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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2016-08-30 MINUTES OF THE 1,093rd REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, August 30, 2016, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,093rd Regular Meeting in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: Sam Caramagno Glen Long Betsy McCue Kevin Priddy Carol Smiley Peter Ventura Ian Wilshaw Members absent: None Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, was also present. Chairman Wilshaw 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. I also want to note that Kevin Priddy has joined the Planning Commission and we welcome you and look forward to working with you. ITEM #1 PETITION 2016-07-08-08 FIRE STATION #6 Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2016- 07-08-08 submitted by Partners in Architecture 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 construct an addition to the maintenance garage of Livonia Fire Station #6 at 37876 Plymouth Road, located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Newburgh Road and Chase Boulevard in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 30. August 30, 2016 27802 Mr. Taormina: This is a request to construct an addition to Fire Station #6 which is on the north side of Plymouth Road between Newburgh Road and Chase Boulevard. The property is about 1.23 acres. The zoning is PL, Public Lands. There is an existing facility on the site that includes the fire station that serves the southwest part of the city, along with the Fire Department's apparatus garage, which is where all fleet vehicle maintenance is performed. The building today is about 8,000 square feet. That includes the station which is roughly 5,600 square feet and is located in the front half of the building. The apparatus garage, which occupies the back part of structure, is approximately 2,400 square feet in size. The existing garage contains two overhead doors on the east side which allows vehicles to enter and exit within the service bays. The proposed addition off the back of the building would roughly measure 3,000 square feet and would be located on the portion of the site that currently contains an asphalt parking lot. This addition would expand the maintenance portion of the building to about 5,400 square feet and bring the overall building to just overt 11,000 square feet. The purpose is to improve and enlarge the maintenance operations within the facility. The existing garage is about 18 feet in height. Because of the need to bring in larger rigs, the height of the new portion of the building will increase to about 28 feet. In terms of what the addition will look like, basically the lower part of the structure would contain brick from ground elevation to up about 9 feet, and the upper part of the building would be covered in a metal wall panel system. The east side would contain two large overhead doors. The floor plan shows that the addition would contain two service areas, one larger and one a little bit smaller. There would be a mezzanine area added for additional storage. With that, I'll be happy to read out the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Please. Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated August 3, 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 project at this time. The legal description submitted with the petition appear to be correct and should be used in conjunction with this petition. The existing parcel is assigned the address of 37876 Plymouth Road. The lot is currently serviced with public storm and sanitary sewer, as well as water main. The submitted drawings indicate that the existing services will be extended to service the new building addition which should not adversely affect the current systems. The proposed plans do not contain calculations for the proposed drainage system or any storm water detention, as required by the August 30, 2016 27803 City of Livonia Site Design Standards. The owner should submit drawings to this department to determine if they will need to obtain permits for the proposed utility work and soil erosion from the City of Livonia, as well as provide storm water detention per the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. It should be noted that there is a sixty (60) foot wide easement located over the existing high pressure gas main located on the east side of the building. (see attached easement) Per the recorded easement, limitations for construction over and around the gas main are described which may impact the proposed construction. Engineering drawings should be submitted to Consumers Energy prior to any construction for their approval of the means and methods of constructing the proposed addition. Should the owner need to enter the Plymouth Road right-of-way to revise utility service leads or alter driveway approaches, they will need to obtain permits from the Wayne County Department of Public Services." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated July 27, 2016, which reads as follows: 'This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct an addition to the maintenance garage of Livonia Fire Station #6 on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated August 5, 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. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated August 25, 2016, 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. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for the Planning staff? Seeing none, Chief Whitehead is here. Would you like to address the petition and add anything from what we've heard so far? Chief Whitehead: Mr. Chair, Planning Commission, how are you? I just want to make sure if there was anything not stated earlier or some questions that you had, if there's any clarification or anything that is needed, I'm here to answer those. I think that most of the questions in the study session that were asked were really good questions, and I think that, hopefully, you've received the answers that helped clarify those. If there is anything else, feel free to inquire. August 30, 2016 27804 Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Chief. You may hear some of the same questions again just to get things on record because it was an informal meeting. Chief Whitehead: Absolutely. Mr. Wilshaw: Does anyone have any questions for the Chief? Mr. Caramagno: Did you hear anything from any of the neighbors? Any issues? I know there were all pretty quiet on this. Chief Whitehead: We've been in communication with those that are contiguous to us. We've certainly been in communication with them over the past several weeks. There's been other preparation being done. We've moved generators, like we talked about previously, to the west side. We've certainly been in contact with the neighbor on the west side and spoke with him frequently about the suppression of that. We just added onto this last week and reduced the decibel levels because we've added some additional suppression to the generator on that side and we're trying to create a better visual effect, put some fencing around the generator and clean that up as well since it faces his residence now. So there's some things we're working through with him, but to this point, we haven't had any complaints or really any inquiries. We do plan to hold an open house once we get the renderings and approvals. We're going to hold a little open house just at the fire station and we'll be putting out some flyers to the community right there locally if they want to stop by, ask any questions, get a chance to see the renderings and what we intend to put up in terms of the size and scope of the project itself. I think most of them would welcome it. I don't think it's really going to impact them based on the position of it and hopefully, at the same time, I know that we're working with the Housing Commission to raze the tower that's not being used any more in the back. That's probably the biggest question that they're going to have and we get a chance to talk with the neighbors. So hopefully we can satisfy that request as well soon. Ms. Smiley: First of all, thank you and the Fire Department for your great service. I wanted to have you talk a little bit more about razing the tower in the back. Chief Whitehead: That was the old training tower. The training tower, as well as the garage addition, was constructed originally and put on paper in 1969. Once the construction was completed, the tower was used for about 40 years until it got to the point where the tower was no longer useful. Degradation over time, the concrete and the amount of funding that it would take to bring that back up to August 30, 2016 27805 code for us. Plus the structure wasn't enclosed, so we could do very little with the structure other than laddering and some different evolutions with it, but we worked with Schoolcraft College and developed a new training center jointly which is now on Glendale across from the police range. So we have a joint operation over there in terms of training and the resources and it is state of the art. So we have a new four story drill tower there. We have two live fire burn chambers that we use continuously throughout the year. And we've got a really nice piece of property to work with. We've got tremendous water supply there. We've moved all of our training operations to the Glendale site and have discontinued operations as of about seven years ago on this particular structure. So basically now, the structure is sitting vacant just waiting to be razed. I've had