HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2016-04-19 MINUTES OF THE 1,086TH PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, April 19, 2016, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia
held its 1,086th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting in the Livonia City Hall, 33000
Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan.
Mr. Peter Ventura, Chairman Pro Tern, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Members present: Glen Long Betsy McCue Carol A. Smiley
Gerald Taylor Peter Ventura
Members absent: Ian Wilshaw
Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, and Ms. Margie Watson, Program
Supervisor, were also present.
Acting Chairman Ventura informed the audience that if a petition on tonight's
agenda involves a rezoning request, this Commission makes a recommendation
to the City Council who, in turn, 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 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.
ITEM #1 PETITION 2016-03-02-05 MICHIGAN PROPERTY
Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2016-03-
02-05 submitted by Michigan Property Group, L.L.C. requesting
waiver use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(d) of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to develop and
operate an outdoor storage yard for recreational vehicles, and
site plan approval pursuant to Sections 18.47 and 18.58 to
develop an indoor, climate-controlled self-storage facility, at
28900 Schoolcraft Road, located on the north side of Schoolcraft
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27540
Road between Inkster and Middlebelt Roads in the Southwest 1/4
of Section 24.
Mr. Taormina: This is a request to develop an RV storage yard as well as an
indoor, climate-controlled self-storage facility at the site of the
former Cloverlanes bowling alley located on the north side of
Schoolcraft Road between Inkster and Middlebelt Roads.
Rezoning of the subject site to M-1, Light Manufacturing, is
currently in process. The current C-2 zoning does not allow either
of the two proposed uses, which again, includes self-storage and
RV storage. The self-storage facility is treated as a permitted use
under the M-1 district regulations and the storage of recreational
vehicles requires waiver use approval pursuant to Section
16.11(d) of the Zoning Ordinance. On January 26, 2016, the
Planning Commission forwarded a denying recommendation to
the City Council for a change of zoning from C-2 to M-1, and
instead suggested that the C-2 district regulations be amended
to allow the self-storage. On February 22, 2016, the City Council
held a public hearing on the change of zoning and referred the
matter to the Law Department to prepare an ordinance that would
amend the Zoning Map. Council gave First Reading to the zoning
change on April 4, 2016. Final adoption of the zoning change is
on-hold pending a review and recommendation on the site plan
and waiver use. As I indicated, the site is the location of the
former Cloverlanes bowling alley, which opened in 1962 and
closed in 2015. The property is roughly 5.5 acres in area. It
includes 846 feet of frontage on Schoolcraft Road and has an
average depth of 285 feet. The former bowling alley building is
about 57,800 square feet in size. The request this evening is to
demolish the bowling alley and using the existing perimeter
foundation of the structure, construct an indoor, climate-
controlled self-storage facility in its place. The surplus areas of
the parking lots would be utilized for the outdoor storage of
recreational vehicles. The self-storage building would utilize the
same footprint of the existing bowling alley, but it would be two
stories in height and roughly 111,500 square feet in gross floor
area. The building would also contain a small sales office as well
as a conference room. Extending thru the middle of the building's
lower level is a 27 foot wide drive aisle that would allow vehicles
to enter the building via an electronically-controlled overhead
door located on the east side of the building and then the vehicles
could pass through the building and exit in the same manner on
the west side of the building. The westerly portion of the site is
where there would be a paved storage lot with the capacity to
accommodate 39 recreational vehicles. Thirty-five of the spaces
would measure 11 feet by 40 feet while four spaces would
measure 11 feet by 20 feet. Carports or RV ports would be
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provided along the north and west boundaries that would cover
26 of the 39 spaces. The larger recreational vehicle storage lot
would be located on the easterly half of the property. Here there
would be a total of 98 recreational vehicle stalls, 96 of which
would measure 11 feet by 40 feet, 2 spaces would measure 11
feet by 20 feet, and 52 of those 98 spaces would be covered with
the RV ports. Again, those would be located along the north and
south ends of the parking lot. Combined, both lots would contain
a total of 137 recreational vehicle storage spaces, 78 would be
covered and 59 would remain uncovered. The covered RV ports
consist of metal posts with metal roofing and metal siding. These
are the sectional views of what the RV ports would look like. They
are side views of the carports. They consist of metal posts, metal
roofing as well as metal siding on the backsides of the structures
for additional screening and protection. The overall height of
these structures would be 14 feet, roughly 8 feet above the
existing 6 foot high protective wall that runs along the north side
of the property. To maintain a consistent view from the homes,
panels of metal siding that would match the back wall of the
carports in height and building materials would be installed along
the sections of the protective wall that do not abut the carports.
The carports would have metal roofing and steel columns. For
security, a majority of the property would be fully enclosed by
means of a 6 foot high masonry wall and metal fencing. The
continuous, unpierced masonry wall that currently exists along
the north property line would be extended along the east side of
the property as well as portions of the west and south property
boundaries. The remaining frontage would contain a decorative
metal fence. The site plan shows precisely where each of these
improvements would be located. Going back to the site plan, the
residential homes are located adjacent to this property on the
north side. Currently, there is a masonry wall that runs along the
entire north property line. The carports would be adjacent to the
screening wall, both on the east and west sides, but there is a
portion behind the building where there would not be carports. It
is there that metal screening would be added that would be
identical to the screening that would be used along the carports.
So that's what would provide the 14 foot tall barrier extending
from above the wall between the residential and the commercial
properties. Then the same treatment would extend along the east
side of the property and a significant portion of the west side of
the property. Running along the frontage, there would be a
decorative metal fence. Customer access would be controlled via
a gated entrance that would be centrally-located next to the sales
office. The two outside storage lots would be linked by a two-way
drive that runs behind the building. Vehicles could enter and exit
the site from the main driveway located on the east side of the
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building and then there's an access easement that is also
maintained between this property and the hotel property to the
east. Vehicles can enter the site via a marginal access drive from
the hotel property and then navigate their way to this site.
