City Engineer. The fourth letter from the Department of Public Safety dated July 15, 1999, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to operate a 3- ring circus under a "big top" tent from August 13, 1999,through August 15, 1999, on property located at the above referenced address. Provide access to nearest hydrant. Provide documentation as to fire proofing of tent material. We have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by James E. Corcoran, Fire Marshal. Thank you. Mr. McCann: Is the petitioner here? .tr Reinhard Lemke, 29859 Plymouth Road, Livonia, 48150. Mr. McCann: I received a complete package regarding the fire resistance for the tent. Did everyone else receive that package? Commissioners acknowledged that they did also receive the pack. Mr. McCann: Tell us about your proposal. Mr. Lemke: First let me thank you all. We thought it would be nice as a 40th anniversary celebration to have an old fashioned circus. We have the parking area in front of Service Merchandise available and we have the opportunity this year to use this property. So when we heard they would like to provide a certain amount of tickets we felt we could distribute them to the families and circulate the tickets for the circus. Meanwhile we talked with the Council after we learned of your concern. Actually one of the representatives said he would be happy to come back next week. This is something that benefits everybody and does not disturb anything. Mr. McCann: Are there any questions from the Commissioners? Mr. Shane: The parking on this site, a lot of that is already used by a good many people. Tell me, how many spaces are there? Mr. Lemke: The spaces that are never used behind K-mart that would provide spaces for trucks and incoming traffic whether Middlebelt or Plymouth Road. We have 16020 about 120 parking spaces which would be needed for the storage facilities and still leave us with 593 parking spaces. There will be more than 500 cars and N— there still is enough space to locate them there. We don't want to interfere with anyone's business at Wonderland. Mr. Shane: Is there going to be someone at the entrance? Mr. Lemke: We have our people as well as eight people there, not only at the entrance but to make sure they can waive them through. Mr. Shane: I believe the consensus was that parking would be parallel to Plymouth Road. Mr. Lemke: They just have to make sure they fit between the light poles. We want to make sure we can leave enough space for the fire truck to get through. It is about 50'they would have until you reach where the parking areas are but they probably have to be a little bit at the back because the light poles are about 75'. Mr. Shane: Is it possible they could be further back? Mr. Lemke: We can try. Mr. Piercecchi: Sir, how many different types of animal acts are you going to have at this circus? How will they be housed? In cages, trailers, etc? I understand that .,. some of them are going to be in cages. Mr. Lemke: There will be trailers and cages. I feel like a spokesman for the circus. I don't really know the details of how a circus operates. These are really questions for a representative from the circus but I will try to answer your questions. Mr. Piercecchi: What about the comfort for the animals? What provisions do they have to make sure that they are not uncomfortable because of the possible heat? Mr. Lemke: I assume they will give them a spray of water and make sure they are cooled down. The same way they spray down the animals in Florida to keep them comfortable. Mr. Piercecchi: As long as all the precautions are taken that the animals are comfortable. Mr. LaPine: How do you explain the provisions that stakes will be used to secure the tent. How are they going to drive stakes into asphalt? Mr. Lemke: There is a special tool they use. We want to make sure we don't have too much additional cost. We just thought it would be nice to have something for the community to celebrate the 40th anniversary and the past 40 years. Mr. LaPine: In their letter to us they said they only needed 200 spaces. The tent holds 1500 people. That 200 spaces that they refer to is not going to be enough. 16021 Mr. Lemke: They asked the Livonia Police if they could go on to the overflow parking lot behind K-Mart. Mr. LaPine: The letter we got from the Fire Department that the material is fire resistant, they submitted documentation but their letter is according to California code. Does that cover all states in the United States or does each state have a different code as to what fire resistant is? Mr. Lemke: This is actually something that Mark asked me to check. I talked to Mr. Corcoran if this was O.K. He said this was acceptable. Mr. LaPine: Do you know how often these tents have to be treated to retain their fire resistance? This was dated July 19, 1998. This is for a tent 30' X 40'. Mr. Lemke: This is a tent for the breakfast celebration. Mr. LaPine: Where is this tent going to be located? Mr. Lemke: I am assuming it will be back where the trucks are. Mr. LaPine: So we are going to have two tents? Mr. Lemke: One is for the circus and the other one is for the breakfast celebration. ""`'.... Mr. LaPine: I am assuming in the big tent,there is no smoking allowed? Mr. Lemke: We don't want them to allow smoking. Mr. LaPine: I know you don't but we do want to know for sure that there is not going to be any smoking. Are they going to have any straw on the floor? Mr. Lemke: I am not sure they will have any straw there. Mr. LaPine: What are the rides for the kids? Are they before the show or after the show or are they all day long? Mr. Lemke: I can't answer that question right now. I assume that they will have the whole day. I can't tell you. Mr. LaPine: My gut feeling is that they will have the rides all day long. They keep the animals outside until the animals are ready for the show. How do they bring them in for the show? Mr. Lemke: That is the way they usually do it, keep them outside until they are ready for them to perform. Mr. LaPine: At night when the animals are locked up, will there be patrols to go around to patrol the animals? 