communication back and forth with the Housing Commission, and Jim Inglis has been really good about including us into their overall plan once construction starts there. The company that's involved with the construction with the expansion of Newburgh Village would be the ones that will also help us with razing the top four stories of that tower, which they just basically cut off and then take the top three stories off and then we would go ahead and put a pitched roof and really dress the lower part of the structure up. The lower part of the structure will remain. Below that is a cistern that we use to do pump testing, so it's a draft pit. It's a cistern that's filled with about 2,250 gallons of water and that is used for pump testing where we create a draft on the truck, we're able to pull a vacuum and we test all the trucks once a year. They go through pump testing. So we still need that facility to do that and the neighbors understand that the only times they're going to hear trucks really ramping up out there is typically in what we call a pump test period, which is typically in the fall. And we do it during the daytime hours. We don't do it too early in the day. We don't do it too late. Therefore, we don't really impact the neighbors that much. We haven't had any complaints because they know it's just once a year that we do the pump operations. So that's the concept and the idea about trying to clean that up. We're hopeful that you'll see plans before you possibly by the end of the year, maybe the first part of next year for the expansion of Newburgh Village. Hopefully that will be short coming in terms of being able to raze the tower. Ms. Smiley: In addition to the tower, the old fire station is outdated and you're going to do some maintenance there? Chief Whitehead: The existing structure that was built when the original station was built kind of has outlived its life expectancy in terms of its operational effectiveness for us. The capacity that we have in that structure really limits us to the types of vehicles we can work on; August 30, 2016 27806 namely our aerial trucks. We have two large aerial trucks. The trucks that were built in the '60's don't resemble anything like the trucks we use today. In order to be able to work inside on the vehicles and be able to put them up on a lift and get them up off the floor, we had to create a structure that was longer and higher. So that extra 10 feet in height is really going to allow us to actually lift the vehicle off the ground, an entire aerial truck, and then be able to work underneath it, whether it's suspension, chassis, pump packings, whatever it may be. It makes it much more efficient and effective to be able to do it inside. Currently, they have to work on the aerials outside. Obviously when it's cold weather or rain, it can be very cumbersome at best. We've had this in strategic planning for about six years, but the city wasn't in a position to be able to fund something like this. We've had to wait awhile. So we're hoping and we're fortunate with the fiscal return and things are turning around that we're able to make some improvements to this facility that will allow us to work on the entire fleet and improve our effectiveness in terms of support to the fleet and the firefighters. Ms. McCue: Could you just reiterate, is this the only facility like this in Livonia? Chief Whitehead: Correct. It would be the only facility of its type in Livonia. We have our own maintenance staff. We're very fortunate that we have our own fire mechanics. We have mechanics that are trained specifically for fire apparatus and for ambulances. It's a different type of certification so our mechanics focus on just our fleet. We have currently in the fleet about 22 vehicles as well as fleet cars, a couple pickup trucks and then about four to six trailers that they service as well. That shop does all of those repairs, all small engine repairs. They do all the compression repairs. They do hydraulic repairs to all of our rescue equipment, jaws of life. So for us they're really gold in terms of their position and what they do. We're very fortunate. It's become very specialized because the apparatus has become so sophisticated electronically and what runs the apparatus, the pumps. So it's a lot different than what most mechanics are familiar with. The facility is the only facility of its type really in the area. We're very fortunate. Many fire departments have to third party or out- resource their maintenance and they are different shops in the area, Wixom, there's a few others, but certainly not efficient in terms of the wait times for repairs and the turnaround. So we're very, very fortunate that we have staff to be able to take care of and make sure that all the apparatus is operational at all times. They do a fantastic job for us. This really takes us from a position from where we've been able to tread water, but we haven't been able to fully work on all the apparatus. This now gives us the space to be able to do that with our newer additions to the fleet August 30, 2016 27807 which is a 100 foot aerial tower that runs out of Station #3 as well as our 75 foot aerial that runs out of Station#1. It's in the business plan as well. We talked about this a little bit earlier is that there's a great possibility, and my hope is over time this surplus space, if you will, because it does free up some space in the first two bays which are much smaller, the older bays that exist now currently. It allows some capacity to potentially work with our partners, other fire departments that are contiguous to us, and maybe take on a little bit of maintenance for them, potentially, some preventative maintenance, whether it be oil changes, brakes, some of the basic things. We've been asked several times if we would be open to that in contracting and doing some work for the fire departments because our guys specialize and that's what auto mechanics do and they're very good. So we have a pretty good reputation out there and so, hopefully, maybe over time that would be something that we can build into the business plan, is to take on a little bit of extra work and really be a good partner to our other fire departments in the area. Ms. McCue: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Chief Whitehead. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing none, a motion would be in order. On a motion by McCue, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-85-2016 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-07-08-08 submitted by Partners in Architecture 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 construct an addition to the maintenance garage of Livonia Fire Station #6 at 37876 Plymouth Road, located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Newburgh Road and Chase Boulevard in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 30, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Engineering Plan marked C-2, dated August 16, 2016, as revised, prepared by Partners in Architecture, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Exterior Elevations and Building Sections Plan marked A5-01, dated August 16, 2016, as revised, prepared by Partners in Architecture, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; August 30, 2016 27808 3. 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; 4. That the issues outlined in the correspondence dated August 3, 2016, from the Assistant City Engineer, including the impact that the addition might have on the adjacent existing gas main easement, shall be resolved to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department and/or Engineering Department; 5. 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, 6. 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. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Before we call the roll, I want to point out the fact that it's nice to have the Fire Chief here and I wanted to take a quick opportunity just to thank him and his department for the work that they not only do for our city and our citizens, which is very, very important from a safety perspective, but also the fact that they work closely with the Planning Commission and Council on each of these petitions that come before us. Their staff reviews each of these petitions and provides valuable comments, along with the Police Department, that are specific to both Police and Fire from a safety perspective. We always look forward and make sure that we have those letters for each of our petitions. The work that they put into reviewing these petitions is certainly significant and very much appreciated by this body and the Planning Department. So thank you very much, Chief. Mr.Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Thank you, Chief, and good look with that. August 30, 2016 27809 ITEM #2 PETITION 2016-08-08-09 MICHIGAN FUELS Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016- 08-08-09 submitted by N.C. Designers & Contracting, on behalf of Michigan Fuels, 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 renovate the existing Mobil gas station, including demolition of the existing building and construction of a new gas station, at 33430 Schoolcraft Road, located on the northwest corner of Schoolcraft and Farmington Roads in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 21. Mr. Taormina: This is an existing gas station located on the northwest corner of Schoolcraft and Farmington Roads. The property is rectangular in shape. It's about 207 feet in length along Schoolcraft Road by roughly 100 feet on Farmington Road. The zoning of the property is C-2, General Business. Located immediately to the north of the subject property is the Looney Baker. Further to the north as well as to the west is an office/industrial complex known as MetroPlex Office Park which is zoned RE, Research Engineering. There are additional commercial properties both to the east across Farmington Road and to the south across Schoolcraft Road and the 1-96 Expressway. The existing gas station building is only about 400 square feet in size. It is located near the middle of the site approximately 60 feet from Schoolcraft Road and 100 feet from Farmington Road. The existing gas pumps and the overhead canopy extend along Schoolcraft frontage directly in front of this building. One of the access points to the site is off Farmington Road and two are off Schoolcraft Road. The underground storage tanks are located in the northeast corner of the property. There is also a utility area in the northwest corner of the property that includes a small storage shed as well as the existing trash enclosures. The proposed plan would involve removing the existing gas station building and constructing a new convenience store along with reconfiguring the other site elements, including the parking, lighting, etc. The new convenience store would be about 3,080 square feet in size. This is a building that is substantially larger than the current 400 square feet building. The building would be located along the property's rear or north lot line, approximately 63 feet from Farmington Road and 75 feet from Schoolcraft. The ordinance requires a minimum setback of 60 feet from any road right-of-way, so the building as shown on the site plan is compliant with the setback requirements. It also contains a zero setback on the north side of the property, which is allowed between adjacent commercial districts subject to compliance with certain construction standards and fire codes for such buildings. The new August 30, 2016 27810 building would contain a retail area, a cashier counter, offices as well as a restroom. The floor plan illustrates the arrangement of the various rooms within the building. The majority of the space within the building would be dedicated to the display area as part of the convenience store operations. The rendering shows that the building would be constructed mainly out of brick. The southeast corner of the building would be finished in what was originally identified as a hardy plank material, which is a composite material common in today's construction. We'll hear from the architect this evening because it may have involved a change to a different sort of material. The overall building height would be 14 feet at the low point and 20 feet in height at the highest point, which is in compliance with the ordinance. Buildings within this district are permitted to go up to a height of 35 feet so we're well below that threshold. There would be some reconfiguration of the gasoline pumps. I'll refer to the landscape plan which shows the location of the pumps. The revised plan shows 10 pump islands with the capacity to service up to 20 vehicles at one time. The canopy itself measures about 25 feet by 143 in length. Really there is no change, as I understand it, to the canopy. All the work is going to involve the building and other site elements. The actual canopy will remain. Where the building was previously located two additional pumps will be installed. The overall height of the canopy is limited to 18 feet. The canopy is also required to be no less than 10 feet from any property line. In this case, the canopy far exceeds that requirement. In terms of parking, the ordinance requires commercial buildings to have parking at a ratio of one space for every 150 square feet of useable floor area. This station would require 16 spaces and the site plan shows 11 spaces, some of which are 9 feet in width. At the study session, we had asked the petitioner to show those spaces compliant with our 10 foot width requirement. So that is a change that is not reflected on the plans you're looking at currently. There are no changes proposed to the site driveways. The area of landscaping constitutes about 20 percent of the total site which does exceed our requirement of 15 percent. We don't have any details on signage at this time, but the site would be allowed one ground sign, 40 square feet in area, 12 in height, as well as 100 square feet of total wall signage that could be placed either on the building or the canopy structure. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated August 8, 2016, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above-referenced petition. We have no August 30, 2016 27811 objections to the proposed project at this time. The legal description submitted with the petition and the legal description shown on the submitted plans do not match. The description submitted with the petition indicates that property includes the 24.72 foot wide vacated alley on the west end of the site, while the description on the plan set does not. The owner should verify whether or not the property includes the vacated alley and adjust the legal description as necessary. For purposes of this petition, we would recommend using the description included with the petition paperwork. The existing parcel is assigned the address of 33430 Schoolcraft Road. The lot is currently serviced with public storm and sanitary sewer, as well as water main. The submitted drawings do not indicate proposed locations, or relocations of the exiting service leads, so we are unable to determine any effects to the existing systems at this time. The proposed plans do not contain calculations for the proposed drainage system or any storm water detention, as required by the City of Livonia Site Design Standards. The owner should submit drawings to this department to obtain permits for the proposed utility work and soil erosion from the City of Livonia, as well as provide storm water detention per the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. Should the owner need to enter the Farmington Road right-of-way to revise utility service leads or alter driveway approaches, they will need to obtain permits from the Wayne County Department of Public Services." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 22, 2016, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to demolish the existing gas station and construct a new fueling facility on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal with the following stipulation: We recommend removal of one (1) exit/entrance on Schoolcraft Road due to corner and traffic flow. This has been asked for and approved in the past for at least two other facilities." The letter is signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated August 23, 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. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated August 25, 2016, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above-referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted: (1) Two restrooms are required to be accessible to the public. One female and one male restroom. (2) The barrier free parking space shall be van accessible. (3) The Commission and/or Council may wish to address free air at this site and add the following statement: That free air shall be August 30, 2016 27812 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. (4) Signage has not been reviewed at this time. 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. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for the Planning Department? Seeing none, the petitioner is here. We will need your name and address for the record please. Is there anything you would like to add? Nasser Choucair, NC Designers and Contracting, 3241 S. Telegraph, Dearborn, Michigan 48124. I'd like to show you the material that we're changing. Instead of the composite, we're using a sandstone material. I have a picture. This material is not concrete; it is sand. It's compressed at a certain pressure and it's steamed in a kiln at a certain temperature so it would be as you see it. It's the same thickness as brick. It lasts. The whole idea of this material is that it comes in a 2.5 inch thickness. It comes at 12 inch, 8 inch and 6 inch. So when we put the pattern on the building, it would look like a really nice component with different coloring, gray, white and beige. The second thing I'd like to mention is about the approach. I think we are comfortable to leave the approach as is but we can comply with the Police Department. I think they are requiring that the owner close it if it's possible. We can make a one-way entry. I mean no entrance, only exit from there, but no entry from there, and we can put do not enter signs, but it's always better to keep that corner for traffic flow inside the gas station. Did they say anything about the floor plan and the restrooms? Mr. Taormina: I think he has a question regarding the Inspection Department which calls for both a mens and womens restroom. Mr. Choucair: One inside the cashier area for safety for the cashier and one outside, but the floor plan always can be changed in terms of meeting the requirement for building and safety for free barrier per code. This can be changed if the building and safety really needs us to do the two bathrooms outside. Then we have no choice. We have to put them outside. So that's not a problem to do so. The air, like normally, we give it for free. That's all I want to talk about, the material and the approach. Mr. Wilshaw: I see that you have a sample of the materials