Buildings in the M-1 district are required to be 50 feet from the
front and rear property lines. In this case, the existing building
maintains setbacks of 38 feet from Schoolcraft and 34 feet from
the rear lot line. There are deficiencies with respect to the
setbacks and that would have to be addressed by the Zoning
Board of Appeals should this matter move forward. A landscape
plan has been submitted that provides a variety of shrubs and
ornamental trees as well as grasses that would mostly be planted
along the front of the property. Species include daylilies,junipers,
crab trees, yews, and Spirea. Where feasible, Staff believes that
additional full size deciduous trees, possibly along the
Schoolcraft Road right-of-way, should be planted that would be
subject to approval by the Engineering Division and Department
of Public Works. We've had a discussion with the DPW about that
and they believe that trees can be planted along the rights-of-way
and there would not be conflicts with utilities. In terms of the
design of the building, we have a rendering that shows what the
building would look like. The main exterior contains mostly brick
and E.I.F.S., which is a dryvit material. It is a symmetrical design
that has two end sections capped with a decorative cornice, and
separated from adjacent parts of the building using vertical
elements. I'll let the petitioner describe more fully what their plans
are, but there are five main parts to the façade. The front façade
includes the brick on the lower level, the darker coloration on the
rendering represents the brick. The lighter pattern represents the
E.I.F.S. There would be exterior rollup doors for access to some
of the storage units along the back and sides of the building. The
overall height would be 44 feet. The existing bowling alley is 47
feet, so this is technically a few feet lower than the existing
structure. The maximum building height allowed in the M-1 district
is 50 feet. It does comply with the zoning ordinance. The same
window treatments are provided along the side of the building,
but along the rear of the building, those windows are much
smaller and they are placed higher up on the second level to
maintain privacy to the residents in the back but offer some
daylight into the upper level of the storage facility. The petitioner
has provided details with respect to the exterior lighting. The
maximum height of the light poles would be 14 feet. The details
are provided as well as additional information regarding the
concierge's facility, which is located in the main parking lot on the
east side of the building. There was concern expressed at the
study session regarding safety, and the petitioner has provided
detail showing there would be pivoting traffic arms provided on
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either side of the concierge's area to prevent or restrict access to
this area. This is the area where the recreational vehicles could
pull up, discharge their waste via the connections, get propane
refilled and other services. So with that, Mr. Chairman, I'll be
happy to read out the correspondence.
Mr. Ventura: Okay.
Mr. Taormina: There are three items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated April 8, 2016, which reads as
follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering
Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no
objections to the proposed waiver use at this time. The included
legal description that was included with the petition appears to be
correct and should be used in conjunction with this petition. (The
legal description included with the drawing is missing information
and should not be used.) The existing property is assigned an
address of 28900 Schoolcraft Road. The included drawings do
not indicate any existing or proposed utility information, but this
office has been in contact with the owner to discuss requirements
for the proposed renovations. The lot is currently serviced with
public storm and sanitary sewer, and water main." The letter is
signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The
second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated
March 24, 2016, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed
the site plan submitted in connection with a request to develop
and operate an outdoor storage yard for recreational vehicles and
develop an indoor, climate-controlled self-storage facility on
property located at the above referenced address. We have no
objections to this proposal with the following stipulations: Fire
suppression, fire alarm, roof access and storage yard access will
be addressed during the construction permit stage." The letter is
signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the
Division of Police, dated April 1, 2016, which reads as follows: "I
have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have
no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Brian
Leigh, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. That is the extent of the
correspondence.
Mr. Ventura: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Will the
petitioner please rise and come to podium. We will need your
name and address for the record.
Ernie D'Ascenzo, Michigan Property Group, L.L.C., 34355 Glouster Circle,
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331.
Mr. Ventura: Can you tell us about your request, sir?
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Mr. D'Ascenzo: In looking at the old Cloverlanes bowling alley, it's kind of an
obsolete building for sure. The parcel, given its location for C-2,
is kind of obsolete giving that all the C-2, all the new development,
is south of the freeway. I'm a retail developer by trade. When you
look at retail, it has to have co-tenancy with other tenants. That's
everything south of the freeway. In trying to find the best use for
this parcel, we've come up with this concept. We are working on
this concept in three or four other municipalities within Michigan.
We've done this before. It works really well. The feasibility study
and all the demographics and everything support the parcel on
this usage. We feel that we came up with a pretty good design
working with the Planning Department and the engineering and
everybody involved. We are currently working with the Law
Department to finalize the legal verbiage of the zoning change
and the waiver use. I know that I was emailed a couple issues
that I believe the study meeting came up with. The first one is the
north wall that Mark mentioned that is in need of repair. We will
repair that and if it has to be replaced in certain parts, we'll
standardize it across and then put a cap on it as it's in the
drawings at six foot. Some of it is four foot, some of it's leaning.
We're going to clean all that up, standardize it and make it a six
foot wall with a nice cap on top of it. Part of this is going through
the legal department and the verbiage too to make sure everyone
is in agreement. Conceptually, that's our understanding. There's
a couple issues on the number two, which is to put the metal up.
So between the two carports on the north end of the property
behind the building, we wanted the neighbors to recognize their
backyards as all being the same. With the carports and the metal
the way it is, it gives a sound barrier and a light barrier, both from
the service drive and from the freeway, which gives the
neighborhood their backyards back. Out of the 20 neighbors
there, 18 have signed a petition supporting this project. Two of
them we still can't get ahold of. Either they are in Florida, out of
town or something. With that being said, we recognize the metal
between the two carports so it would look the same. To put it on
the east side, which we can do, but there's two issues. One, it's
to the east so you have the wind coming out of the west. It would
be extremely hard to support that number one. Number two, it's
to the hotel and with the second story, no matter how high we put
it up, you're still going to be able to see over it into the yard. It's
not a residential, it's a commercial area, but we do have a six foot
wall going across to separate them and the same type of wall.