16022 Mr. Lemke: They have their own security and we will supply our own security and we will have the Livonia Police there. We don't want to have anything happen as well. Mr. LaPine: Can you tell me who will clean this up? Mr. Lemke: The circus will clean up. This was one question I asked. Mr. LaPine: My last question, this is a large tent. I assume those stakes that will be put in the ground, once those stakes are removed, whose responsibility is it for repairing the holes that are left from the stakes? Mr. Lemke: The circus. Mr. Alanskas: How many employees will the circus have? Mr. Lemke: About 100. Mr. Alanskas: Where will they be living? Mr. Lemke: They will stay there during the night time. Mr. Alanskas: Where will these people be lodged? Mr. Lemke: On the K-Mart parking lot. They will put their trailers there and next to the tent. Mr. Alanskas: You have an office truck for the office people only? Mr. Lemke: Yes. Mr. Alanskas: Where are the 100 people going to be? Mr. Lemke: I just have to assume.... Mr. Alanskas: I don't want you to assume. We need to know. Where is the entrance going to be? Is that the entrance to the tent? Mr. Lemke: This is just an example. Mr. Alanskas: You are showing exits but no entrances. You show 5 exits. What I wonder, is how will you stop people from coming in there free. You don't know where the entrances will be? Mr. Lemke: No. Mr. Alanskas: Will the animals be close to the street? I am concerned about the noise from the truck and car horns scaring the animals. 16023 Mr. Lemke: We could put some of the other animals and rides more towards the mall. Mr. Alanskas: Thank you. Mr. Hale: Who was the individual that selected this circus? Mr. Lemke: They asked me if they could come here and I thought it would be a really nice event for our 40th anniversary. I was not aware they needed to go through all the meetings. They thought all they needed to do was get a permit. Mr. Hale: Would you consider maybe some other circus? Mr. Lemke: We just were approached by another circus but they would not be able to do it that soon. It might be something for Livonia's 50th anniversary. Mr. Hale: Did you personally verify their references? Mr. Lemke: Yes. From the start I came across members who had left about a year ago and advised the people that I talked with they needed to up date their records. Mr. Hale: Did you hear any negative comments regarding this circus? Mr. Lemke: Comments I heard were that you have to make sure that they clean up afterwards. They didn't have any other problems. This circus has performed in Kalamazoo and Marshall, Michigan. The reports that I got were that they were very happy with the circus. Mr. Hale: We are going to make sure that the City is listed as an additional insured. I am sure Wonderland will be on there but we want the City on there. Mrs. Koons: I feel we have a lot of information, but I feel there is one question if any of us have not asked is if they have had litigation or charges brought against them? I don't know if we asked this question. Mr. Lemke: No, I can't answer that question. Mrs. Koons: If something happens, we really haven't done our homework. Mr. Lemke: That is a good additional idea. Mr. McCann: You said this is about a 100 year old circus? Mr. Lemke: About 150 years or more. Mr. McCann: Did they state that they would do any advertising? Do they plan on displaying any yard signs or free standing signs? Mr. Lemke: They told me they would not be allowed to advertise within the community. They will advertise in the local newspaper. 16024 Mr. McCann: You will put that in your contract as part of your resolution? Mr. Lemke: Yes. Mr. McCann: Are the tickets sold in advance? Mr. Lemke: They suggest selling them from the tent. We just want to make sure we get a certain amount of tickets. I asked Mrs. McCann which families would need some tickets and Mark also suggested I talk to Mrs. McCann. Mr. Piercecchi: You mentioned that this whole employee crew is going to stay on the site. They will be in trailers then? Mr. Lemke: I can check to make sure how they will be housed. I assume they have trailers. Mr. Piercecchi: When you start putting 40 trailers in there it is going to fill up the parking lot. What kind of trailers will they be? Mr. Lemke: They have trailers like vacation vans. Mr. Piercecchi: My point is that they really are going to fill that parking lot. I don't think there is a spot for it. Mr. LaPine: If I may, I think it is unfortunate that this came up the way it did. I thought we were going to have a circus representative here to answer questions. I just can't believe they can't get someone in here to answer these questions. There was an article in the Free Press last week and talk of the hosing down of the elephants. Will they do that to the elephants because of the heat? Mr. Lemke: That is something I did assume. Mr. LaPine: This is a reason why someone from the circus should be here. Mr. Lemke: I understood there was a list of questions that needed to be answered. The last meeting I went to with the Planning Department I had someone there who could answer more questions. Mr. McCann: The question is, can you reach someone to fly in for the Council meeting? Mr. LaPine: Just one more question. All these rides there, are there extra charges for the rides? Mr. Lemke: Yes. „�, Mr. LaPine: That is all I have. 16025 Mr. Alanskas: You are saying that the circus has their own security people? Do you know how many they have? Mr. Lemke: I don't know how many they have. We will also provide security. Mr. Alanskas: Will they wear uniforms? Mr. Lemke: I don't know about their uniforms. We will have four additional officers at nighttime and also would like to have two extra Livonia officers. Mr. McCann: I am going to go to the audience. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against this petition? Seeing no one, I will close the Public Hearing. Mr. LaPine: What is the length of the show? Mr. Lemke: About two hours. Mr. LaPine: Do they clean up after the shows? You know people will have food in there. Will they clean up inside the tent between shows? Mr. Lemke: These are issues I am not able to answer. Mr. Hale: How important is this to Wonderland and Shostak? Mr. Lemke: Not that important. It is something that we wanted to do with the 40th anniversary. It is a reminder of the past and brings back memories of 40 years ago. Mr. Hale: You can do other things. Mr. Lemke: Yes. It is not so much for us. It is for families and children. We have a music program that is tied into the high schools. We have a dance program. That is part of educational entertainment. Mr. McCann: I will close the Public Hearing. A motion is in order. Mr. Alanskas: I will make a motion for an approving resolution. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas, seconded by Mr. Shane, and approved, it was #7-53-99 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a Special Meeting and Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on July 20, 1999, on Petition 99- 5-2-18 by Sterling & Reid Bros. Circus requesting waiver use approval to operate a 3-ring circus under a "big top" tent from August 13, 1999,through August 15, 1999, inclusive, in the parking lot of Wonderland Mall on property located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Middlebelt and Milburn in the N.E. 1/4 of Section 35, the Planning Commission does hereby 16026 recommend to the City Council that Petition 99-5-2-18 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1) That the circus shall be limited to the dates and hours as specified by Sterling & Reid Bros., Inc., which are 8/13/99 through 8/15/99, inclusive; 2) That the proposed circus operation shall be confined to the area as illustrated on the site plan submitted with this request, subject to moving the animal rides and facilities where animals are to be kept closer to the mall; 3) That the big top tent, all rides, food concessions, animal enclosures, portable restroom facilities, booths and all other equipment and apparatus relating to the operation of the circus shall be located at least 50 feet distant from the Plymouth Road right-of-way line; 4) That all trucks and other related transportation equipment shall be parked or stored within the southwesterly portion of the Wonderland Mall parking lot, no closer than 250 feet to the adjacent residential properties, as shown on the site plan date stamped 7/16/99; 5) That the letter and attachments from Pamela Runyon of Sterling & Reid Bros. Circus are hereby adopted, by reference in response to the ... concerns of the Planning Commission as outlined in the 7/15/991etter by the Planning Department; 6) That there be adequate areas for fire equipment including access to the hydrants; 7) That Sterling & Reid Bros. Circus is responsible for clean-up of entire site including repair of any damage to the parking lot; 8) Wonderland Mall security and Livonia Police reserves shall be utilized in addition to the circus' own security guards; 9) That there shall be no smoking allowed in the tent; 10) There shall be no free standing signs or signs attached to any utility or light poles advertising the circus event; 11) That an adequate number of restroom facilities shall be provided; 12) That the Planning Director has approval to make adjustments to the location of the facilities on the site; 13) That the City of Livonia shall be included as an additionally insured party along with the Mall. 16027 for the following reasons: �.,. 1) That the proposed use complies with all of the special and general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Sections 18.42A and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543; 2) That the subject site has the capacity to accommodate the proposed use; and 3) That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding uses in the area. 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. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: AYES: Alanskas, Shane, LaPine, McCann NAYS: Koons, Piercecchi, Hale ABSENT: None Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion by Mr. Shane, seconded by Mr. LaPine and unanimously approved, it was #7-54-99 RESOLVED that, the City Planning Commission does hereby determine to waive the provisions of Section 10 of Article VI of the Planning Commission Rules of Procedure requesting the seven day period concerning effectiveness of Planning Commission resolutions in connection with Petition 99-5-2-18 by Sterling & Reid Bros. Circus requesting waiver use approval to operate a 3- ring circus under a "big top" tent from August 13, 1999, through August 15, 1999, inclusive, in the parking lot of Wonderland Mall on property located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Middlebelt and Milburn in the N.E. 1/4 of Section 35. Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted,the 382nd Special Meeting held on July 20 , 1999 was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION i' Michael S. Hale, Secretary ATTEST: • James C.McCann, Chairman /rw