as well. Mr. Choucair: That's the brick that we're using on the building. August 30, 2016 27813 Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for Nasser? Ms. Smiley: About the restrooms. That one is outside? I see two WC's, that's water closets right? Mr. Choucair: Yes. Ms. Smiley: One is outside. I see the one by the cashier. This other one is an outside bathroom? Mr. Choucair: Yes. The outside bathroom is for the customers. The inside one is for the employee at night because they have the door locked and bullet proof so they can use their own bathroom. But if the City is requiring us to move it outside with the other one, we can go ahead and do that. Mr. Taormina: I'd just like to clarify that he is talking about outside of the restricted area. It would still be within the building. He's not talking about outside access to the restrooms. We're talking about having two separate restrooms, one male, one female, inside the building as opposed to one unisex restroom. Mr. Choucair: Michigan code won't allow us, not the city. We're not allowed to put bathrooms with doors to the outside anymore. It's prohibited. Ms. Smiley: Okay. That was my confusion. I'm not a big fan of gas station bathrooms anyway but I thought I wouldn't want it outside. There was a question about the vacated alley. What's up with that? Mr. Choucair: There is a vacated alley. What we can do is provide engineering a survey on that property that would show them exactly how it's going to be. Mr. Long: The site plan that we saw earlier, the parking has not been updated on this. Is that correct? This is the original one that you presented for the study meeting? Mr. Choucair: Yes. We said that we're going to put two parallel spots along Schoolcraft. That's what we talked about in the study meeting, and if you need us to put them 10 by 20, we can go ahead, but probably we're going to lose one spot from one side, but we can put it on the other side. Mr. Long: But there will be the parallel parking in between the two approaches. Is that the plan? Mr. Choucair: Yes. August 30, 2016 27814 Mr. Long: Okay. What will be the business interruption of the site? Will the station have to close during this and for how long is it estimated that it would be closed? Mr. Choucair: You mean during the construction? Mr. Long: Will you still be selling gas during the construction? Mr. Choucair: Yes. We're going to be putting the building in the back and then we'll do the demolition, and then we'll shut down about two to three weeks. Mr. Long: Thank you. Mr. Ventura: My questions relate to parking as well. Forgive me, I was not at the study session so these questions may have been asked and answered, but are we adding parking spaces to the site? Mr. Wilshaw: The discussion at the study meeting was a couple parallel parking spaces between the two entrances on Schoolcraft. Mr. Ventura: Parallel to the Schoolcraft service drive? Mr. Wilshaw: Correct. To lessen the deficiency. Mr. Ventura: How many employees will work in this station? Mr. Choucair: Normally, in a gas station like this, two, not more than that. Mr. Ventura: So two of the spaces that are shown here will be consumed by employees? Mr. Choucair: Yes. Not all the time, only during the day probably to fill the cooler, but afterwards, they'll leave. You'll have like a couple employees will be at the gas station at all times. We can put like about four to six hours only, but then only one employee would be behind the cashier. Mr. Ventura: So how many parking spaces are going to be on the revised site based on the study session? Mr. Choucair: What we have, plus another two parallel parking spots. Mr. Ventura: So that would be 10. Mr. Choucair: Fifteen, because we now have 11, if I'm not mistaken. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina, don't we lose one if we go to 10 foot spaces? August 30, 2016 27815 Mr. Taormina: Yes. Actually, to answer Commissioner Ventura's question, there's probably no net change in the number of spaces if we go to the 10 foot spaces. He probably would gain one space. We'd probably lose one on the northeast corner. The other ones, with the adjustments, I think can be made to the other areas without losing any parking. So we would probably net increase only one space by adding those two along Schoolcraft Road. Mr. Ventura: Two of those during the day would be used by employees. Mr. Taormina: One of the issues we have with most gas station proposals is to what extent are the spaces away from the pumps needed in order to accommodate the convenience store. We know that there are those operations throughout the city, like the Speedways, that typically don't have enough parking beyond the pumps to handle the amount of traffic. Mr. Ventura: Speedway at Seven Mile and Newburgh? Mr. Taormina: Correct. Other stations seem not to need much additional parking beyond what's at the pumps. In this particular case, he is showing 11, possibly 12, spaces with the changes discussed, and while it's a deficiency, what would be needed under normal circumstances by code for strictly a convenience store of this nature, the fact that we have the other 20 spaces at the pumps will probably pick up some of that. I'm not sure we have a shortage from a practical standpoint. By code though, it will require a variance. Mr. Ventura: My experience is with the station you make reference to at Seven Mile and Newburgh, it is seriously deficient. It is a very interesting situation there to try and use that store without buying gas. Cars are parked all over the place. Mr. Choucair: We can put them between the two islands. We can fit in there three cars if we put 20 feet, 2 feet in between the two cars, then 20 feet, 2 feet. I can squeeze like three cars there if it's possible. If it's not, then we'll leave it. Mr. Ventura: Do you have a projection as to how many customers you would serve in this store? Mr. Choucair: Most of the gas station, if you don't have like, I mean, like food facility and stuff, you won't even go near 15 occupants in that facility. You don't even go near that, and most of the cities I go through, they tell me that you won't occupy over 15. Then we're okay to go with whatever parking we have. Even I don't have half August 30, 2016 27816 what we are requiring now. At one time, you won't see more than 10 people in there, or seven people. I never see many people going inside the gas station as much as they pump gas and go. Mr. Ventura: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Smiley: You mentioned that the Fire Department asked you to close one of the exits. What exit are you closing? Mr. Choucair: We're trying to keep all the exits, but I'm proposing that we'll put a "do not enter" sign on the one on Schoolcraft so no cars would enter but can exit from there. Ms. Smiley: Okay. then my second question is, this is right near 1-96. What kind of security do you have at this gas station for the employees? Mr. Choucair: Definitely, it would be during the day, no bullet proof, but during the night we would put bullet proof in there. So the window would be open during the day because nothing would happen during the day, but at night, because it's really slow, and it's near a freeway, then we have bullet proof glass. Ms. Smiley: Okay. And we have good lighting on the canopies? Mr. Choucair: Yes. LED. Ms. Smiley: When we do those parking spots, number 6 through 11, you're going to make those bigger and make them 10 feet, right? Mr. Choucair: Yes. Ms. Smiley: And then you'll eliminate one but you won't do anything to cut down the landscaping, right? Mr. Choucair: No, because what I'm thinking, where the handicap is, moving it to the other side near the room and expand these so I won't lose any of these, and I'll just take near that room some landscaping off on the west side next to the utility room. There is about five feet of buffer there, landscaping we can get. Ms. Smiley: And I apologize if you already went through this, but where is the free air going to be located? Mr. Choucair: That would be in that area. I'm not sure exactly where it is but it would be . . . August 30, 2016 27817 Mr. Taormina: If I could answer that question, Mr. Chairman. Currently, it is where it shows the utility area in the northwest corner. I'm assuming that's where it would remain. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Mr. Choucair: Did I note that in there? Mr. Wilshaw: It's not noted on the site plan. Mr. Choucair: Okay. I'm sorry. Mr. Long: One more follow-up question. The sandstone that you passed around, that's going to be replacing the limestone? Mr. Choucair: That's a composite component. It's like made out of cement, but it looks like wood. Mr. Long: But this is what it's going to be replacing right here? Mr. Choucair: Yes. Mr. Long: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: And just to make it clear, Nasser, you are describing that it will be different sizes and slightly different colors to almost give the appearance of what we've seen in the past with stacked limestone or other types of material. Mr. Choucair: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Mr. Choucair: But this material, it's a full body like brick. I don't want to use these thin one inch and two inch. Mr. Wilshaw: This is more substantial. Okay. Mr. Caramagno: Back to the parking again. Sorry. When I'm looking at the plan, I'm looking for your fill ports for your tanks. Where are they when you want to fill your underground tanks? Mr. Choucair: On all gas stations, we ask the jobber when they want to come in. They come at a certain time when there is no traffic because in any gas station, there is no spot for these tanks to park. They just park anywhere they want and they dump their fuel and go in half an hour or 20 minutes. So in our situation, he's going to be parking probably where we're putting our parallel parking on August 30, 2016 27818 Schoolcraft. But in any gas station, I can go there at any time, they just pull in and dump their gas, but not during the day during the peak time because we request as owner of gas stations that we don't want you to come during our peak time. We want you to come early, early in the morning or late, late at night. Mr. Caramagno: I certainly understand that. There are thousands of gas stations and they can't fulfill everybody's request all the time. This is not optimal for parking and filling. Let me ask you. I understand the big conflict of time. That's pretty clear to me. The handicap parking, you said you're going to leave it on the east side or you're going to move it to the west side? Mr. Choucair: I'm thinking moving it to the west and gain that five feet here on the side to increase the size of this parking, and this way I won't be losing one parking from this side, but I would lose about five feet of landscaping next to the utility room. Mr. Caramagno: The reason I think that's a good idea, to move the handicap parking at least to that side, is because you need to have close access to the building in my opinion. If you're going to lose parking because a tanker is parked there, that's the person that doesn't need to be blocked. They need to have access, you know, if someone's got to walk over here from Schoolcraft Road parking, then so be it. Or if they got to walk from parking on the curb part of the landscaping over here, at Schoolcraft and Farmington, a handicap person might not be able to do that. So I think it's right to move that spot. Mr. Choucair: And on the west side, it's near the entrance because the entrance is shifted to that side. So it would be closer to the entrance. Mr. Caramagno: Here's something else that I didn't think to talk about at the study session. How did you decide the size of the building? What makes the building have to be size that is proposed here? Mr. Choucair: Okay. My client, the way he does his gas station, he wants a lot of Gondolas in there. You see these boxes? Mr. Caramagno: He wants what? Mr. Choucair: Gondolas. Gondolas are these boxes, the shelving. If he puts 32, then he is meeting the requirement like 7-11. So if you walk in there, there is everything. If you go below 32 Gondolas in there, then you're not giving the customer what he wants. Mr. Caramagno: What if the customer wants parking? What do we give him then? I understand what you're saying. Okay. August 30, 2016 27819 Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions from the Commissioners? Hearing none, is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item. Seeing no one coming forward, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-86-2016 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-08-08-09 submitted by N.C. Designers & Contracting, on behalf of Michigan Fuels, 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 renovate the existing Mobil gas station, including demolition of the existing building and construction of a new gas station, at 33430 Schoolcraft Road, located on the northwest corner of Schoolcraft and Farmington Roads in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 21, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet SP-2, prepared by N.C. Designers & Contracting Inc., dated July 18, 2016, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That all on-site parking shall be properly sized and marked, 10 feet by 20 feet in size, without the loss of any landscaping adjacent to the rights-of-way, including any barrier-free space(s) as may be required by the State of Michigan, and two (2) additional spaces shall be provided along Schoolcraft Road; 3. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for deficient parking and any conditions related thereto; 4. That the Landscape Planting Plan marked Sheet LP-1, prepared by Nagy Devlin Land Design, dated July 28, 2016, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 5. That all disturbed lawn areas including road right-of-way shall be sodded in lieu of hydro-seeding; 6. 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; August 30, 2016 27820 7. That the Elevation Plans marked Sheets A-2 and A-3, prepared by N.C. Designers & Contracting Inc., both dated July 18, 2016, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 8. That the building's accent bands and rooftop crown molding shall be fabricated out of a limestone material; 9. 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 and when not in use closed at all times; 10. 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; 11. 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 district regulations of the Zoning Ordinance; 12. 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 roadway; 13. 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 11.03(a)(12) of the Zoning Ordinance; 14. 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 perform any extra action in order to obtain the air without charge; 15. That there shall be no vehicle vacuum equipment or outdoor placement/storage of propane cylinder storage units on the site; August 30, 2016 27821 16. That the sale of ice shall be restricted to the inside of the building; 17. 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; 18. That no part of the pump island canopy fascia, with the exception of signage, shall be illuminated; 19. 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; 20. That the issues outlined in the correspondence dated August 25, 2016, from the Inspection Department shall be resolved to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department; 21. 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, 22. 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. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Ms. Smiley: Is it still a limestone material, Mr. Taormina? Did he switch to the other material? Mr. Wilshaw: This is the beige band that goes through the middle. Mr. Taormina: Yes, exactly. Mr. Chair, do you want to pause now and get clarification? Mr. Wilshaw: Sure. Mr. Taormina: Nasser, the question is, you had originally specified the the cornice and the accent band as E.I.F.S., and you indicated at the study session that it would be a limestone material. Is that still the plan? Mr. Choucair: Yes. August 30, 2016 27822 Mr. Taormina: And is it limestone? If we refer to it in the resolution as limestone, are you okay with that or should it be referred to as some other type of masonry. Mr. Choucair: No. Limestone is okay. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Mr. Taormina: If the maker of the motion would permit either an addendum to condition #2 or a separate item altogether that would require the two spaces along Schoolcraft Road as discussed earlier this evening. Did you add that? Ms. Smiley: No. About the two parallel spots? And are we saying something about moving the handicap one? Mr. Taormina: No, because I think that's covered under #2. We might just want to add "without the loss of any landscaping adjacent to the rights- of-way," but I think clearly it sounded to me that there's consensus to add the spaces along Schoolcraft. Ms. Smiley: Absolutely. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Also, it sounds like we should indicate that the spaces are 10 foot because the plan is showing 9 foot right now. Mr. Taormina: Correct. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anything else? Mr. Caramagno: How about the two bathrooms. Is that clear what was read? Mr. Taormina: It's usually handled by our Inspection Department. The way that's typically handled is that any issues identified in the Inspection Department letter will be addressed to that department's satisfaction. We didn't add that, but we can. Mr. Wilshaw: I don't see it in here. Mr. Taormina: It would include the restrooms and anything else. Mr. Choucair: He did add about the restrooms. It needs to be outside. That's what I heard. That's why I mentioned it. Mr. Wilshaw: I think it would probably be appropriate to have our standard verbiage that the issues discussed in the Inspection Department letter, including the bathrooms, be addressed. I think that would cover it if the maker is okay with that. August 30, 2016 27823 Ms. Smiley: I am fine with that. Mr. Long: Support. Mr. Wilshaw, 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 2016-08-08-10 BP GAS STATION Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016- 08-08-10 submitted by 6 & Middlebelt Fuel Center, L.L.C. 