The third issue, I believe, we are working on the sign. That is
probably either going to go through the Zoning Board of Appeals
or we will work with the sign details, but basically, it was going to
be in channel letters, standard block channel letters. We're going
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to be submitting those drawings. The architect couldn't get them
done in time or I would have brought them here. The hours of
operation, yes, we're going to be 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. both on
the RV and the storage. It's the same company. It's the same
stuff. It's not leased or anything like that. It's our operation. We
run them ourselves. The indoor climate will run the same with the
RV. When they open, they close together, when they close, they
open together, vice versa. Our hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m. That was one of the things nice with the neighborhood is that
it's very low impact. So by 8:00 when we close, they will have all
their time. And the same thing with parking an RV there. You park
an RV there and you come back six months from now. You park
a boat there, you come back six months from now. So it's very
low impact on the neighborhood to where there's not a lot of
traffic, which from what I gather with the bowling alley, I had a lot
of venting talking to the neighbors. We're recognizing that
problem. With that being said, we also agreed to no construction
equipment, no storage of materials. None of that. It's just RV,
boats, you know. The aluminum fence, it says here 8 foot. I
believe in the plan, Mark, it's four foot in the detail.
Mr. Taormina: Six feet.
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Six feet. If we want to go to four foot, we don't have a problem
with that. That's fine. I know that somebody mentioned in the
email that I have, somebody said it was 8 foot and they'd like to
see it 4 foot. If we want to go to 4 foot, we don't have a problem
making that change. That's fine. And then the island on the
concierge, that was one that we actually missed. It's a great idea.
On that plan there, we put the arms in on the side of the concierge
and those will come down and they'll have closed signs
underneath them. That way nobody can have access to it. Plus
we have cameras. This is fully monitored 24 hours a day. The
cameras cover everything from license plates in and out, and if
somebody was on the property, it would signal it and the property
manager would be out there immediately or call the police and
say, hey, it's after hours. They shouldn't be there anyways. On
the westerly drive, it is just an exit. We're just using it for exit only
on the site plan. The west drive on the left there. Yeah, we're just
using that for exit only so when you drive through the building,
then you come out and you go out the westerly exit there. The
concept with driving in the building, if you're not familiar with it, so
once you've made your arrangements to lease it in the office,
there's a keypad and you can just punch your numbers and your
code in the keypad. The door would open and you drive in. Then
the door closes. Now you're secure and you're safe and you're
also out of the environment. Like Mark, said, it's 27 feet wide so
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you pull off to the side. There's carts. You unload your stuff and
you roll it to your unit. All the units are climate controlled. They're
all secured. There are cameras everywhere. Once you're done,
you get back in your car and you drive out. So it's very secure
and it's out of the climate. We also put in a conference room like
Mark said. We find a lot of small business people using it. So you
get like pharmaceutical reps. They have to store their
pharmaceuticals. They store them in a locker. They use the
conference room. We have P.O. boxes. They get their mail. They
go in the conference room and use it; make their calls, grab their
pharmaceuticals stuff and then go on their sales routes. So it
takes a lot of the small business out of the neighborhoods. It take
a lot of RVs and boats out of the neighborhood and it solves a lot
of problems. It has become a really good usage for certain
parcels that meet this need. If you have any other questions . . .
Mr. Ventura: Thank you. Do the members of the Commission have any
questions of the petitioner?
Ms. Smiley Could you tell me, you talked a little bit about safety. You have 24
hour camera and surveillance but what hours are your staff there?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Ms. Smiley Okay. Is that a person in the office or is there a security booth?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Usually there's two people. One person in the office and then one
person on site. There will probably be three people there on the
initial lease-up.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. You have 24 hour cameras. Who watches those?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: We have an alarm company that watches them for motion and
detection and everything is set on motion and detection. So if
there is any type of movement, then the managers are notified
and they can also look at it live too and they can rewind it and
look at it live. They make the call based on what the call is. If the
police need to be called, then the police are called or the manager
gets there. We also have with the manager an emergency
number if somebody has to get to their unit. They call the
manager and the manager will meet them there too. Very seldom
though.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Long: There is external storage now in the back as well, correct, or
external access to storage in the back?
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Mr. D'Ascenzo To the units, yeah.
Mr. Long: You have the two way traffic going on the back road there. Is
there enough width back there because people are going to park
on the outside for those units or potentially.
Mr. D'Ascenzo: The normal storage unit is leased eight months and the traffic that
goes by there right now is made for the fire trucks to go through.
So it's almost 45 feet wide and it's 40 feet on the turns. The fire
trucks are 37.5. So it's almost 40 foot wide. You could actually
put almost four cars.
Mr. Long: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Taylor: It sounds like you've thought of everything. For the benefit of the
audience who may be watching, is there a price range that they
might look at?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: For the units themselves?
Mr. Taylor: Yes. I know they're different sizes and there's a lot of different
prices I assume.
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Yes. Price range is going to be somewhere between $40 for a
five by five unit up to about $200 for 10 by 20.
Mr. Taylor: And that's per . . . .
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Per unit per month.
Mr. Taylor: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Sure.
Mr. Ventura: Are there any other questions from the commissioners? If there
are no other questions from the commissions, we'll hear
questions from the floor now. Are there interested parties in the
audience that would like to ask the petitioner any questions?
Ron Rozen, 28631 Buckingham Avenue, Livonia, Michigan 48154. I can't really
see the plan there, but my concern is the north wall outside
storage. What is the distance from this 14 foot wall to the existing
property line?And the reason I'm questioning this, there are utility
wires that run along there that are serviced now on the south side
of the wall. There's electrical wires. There's plumbing and
everything in there and the way they were telling me before, they
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want to put this 14 foot wall close to our property line. Can
somebody just answer me how close this 14 foot wall is going to
be to the brick wall? If it needs service for the electrical wires, how
are they going to be serviced? I think that's a legitimate question.