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 renovate the existing BP gas station at 17151 Middlebelt Road, located on the northwest corner of Middlebelt and Six Mile Roads in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 11. Mr. Taormina: This is another gas facility project. Currently, it is an auto service and repair station located at the northwest corner of Middlebelt and Six Mile Roads. This property is approximately 0.60 acre in size containing 125 feet of frontage on Six Mile by about 205 feet along Middlebelt Road. The zoning is C-2, General Business, and is surrounded by a variety of commercial uses. The existing service station building is generally located in the northwest part of the site facing Middlebelt Road. This building is one-story in height, about 2,650 square feet in total size, and the interior of the existing station includes a small retail area as well two auto repair service bays. The existing refueling facility includes two overhead canopies, one which is situated between the building and Six Mile Road, and the other is between the building and Middlebelt Road. Altogether, there are six dual-sided fuel pump islands with the capacity to accommodate 12 vehicles. Presently, there are four driveways that service this site, two are off Six Mile and two are off Middlebelt Road. The plan is to remodel and convert the existing station into a larger convenience store. This would be done by eliminating the auto repair portion of the current business. The square footage of the building would remain the same as it is today. Required setbacks for gas stations are 60 feet from any rights-of-way. In this case, the existing building is located 77 feet from Six Mile Road and about 76 feet from Middlebelt Road, so it is in conformance with the ordinance. The plans include remodeling of the interior as well as the exterior of the building. The interior of the building would be devoted mostly to retail display and include a cashier counter, small office, as well August 30, 2016 27824 as restrooms. In terms of the exterior of the building, the north half of the remodeled building is going to consist mostly of brick and glass and would contain a shed-style roof including the fascia. We discussed this at the study session. There are two main parts to the building. We're talking about the right hand side or the area that is showing brick. This part of the building is currently being used as service bays, which are going to be removed in order to become a larger convenience store. The north side is the part that contains the brick. On the south side of the building, it's very similar to the previous design in terms of the material. Originally, they were showing the hardy-plank material, but this is going to be changed to the same sandstone material that was presented in the previous petition, which we have a sample of here. You can also see how the roof pitch differs on this. It actually slants from south to north, the highest portion of which would be about 22 feet, and then if you look at the other part of the building, the north part, that too has a shed-style roof which slants from east to west increasing in height the further west it goes, and that caps out at an overall height of about 16 feet 6 inches. It's a bit of a unique design. That's something that we don't see too often for these types of buildings. What is also unique about this design is the canopy itself. It contains a similar slope styled roof that would be supported by Y-shaped tubular columns. I'll allow the architect to describe the design. The roof of the canopy is angled from west to east. It's actually kind of an opposing angle I believe from the building providing better views of the building for that purpose. Altogether, all the pumps now are going to be lined up on the site so instead of having two canopies, there will be a single, long canopy with the five dual-sided pump islands with the ability to accommodate 10 vehicles. The canopy altogether would be about 23 feet in width by 120 feet in length, similar to the one we previously looked at. The canopy would comply with the setback requirements. It would be 34 feet from Six Mile and 29 feet from Middlebelt Road, whereas the ordinance allows it to be a minimum of 10 feet. This site is deficient in landscaping. We require 15 percent. They are not really showing any changes relative to landscaping. It's only 8 percent of the site, something that we discussed at the study session. In terms of parking, again, we have a deficiency by code. They're required to have a total of 14 spaces. The site plan only provides six parking spaces that are located away from the pumps. The access is probably the biggest change besides the buildings and the canopies. You're looking at a plan showing only two driveway entrances, one off Middlebelt, one off Six Mile, to replace the four that currently exist today. The plan shows what it could look like upon completion. We consolidate that down to two driveway approaches, which is something that the city does August 30, 2016 27825 like to see. In this case, we have, again, no information relative to signage. At this point, I can read the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please? Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated August 11, 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 project at this time. The legal description submitted with the petition appears to be correct and should be used in conjunction with this petition. The existing parcel is assigned the address of 17151 Middlebelt Road. The lot is currently serviced with public storm and sanitary sewer, as well as water main. The submitted drawings do not indicate existing or proposed locations of the service leads, so we are unable to determine any effects to the existing systems at this time. The proposed plans do not indicate a proposed drainage system, or any storm water detention, as required by the Wayne County Stormwater Ordinance. Since any connections for the storm sewer from the site would be to a Wayne County owned system, the owner will need to obtain permits for the proposed storm sewer connection and detention systems through the Wayne County Department of Public Service. The owner will also need to obtain permits from Wayne County for any work within the Middlebelt Road or Six Mile Road rights-of-way." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 17, 2016, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to renovate the BP gas station, including exterior façade remodel of the existing building and the reconfiguration of the site's layout on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal."The letter is signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated August 23, 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. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated August 25, 2016, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above-referenced petition has been reviewed. (1) Parking spaces shall be 10'x 20'and double striped. (2) The barrier free parking space shall be van accessible. (3) Two restrooms are required. One female and one male restroom. (4) The Commission and/or Council may wish to address free air at this site and add the following statement: That free air shall be provided at all times while the station is open for business. The free air shall be dispensed at the point of service without having to enter the August 30, 2016 27826 station or the performance of any extra action in order to obtain the air without charge. 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. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for the Planning Department. Seeing none, the petitioner is here. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Nasser Choucair, NC Designers and Contracting, 3241 S. Telegraph, Dearborn, Michigan 48124. Regarding the landscaping, I was looking at the plan, and I can add more landscaping on the north side next to the loading zone, and that would increase the landscaping even in the back of the building. We can increase the landscaping so we won't have any deficiencies, and I can talk to our landscaping architect so he can adjust that. Regarding the material on the building, it's the same as what we're using, the brick and the sandstone. The only difference here, it's a little bit modern. We're using more glass and it's a seamless glass with no frame. So it's going to look like one piece of glass. We're showing more material, the walls, the glass and the roof material which is going to be a vertical seam silver color and that would give a nice impact on the corner. Regarding parking, we can put one pair of parking, an extra one, on the north side. So, the loading zone, landscaping and I'll stop at the end of the loading zone. I'll fit one car and then continue. That would add another parking spot on that side. It could be for an employee. Other than that, I'll answer any questions. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for Nasser? Ms. McCue: I'm going to piggy back on Mr. Caramagno's comment earlier. Where would the truck for dumping the fuel — where would you foresee that being if you have all your parking pretty much in one location except that one side, parallel? I'm just concerned that the truck could block parking. Mr. Choucair: Normally, in such a site like this, he comes in from Middlebelt and as if he's going out from Six Mile, and that would be how he's going to be parked over there and then he'll dump his fuel. Ms. McCue: In the corner. Mr. Choucair: Yes, the corner or up a little bit. He's going to block one of these, and again, trucks that unload the fuel, they have a time where there is no traffic. They have to come onsite with no traffic. Otherwise, they won't accept him coming in at a peak time. August 30, 2016 27827 Ms. McCue: My only concern would just be blocking all the parking, but if that's not probably going to be an issue, then it's fine. Mr. Ventura: What is the loading zone for? What is loading there? Mr. Choucair: It would be for the dumpster enclosure. They come and pick up the garbage or for the groceries. They come and park over there and unload the trucks for the groceries for the gas station. That's why the loading zone is put in there. Mr. Ventura: There's no loading zone on the site plan for the gas station at Farmington and Schoolcraft. Why do you need one here? Mr. Choucair: There is one there. Normally, the city building and safety asks us to put in one. In this situation, because we have everything existing, that's why we did not indicate and we don't have much . Mr. Ventura: I don't see any loading zone on the site plan there. Mr. Choucair: You're right. Mr. Ventura: So why do we need one at Six Mile and Mlddlebelt? Mr. Choucair: It's always better to put one. Mr. Ventura: I guess I'm suggesting we could use that for some more parking. Mr. Choucair: That area you cannot because we have a dumpster enclosure over there in front of the loading zone. So we cannot park over there. Mr. Ventura: Does the dumpster enclosure need to stay there? Mr. Choucair: That's the only good spot that we can put it in. Mr. Ventura: It's not clear to me what's going on behind the building, the west side of the building. Mr. Choucair: If you're thinking putting any parking on this space between, it's going to be the same because the width, it's not enough. So you're going to fit two cars. If you move this dumpster to the other side where other cars are, you're going to lose two cars over there. It's the same thing. I'd rather leave the space open here and put a dumpster. Why should I move the dumpster to the south and take two parking from a nice clean area, a nice right- of-way of parking? Better than splitting two parking here and four parking here instead of six. August 30, 2016 27828 Mr. Ventura: I guess it's not clear to me how big the dumpster enclosure actually is. Mr. Choucair: Normally, it's like 10 by 10 or 12 by 10. Mr. Ventura: So we consume a parking space. Mr. Choucair; And a little bit more. The depth and the width. Mr. Ventura: I'm trying to get my directions straight - on the southwest corner of the building that is hatched like a building. What is that? Mr. Choucair: That's a handicap spot. Handicap, you need eight feet and eight feet. That's handicap van accessible. Mr. Ventura: So the hatched area is the unloading area for the handicap. Mr. Choucair: Yes, that's where the van opens the door and the guy drops his chair and goes. Mr. Ventura: Okay. And the dotted line that goes over the handicap space is . Mr. Choucair: Oh, these are the setbacks. We're just showing that we are within our setbacks. So the building is in our setbacks. Mr. Ventura: All of my questions are aimed at the deficiency in parking which is even greater here. Mr. Choucair: We always consider that the pumps are the parking that people park over here and walk. Mr. Ventura: I guess the thing that's really not clear is what percentage of the business that's done in the store is not coming from people that are buying gas. So that's not really a question that's been asked or answered here. So I don't know if you serve 100 people a day in the store. What percentage of those people are actually going there just to use the store? Mr. Choucair: At one time? Mr. Ventura: At any time over the course of a business day. Mr. Choucair: Normally, if someone wants to pump gas, he's going to pump the gas, probably go inside, get whatever he wants, candy or pop, and come out and go. That's his parking. One spot on each island. That's 10 parking under the canopy and six outside the August 30, 2016 27829 canopy. I don't think they would go to a gas station only to buy something and leave. Plus as a calculation, in any gas station, rarely do you see more than 15 occupants at one time in a gas station. It does not exceed 15 occupants. Mr. Ventura: Okay. Thank you. Ms. McCue: I'm sorry, not to continue to harp on this, but it seems though that when we're talking about a deficiency in parking, that to us would mean that we're not going to have that many people in the store, as we were saying, but we have a huge loading zone there that's taking up a good piece of that parking or lot, not parking per se because I understand the logistics there. I'm not sure if we're not saying two different things. Does that make sense? Mr. Choucair: Actually, the loading zone space over there, if you measure the distance between the building and the boundary, it's not sufficient for me to put a row of 24 parking from the boundary to the building. Then the car, when it goes in there, I need another 20 for it to maneuver. So I need a minimum of 40 feet between the building and the boundary line. So if I don't have that in there, then I cannot put my parking, even I tried it at 30 degrees. It does not work because at 30 degrees, I need another 18 and I have to back up all the way. So when I back up, I have to go one way. I mean it does not work if I put them at 45 — 30 degree parking. I need to drive back and go and come behind the building and come out. And that would be considered as an escape. I mean they need two lanes. It's a more difficult process than it's supposed to be. I tried all these options before I bring this one in. It's a big no for me to put any parking at the loading zone unless I can put two parking next to each other. Then the dumpster, it's my problem. I have to move it somewhere else. If I move it to the other side, then I'm going to lose again another two spots. So it's the same thing. I know it looks empty. That's why I'm saying that, you know what, I'm going to put landscaping next to that so I'll add my landscaping in that area. Maybe I'll move the dumpster a little bit towards the building and put a wider landscaping belt over there.And I can add another parking spot parallel to the boundary line there also. Ms. Smiley: So the landscaping you're adding is going to be not on Six Mile, not on Middlebelt, but down that road by the dumpster? Mr. Choucair: On the side, yes. But I did add a lot of landscaping when I closed these two approaches. So all that area was not landscaping and I created, by closing these two areas, landscaping. Ms. Smiley: Okay. So we must be over the 8 percent now? August 30, 2016 27830 Mr. Taormina: No. We do not include the right-of-way area. By closing those two driveways, you really don't add to the percentage of the overall site because we exclude any area within the right-of-way. I think looking at his plan here, adding the landscaping along the north side does make sense. We can shift that loading zone a little bit further to the south, gain some space. I still believe more landscaping can be added along the west side of the property as well. Ms. Smiley: Which is Six Mile, right? Mr. Taormina: No, that would be behind the building, to the rear of the building. He can widen that landscape area even where the cars are parked. He can push those cars closer to the proposed entrance. He has more than enough room at that point to add a few feet of landscaping along the west property line. That would be a nice transition because if you look at the aerial photograph, the office building to the west, I don't believe there's any landscaping that separates those two commercial properties. By adding that landscaping back there, I think would be a nice feature. The same thing along the north side of the property. I'm not sure there's any landscaping there either because that driveway is right along the property line. Ms. Smiley: As one commissioner, I'd really like to see that. Mr. Taormina: The additional landscaping is in lieu of maybe some formal parking. Sometimes it boils down to one or the other. I think, in this case, like all gas stations, people tend to find a place to park if all they're going to do is run in the store without buying gas and just purchase a quick item. They'll either park parallel to the building or along the sides of the property, somewhere out of the maneuvering area for the people using the pumps. It just seems to be a somewhat organic flow of traffic. It might not be ideal, but it's just how a lot of gas stations operate. People will park as close to the building as possible, even if there are available spaces further away. Ms. Smiley: I like the entrances closed, but I would really like to see more landscaping. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Long: I have one quick question about the modern canopy. Is there any concern about heavy rains? Do you put extra large gutters up there or how do you make sure you don't get such a heavy runoff from storms? August 30, 2016 27831 Mr. Choucair: These canopies have commercial gutters. It's not like residential gutters, three inches. These would be six inches and they accumulate the rain that's going to fall on that canopy. Mr. Long: Even with that extra slant because it's not going to be going both ways. It's all going to be running one way. Mr. Choucair: It would be a special design that would be like you won't even see the gutter when you look at the canopy. It would be imbedded. So when you look at the canopy, you're not going to see a gutter hanging. It's going to be behind the fascia. Mr. Long: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Caramagno: I'll go back to parking for a minute. I'll agree with more landscaping somewhere on this property but I've got a real problem with parking. I really do. When you think about a handicap spot and two employees, you're taking up three of your six parking spots. It leaves you three plus whatever is at the fuel pump. So when we talk about not needing spots, I don't necessarily understand that because you're not adding all this convenience store retail space for people gassing up cars. You're adding that so you can act like a 7-11, like you said earlier. So people go there and shop, buy their milk, their bread, their hotdogs, whatever they're going to get there and you're leaving them three spots