Mr. D'Ascenzo: The block wall is existing which is their property line. The RV units
will be right against the block wall. What we don't want to do is,
we don't want to create a gap there because what happens is,
you have an area you can't really maintenance because you can't
get behind there. But the metal for the RV units will be right next
to the block wall. The wires are approximately about 20 feet to
about 25 feet high, the wires in the back there. Some of the trees
have grown over if you've seen some of the pictures of the back
of the bowling alley. I mean way over and need to be trimmed up,
which we'll work with Detroit Edison to clean those up and clean
up that property line in a couple spots. But the RV wall, the walls
themselves, are exactly against the block wall. Detroit Edison
always come out with the bucket trucks anyways. They shouldn't
have any problem going right over that because there's plenty of
room. The wires are high enough.
Mr. Rozen: Well, is it at least 40 feet long from the wall out?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Out, yes.
Mr. Rozen: Well, you have a long bucket.
Mr. D'Ascenzo: They raise it. Detroit Edison.
Mr. Rozen: Wires coming down. And my other question is, these roofs. I was
told these are flat roofs. Michigan has been noted for having
considerable amount of snow. My concern also is, this wall
backing right up against my property, snow, debris, everything on
top of this, where is it going to go? Now, why can't we have at
least a 10 foot easement so utility trucks and vehicles can get
back there. I know we're cutting down on their storage area. By
the same token, it sounds like it's a safety issue to me if a wire
comes down. They're going to put a truck there and put a 40 foot
boom out to work on this? I've had instances. I've lived here
forever. They come up and they service the wire. A wire breaks
and it's taken care of. So what he's saying, yeah, they can do this
but I'm concerned about snowfall, debris on top of this. Is this
going to have a flat roof or a diagonal roof?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: It's got a pitch to it.
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27549
Mr. Rozen: Which way is the pitch coming? Is the pitch coming back towards
the existing property?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Yeah, the pitch comes back to the existing . . .
Mr. Rozen: Where is the snow on the 14 foot wall when it snows, where is
the snow going to come?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: There's a gutter system set up on it.
Mr. Rozen: I'm talking about a foot of snow.
Mr. Ventura: Sir, would you please address your questions to the
Commission?
Mr. Rozen: Sure.
Mr. Ventura: Then we'll turn around and ask the petitioner.
Mr. Rozen: My question is, you've got a 14 foot wall 40 feet long backing right
up to the existing property line. We can get all different types of
depth of snow. The way it's designed, the way I understand it, it's
going to be abutted up against the brick wall. Where is that snow
going to go? He says there's a gutter there.
Mr. Ventura: I understand. Do you have more questions?
Mr. Rozen: No, I'm just concerned about that. Does everybody got it?
Mr. Ventura: I think we've got it.
Mr. Rozen: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you very much. Mr. D'Ascenzo, do you want to address
these questions?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: Yes, thank you. The RVs are calculated for the snow load to begin
with, the carports. Yeah, there may be some blowing and drifting
of snow. Blowing and drifting snow, it happens everywhere to a
certain degree. They are tilted or should I say, the snow load and
the water as it melts will drain to the gutters and the gutters come
back onto our property. So there wouldn't be any water runoff, but
snow being snow is going to blow wherever snow goes. Again,
we've tried to recognize just about every problem there is. That's
about the only answer I have for that.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
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27550
Ms. Smiley: You must have this at alternative sites. Have you had any
experience with your roof over the carports at your other sites?
Mr. D'Ascenzo: As I expressed when we were in front of the City Council, this is
the only site in the State of Michigan and probably the Midwest.
It's a first class site is what we intend for it to be, Class A. This
has been done in Minnesota. It has not been done in this area.
In Minnesota, which gets a lot more snow than here, it's worked
extremely well. We've kind of copied off of Minnesota a little bit,
but it has not been done in the Midwest other than Minnesota.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Ventura: Are there any other members in audience that would like to ask a
question? If there are no other questions, we will close the public
hearing. A motion is in order.
On a motion by McCue, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, it was
#04-31-2016 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on April 19, 2016, on Petition
2016-03-02-05 submitted by Michigan Property Group, L.L.C.
requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(d) of
the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to
develop and operate an outdoor storage yard for recreational
vehicles, and site plan approval pursuant to Sections 18.47 and
18.58 to develop an indoor, climate-controlled self-storage
facility, at 28900 Schoolcraft Road, located on the north side of
Schoolcraft Road between Inkster and Middlebelt Roads in the
Southwest 1/4 of Section 24, which property is zoned M-1 and is
in the process of being rezoned to C-2, the Planning Commission
does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-
03-02-05 be approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet S-1, prepared by DAS
Architects P.C., dated April 13, 2016, as revised, is hereby
approved and shall be adhered to;
2. That the Landscape Plan prepared by Murphy and
Associates, dated April 5, 2016, as revised, is hereby
approved and shall be adhered to, except that additional full-
size deciduous trees shall be planted along the front of the
property subject to approval by the Planning and
Engineering Departments;
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3. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of
hydro-seeding, including all areas within the public road
right-of-way;
4. 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;
5. That the Exterior Building Elevation Plans marked Sheet A3,
prepared by DAS Architects P.C., dated March 17, 2016, is
hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
6. That all rooftop mechanical equipment shall be concealed
from public view on all sides by screening that shall be of a
compatible character, material and color to other exterior
materials on the building;
7. 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 soil erosion and sedimentation control permits;
8. The use of the self-storage facility shall be limited to the
storage of personal and business items only, and no unit
designed or intended for storage purposes shall be used for
operating a business or recreational activity including, but
not limited to, repairs, manufacturing, assembly, personal
service, hobby, retail or office;
9. Outdoor storage shall be limited to no more than a combined
total of 137 recreational vehicles, including motorhomes,
travel trailers and boats, and the storage of all RV's shall
take place within the spaces designated on the approved
site plan. The storage of other types of vehicles or
equipment, including work trailers and trucks, is strictly
prohibited;
10. That there shall be no outdoor storage of disabled or
inoperative equipment and vehicles, scrap material, debris
or other similar items;
11. There shall be no storage of flammable, explosive,
radioactive, hazardous, toxic, or volatile substances within
the self-storage buildings or upon the premises, except that
a propane refill station may be permitted as part of the
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27552
concierge island as approved by the Livonia Fire Marshal
and Inspection Department;
12. No overnight occupancy is permitted anywhere on the site,
including the interior storage units or the RV's;
13. That the hours of operation for both the outdoor storage yard
and indoor climate-controlled self-storage facility shall be
limited to 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.;
14. The entire building and property shall have a camera
security system in place and key code access;
15. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feet (20') in
height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize
stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into
adjacent roadways;
16. That there shall be no outside dumpster located on the site,
and all trash must be contained within the building except on
the day trash is scheduled for removal;
17. That the petitioner shall complete a structural analysis of the
protective wall between the subject property and the
residential properties to the north to determine the
soundness of the wall. Where needed, the wall shall be
repaired or replaced to the satisfaction of the Inspection
Department;
18. That only conforming signage is approved with this petition,
and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for
review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals;
19. Window signs shall only be permitted on the ground floor of
the building in accordance with Section 18.50D;
20. That no LED lightband or exposed neon shall be permitted
on this site including, but not limited to, the building or
around the windows;
21. That unless approved by the proper local authority, any type
of exterior advertising, such as promotional flags, streamers
or sponsor vehicles designed to attract the attention of
passing motorists, shall be prohibited;
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22. 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
23. 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. Ventura, Acting Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing
resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving
resolution.
ITEM #2 PETITION 2016-03-08-03 KROGER
Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016-03-
08-03 submitted by The Project Collaborative, on behalf of The
Kroger Company of Michigan, requesting approval of all plans
required by Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance
#543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to demolish the
existing gas station and construct a new fueling facility at 31338
Five Mile Road, located on the northeast corner of Five Mile Road
and Merriman Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 14.
Mr. Taormina: This is a request to demolish the existing gas station at the
northeast corner of Five Mile and Merriman and construct a new
Kroger fueling facility. The property measures roughly 125 feet
along Five Mile Road by 125 feet along Merriman Road. The
zoning of the property is C-2, General Business. Immediately
adjacent to this property to the north and the east is the Merri-
Five shopping center, including Tim Hortons restaurant which is
adjacent to this site to the east. West across Merriman Road is a
retail center zoned C-2, a church zoned R-U-F, and south across
Five Mile Road are commercial properties including a gas station,
all zoned C-2. The existing gas station on the property measures
about 1,391 square feet. It's located roughly 69 feet from the
property line adjacent to Five Mile and 53 feet from Merriman
Road. The existing gas pumps are covered by an overhead
canopy that is located between the building and Five Mile Road.
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27554
The rendered site plan shows what the property would look like
upon completion of the proposed improvements. The new Kroger
fueling facility would support the existing grocery store that is
located across Five Mile Road, and both the building as well as
the overhead canopy would be removed and replaced with new
structures. The new facility would have six pumps with the
capacity to accommodate a total of 12 vehicles. The facility would
be open to the general public; however, regular Kroger customers
earn points and have the ability to purchase gas at any of the
Kroger fueling centers at a discounted price. Instead of a typical
convenience store, Kroger provides a much smaller "transaction
kiosk."This is a smaller building. It measures roughly 265 square
feet, so it's only 30 feet in length by 9 feet in depth. It contains
three rooms: the sales area, a storage and mechanical room, as
well as a restroom that would have outside access only.
Customers can buy a limited selection of merchandise through
the window or there are some display racks outside the building,
but those would be limited to oil or oil based products such as
additives or windshield solvent. Our ordinance prohibits any
exterior merchandise sales other than these limited products. The
building would be constructed out of brick and its overall height
would be 11 feet, plus there would be about a two or three foot
screen mounted on top of that to conceal the rooftop HVAC.
Required setback for gas stations is 60 feet from any property line
or right-of-way. This proposed kiosk would be about 110 feet from
Five Mile, but only 32 feet from Merriman and therefore would
require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The
property abuts commercial along its north and east property lines.
The Zoning Ordinance does not require any building setbacks
from these lot lines provided that the building has the proper fire
rating. The fuel canopy would measure roughly 53 feet by 102
feet. It would be 18 feet in height and would have setbacks of 34
feet from Five Mile Road and 12 feet from Merriman Road. The
minimum requirement is 10 feet, so the proposed structure would
be in full compliance with the ordinance. It would have brick
based metal piers that would support the structure. There is no
off-street parking shown on site. Normally, parking is computed
based on a ratio of one space for every 150 square feet of net
retail space. The petitioner has previously stated Kroger intends
to secure a parking agreement with the adjacent Merri-Five
shopping complex. Maybe he has new information regarding
those efforts this evening. However, it is staff's opinion that at
least one, maybe two, parking spaces should be provided
adjacent to the kiosk including at least one barrier-free space for
patrons or employees. There is a trash dumpster enclosure
located in the northeast corner of the site. The gates face north
towards the shopping complex so this would rely on a cross
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27555
access agreement with Merri-Five plaza. The site would have two
driveways from the main roads, one on Five Mile and one on
Merriman Road. The existing driveway on Merriman closest to
Five Mile would be eliminated and replaced with landscaping.
There would be a secondary access via the connecting driveway
to the north with the shopping center. In terms of landscaping, the
areas of greenspace constitute roughly 10 percent of the total site
area. It is below our 15 percent rule, but it is more than what
currently exists. Only about 6 percent of the site presently
contains landscaping. The plan indicates all landscaped areas
would be irrigated with automatic underground systems. In terms
of signage, gas stations are permitted one ground sign, a
maximum of 40 square feet. That sign must be no greater than
12 feet in height and set back at least 5 feet from the rights-of-
way. The ordinance also allows a total of 100 square feet of
signage that can either be installed on the canopy itself or the wall
of the building. In terms of wall signage, the plan shows on 4 sides
of the canopy, each of those signs would be about 15 square feet
for a total of 60 square feet and another building sign at 7 square
feet. So overall, the wall sign area would include a total of about
67 square feet. That is below the 100 square foot threshold. In
terms of a monument sign, they're showing a 30 square foot sign
that would be six feet in height and would be setback 5 feet from
the right-of-way. The rendering, which is new data, shows what
the building would like upon completion. The kiosk structure show
a couple details depicting the brick and the screening on top
which would be two or three feet above the top of the small
building. The plan shows the Kroger logo plus the main
identification sign for Kroger, the brick base on the columns
supporting the canopy, the flush mounted lights that are beneath
the canopy, another requirement that we have in the code.
Shrubbery would be provided along the frontage as well as some
trees would be planted in the right-of-way. While those may not
be depicted in the landscape plan, that is something that we
would have done. Here is some of the other detailed drawings
provided by the architect. The floor plans show the layout of the
building itself, and the point of sales area would be on the right
hand side. There's a center room for mechanical storage and
then the restroom on the left hand side of this drawing. With that,
Mr. Chairman, I'll be happy to read out the correspondence.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Taormina: There are three items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated April 8, 2016, which reads as
follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering
Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. The legal
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27556
description provided with the petition appears to be correct and is
acceptable to this office. The existing parcel is assigned an
address of #31338 Five Mile Road, which should be used in
conjunction with this petition. We have no objections to the
proposed project, although the following items will need to be
addressed during the Engineering and Building permitting
process. (1) The existing building is currently serviced by sanitary
sewer and water main. The existing sanitary sewer lead ill need
to be televised to ensure that it is still functioning properly prior to
any new connections as shown on the drawings. (2) The site is
currently serviced by an existing storm sewer system that
connects to a Wayne County-owned system at the southeast
corner of the lot. Storm water detention will be required per the
Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance for the site, and a permit
will need to be obtained from the County for the storm sewer
work, as well as for modifications to the approaches within the
Five Mile Road and Merriman road right-of-ways." The letter is
signed by David Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second
letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated March 24,
2016, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the petition for this
proposal to demolish and reconstruct a gas station on the
property at the above referenced address and have noted the
following: Project must conform to NFPA 1, Chapter 42, New
Mercantile Occupancies and NFPA 30A, Chapters 42.2 thru 42.8
Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities. These and other code
requirements will be addressed during the construction plan
review process. We advise that no use of this facility be
conducted prior to inspections and approval of any/all codes
relating to New Mercantile Use. Providing that all details in
regards to this are followed and inspected prior to tenant use, this
department has no objections to this petition. The letter is signed
by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division
of Police, dated April 1, 2016, which reads as follows: "I have
reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no
objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Brian Leigh,
Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. That is the extent of the
correspondence.
Mr. Ventura: Will the petitioner please come to the podium and state your
name and address please.
Matthew Pisko, The Project Collaborative, 37704 Hills Tech Drive, Farmington
Hills, Michigan 48331. Good evening. I'm representing The
Kroger Company of Michigan. I wish I could take Mr. Taormina to
every presentation because he pretty much covered everything
about the site and the redevelopment. If I can highlight a couple
of things about Kroger, the need for the site. In a macro sense,
April 19, 2016
27557
Kroger has 1,400 fuel stations nationally. So they're a bona fide
petroleum marketer. They account for about six percent of the
sales in petroleum across the United States. One of the benefits
for the city is we're redeveloping a mature site for the benefit of
our customers, which is the life blood of our business. Kroger's is
about mid pack in the Fortune 50. They are a very risk averse
publicly traded company that complies with all regulatory criterion
and is just a good operator. The design of the fuel station itself,
the underground storage tank, meets or exceeds all state and
local and federal guidelines. They're always looking for ways to
better serve their customers so the evolution of the grocery
business, they've grown in Michigan through acquisition of other
stores, Great Scott, Farmer Jack, Hillers. They're neighborhood
stores as you're well aware. The store to the east, which this
station would be the beneficiary of, has expanded several times.
It's a very good store, but we haven't been able to reward our
customers with the cross merchandising and the ability to use
their fuel points. We do have another station at Eight Mile and
Gill. I know the city is not unfamiliar with the operations. This is
essentially the same thing. We need to compete with the Meijers
of the world, BPs and Costco, although we're not a club. We can
sell to the street, which accounts for about 25 percent of our
business. A vast majority of the trips are not new trips; they're
already existing on the road and are supported after shopping
trips to the grocery store. As Mr. Taormina stated, there's quite a
reduction in the size of the building. It's 265 — 270 square feet
with the brick. It's not a traditional convenience store in any way,
shape or form. Customers can't enter that other than the public
restroom. It sells very small sundries, smokes, gum and lottery,
but customers don't enter. Everything is done through a
transaction drawer. We have 12 parking spaces at the dispensers
where most of the transactions take place with a credit card. The
Shell station across the street can offer up to 10 cents discount.
The Kroger station that we're proposing will allow the full
contingent, which is up to $1.00 off a gallon if they're $1,000 in
grocery, which I never thought until you have kids that it could
even be possible. But by buying gifts cars and things of that
nature, you can really take full advantage of the cross
merchandising and the discounts that are due our customers. It
adds six to eight new full time jobs, rewards our customers. On
the design, Mr. Taormina has the perspective rendering. If you'll
notice, it's got brick bases to give weight to the design and then
we have dark bases and capitals. We don't want to hide the
shopping center behind us. So quite honestly, transparency is
the word of the day as far as the design goes. We have earth
tones on the canopy upper and lower, a lighter and darker
monastery brown, which are repeated on the kiosk, are
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27558
complementary to our neighbor to the east, the coffee shop, and
to the shopping center behind us. We have brick on the kiosk. I
love our renderer, Mike Vanderbeck. If you look on the kiosk, the
doors are gray. They would be painted something more akin to
the color of the kiosk so they don't stand out so strongly.
Regarding signage, Mr. Taormina stated we're under on the
amount of the signage typically for a petroleum marketer. We
bang our head against a wall to get as much signage as we can,
but we're really not concerned about that. We know that our
customers will know that we're there. The new design has six
dispensers, which is two more than the existing fuel station, but
we look at it like the grocery business. If we have more cash
registers in the grocery store, we can put people through the
shopping experience more efficiently where they're not queued
up. It's the same thing with the dispensers. Per your ordinance,
we will have free air. It's on the east side of the site just south of
the trash enclosure. Big issue I know in today's environment and
Kroger is very sensitive from a design standpoint, this site will be
dark sky compliant, recessed lights, the yard lights are all LED
highly energy efficiency and will comply with dark sky issues.
Parking, we have 12 parking spaces at the dispensers. There's a
landscape area adjacent to the store, which right now, there's
open access there on the existing site. We wanted to close that
down to kind of get traffic to come through this way. That's a
potential place if we eliminate that landscape area to get an
accessible spot there. As far as the employees, we can have the
two parking spaces that would be compliant for there for the
employee, which would be a singular employee during a normal
shift. The three letters of correspondence, Fire, Engineering and
complying with Wayne County's drainage ordinance and the
streets, we're glad to comply with that. Also, benefits, removing
the approach that's on Merriman and moving it further to the north
to get that separation again from the intersection. As far as hours
of operation, this is interesting. The fuel station can't run on its
own. If you can imagine, this is essentially another category from
the grocery store. It's like the deli or the flower or the pharmacy
where transactions are actually tallied in the store. So this can't
run without the grocery store being open. The store's hours right
now are from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. This would open shortly after
the store and would close shortly before the main store closes. It
would go dark at that point in time. We'd only leave enough lights
on for security. As my wife and daughter will attest, I will prattle
on all night long about Kroger and how good they are to work
with. The Chair, the rest of the Commission, we appreciate your
attentiveness and the opportunity to present. If you have any
questions, I'll be glad to answer them.
April 19, 2016
27559
Mr. Ventura: Are there any questions from the Commissioners?
Mr. Long: Could you please repeat again, I believe you said a number of
jobs would be added with this. What was the number that you
had?
Mr. Pisko: Six to eight full time equivalent jobs. The folks that work here are
highly trained, but they are Kroger store employees. So they'll
cross train between the grocery store and the fuel, and at some
point in time they'll become dedicated to the fuel.
Mr. Long: Thank you.
Ms. Smiley I have a question. You said you were thinking about taking that
landscaping down and putting a parking spot in by the kiosk.
Mr. Pisko: It's a point of consideration. We can put a parking space off to the
right. We can fit the parking spaces on the site and they would be
as close in proximity as they would be from a grocery store to the
front door. That's an ability. But we know that the landscaping and
getting the island and trying to get that ratio higher was a strong
consideration. That can be your call as far as waiting those
issues. We can find an accessible spot on the site and we can
park out employees to the north.
Ms. Smiley As one commissioner, I would prefer the landscaping. We've
gone from six to 10, which is almost double, for that corner. I
would much rather see landscaping there than a parking spot.
Mr. Pisko: And we're glad to do that. We can actually probably hit or exceed
in area if we have permission to plant in the right-of-way on both
Five Mile and Merriman. We'll gladly do that and we'll pick a
species of tree that won't encumber . . . power lines are only on
one of the faces. So we'll gladly plant trees in the right-of-way,
canopy trees, to provide that additional buffer in addition to the
10 percent we've actually got on site. As a bizarre side note, we
matched the plants with our eastern neighbors, Tim Hortons, so
there will be some planting consistency as you move through the
corner so it looks like the development will somewhat tie together.
Ms. Smiley: I want to thank you for that. Our Director of Planning, would you
prefer the landscaping?
Mr. Taormina: I would not like to see landscaping removed for a parking space.
It was my belief that we could find a spot somewhere on the
paved portion of the site to provide at least one barrier free space.
We'll work with the Inspection Department to see if that's possible
April 19, 2016
27560
and not at the expense of any of the greenspace that he is
showing on the site. And his suggestion about the planting within
the right-of-way, we'll also work with the Department of Public
Works and Wayne County to find out where those trees can be
planted because I think that's a great idea. We did provide that at
Tim Hortons, and it would be nice to provide additional trees on
this site. In fact, he shows it on these renderings.
Ms. Smiley: Great. Thank you.
Mr. Ventura: Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak to this
petition? Seeing none, is there a motion?
On a motion by Long, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was
#04-32-2016 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby
recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-03-08-03
submitted by The Project Collaborative, on behalf of The Kroger
Company of Michigan, requesting approval of all plans required
by Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543,
as amended, in connection with a proposal to demolish the
existing gas station and construct a new fueling facility at 31338
Five Mile Road, located on the northeast corner of Five Mile Road
and Merriman Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 14, be
approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet C1.20, prepared by The
Project Collaborative, dated March 18, 2016, as revised, is
hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
2. That a cross access and parking agreement that outlines the
terms of how the subject property will share parking and
access with the abutting property be supplied to the
Inspection Department at the time a building permit is
applied for;
3. That any on-site parking for use by employees of the gas
station be properly sized and marked, including a barrier-
free space as may be required by the State of Michigan;
4. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted
a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for deficient
building setback and any conditions related thereto;
5. For safety purposes, a "No Left Turn" sign shall be installed
near the site's driveway off Five Mile Road prohibiting trucks
and vehicles from turning east;
April 19, 2016
27561
6. That the Landscape Plan, Details, and Schedule marked
Sheet L1.20, prepared by The Project Collaborative, dated
March 18, 2016, as revised, is hereby approved and shall
be adhered to;
7. That all disturbed lawn areas including road right-of-way
shall be sodded in lieu of hydro-seeding;
8. 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;
9. That the Elevation Plan marked Sheet A2.01, prepared by
The Project Collaborative, dated March 18, 2016, as
revised, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
10. That the three walls of the trash dumpster area shall be
constructed out of the same brick used in the construction
of the building, or in the event a poured wall is substituted,
the wall's design, texture and color shall match that of the
building. The enclosure gates shall be of solid panel steel
construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel fiberglass.
The trash dumpster area shall be maintained at all times,
and the enclosure gates shall be closed at all times except
when in use;
11. That all rooftop mechanical equipment shall be concealed
from public view on all sides by screening that shall be of a
compatible character, material and color to other exterior
materials on the building;
12. 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;
13. 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 and soil erosion
and sedimentation control permits from either the City of
Livonia or Wayne County;
14. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feet (20') in
height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize
April 19, 2016
27562
stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into
adjacent roadway;
15. 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;
16. That free air shall be provided at all times this station is open
for business. The free air shall be dispensed at the point of
service without having to enter the station or the
performance of any extra action in order to obtain the air
without charge;
17. That there shall be no vehicle vacuum equipment or the
outdoor placement of propane cylinder storage units on the
site;
18. That the sale of ice shall be restricted to the inside of the
building;
19. That only conforming signage is approved with this petition
in accordance with Sheet AG2.01, dated March 18, 2016,
and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for
review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals;
20. That no part of the pump island canopy fascia, with the
exception of signage, shall be illuminated;
21. 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;
22. 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,
23. 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.
Mr. Ventura: Is there any discussion?
April 19, 2016
27563
Mr. Taylor: Through the Chair to the petitioner, we mentioned about the ice.
What size ice do you have and do you take it out to the car? How
do you work that?
Mr. Pisko: Was it is the question regarding ice? At this juncture, they won't
be selling ice. The only way we would sell ice would be an outside
merchandiser.
Mr. Taylor: That's what I wondered about. Thank you.
Mr. Ventura, Acting Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing
resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving
resolution.
ITEM #3 PETITION 2014-02-08-02 VICTOR EAST
Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Request for a
One-Year Extension of Petition 2014-02-08-02 which previously
received approval by the City Council on April 21, 2014 (Council
Resolution #104-14), to construct a one-story office-research
building (Victor East) on property at 37640 Seven Mile Road,
located on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Newburgh
Road and Victor Parkway in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 6.
Mr. Taormina: This is the second request to extend the site plan for the
development of property that is located at the northeast corner of
Seven Mile and Victor Parkway. This petition dates back to 2014
when it was originally approved by the City Council under Council
Resolution #104-14. It involves the development of 6.4 acres of
vacant property. This has quite a long history in terms of its
development. It was originally approved as an Oakwood Health
Systems outpatient facility pursuant to a Consent Agreement
between the City and the developer. It then was modified to
include an office building that was never developed. Then there
was a third amendment to the Consent Judgment allowing for the
development of the site as a one story building about 54,000
square feet in size for general office, engineering, research and
development and design as well as laboratory testing and
storage. It's really a high tech or flex building that was desired to
be built on this property. It's still being marketed as such. There
was a lengthy review of the site plan a couple of years ago. It's
kind of U-shaped building. Again, one story in height, about
54,000 square feet. It had all the required parking, storm water
management access, landscaping, and retention of the drainage
creek that runs along the north side of the property. It is still hoped
that the site will be developed in this manner. The petitioner was
April 19, 2016
27564
unable to be here tonight but he was, as you recall, at our study
meeting to give us a little more information about the site and
what their intentions are. With that, I'll answer any questions you
may have, but this would basically extend the approval period of
the site plan for another one year time frame.
Mr. Ventura: Are there any questions? And the petitioner is not here this
evening?
Mr. Taormina: He is not here.
Mr. Ventura: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming
forward, a motion would be in order.
On a motion by Long, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, it was
#04-33-2016 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby
recommend to the City Council that the request for a One-Year
Extension of Petition 2014-02-08-02 which previously received
approval by the City Council on April 21, 2014 (Council
Resolution #104-14), to construct a one-story office-research
building (Victor East) on property at 37640 Seven Mile Road,
located on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Newburgh
Road and Victor Parkway in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 6, be
approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the request for an extension of waiver use approval by
Etkin Management, L.L.C, in a letter dated March 17, 2016,
is hereby approved for a one-year period; and
2. That all conditions imposed by Council Resolution #104-14
in connection with Petition 2014-02-08-02, which permitted
the construction of a one-story office-research building, shall
remain in effect to the extent that they are not in conflict with
the foregoing condition.
Mr. Ventura, Acting Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing
resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving
resolution.
I `
April 19, 2016
27565
ITEM #4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,085th Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the
Minutes of the 1,085th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held
on April 5, 2016.
On a motion by Smiley, seconded by McCue, and unanimously adopted, it was
#04-34-2016 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,085th Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on April 5,
2016, are hereby approved.
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Long, McCue, Smiley, Ventura
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Wilshaw
ABSTAIN: Taylor
Mr. Ventura, Acting Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing
resolution adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,086th Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on April 5, 2016, was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
CITY PLANNING CO4, ISSION
,ALL,
Carol A. Smiley, `ecretary
ATTEST: ILX$1b
Peter Ventura, cting Chairman