to park in. I don't like that at all. I got a problem with that. When I look at your current site plan, I look to the north end of the property. You got six or seven parking spots there currently. Now you're telling us that you can't put anything over there now. I don't understand that. Mr. Choucair: Yes, because the canopy, they had two separate canopies and this space is really wide. They can back up these cars when you throw a row of cars at 30 degrees. So you can go out, plus as I said, when you put parking at a certain degree, when you want to back up, where are you going to? Are you going to go behind the building? Are you going to back up all the way to the approach and then pull inside the pump? So you need to provide this. I mean, when you back up, you will create traffic in there. That's the whole idea and plus the canopy is changed. It's long. Plus I'm adding another parallel. So we have six and one, seven parking now. I'm adding another one on the north side. So where we're going to create a larger belt of landscaping, I'm going to put one in front of it, one parking spot over there. That would get us an extra parking spot. I always can put extra parking, but I don't want to lose also the landscaping on the corner that we created that I can put one car over there. August 30, 2016 27832 Mr. Caramagno: I think this property needs improvement as much as anything in that area, but I don't think it's best to operate here, in my opinion. Mr. Choucair: I just want to say one more thing. These six parking in the existing at 30 degree angle, I put them at 90 degree angle at the side here. So these six in the proposed, when I moved my approach, I created nice parallel parking. It's more convenient for the customer to park and go to the gas station. These existing ones at 30 degrees, I think they're trouble more than a parking if you look at the existing one, how they had them. That's why we modified this site plan and we closed some existing approaches to make it a better design with an existing building and a proposed new canopy. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Nasser. There are a couple questions that I wanted to quickly touch on. Because of the type of roof that you're going to have on this building, the sloped roofs, very modern design, there's not going to be any mechanicals on the roof? Mr. Choucair: No. They're going to be in the back area. So the roof is sloped in the front. The building at the back is going to be shifted about 10 feet or 12 feet, and when the slope goes up, you cannot see the mechanical. They're going to be screened in the back. So we're going to have the section on the right hand side that's sloped in the front. Behind it you're going to have about 10 to 12 feet area that the mechanicals are going to sit in there. It would be hidden. So all you see is a silver standup seam roof from this side and this side. Mr. Wilshaw: It will be a very clean look. I like that. One of the things we talked about at our study meeting was the fact that, because you are looking to close a couple of the approaches, Wayne County may have to get involved from a stormwater management perspective. You were going to contact Wayne County to find out about that. Did you hear back? Mr. Choucair: Unfortunately, I did not contact them because I figured out no matter what, if you touch the approaches, you are going to go through the process. So unfortunately, the customer has to go through it. So we're going to try as much as we can with Wayne County. But if they tell us we need to do it, then we need to do it. We'll have no choice. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. So at least you're aware of that and your customer knows that. Mr. Choucair: Yes, and I talked to Mr. Taormina. August 30, 2016 27833 Mr. Wilshaw: I just wanted to make sure we addressed that because that was something at the study meeting that was talked about. If there are no other questions for the petitioner, is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Long, seconded by Smiley, and adopted, it was #08-87-2016 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-08-08-10 submitted by 6 & Middlebelt Fuel Center, L.L.C. 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 renovate the existing BP gas station at 17151 Middlebelt Road, located on the northwest corner of Middlebelt and Six Mile Roads in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 11, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet SP-2, prepared by N.C. Designers & Contracting Inc., dated July 30, 2016, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to, except that one additional parking space shall be added in the northeast corner of the site; 2. That all on-site parking shall be properly sized and marked, including any barrier-free space(s) as may be required by the State of Michigan; 3. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for deficient parking and any conditions related thereto; 4. That the Landscape Planting Plan marked Sheet LP-1, prepared by Nagy Devlin Land Design, dated August 8, 2016, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to, except that additional trees shall be provided in the rights-of-way, the width of the landscaping along the north and the west sides of the site shall be increased, and that the cobblestone mulch that is shown shall be replaced with landscape material at the satisfaction of the Planning Department; 5. That all disturbed lawn areas including road right-of-way shall be sodded in lieu of hydro-seeding; 6. 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 August 30, 2016 27834 Department and thereafter permanently maintained in a healthy condition; 7. That the Elevation Plans marked Sheets A-2 and A-3, prepared by N.C. Designers & Contracting Inc., both dated July 30, 2016, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 8. 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 and when not in use closed at all times; 9. 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; 10. 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 district regulations of the Zoning Ordinance; 11. 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 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 11.03(a)(12) of the Zoning Ordinance; 13. 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 perform any extra action in order to obtain the air without charge; 14. That there shall be no vehicle vacuum equipment or outdoor placement/storage of propane cylinder storage units on the site; August 30, 2016 27835 15. That the sale of ice shall be restricted to the inside of the building; 16. 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; 17. That no part of the pump island canopy fascia, with the exception of signage, shall be illuminated; 18. 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; 19. 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, 20. 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. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Ms. Smiley: Are we going to say something about the landscaping on the west side and he offered another parking space. And there was supposed to be landscaping on the north side. Mr. Taormina: I would recommend modifying Condition #4 by adding the language at the end of that condition to read something to the effect, except that the width of the landscaping along the north and the west sides of the site shall be increased and that the cobblestone mulch that is shown shall be replaced with landscape material to the satisfaction of the Planning Department. So this is the landscape plan and the areas we're talking about are behind the building and on the north of the building. If you look carefully at the notes, it indicates a cobblestone mulch. The landscape designer has done that probably because that area is so narrow and not much will survive other than just some type of hardscape material. So if we widen that, there's no reason we can't put proper landscaping in those two areas to help buffer this site from the adjoining sites. I'd also like to see some trees in the right-of-way along Middlebelt and Six Mile Roads. We can work with the landscape architect to have those items added. August 30, 2016 27836 Mr. Long: The maker of the motion is okay with that. Ms. Smiley: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: The maker and second agree with that. That also includes the additional parking space. Mr. Long: And one additional parking space to the northeast corner of the property, a parallel spot as indicated by the petitioner. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Please call the role. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Long, Smiley, McCue, Priddy, Ventura, Wilshaw NAYS: Caramagno ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,092nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,092nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on July 26, 2016. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Caramagno, and adopted, it was #08-88-2016 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,092nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on July 26, 2016, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Smiley, Caramagno, Long, McCue, Ventura, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSTAIN: Priddy ABSENT: None August 30, 2016 27837 Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,093rd Regular Meeting held on August 30, 2016, was adjourned at :43 p.m. , CITY )ZANNING COMMISSION Sam Caramagno, Secretary ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman