HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2017-01-10 MINUTES OF THE 1,099TH PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING a
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, January 10, 2017, the City Planning Commission of the City of
Livonia held its 1,099th Public Hearings and 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 Carol Smiley
Kevin Priddy Peter Ventura Ian Wilshaw
Members absent: Betsy McCue
Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, and Ms. Margie Watson, Program
Supervisor, were 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.
Before we get into our formal agenda tonight, I did want to announce that we
received sad news last week that a long-time colleague and former Planning
Commissioner and Chairman, Lee Morrow, passed away. Lee was a very
important colleague that served on the Planning Commission for many, many
years. He served the City, and this country in the military, extremely well. The
mentoring that he provided was an asset to the community and it was an asset to
each of us. His loss is certainly felt by all of us. I hope that we can look back at the
time we've known Lee and be inspired by the quality of the person that he was and
the way he conducted himself in the City. He was truly a personification of what
we would call a gentle giant. A big man but with a very kind heart. With that, I'd like
to just take a brief moment of silence to honor his passing. Thank you.
January 10, 2017
27961
ITEM #1 PETITION 2016-11-02-21 WOODHAVEN
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2016-
11-02-21 submitted by Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas, Inc., on behalf
of Woodhaven Retirement Community, requesting waiver use
approval pursuant to Section 9.01(g) of the City of Livonia Zoning
Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct additions to the
existing skilled nursing home at 29667 Wentworth, on property
located on the south side of Wentworth Avenue, west of
Middlebelt Road in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 14.
Mr. Taormina: Woodhaven Retirement Community is divided into two parts. The
area we'll be looking at this evening is the Woodhaven Skilled
Nursing Center, which is on the northerly portion of the site and
encompasses roughly 3.7 acres. It is zoned OS, Office Services.
It contains a one-story skilled nursing facility that totals roughly
55,000 square feet in size. There are a total of 91 beds that are
currently in a combination of private and semi-private rooms. The
southerly portion of the project consists of Woodpointe
Independent Living Apartments and occupies roughly 2.7 acres.
The zoning of that parcel is R-9, Housing for the Elderly. It is a
two-story structure roughly 43,000 square feet in size containing
22 independent living apartments. The surrounding properties
include residential lots along Wentworth Avenue. Looking to the
west is Golfview Park that is part of a nature preserve. And to the
south are additional single family homes. Adjacent to this site to
the east is the Apostolic Christian Church. The project entails
three separate additions to the Skilled Nursing Center. The first
addition would be roughly 10,000 square feet in size, and it would
be located in the southwest corner of the building. It would
provide additional accommodations, primarily in the form of
private rooms for short term care. Each unit consists of a single
bedroom, living room, kitchenette and bathroom. The proposed
TCU addition includes areas immediately to the south of the
existing building extending on the west side of the Woodpointe
Independent Living Apartments. It extends partially within the R-
9 zoned portion of the land. It is located entirely on the
Woodhaven Retirement Community property. The second
addition is smaller, about 3,800 square feet in size. It is located
more towards the center of the existing building on the south side
of the skilled nursing facility. This would expand the physical and
occupational therapy facilities within the skilled nursing center.
Lastly, there is a third addition which is just a small expansion to
the café and bistro which is located immediately to the north of
the physical and occupational therapy addition. Again, that would
only be about 3,800 square feet. It would expand the dining area
of that particular portion of the building. Altogether, these three
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additions total about 14,790 square feet and would enlarge the
total facility to just under 70,000 square feet. When we look at
the parking for the Woodhaven Retirement Community overall,
we also have to look at the Apostolic Christian church because
they share access and parking. The nursing center by itself would
require one space for every three beds, plus one space for each
employee, including the visiting doctors. When you take all that
into account, you're looking at 73 parking spaces that are
required for just that component of the facility. The Independent
Living Apartments park at one space for every unit within the
senior citizen apartment complex, so that would require an
additional 22 spaces. The church requires an additional 65
spaces. Altogether, the project requires 160 parking spaces.
Considering all the shared parking within the facility, there are
187 parking spaces available. So there is a surplus on paper in
terms of the parking. Again, access to the retirement community
is achieved by means of a shared driveway that extends along
Wentworth to the north. One of the other components to this
project that was discussed closely with our Fire Department was
the addition of a proposed 16-foot wide fire lane. The fire lane is
shown in yellow on the plan. It is located between the apartment
complex, Woodpointe Independent Living, as well as the Skilled
Nursing Center. It ties those parking lot areas together. This
would serve a dual purpose. The fire lane would be used not only
for fire access in case of an emergency, but would also be a
continuation of the facility's existing pedestrian pathways.
Looking at the construction materials, it would appear very similar
to what is there today. The proposed additions would consist of
brick walls as well as a flat roof. The window and door treatments
would match the existing building. It's really intended to blend with
the current architecture. When we looked at this several months
ago, there was a request by the applicant at that time to
potentially purchase some of the city-owned property in order to
accommodate this expansion. We went back to the drawing table
with the Petitioner and architects. We were able to redesign this
so that it is 100 percent located on the facility's property without
the need to acquire any additional land from the City or
elsewhere. That is one of the things that I think is important to
note as we go through the discussion this evening. It will not
impact any portion of the adjacent parkland. With that, Mr.
Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Please.
Mr. Taormina: There are seven items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated December 9, 2016, which reads
as follows: `7n accordance with your request, the Engineering
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Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no
objections to the proposed project at this time. The legal
description included on the submitted drawings appear to be
correct and should be used in conjunction with this petition. The
existing parcel is assigned the address of 29667 Wentworth
Avenue. The existing site is serviced by a combination of private
and public utilities. The submitted drawings indicate proposed
utility extensions will connect to privately-owned utilities on the
site, but do not indicate any detention or calculations so we
cannot comment on the impacts to the existing systems at this
time. Per City design standards, any new impervious areas (roof,
pavement, etc.) will need to have detention as required by the
Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. Also, the owner will need
to ensure that any building or grading operations for the proposed
additions do not encroach on the nature preserve property to the
west of the subject parcel. Appropriate fencing and barriers will
need to be erected prior to any construction operations." The
letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer.
The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division,
dated December 2, 2016, which reads as follows: "This office has
reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to
construct additions to the existing skilled nursing home on
property located at the above referenced address. We have no
objections to this proposal with the following stipulation: The
agreed upon new fire access road will be 16 feet wide of
unobstructed driving surface not including the curbs." The letter
is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is
from the Division of Police, dated December 22, 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 January 10, 2017,
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,
Director of Inspection. The fifth letter is from the Treasurer's
Department, dated December 9, 2016, which reads as follows:
"In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has
reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. At
this time, there are no outstanding amounts receivable for taxes.
Therefore, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is
signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The sixth letter is from the
Finance Department, dated December 6, 2016, which reads as
follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the
above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts
receivable, general or water and sewer, I have no objections to
the proposal." The letter is signed by Coline Coleman, Chief
January 10, 2017
27964
Accountant. We have an email correspondence from Linda
Gosselin, Assessor, dated December 7, 2016, which reads as
follows: "Our office has reviewed the above petition and have no
restrictions and/or objection on the proposed addition."That is the
extent of the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? I did receive a
message from our Cable Department that they are having some
technical difficulties in getting the pictures on the TV in the
audience. Please bear with them as they work on that. Is the
petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and
address for the record please.
Randall Gasser, Executive Director, Woodhaven Retirement Community, 29667
Wentworth, Livonia, Michigan 48154. Good evening, and thank
you for hosting this public hearing. I've been at that location in
that position for over 30 years. We're happy to have this
opportunity to address any questions that anyone might have,
both the council and the neighbors. We did talk to neighbors on
both Wentworth and Oporto. A couple of comments that I might
make is, one, an organization needs to continually change to
meet the changing business and consumer directed environment.
That's what we're facing today. The change that we're facing is
consumers no longer want to receive care in a shared room. They
don't want to be in a bedroom with an unrelated person. So all
this project is designed to do is to provide additional rooms so
that our current rooms can be used as private rooms. And that's
the good news because the good news is twofold. The good news
is, one, we believe that by converting our existing shared rooms
to private rooms that we will ensure future viability for this
organization. Without those private rooms, if we tried to compete
with shared rooms, the consumer has already spoken and the
last thing anybody in the neighborhood wants is a vacant building
because I believe that without private rooms, I'm not sure of our
future viability. I don't know what alternate uses there might be
for that building, and nobody wants a vacant building across the
road from them. Our goal is to improve the value of the
neighborhood. This is approximately a $4 million plus project. So
this would not be done without great consideration to improving
value to the neighborhood. The good news is that we are not
increasing our capacity at all, not by one person, not by one bed.
Facilities like ours are sized by numbers of licensed beds. Our
licenses will remain unchanged with the capped number of beds.
That means not one more bit of traffic. That means not one more
visitor, not one more needed parking space. A couple of other
things. We came before this group with some of the same people
several months ago, and ideally this plan would have worked
January 10, 2017
27965
much better in our landlocked situation if we had been able to
secure one tenth of an acre of the adjacent parkland. The
neighbors spoke up and said, please, even if you replace that
tenth of an acre with a similar tenth of an acre on the other side
of the parcel, we don't want you to do that. We listened to that.
We agreed to that. We went back to the drawing board and that's
where we are tonight. I will tell you one of the reasons that this
has come at this time in our timeline of business is we do have a
very friendly competition with fellow not-for-profit Marycrest
Manor. They had 55 shared beds and they went to all private
rooms. We are simply doing what they've already done and
they've done it with great success. We applaud them for their
effort. I have three mitigating factors to the surrounding
neighborhoods. Number one I already mentioned, and that's the
no increase in capacity. We actually are going to still have some
shared rooms because to do what we needed to do, we needed
a tenth of an acre of adjacent property. Without that, we're still
going to have some shared rooms. We're committed to making
that work. No increase in capacity. Number two, no use of any
nature preserve or parkland even with replacing that property.
We are not touching one tree that is not on our property. And the
third and perhaps most important consideration is this. This
addition has been designed to fit nicely between our existing
Woodhaven one-story building and our Woodpointe two-story
building. I have really nice large foam boards with this information
which are in my car in the parking lot. I didn't bring them in
because I anticipated that you would see it better on the screens.
But I will bring them in. You will be able to see better what's going
on and we'll have the assurance that the location of these
additions, and when he mentions three additions, one of them is
about the size of a bedroom. The other two are larger but in total,
14,000 square feet nestled between Woodhaven and
Woodpointe. So it's between our property. It does not face
anybody's house or anybody's neighborhood.We face ourselves.
So those are our three mitigating factors. We're here tonight to
address any questions or concerns anyone might have. And I
thank you for your time.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Gasser. Are there any questions for the
petitioner?
Mr. Ventura: Mr. Gasser, Mr. Taormina's discussion of the overall of your
project pointed out that any plans for stormwater detention
increase had not been addressed on this plan. Can you tell us
where you plan to put it?
January 10, 2017
27966
Mr. Gasser: That's a question for our architect. Linda, do you want to address
that? Linda Verdura is with Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas. They've
done a large number of projects in this area and have a great
reputation.
Linda Couch-Verdura, Fusco, Shaffer& Pappas, Inc., 550 E. Nine Mile, Ferndale,
Michigan 48220. I'm a designer with Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas.
As we get further into this project, that was something that still
they're looking at, but it's probably going to be a combination of
underground that we might need in there because we've got the
center so elaborately landscaped. It's going to have the fire lane
between the building, and by the time we put the additions on,
nestled between the two buildings in the center, we're limited
land. So we're anticipating underground for anything that will be
required in addition.
Mr. Ventura: So this is not going to be something that is visible from the
surrounding areas?
Ms. Verdura: No. We don't have the surface area.
Mr. Ventura: Would it be placed under a parking area?
Ms. Verdura: Yes.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any other questions for the petitioner or architect at this
time? Seeing none, we'll go to the audience. Is there anybody in
the audience that wishes to speak for or against this petition? You
can come to either podium and please give us your name and
address for the record.
Jack Susami, 29586 Wentworth, Livonia, Michigan. Last October we moved into
our new house on Wentworth. This is the first time we've seen
this really clear. Will this have any impact at all on Wentworth
Street?We're not clear. Will anything be built towards Wentworth
Street or is it between existing buildings and south. Am I correct
or not?
Mr. Wilshaw: That is correct. When Mr. Taormina is able finalize the projector
here, which I'm really happy he's coming up with this alternative,
you'll see that the areas that are going to be added onto the
building will be displayed in the white sections, and he'll actually
be able to zoom in on those a little bit more. That essentially is
space that's between the two existing buildings.
January 10, 2017
27967
Mr. Susami: Right. And I assume Wentworth is at the top of this map.
Mr. Wilshaw: Correct.
Mr. Susami: Okay. All Right. All I have to say is what are the benefits for the
City of Livonia? It looks like there's really no negatives for
residents on Wentworth from what I see, but what are the benefits
for Livonia? That's all I have to say. You know, is it good for
Livonia to do this?
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Once everybody has a chance to speak, we'll get the
Petitioner back up here to address any issues that are raised.
Hello, ma'am.
Martha MacDonald, 29606 Wentworth, Livonia, Michigan. Hi there. How are you?
I'm right across the street from the nursing home.A couple things.
There is space being added because there's rooms being added.
Is the generator going to be changed? Is it going to be bigger,
adequately to fit the extra space that they're going to have in their
nursing home? And my concern about that is, I live right across
from the generator, which was supposed to be a picnic area
according to Randy when we asked him what the cement was
going in for. And that was the other addition that they put up. And
he didn't talk to us about anything about this one either, which he
said he did. So when the generator goes on twice a week for just
running, fumes come into my house. Spring, summer, fall when
the windows are open. When I called the City about it, they said
basically, close your windows. That's what they told me. So we're
going to get exhaust from the generator depending on which way
the wind blows. It's not every single time, but they run it twice a
week just to run it. And it's 40 minutes each time, on Tuesday and
on Friday. So my question is, does it need to be run that much?
What about the fumes coming in my house? I'm very
inconvenienced by the noise and the fumes, and I want that on
record. I just want to make sure the generator is not going to be
increased because I'm going to have more fumes coming in. It
looks like the stuff is going to be inside their facility. I guess that's
my biggest concern. Other than a little smoking area, they have
a smoking table for their employees which has to be 500 feet from
their doors. I don't believe it's 500 feet from my door. So there is
another inconvenience and I'm thinking, this is a public building.
I'm a resident. Do I have any recourse for any of these things?
Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: That's a good question. We'll ask about the generator. I can tell
you that I know from my business experience that generators do
have to be run on generally a weekly basis at least to exercise
January 10, 2017
27968
them and make sure that they run continuously and the fluids are
moving in them, but we will ask those questions. Is there anyone
else wishing to speak?
Thomas Carey, 15664 Oporto, Livonia, Michigan. I want to thank you, Mr. Gasser,
for listening to us a few months ago. You listened to some of our
concerns. I do have one concern though and we talked about it
here is that I've been there for 40 years. Every time you increase
any kind of surface with pavement or roofing, water has got to go
someplace. I heard about the ponds and things like that, but I'm
going to tell you, in 40 years I've gotten more and more and more
water, I live on Oporto, in my backyard. And it's not because it's
rained more. It's because of buildings. It just is. So with that, just
keep that in mind when all you smart people are around the table
thinking about where we're going to put this water. Let's not put it
in my backyard. That's all I have to say. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: I will tell you that Wayne County has very, very strict water
management requirements that they put businesses through
now. Anytime pavement or anything is touched, many, many
business owners throughout the community mention how difficult
that process is to make sure that they meet those Wayne County
requirements. Our Engineering staff always checks that too.
Ma'am, please come forward.
Shirley White, 15730 Oporto, Livonia, Michigan. Actually, I wrote down the same
thing. I've been there a long time and even though it was his
property, ever since he built, more and more water in the past 10
years, I mean even longer than that, it is really unreal. At first, last
year when I was here, I thought he wanted property to build a
gazebo for his people. What ever happened to that idea?
Mr. Wilshaw: I'm not aware of that being a part of this proposal.
Ms. White: What was the extra land wanted for'?
Mr. Wilshaw: They didn't get the extra land. So we're looking at this petition
before us today which is just strictly using the property that they
already have, not expanding their boundaries at all.
Ms. White: Okay. That was it. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Ma'am, please come forward.
Faten Fawaz, 29600 Wentworth, Livonia, Michigan. Good evening. Thank you for
the opportunity to be invited to speak. We recently moved into our
January 10, 2017
27969
home as well, and my question is whether or not that tree line off
of Wentworth is going to be impacted.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. We'll find out about that.
Ms. Fawaz: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Anyone else wishing to speak?
Mary Susami, 29586 Wentworth, Livonia, Michigan. Newly moved into. I guess I'm
concerned about the animals. We have a lot of deer. We have a
lot of birds. It leads to a wildlife preserve. What's that going to do
to our area?
Mr. Wilshaw: That's a question we get a lot of times when development is
happening. It's a concern that we all have. We don't want to
reduce nature, but this development is on their own property.
Ms. Susami: I know they also use this as a marketing tool for themselves as
having a nice area for their residents to be walking into, and I
know it leads to a wildlife preserve. So what is it going to do to
Livonia's wildlife preserve?
Mr. Wilshaw: Right. The wildlife preserve that surrounds this property won't be
touched. So that will still be preserved land. The animals will
certainly, I'm sure, stay in that area because as you said, it is a
good marketing tool for them as well to say, hey, out the back
windows you're going to see woods and animals. They're not
going to want to do anything to try to upset that as much as
possible, I wouldn't think.
Ms. Susami: It's like a bird sanctuary there right now. So that is my concern.
And we live in this beautiful city called Livonia, and we don't want
to lose all of our beauty of our woods.
Mr. Wilshaw: One thing that's really nice to hear is how many people have
come forward who are new to the area who have just recently
moved here. It's excellent to hear that people are locating in that
area and happy to be there.
Ms. Susami: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Anyone else?
Denise White, 15730 Oporto, Livonia, Michigan. So just a couple questions.When
was he planning on starting this construction? Like a few of us
neighbors that live on Oporto with the swamp that we get in the
January 10, 2017
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backyards. As they say, they're going to try all that they can do to
prevent water. What happens if we notice more water as the
spring comes or after he re-builds and everything settles down
and we end up getting possibly more water in our backyards?
Who are we to come to, to file that complaint?
Mr. Wilshaw: You would contact the Engineering Department. They are the
ones that are going to be involved with making sure all the water
permits and that the retention is done to the standards of the City
and also, of course, there is Wayne County, which is also
involved in that. There's a couple avenues of recourse there.
Ms. White: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Anyone else wishing to speak? If not, we'll have the petitioner
come forward again. You heard a few questions that we would
like to probably hear some answers on in regards to the
generator. There's the question of water, tree lines and when do
you actually plan to break ground on this new addition?
Mr. Gasser: I actually wrote down nine questions. I'd like to take that last one
first because we won't have any plans to do anything before our
honorable City Council tells us we can. I'm not sure exactly what
those timetables are. They have their own public hearings and
meetings so clearly nothing would happen in any way, shape or
form until that would take place. I believe I will get invited to that.
So we don't know. What is the benefit to Livonia? That was the
first question that came up and it's a good question. I'll tell you,
those of us who live and work on what is known as the Middlebelt
Road corridor . . .
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Gasser, I'm just going to ask that you try to direct your
comments towards us because we don't want to get into a
dialogue with the audience. Also, that way the camera gets your
best side.
Mr. Gasser: Not my bald side, right?
Mr. Wilshaw: They're very good at editing all that stuff out.
Mr. Gasser: Middlebelt Road corridor. As I said, I have worked on that
Middlebelt Road location for over 30 years. I've seen lots of
change to Middlebelt Road. Some has been positive; some has
not. I'm a 30 plus year Livonia resident myself. I live and work in
Livonia. Middlebelt Road is critical to the success and future of
Livonia. Any business who is willing to invest their own money on
Middlebelt Road for the improvement of a business on Middlebelt
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Road, that's an enormous benefit to Livonia who would not be
expected to provide any funding for that, yet has a vested interest
in seeing Middlebelt Road sustained and improved and viable.
And we need that for Middlebelt Road. The generator. First of all,
the generator is run once a week on Tuesday for an hour, and as
you reminded them, that's a requirement of licensure. We have
to make sure that generator runs. So we're talking one hour a
week that it runs. It is big enough. It was probably oversized. It
has a lot of excess capacity. So no plans to change the generator,
and that's a good thing because they're not cheap. I am unaware,
Question#3, of a 500 feet from our door requirement for smoking.
What's that requirement? I heard tonight that we are not abiding
by the 500 foot from our door requirement for smoking.
Mr. Wilshaw: I'm not sure what the state law is, but the issue as it was
addressed by the resident was that she knows you are staying
500 feet away from your door. She was saying that the smoking
area may not be 500 feet from her house. I don't know that's a
legal requirement that you do that. She's addressing it more as a
courtesy. She doesn't want to smell cigarette smoke coming into
her house.
Mr. Gasser: I'll have to get my tape measure out, but I would be very surprised
that it would be within 500 feet of anybody's door. I could be
wrong. I'd be happy to measure it and see what we can do about
it.
Mr. Wilshaw: Anything that probably keeps cigarette smoke from going into her
house is probably a good thing, regardless of what the distance
is.
Mr. Gasser: I couldn't agree more. Question #4. This is about the water issue.
Because I have been involved on that site since 1986, I will tell
you that 18 years ago the two-story building did not exist. That's
the 29711 Wentworth. It's adjacent to the one-story building
which is 29667 Wentworth. What was there at 29711 Wentworth
was a swamp with standing water year round. I will tell you that
because as a manager of a business adjacent to that swamp, it
bred enormous mosquitos. We had an incredibly terrible
mosquito problem. So bad that our residents could hardly go
outside in the summer months, especially at dusk when the
mosquitos would come out. So when we began doing that project
at 29711 Wentworth, actually, as soon as the soil borings were
done, it was determined that it was not stable ground to build a
building on. We actually had to excavate the swamp and take out
all that mucky swamp water and bring in fill dirt. So what we have
done along the way is eliminate a swamp and replace it with non-
January 10, 2017
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swampy dirt. Those aren't technical terms. That was Question#4.
Question 5, I just had to answer this one. A couple of people had
said, you know, what is he doing with his property. I don't own
this. We're a not-for-profit. I don't have a one percent interest in
this. I'm the manager. I understand that's semantics, but this is
not my property. I could resign from my employment tomorrow
and walk away and there would be no impact to my finances.
There never were any plans for a casino. I will tell you as a faith-
based organization, our residents have asked us to plan casino
trips, and our Board has not allowed that. So we can't even do
trips to the casino, much less build one.
Mr. Wilshaw: I think the actual question was a gazebo, not a casino.
Mr. Gasser: Oh. I'm sorry. A gazebo.
Mr. Wilshaw: Although a casino would be pretty surprising.
Mr. Gasser: We have a gazebo. Am I the only one who heard casino? Oh
wow, that didn't have anything to do with anything. I'm thinking,
wow, I could get in big trouble building a casino. So a gazebo.
We did build a gazebo. It was in honor of a family member who
passed away. They provided the funding. I'm going to say that it's
probably seven years old, six years old or something. We don't
have any plans to do any more. We don't hardly have the land to
put anymore gazebos up. Although the one that we have is used
a lot. People love it.
Mr. Wilshaw: There's no casino activity going on in the gazebo, is there?
Mr. Gasser: Well, that's an interesting concept. I can't believe I'm the only one
that heard that. No impact to the tree line on Wentworth, Question
#6. There is nothing planned for that tree line along Wentworth.
One thing that we probably need to do just because we want to
do that, is a couple of trees that we planted there back in 2008
didn't make it. So we will probably want to replace those. We did
that because we wanted to provide an adequate greenbelt for
those Wentworth neighbors. So if anything, that tree line will be
enhanced, not diminished. Question #7, the animals. We love the
deer too. Oh, the deer are so tame and so friendly. A couple
residents have put, I think there's just one right now, a salt lick, a
block of salt for the deer to lick, which brings the deer. Some
people will put out corn for the deer. But getting into the birds,
and we all love the birds, one of the simple pleasures for
somebody who is wheelchair bound who sits next to their window
for a good part of the day is bird watching, and we have lots of
birdfeeders outside our resident windows. And we do lots of bird
January 10, 2017
27973
feeding. The birds are very well taken care of on our campus. We
already addressed Question #8, when would this start. We would
be dependent upon City Council approval. Question #9 was a
repeat question about the drainage. Were there other questions
that I missed?
Mr. Wilshaw: I think you covered everything that I heard.
Ms. Smiley: Is there anything you can do about the generator exhaust? Have
you had it checked?
Mr. Gasser: We can have it checked to see if it's functioning properly.
Absolutely we can. It doesn't seem to be functioning differently
than when it was installed, but we can check to see if there has
been any issues with that. Certainly.
Ms. Smiley: We would greatly appreciate that.
Mr. Gasser: Okay.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any other questions for the petitioner? I think you've
covered everything Mr. Gasser. If we have no other questions, a
motion would be in order.
On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-01-2017 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 10, 2017, on
Petition 2016-11-02-21 submitted by Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas,
Inc., on behalf of Woodhaven Retirement Community, requesting
waiver use approval pursuant to Section 9.01(g) of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct
additions to the existing skilled nursing home at 29667
Wentworth, on property located on the south side of Wentworth
Avenue, west of Middlebelt Road in the Southeast 1/4 of Section
14, which property is zoned R-9 and OS, the Planning
Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that
Petition 2016-11-02-21 be approved subject to the following
conditions:
1. That the Architectural Site Plan marked AS.101, dated
November 22, 2016, prepared by Fusco, Shaffer& Pappas,
Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
2. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted
a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for deficient
January 10, 2017
27974
side yard building setback in the R-9 zoning district portion
of the project and any conditions related thereto;
3. That the Planting Plan marked L.101 and the Plant List &
Details Plan marked L.102, both dated November 22, 2016,
prepared by Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas, Inc., are hereby
approved and shall be adhered to;
4. That any of the previously planted trees along Wentworth
and any other location within the complex that have since
died shall be replaced;
5. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of
hydroseeding;
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;
7. That the Exterior Elevations Plan marked A.201, dated
November 22, 2016, prepared by Fusco, Shaffer& Pappas,
Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
8. That all light fixtures shall not exceed 20 feet in height and
shall be shielded to minimize glare trespassing on adjacent
properties and roadway;
9. 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; and
10. 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.
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use complies with all of the special and
general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth
in Sections 9.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543;
2. That the subject site has the capacity to accommodate the
proposed use; and
January 10, 2017
27975
3. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Taormina: If the maker of the motion may consider a friendly amendment
addressing the trees along Wentworth, and that would be to
replace any of the trees that were planted along Wentworth
previously that have since died. We could fashion some language
that refers back to a previous approval. If those trees have since
died, then they should be replaced.
Mr. Ventura: That is agreeable.
Ms. Smiley: Yes, thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
We appreciate all the comments and input from our audience.
That is all part of our record and will go on to City Council where
they will have a study meeting and a vote as well. Thank you very
much.
ITEM #2 PETITION 2016-12-02-22 LOS TRES AMIGOS
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016-
12-02-22 submitted by Los Tres Amigos requesting waiver use
approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of Livonia Zoning
Ordinance #543, as amended, to expand the food service
operation and Class C Liquor License of the restaurant (formerly
Outback Steakhouse) to include an outdoor dining patio and
exterior façade renovations at 29441 Five Mile Road within the
Mid-5 retail center, located on the southwest corner of Five Mile
and Middlebelt Roads in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 23.
Mr. Taormina: The improvements as part of this petition involve the former
Outback Steakhouse located at the Mid-5 shopping plaza at the
southwest corner of Five Mile and Middlebelt Roads. The
conversion of this restaurant to a new Los Tres Amigos restaurant
would occupy the same space where the former Outback
Steakhouse was located. The shopping center is about 9.5 acres
in size. It is zoned C-2, General Commercial. Altogether, the
January 10, 2017
27976
plaza is an L-shaped configuration with about 83,000 square feet
of useable area. Some of the major tenants in the plaza include
Great Lakes Ace Hardware, Fortune Buffet and Zeal Credit
Union. Outback originally received waiver use approval in July,
1994. It was approved with a total of 211 customer seats. The
submitted plan for Los Tres Amigos indicates that the new
restaurant will have 189 interior seats. Thus, it will actually have
fewer inside seats than what Outback had. However, what they
are adding is an outdoor patio with 68 seats. When you add that
to the 189, it brings the total to 257, which represents an overall
increase in seating as a result of the addition of the outdoor dining
patio. The patio would be located on the east side of the
restaurant, about 100 feet from Middlebelt Road. A portion of the
area where the patio would be located is currently used for
parking. This would result in the loss of roughly eight parking
spaces. The layout consists of a large concrete pad with the
dining area enclosed by a decorative fence. Covering the patio
would be an open trellis or pergola-type structure. Altogether, the
outdoor dining area measures roughly 1,876 square feet with
dimensions of 33.5 feet by 56 feet. The seating arrangement
includes 17 tables with four chair per table. The patio will be
located immediately to the east of the outside wall of the building.
The plan shows how the eight parking spaces would be removed
and a large concrete patio would go in its place. The patio would
actually extend beyond the area designated for dining, which is
enclosed by a fence. Some trees will be planted along the
perimeter of the dining area adjacent to the parking lot. The
fencing and pier detail is shown on the plan. A series of support
columns for the pergola would be mounted inside each one of the
piers, which would contain a cultured stone casing with a
limestone cap. A wrought iron railing would be located between
the piers, each of which would be about eight feet on center. A
potential outdoor feature would include a fireplace. We currently
don't have details on that particular element of the plan. It's
something that they're discussing. If it's desired, we can bring it
back or just have the Inspection Department review it as part of
their normal inspection process. When we look at parking, the
Mid-5 shopping center is classified as a group commercial center
with more than 15 percent of the shopping center devoted to
restaurant uses. As such, the parking requirement is one space
for every 125 square feet of useable floor area. The overall
requirement is then 533 parking spaces. The shopping center
currently has 477 parking spaces available, and it is deficient by
roughly 56 parking spaces. The deficiency would increase slightly
with the removal of eight parking spaces. The total available
would be 469, increasing the deficiency to 64. So unless those
eight spaces can be added elsewhere on the site, it will require
January 10, 2017
27977
Zoning Board of Appeals approval. We feel that there is probably
a place on the site where they can add those spaces and avoid
the need to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals, but we will work
those details out with the petitioner prior to going to City Council
if this moves forward. Looking at the design, the petitioner has
indicated that he is going to opt for the Elevation Scheme B,
which is the columns along the front of the building that would be
spaced a little bit wider than some of the other versions. But what
best illustrates or conveys what the building would look like when
it's completed is represented in the photograph of a similar
construction. In terms of the colors, the use of the cultured stone
along the piers and a portion of the façade of this building, the
metal tile that rings around it, the kind of mansard roofline or
along the center portion of the façade really, and then the stucco
or E.I.F.S. that is used for the top part — really shows the same
mix of materials as shown here would be used for the Livonia
store. The one difference is that this shows a wood railing fence
and the architect has indicated that has now been changed to
wrought iron fencing, which I believe will be nicer than what is
shown here. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the
departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: There are seven items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated December 12, 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 existing
property is assigned an address of#29441 Five Mile Road for the
entire parcel, with a range of#29441 to #29583 Five Mile Road
for the individual suites within the building. The legal description
included with the petition does not adequately describe the
parcel, and should not be used. The following description from
the original site plan submittal for the shopping plaza should be
used until a revised description can be completed by the owner:
That part of the northeast % of Section 23, T1 S, R9E, City of
Livonia, Wayne County, Michigan, described as beginning at a
point distant due West, 210.00 feet and S 0°23'11" E, 59.00 feet
from the N.E. % corner of said Section 23; thence due West,
125.03 feet; thence S 0°21'38" E, 1.00 feet; thence due West,
438.05 feet; thence along the east right-of-way line of Beatrice
Avenue due South, 548.73 feet and S 12°49'30" W, 63.86 feet;
due East, 456.07 feet; thence S 0°21'38"E, 0.98 feet; thence due
East, 335.30 feet to the east line of Section 23; thence along said
east section line N 0°23'11" W, 347.00 feet; thence due West,
60.00 feet; thence N 0°23'11" W, 115.00 feet; thence due West,
January 10, 2017
27978
150.00 feet; thence N 0°23'11" W, 151.00 feet to the Point of
Beginning except the east 60.00 feet for Middlebelt Road right-
of-way. Containing 9.53 Acres more or less. The existing building
is currently serviced by public water main, and storm and sanitary
sewers. The proposed building addition appears to be over an
existing private hydrant lead which will require the relocation of
the hydrant and lead. The owner will need to provide construction
drawings to this department to determine if permits will be
required, and to verify that hydrant coverage will be adequate.
Also, per Engineering Department standards, any new
construction is required to provide storm water detention in
accordance with the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. This
would include any new buildings or parking lot areas removed
and replaced due to construction activities." The letter is signed
by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second
letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated December
29, 2016, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the
site plan submitted in connection with a request to expand the
food service operation and Class C Liquor License of restaurant
(formerly Outback Steakhouse) to include an outdoor dining patio
and exterior facade renovations on property located at the above
referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal with
the following stipulations: (1) We request that the restaurant have
fire suppression throughout. (2) A Knox Box will be required on
the exterior of the building adjacent to the front entrance." The
letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter
is from the Division of Police, dated December 20, 2016, which
reads as follows: `/ 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 also from the Division of Police, dated December 27, 2016,
which reads as follows: "We reviewed the plans submitted by Los
Tres Amigos requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section
19.06 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended,
to expand the food service operation and Class C Liquor License
of the restaurant (formerly Outback Steakhouse) to include an
outdoor dining patio and exterior facade renovations at 29441
Five Mile Road, within the Mid-5 retail center, located on the
southwest corner of Five Mile and Middlebelt Roads in the
northeast quarter of Section 23. After reviewing the plans with the
Chief of Police, we have no objections to the waiver being
granted, contingent that the petitioner complies with installing a
barrier preventing vehicles from penetrating patio and patrons
and installs exterior surveillance cameras to record the patio and
surrounding area. Also, contingent that the petitioner complies
with:All State Laws, City Ordinances, Stipulations and conditions
set by the Livonia Police Department, Liquor Investigation Unit,
January 10, 2017
27979
as approved by the Chief of Police, Stipulations and conditions
set by the Traffic Bureau of the Livonia Police Department. We
are available to provide any additional information you may desire
on this subject." The letter is signed by Jeffrey W. Ronayne,
Special Services Bureau. The fifth letter is from the Inspection
Department, dated January 10, 2017, which reads as follows:
"Pursuant to your request, the above-referenced petition has
been reviewed. The proposed outside patio decreases the
current number of parking spaces. A variance from the Zoning
Board of Appeals would be required to maintain the deficient
number of parking spaces. This Department has no further
objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna,
Assistant Director of Inspection. The sixth letter is from the
Treasurer's Department, dated December 9, 2016, which reads
as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's
Office has reviewed the address connected with the above noted
petition. At this time, there are no outstanding amounts receivable
for taxes. Therefore, I have no objections to the proposal." The
letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The seventh letter is
from the Finance Department, dated December 12, 2016, which
reads as follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with
the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts
receivable, general or water and sewer, I have no objections to
the proposal." The letter is signed by Coline Coleman, Chief
Accountant. That is the extent of the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Seeing none,
would the petitioner please come forward. We will need your
name and address for the record please.
Wisnu Harnsakunatai, 52537 Wessex Way, Shelby Township, Michigan 48316.
You can call me Wis. I'm an architect and represent Los Tres
Amigos. If you have any questions on the design or anything else.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for the petitioner's representative?
Mr. Long: I have a few questions. On the floor plan, last week at the study
session you talked about cutting down the outside patio area and
you were going to go from 80 to 48 seats. Now we're up to 68.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: The client said that maybe we can put the seat right
underneath the canopy.
Mr. Long: Does that affect your ability to have a wait station out there?
January 10, 2017
27980
Mr. Harnsakunatai: The wait station will be inside at the same location. Two of
them there. I have two of them, the wait station right inside the
door.
Mr. Long: I see them. And that will be sufficient to handle the outdoor and
the indoor?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Yes.
Mr. Long: With the parking layout, the handicapped spaces, how are
vehicles going to access the handicapped? Is there going to be a
driveway in between the patio and the spaces there?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: No. It is existing where I try to show where I took the existing
out. The aisle will be wider and just come in that area.
Handicapped is not really required for the building, but I decide to
put it in there.
Mr. Long: I understand what you're saying now with the dotted lines. That's
the existing and so that's what is coming out.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Yes.
Mr. Long: I apologize for not seeing that before.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: And I try to reduce and get away from the fire hydrant there
so I can keep it the way it is. We don't have to touch anything in
that area.
Mr. Long: Thank you.
Ms. Smiley: You said you're not going to move the fire hydrant'?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: No. The fire hydrant will stay the same way, the way it is.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Does the barrier go all the way around?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: That is correct.
Ms. Smiley: And it's wrought iron and stone.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Yes. Wrought iron and stone. I believe that when you have a
liquor license area, we have to enclose the outdoor seating and
we do provide a gate.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. But the gate only goes out. You can't go in through the
gate, correct?
January 10, 2017
27981
Mr. Harnsakunatai: It goes out.
Ms. Smiley: So they have to come in through the front where the tower is.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: That is correct, yes. That's the entrance.
Ms. Smiley: And then they go through the restaurant and then outside.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Correct.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Did you decide about televisions?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: The television will be in the center of the bar. The owner tells
me what they want to do. They want people to sit around the bar.
Ms. Smiley: It would be terrible to eat without watching TV.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Do you want to put the TV all around . . . out in the dining
area? He said he was going to put it around the dining area too.
Ms. Smiley: So inside around the bar there's going to be a TV and then
outside there's going to be a TV?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Yes. That's right.
Ms. Smiley: Are you going to have music and other stuff going?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Music. Probably just typical like Mexican music, light music to
get the feel of Mexican.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: I believe the petitioner was indicating that TVs would be around
the inside dining area. I don't know if there's any indication that
they're going to be on the outside. Is that correct, Wis?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: What is that?
Mr. Wilshaw: Are the TVs going to be on the outside dining area or the inside
dining area?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Inside dining area, not outside. In the building along the wall.
Just like a normal sport bar that you see in the center of the bar
itself and around it. Five or six locations. That's it.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions?
January 10, 2017
27982
Mr. Ventura: I'm looking at the patio plan and I'm looking at what I assume are
deciduous trees ringing the patio?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Yes.
Mr. Ventura: Are there any other plantings there, any ground plantings?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: At this time, it's hard to maintain. I did not plan to use it so
people can walk along the patio and we tried to put in the
furniture, the bench so they can sit down.
Mr. Ventura: So the area that the trees are planted in is concrete?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: All concrete. It's like a normal walk.
Mr. Ventura: Don't you think that you'd like to screen the patio area from the
parking with some plants?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: I may want to do that. I'll have to see the budget. Can we
screen with bushes?
Mr. Ventura: Something like grasses would do a good job.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: The grass is difficult to cut.
Mr. Ventura: No, no. I mean tall grasses, decorative grasses.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: I'm thinking about that. Maybe we go to the site plan and
maybe the landscape architect may help do that.
Mr. Ventura: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Priddy: Mine is sort of similar to Mr. Ventura's. The police were talking
about barriers to keep cars out of the patio. Does that change
your design at all, like are the posts designed to keep .. .
Mr. Harnsakunatai: We can put bollards along the curb, maybe one or two, and
put some lights in there.
Mr. Priddy: Is it obtrusive or is it sort of blended into the landscaping?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: We can do that, blend it into the landscaping. Yes.
Mr. Priddy: So it would be similar to what you've drawn up already?
January 10, 2017
27983
Mr. Harnsakunatai: That's correct. Yes. Two feet, one foot, just like a bollard so
they know that they won't go through. I don't really like to put
bumper block. Sometimes it can damage the car.
Mr. Priddy: Right, that's why I was wondering.
Mr. Harnsakunatai: That's where the bushes come from, the plan, to screen out.
Engineering wants us to do the detention pond, detention water.
We don't have any room and if we have to do that, then we have
to do underground detention. That costs a lot of money -
$200,000, $300,000. I wasn't sure that the client wants to really
put it in. So the best way to do it, if we get approved, and I have
to talk to the engineer maybe. Do I have to talk to the Engineering
Department for what the requirement is?
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, you would talk to the Engineering Department. They can
help you with that. Are there any other questions for the
petitioner? Hearing none, is there anybody in the audience that
wishes to speak on this item?
Joseph Roose, 15608 Hidden Lane, Livonia, Michigan. Good evening. I'd like to
say to the petitioner that my wife and I are looking forward to his
restaurant being completed and we plan to come over and
patronize. I think that it would be a nice business to invigorate that
shopping area. The businesses that are there are doing well I
think. We shop there as much as we can, but the addition of the
restaurant on the corner, it would be a nice replacement for what
was there. I would ask the Commissioners to please look at the
possibility though that they may be playing loud music in this
outdoor area that may impact the residents that live right behind
the commercial areas. If they have hours on the weekend,
especially where they're open until after 11:00, 12:00 who knows
1:00, that they may be playing loud music until then that could be
heard in the neighboring blocks there. I just ask you to look at that
please.
Mr. Wilshaw: We appreciate that. Are there any other comments that you
have?
Mr. Roose: No, that's all. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for coming forward. Seeing no one else coming
forward, does the petitioner have anything else that you'd like to
add?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: We don't really play loud music. It's just nice music, just nice
and soft music. You don't have to worry about that one.
January 10, 2017
27984
Ms. Smiley: What will be your hours of operation?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Mr. Wilshaw: And that will be for the outdoor patio as well?
Mr. Harnsakunatai: Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw: Seeing no more questions, a motion would be in order.
On a motion by Priddy, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-02-2017 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 10, 2017, on
Petition 2016-12-02-22 submitted by Los Tres Amigos requesting
waiver use approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance#543, as amended, to expand the food
service operation and Class C Liquor License of the restaurant
(formerly Outback Steakhouse) to include an outdoor dining patio
and exterior façade renovations at 29441 Five Mile Road within
the Mid-5 retail center, located on the southwest corner of Five
Mile and Middlebelt Roads in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 23,
which property is zoned C-2, the Planning Commission does
hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-12-02-
22 be approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the Overall Site & Floor Plan marked Sketch No. SK-1
dated January 6, 2017, prepared by Hans & Associates, is
hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
2. That the maximum number of customer seats shall not
exceed a total of two hundred two hundred and fifty-seven
(257) seats, including one hundred eighty-nine (189) interior
seats and sixty-eight (68) outdoor patio seats;
3. That unless eight additional spaces can be provided on site,
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 type, sizes or quantity of the plant materials to be
planted along the outside edge of the patio shall be installed
to the satisfaction of the Planning and Inspection
Departments and thereafter permanently maintained in a
healthy condition;
January 10, 2017
27985
5. That a barrier preventing vehicles from penetrating the patio
and exterior surveillance cameras to record the patio and
surrounding area be installed to the satisfaction of the Police
Department;
6. That any outdoor speakers and/or sound equipment,
including televisions, shall not be heard beyond the property
lines of the shopping center at any time the equipment is in
use;
7. That all light fixtures shall be aimed and shielded to minimize
stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into
adjacent roadways;
8. That any form of outdoor advertising or signage shall be
prohibited on any of the patio structures, including the
fencing, canopy/pergola, seating and tables, without the
prior written approval by the City of Livonia Inspection
Department;
9. That the Elevations Plan marked Sketch No. SK-3 dated
December 5, 2016, prepared by Hans & Associates, is
hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
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 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;
12. That the Petitioner shall be allowed either a single wall sign
or two (2) wall signs per the variance granted in Appeal
Case No. 9412-152, and any additional signage shall be
separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning
Board of Appeals;
13. That no LED light band or exposed neon shall be permitted
on this site including, but not limited to, the building or
around the windows; and
15. 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.
}
January 10, 2017
27986
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use complies with all of the general
waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in
Section 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance#543; and
2. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Taormina: If you might consider some supplemental language to condition
#3 addressing the parking and that would read, "unless eight
additional spaces can be provided on site, this approval is subject
to the petitioner being granted a variance from the Zoning Board
of Appeals." I just want to make it clear that if he can provide
those eight spaces, there won't be a need to get a variance.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is the maker fine with that?
Mr. Priddy: Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw: And the supporter is okay with that?
Mr. Ventura: Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #3 PETITION 2016-12-02-23 STABLES BAR
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016-
12-02-23 submitted by the Stables Bar requesting waiver use
approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of Livonia Zoning
Ordinance #543, as amended, to expand the existing food
service operation and Class C Liquor License of the existing bar
and grill to include an outdoor dining patio at 14950 Middlebelt
Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road between
Jamison Avenue and Five Mile Road in the Northwest 1/4 of
Section 24.
January 10, 2017
27987
Mr. Taormina: This petition involves a similar request for an outdoor dining patio
at the Stables Bar which is located at the east side of Middlebelt
Road between Jamison Avenue and Five Mile Road. The bar
itself is located on a parcel that is about half an acre in size with
200 feet of frontage along Middlebelt and a depth of 110 feet. The
Stables Bar also maintains a second parcel, which they refer to
as an auxiliary parking lot, and that is located further south of the
main property at the northeast corner of Middlebelt and Jamison
Avenue. This property is about 0.4 of an acre in size with 150 feet
of frontage on Middlebelt and the same depth, 110 feet. Located
between the two (2) properties owned by the Stables Bar is a 40-
foot wide parcel that is occupied by a single business, Craftsman
Shoe Repair. All the properties involved in this petition are zoned
C-2, General Business. To the north, south and the west are
commercial land uses, but immediately abutting the property to
the east are single family homes located along Cavour Avenue.
The area of the new patio would be located on the south side of
the existing bar and would result in the loss of six existing parking
spaces, as well as a portion of the six-foot wide concrete walkway
that runs along the south side of the building. The bar's main
entrance is located on the west side of the building facing
Middlebelt Road. The six spaces that are being removed would
be replaced elsewhere on the site, including three new spaces
striped along the front of the restaurant and then three additional
spaces that would be located behind the bar along the site's east
property line parallel to an existing masonry screen wall that
separates the commercial property from the adjoining residential
properties. Looking at the area of the patio, it encompasses about
1,300 square feet. Its dimensions are 35 feet by roughly 37.5 feet.
The seating arrangement shown on the plan includes tables and
chairs with the capacity to accommodate roughly 30 patrons. The
required parking is based on the number of interior and exterior
seats as well as the number of employees. Altogether, it requires
66 parking spaces, and the site plan shows a total of 67 parking
spaces, including the 32 spaces that are on the main lot and then
the auxiliary lot provides an additional 35 spaces. Altogether,
there are 67 parking spaces, and even with the increase in patio
seating, they meet the Zoning Ordinance requirements. The
outside borders of the patio where it abuts the parking lot will have
a wrought iron fence supported by 3.5-foot high brick clad
masonry piers with limestone caps. The fencing would be located
around the perimeter of the outdoor patio. The piers would be
spaced roughly every eight feet. Additional fabric awnings would
be provided along the south side of the building very similar to
what is provided on the west side of the building. There is some
landscaping shown around the site that includes some potted
January 10, 2017
27988
plants being located along the perimeter as well as some
additional trees and shrubs placed around the edge of the patio.
We don't have any specifics on the type of plant materials, just
an indication from the petitioner that they would like to provide
some level of planting to help buffer and soften the appearance
of the patio. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the
departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: There are seven items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated December 13, 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 subject
property is assigned the addresses of#14950 Middlebelt Road
for the existing building, and #14940 Middlebelt Road for the
abutting parking area. (The auxiliary parking lot is assigned the
address of #14920 Middlebelt Road.) The legal description
included with the submitted site plans appears to be correct for
the combined parcels of the existing building and abutting parking
area, and should be used in conjunction with the petition. The
existing building is currently serviced by public water main,
sanitary sewer and storm sewer. Should renovations to the
building require alterations to the existing services, drawings will
need to be submitted to this department to determine if permits
will be required." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E.,
Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire
& Rescue Division, dated December 16, 2016, which reads as
follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in
connection with a request to expand the existing food service
operation and Class C Liquor License of the existing bar and grill
to include an outdoor dining patio on property located at the
above referenced address. We have no objections to this
proposal with the following stipulation: Existing commercial
kitchen hood and duct fire suppression shall comply with NFPA
96 and be a UL 300 system." The letter is signed by Keith Bo,
Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of
Police, dated December 22, 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 also from the
Division of Police, dated December 27, 2016, which reads as
follows: "We reviewed the plans submitted by the Stables Bar
requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the
City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to expand
the existing food service operation and Class C Liquor License of
January 10, 2017
27989
the existing bar and grill to include an outdoor patio at 14950
Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road,
between Jamison Avenue and Five Mile Road, in the northwest
quarter of Section 24. After reviewing the plans with the Chief of
Police, we have no objections to the waiver being granted,
contingent that the petitioner complies with installing a barrier
preventing vehicles from penetrating patio and patrons and
installs exterior surveillance cameras to record the patio and
surrounding area. Also, contingent that the petitioner complies
with:All State Laws, City Ordinances, Stipulations and conditions
set by the Livonia Police Department, Liquor Investigation Unit,
as approved by the Chief of Police, Stipulations and conditions
set by the Traffic Bureau of the Livonia Police Department. We
are available to provide any additional information you may desire
on this subject." The letter is signed by Jeffrey W. Ronayne,
Special Services Bureau. The fifth letter is from the Inspection
Department, dated January 10, 2017, which reads as follows:
"Pursuant to your request, the above-referenced petition has
been reviewed. (1) This plan does not make provision for a
dumpster enclosure. The existing dumpster and grease container
are currently unscreened. The Commission and/or Council may
wish to address this. (2) The protective wall located on the east
side of the property is damaged and will need repair or to be
replaced as needed. This Department has no further objections
to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director
of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. The sixth
letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated December 12,
2016, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request,
the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the address connected with
the above noted petition. At this time, there are no outstanding
amounts receivable for taxes. Therefore, I have no objections to
the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer.
The seventh letter is from the Finance Department, dated
December 12, 2016, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the
addresses connected with the above noted petition. As there are
no outstanding amounts receivable, general or water and sewer,
I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by
Coline Coleman, Chief Accountant. That is the extent of the
correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Seeing none,
is the petitioner here? We will need your name and address for
the record please.
Joseph Philips, Joseph Philips-Architect, L.L.C., 921 Wing Street, Plymouth,
Michigan. Good evening. This is Ron Abraham, the business and
property owner. I'm the architect working on the property. We
fi
January 10, 2017
27990
thank you for the opportunity to be in front of you this evening.
Mr. Taormina did a pretty good job of stealing most of my fire, but
I will tell you that here on the patio, the intention is to create a little
bit of an environment outside with a little more greenery. If you've
been to The Stables, you've probably noticed that it's a pretty
clean operation but there is not a blade of green on there. So
we're hoping to change that a little bit. One of the walks in front
of the patio is intended to provide an entrance from the parking
area so that even going inside, you experience part of the patio
area that's out there. There is a total of three trees and I think
there's about seven shrubs that go around. The intention is to
have some tables with umbrellas. As was mentioned with the last
petition, no intention for signage on the umbrellas, on the fencing,
or on the piers, just strictly construction. There is a proposal to
have a fire pit in a central position. There is a thought towards
putting a service station outside. Even with 30 people I think the
frequency of going in and out for a glass of water or napkins or
whatever is going to mandate that we have something out there
and that would be removed during the winter months, and there's
a canopy that would go over that to match the canopies that are
on the front of the bar.Also, the patio area will be entered through
the bar itself. You have to go inside to go outside. There will be
two emergency gates in case there's anything that should happen
for fire code for a reason to get out if you needed to. And again,
all of those would be metal material, and as was mentioned
before, brick piers with limestone caps. With that, if there are any
questions, I'd be glad to answer the parts I can and Mr. Abraham
will be glad to answer the parts he can.
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina does have a habit of stealing the petitioner's
thunder, but you did a nice job of supplementing that. Are there
any questions for the petitioner?
} Ms. Smiley: What are your plans for the dumpster?
Ronald Abraham, The Stables Bar, 14950 Middlebelt, Livonia, Michigan 48154.
What are my plans to enclose it? That's a good question. I don't
have any plans to enclose it but if I need to enclose it, I will.
Mr. Philips: If I could just make a comment about that. For those of you who
may have visited the site, you can see in the area where the
dumpster is, one of the walls is back a little bit. It is the entrance
as people come in and a car pushed that back. As you would do
in a normal enclosure in there, what you would see is probably
the front of wood gates or synthetic wood gates. The intention is
to repair the wall that's there, but what we would propose instead
of an enclosure that you might normally want to see on a regular
January 10, 2017
27991
piece of property, is something that could be repaired and
replaced, something that would be more like fence post
construction with wood gates, which is primarily what you would
see from the street, and then screen gates on the side or screen
fencing on the side. The view that you get of that from the
adjacent properties is very minimal. I have some photos that I
took up and down if I could pass those along so you can take a
look and see if you agree or disagree. The thought is that if we
do masonry, we're going to end up constantly replacing it and you
know how replacement is. If you've been to his site, you'll see
how impeccable he keeps it. It just would be a tremendous
expense. I anticipate that cars will continue to go forward in that
manner. I don't think we have a problem with screening it. We
would just ask for some consideration on what you might normally
want as far as a cast concrete or brick dumpster enclosure.
Ms. Smiley: Is that allowed?
Mr. Wilshaw: I don't think we've ever allowed anything other than a masonry
enclosure that I can recall. Mr. Taormina, do you know if we've
ever allowed anything other than a masonry enclosure for a
dumpster?
Mr. Taormina: Typically, when a dumpster is part of new construction, we like to
see those match the materials on the building. We have worked
with pre-existing commercial property owners to have all types of
accessory items screened, whether it's dumpsters or grease
traps or other outside appliances, using a variety of materials,
including vinyl-type fencing. But in almost all cases, it has to be
of a solid construction. Whenever we allow materials other than
masonry, we usually required that bollards be installed in order to
protect those items. If you're inclined to approve an alternative
material such as vinyl fencing, we can recommend what it should
look like. In fact, we did this recently on an older commercial
center as part of some renovation work. But there would have to
be a steel-type of gate, not a wood gate, and also with some
bollards. I think that would address his concerns as well as meet
the intent of the ordinance which is to properly screen these areas
from public view.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. I think based on that information, we do have as part of our
approving resolution a requirement that the dumpster be
screened. When the motion is made, we'll leave that up to them
to decide if they want it to be masonry or use one of these
alternative materials. Are there any other questions?
Ms. Smiley: I have a question about the wall. What is the plan for that?
January 10, 2017
27992
Mr. Abraham: I'm going to fix it in the spring. This will be the third time I've had
to fix that wall.
Mr. Philips: I think it's probably limited to that one wall that is pushed in four
or six inches and then some stone caps or concrete caps on
there. Other than that, I think it's in fairly good condition.
Ms. Smiley: The Inspection Department will probably help you decide if it's in
good enough condition. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: The pictures that are coming around do also show the damage to
the wall. Thank you for providing those.
Mr. Ventura: Mr. Philips, if you were to do a masonry wall, why would you not
put bollards there to protect it? Is there a problem with that?
Mr. Philips: The ones that I've seen, once they pick up some steam they may
not go in the area where the bollards are. They may go between
it because it's wide enough for the truck and forks to go in, but it's
just the mass of what's there and the repair of it. In all sincerity, II
the lack of where you would view that more substantial material.,
it would be the people going to those couple parking spaces in
back. It's just something that even if we made it a nice brick
enclosure, there's no point where you view it from substantially.
Mr. Abraham: Can I add something to that?
Mr. Ventura: Sure.
Mr. Abraham: The other problem that we have to address is that where the
dumpster is, is a drive-thru, both for my customers and my
delivery trucks. So if I bring this enclosure out too far, I not only
have to worry about my customers, I've got to worry about the
delivery trucks because it's a narrow driveway. I don't have a
whole lot of room there. You can probably look at it in the pictures.
Mr. Ventura: I've been there and I understand it is tight, but any enclosure that
you put there is going to constrict you at that point.
Mr. Abraham: I haven't really addressed it yet.
Mr. Ventura: I'd leave it to Mr. Philips to figure out what the least intrusive might
be.
January 10, 2017
27993
Mr. Philips: I do know that if it was done in masonry, it would be larger just
from the pure dimension of the wall thickness. I can't tell you that
10 inches more is going to make a difference, but it may.
Mr. Ventura: So your solution is to get a screen there and minimize the
constriction at that point.
Mr. Philips: And acknowledge the fact that it will be damaged. The one other
thing that I wanted to mention is the patio area itself may be
diminished in size. What we haven't had the opportunity to do is
run a delivery truck back there yet. So if that corner is too tight,
we would in fact want to make the enclosure slightly smaller.
We're assuming that wouldn't be a problem with you, but we
wanted to let you know that's a possibility.
Mr. Wilshaw: That's correct.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, if you had to reduce the size of the patio, if it's a small
reduction, I don't think that will cause any major issues.
Mr. Ventura: You mentioned at the study session that you would be flexible
with regard to hours and light intrusion and sound.
Mr. Philips: With the neighbors?
Mr. Ventura: Yes. What does flexible mean? How does that get implemented?
Mr. Abraham: Let me give you an example. Suppose I play the music at 11:00
at night. The City comes by and say we had a complaint about
your music. I would address it by either getting rid ofthe music or
closing early.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against this item? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the
public hearing and ask for a motion.
On a motion by Long, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-03-2017 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 10, 2017, on
Petition 2016-12-02-23 submitted by the Stables Bar requesting
waiver use approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to expand the
January 10, 2017
27994
existing food service operation and Class C Liquor License of the
existing bar and grill to include an outdoor dining patio at 14950
Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road
between Jamison Avenue and Five Mile Road in the Northwest
1/4 of Section 24, which property is zoned C-2, the Planning
Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that
Petition 2016-12-02-23 be approved subject to the following
conditions:
1. That the Existing & Proposed Site Plan marked Sheet No.
P1 dated December 7, 2016, as revised, prepared by
Joseph Philips-Architect, L.L.C., is hereby approved and
shall be adhered to;
2. That the Enlarged Proposed Patio Plan & Elevations marked
Sheet No. P2 dated December 7, 2016, as revised,
prepared by Joseph Philips-Architect, L.L.C., is hereby
approved and shall be adhered to;
3. That the maximum number of customer seats shall not
exceed a total of one hundred thirty (130) seats, including
one hundred (100) interior seats and thirty(30) outdoor patio
seats;
4. That the hours of operation of the outdoor patio shall be
limited from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Sunday through
Thursday, and 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., Friday and
Saturday;
5. That a barrier preventing vehicles from penetrating the patio
and exterior surveillance cameras to record the patio and
surrounding area shall be installed to the satisfaction of the
Police Department;
6. That the type, sizes or quantity of the plant materials to be
planted along the outside edge of the patio shall be installed
to the satisfaction of the Planning and Inspection
Departments and thereafter permanently maintained in a
healthy condition;
7. That there shall be no outdoor speakers or sound
equipment, including televisions, allowed at any time;
8. That all light fixtures shall be aimed and shielded to minimize
stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into
adjacent roadways;
January 10, 2017
27995
9. That any form of outdoor advertising or signage shall be
prohibited on any of the patio structures, including the
fencing, seating and tables, without the prior written
approval by the City of Livonia Inspection Department;
10. 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;
11. That the site's trash dumpster and grease container shall be
fully enclosed using materials, at the discretion of the
Planning and Inspection Departments, that complement the
building. The enclosure gates shall be of solid panel steel
construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel fiberglass,
shall be maintained, and closed at times when not in use;
12. That the protective screen wall along the site's east property
line shall be repaired to the satisfaction of the Inspection
Department;
13. 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;
14. That no LED light band or exposed neon shall be permitted
on this site including, but not limited to, the building or
around the windows; and
15. 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.
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use complies with all of the general
waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in
Section 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543; and
2. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended.
January 10, 2017
27996
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Long: I would add to that under the materials that complement the
building, at the discretion of the Planning Department or the
Engineering Department. Mr. Taormina, which department?
Mr. Taormina: Planning and Inspection Departments.
Mr. Long: I'd like to add that into Condition #11.
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Abraham, do you have a question?
Mr. Abraham: I do. My question is, why are you limiting my hours of operation
on the patio where I have to close at 10:00? Maybe I heard you
wrong.
Mr. Long: The resolution did state that it would be approved if we limited the
hours during the week to 10:00 p.m. and on the weekends to
midnight.
Mr. Abraham: Is there a reason for this?
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Abraham, the motion is subject to the whim of the maker. If
he would like to have these restrictions in here, he can propose
those, which he has. It's up to the rest of this body to decide if
they want to agree with that and approve it or not. You'll also have
an opportunity at the City Council to address this item as well.
Mr. Abraham: No, I'm just wondering, is this just something for the Stables Bar
or is this something for each patio that goes up in Livonia'?
Mr. Long: Each patio is considered individually on its own merit based upon
proximity to housing, residences and other businesses. This is an
advisory resolution. City Council will ultimately make or break the
decision on that. I understand what you said earlier about if you
are having a problem with the neighbors or the police, you're
going to adjust things. Working in conjunction with the Planning
Department and with other city departments, this was kind of a
parameter that we came up with that we thought was good and
reasonable for that specific location.
Mr. Abraham: I don't have a problem limiting my hours, but closing at 10:00 p.m.
during the week is a little difficult. Closing at 11:00 p.m. or 12:00
p.m. on the weekend is not difficult.
January 10, 2017
27997
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Abraham, normally we don't allow discussion at this point.
Once the motion's been offered, it's for us to vote on the motion
and move on.
Mr. Abraham: That's fine. Thank you. I just had a question. That's all.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for asking your question. I think you heard our
response. With that, if there are no other comments from the
Commission, a roll call would be in order on the approving
resolution.
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
By the way, good luck with your patio. I hope everything works
great with that.
Ms. Smiley: Would you like your pictures back'?
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for providing those.
ITEM #4 PETITION 2016-12-02-24 TOWN GRILL
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016-
12-02-24 submitted by Medi Brian Cacani requesting waiver use
approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of Livonia Zoning
Ordinance#543, as amended, to increase the seating capacity of
a previously approved limited service restaurant (formerly
Carlton's Coffee House) into a full service restaurant (Town Grill)
at 17162 Farmington Road within the Burton Hollow Plaza
shopping center, located on the east side of Farmington Road
between Six Mile Road and Curtis Avenue in the Southwest 1/4
of Section 10.
Mr. Taormina: This request is to increase the seating capacity of a previously
approved restaurant located at the Burton Hollow shopping plaza
on the east side of Farmington Road just north of Six Mile Road.
This property altogether is a little over four acres in size. The
zoning is C-1, Local Business. The shopping center is roughly
50,000 square feet. The main tenant is the Secretary of State.
Other major tenants include Golden Gifts Jewelers, Spartan
Barbers, Subway, Baskin-Robbins and then several other
tenants. The C-1 district only allows for limited service restaurants
seating up to 30 persons. Full service restaurants, on the other
hand, which you find in our C-2 zoning districts, do not limit the
amount of seating. A little bit about the history of this particular
space. It was in 2013 when the City Council granted waiver use
January 10, 2017
27998
approval to Carlton's Coffee House with a condition that the
seating capacity be limited to 30 persons. Carlton's only operated
for a few months. The space has since been empty. The current
petitioner would like to reopen the establishment in the form of a
coney island restaurant with a total of 72 seats. There is a special
provision under Zoning Ordinance Section 19.06 where Council
can waive or modify any special requirements of a waiver use by
the adoption of a separate resolution. When we look at other past
cases involving increasing the seating capacity beyond 30 within
a C-1 district, there are at least three previous instances. In 2007,
this was done for the Qdoba restaurant located at Six Mile and
Newburgh. In 2013, Sheesh restaurant located at Five Mile and
Newburgh was approved for a total of 80 seats, and then again
in 2013, Council approved an increase of seating to 52 at the Blue
Plate Diner on Seven Mile Road. So it's not without precedence
that the Council has approved an increase in seating beyond the
30 seat limitation for these limited service restaurants, in select
cases. The proposed restaurant would occupy an interior unit
within the complex facing Farmington Road. The space is
between the Secretary of State and the Spartan Barber Shop. It's
about 2,500 square feet. The restaurant would have food and
beverage items available both as a dine-in and on a carry-out
basis. The floor plan is what you would expect in terms of the
layout of a restaurant of this nature with the dining located in the
front part of the restaurant and the kitchen and other service
areas at the rear. Again, the seating arrangement includes tables
and chairs, booths as well as counter stools for a total of 72 seats.
There would not be any outdoor seating nor would there be any
exterior building modifications. They would be allowed one wall
sign not to exceed 25 square feet. In terms of parking, Burton
Hollow plaza is classified as a Group Commercial Center. Parking
is based on a ratio of one space for every 150 square feet of
useable floor area. When you apply that standard, the plaza
requires a total of 169 parking spaces. That does not include the
adjacent Abbey Flooring & Design. Currently, the site has only
138 parking spaces, so there is a deficiency of 31 parking spaces,
but as everyone knows, adjacent to this site Abbey Flooring
provides an additional 58 parking spaces. If you look at what the
ordinance requires for Abbey, that's a total of 38 spaces. In
discussing this with the owner of that adjacent business, for all
practical purposes, they only need about 10 spaces for both their
customers and employees. Thus, it would be possible for up to
48 spaces to be available for the shopping plaza but that would
have to be subject to a cross access and parking agreement, 20
of which could be used to satisfy the requirements of the Zoning
Ordinance. Since the study meeting, this was brought to the
petitioner's attention. He did approach the owner of Abbey
January 10, 2017
27999
Flooring & Design. You should have correspondence in your
packets dated yesterday which addresses this issue indicating
that they are in the final throes of putting an agreement together
that would make a total of 48 parking spaces available for the
shopping center plaza. So that helps address the parking
concerns that we've had at the plaza given the fact that there are
two separate owners. Currently, the plaza has two other
restaurants, Pan Pan, which is strictly a carry out, and then the
Subway restaurant that has seating for 30. With that, Mr.
Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: There are six items of correspondence. The first item is from the
Engineering Division, dated December 16, 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 legal
descriptions included with the submitted drawings appear to be
correct and should be used in conjunction with this petition. The
existing parcel is assigned the addresses of 17176 Farmington
Road for the overall parcel, with the addresses of 17126 thru
17176 Farmington Road and 33250 thru 33288 Six Mile Road
assigned to the individual units within the plaza. The existing
building is currently serviced by public water main, sanitary sewer
and storm sewer. Should renovations to the building require
alterations to the existing services, drawings will need to be
submitted to this department to determine if permits will be
required." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant
City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire &
Rescue Division, dated December 16, 2016, which reads as
follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in
connection with a request to expand the existing limited service
restaurant into a full service restaurant on property located at the
above referenced address. We have no objections to this
proposal with the following stipulations: Commercial kitchen
Hood and Duct fire suppression shall be a UL 300 system and
comply with NFPA 96." The letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior
Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated
December 22, 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 January 10, 2017, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to
your request, the above-referenced petition has been reviewed.
(1) The landscaping and curb at the south drive off Farmington
Road needs repair. (2) The parking on this property needs
January 10, 2017
28000
addressing. There does not appear to be enough parking spaces
for this property, and it overflows to the property to the north. A
cross parking agreement between properties may address this
problem. This Department has no further objections to this
petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of
Inspection. The fifth letter is from the Treasurer's Department,
dated December 21, 2017, which reads as follows: "In
accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has
reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. At
this time there are Current and Delinquent Personal Property
Taxes due, as shown below. Amounts Due: $272.90 for 2015—
If paid by 01/31/2017— Delinquent; $119.32 for 2016 Summer If
paid by 01/31/2017 — Delinquent; $122.26 for 2016 Winter -
Current if paid by 2-14-17. The above amounts due (with interest
due through December) were paid in full on December 20, 2016.
Therefore, I have no objections to this proposal at this time as
there are no outstanding amounts receivable for taxes."The letter
is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The sixth letter is from the
Finance Department, dated December 16, 2016, which reads as
follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the
above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts
receivable, general or water and sewer, I have no objections to
the proposal." The letter is signed by Coline Coleman, Chief
Accountant. We received an email, dated January 9, 2017, from
the owner of Abbey Flooring, which reads as follows: "Pleased be
advised that PRC Properties, L.L.C. (owner of the property
located at 17200 Farmington Road) is in the process of
formalizing a reciprocal easement agreement with Farmington
Six L.L.C. (owner of the Burton Hollow Shopping Center located
immediately south of PFC's property) which will provide for the
non-exclusive use of 48 parking spaces of PFC's property by
Farmington Six's tenants. The 10 spaces immediately in front of
the 17200 Farmington Road building will be reserved exclusively
for use by customers of the building's tenant (Abbey Flooring &
Design). We anticipate that the formal agreement will be
completed within the next 30 days. PFC Properties is satisfied
that it will be provided with reasonable compensation for such
parking lot use. Accordingly, PFC Properties, L.L.C. and its
tenant, Abbey Flooring & Design, have no objection to the
proposed addition of a full service restaurant in the space
immediately adjacent to the current Secretary of State office
subject to the final execution of the agreement." The email is from
Ed Barann, Abbey Flooring & Design. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director?
January 10, 2017
28001
Ms. Smiley: So it is the owner of the shopping center that is getting the parking
spaces. It's not this tenant that has to get the spaces from Abbey
Flooring.
Mr. Taormina: Yes.
Ms. Smiley: The Secretary of State uses a whole lot of the parking.
Mr. Taormina: That is true. By and large the demand for parking is driven largely
by the Secretary of State. However, because it's a multi-tenant
complex, we don't want to differentiate necessarily between
people that are going there to park and use the Secretary of State
versus people going there to use other businesses.
Ms. Smiley: Thank you.
Mr. Caramagno: Mark, the cross-parking agreement with Abbey Flooring, this just
makes it formal because the parking spots are being used now
for all purposes, aren't they?
Mr. Taormina: That is correct. It makes it formal.
Mr. Caramagno: It doesn't add any more parking spaces for this facility.
Mr. Taormina: It does not.
Mr. Caramagno: It just makes it formal. Okay. I wanted to make sure I was clear
on that. The other thing was, the curb that needs to be fixed on
the south side of the property. Again, how do we hold Burton
Hollow Plaza liable to make sure that gets fixed or is the
restaurant liable to get that fixed?
Mr. Taormina: You can make that a condition of the approval of this restaurant
that it be done to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department
since it was noted in their report.
Mr. Caramagno: By the plaza, though, not the restaurant.
Mr. Taormina: That is correct. Well, that will be between the tenant and the
shopping center owner. He is here this evening so he can
address that issue. I'm not sure what the specifics are regarding
the landscaping and curb, but that's something that can be
worked out more than likely between the owner of the plaza and
the Inspection Department.
Mr. Caramagno: Thank you.
January 10, 2017
28002
Mr. Wilshaw: Any other questions? Is the petitioner here this evening? We
will need your name and address for the record please.
Stephen Kwasnik, Architectural Intelligence, P.O. Box 20914, Ferndale, Michigan
48220. I am the architect for the project. As was addressed in the
preliminary explanation, we are seeking a waiver use pursuant to
Section 19.06 as defined in Section 2.08(21). We are looking for
waiver use based on parking but the owner of the shopping center
is here and they do have a cross parking agreement that is nearly
in place. That will be worked out based on the email that was read
to you. We feel that the additional parking that will be provided to
us is more than adequate for the restaurant as well as the rest to
the center because I think it was mentioned that we were 20 some
spaces deficient. I came up with a little different number for Abbey
Flooring. I physically counted the spaced. With the exception for
the north end of the property, it looks like it was perpendicular
parking but then they changed it to parallel parking along the
north property line just because of how the driveway situation is,
but I come up with 65 spaces that's there. If Abbey needs 10 or
12 spaces, then we've got 45, 47 additional spaces that we can
cross reciprocate to the shopping center. What we're looking for
as a hardship, we're looking for the waiver use because being the
original coffee shop had 30 seats, the full service restaurant
cannot operate economically on only 30 seats based on the rent
that he's paying and the cost of the business. He needs to
generate x number of dollars and when we calculate it out. That's
why we're looking for the additional seating to make the business
sustainable.We think the additional seats is not a negative impact
on the center or the surrounding area.
Mr. Wilshaw: It's possible that we will have some questions for you or the
operator of the restaurant. Are there any questions for the
petitioner?
Mr. Ventura: Can you tell me how long a lease the tenant is signing?
Mr. Casini: A ten year lease.
Mr. Ventura: And approximately just in round numbers, what kind of an
investment are you making in the improvement of the restaurant?
Abraham Casini, 17162 Farmington Road, Livonia, Michigan. I can give you a
close idea.
Mr. Ventura: That's good enough.
January 10, 2017
28003
Mr. Casini: In keeping with what the other coffee house had, between 20 or
30.
Mr. Ventura: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Kwasnik: We do have the property owner here if you have any questions
for the landlord.
Mr. Caramagno: Sir, tell us the hours of the restaurant again. What are they going
to be, days of the week?
Mr. Casini: The only one I know for sure is 7:00 in the morning. It could be
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. It depends.
Mr. Caramagno: Seven days?
Mr. Casini: Yes. On Sunday, 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Caramagno: How are you going to keep the people from the front of your store
on Saturday morning?
Mr. Casini: They're going to come and get something to eat.
Mr. Caramagno: You've obviously been there. You've seen their line-up around
the building. It looks like they're passing out honey baked hams
they're lined up so far. You won't be able to even see your
building there in the morning. How are you going to keep that door
Mr. Casini: They can see inside.
Mr. Caramagno: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Kwasnik: We foresee the business with the traffic from the Secretary of
State, that he actually doesn't need any other customers than
what is there coming to the Secretary of State. As you know, the
only real peak time for the Secretary of State is Saturday morning
and you've got the last couple days of the month when everyone
is trying to get their license. I've done some time lapse photo
studies in certain parts of the day. If you go there at 11:00 in the
morning or at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon, it's not too bad.
It's just that peak time at the end of the month or 4:30 p.m. to 5:30
p.m. is a little bit of peak time, but the biggest is Saturday
morning. That is by far the biggest peak time.
Mr. Caramagno: The daunting crowd. I wish you the best.
January 10, 2017
28004
Mr. Casini: Because of the crowd, that's why I wanted the location because
of that, the people are there. That's the only reason I fell in love
with the location.
Ms. Smiley: Did you have other locations?
Mr. Casini: Not no more.
Ms. Smiley: But you used to?
Mr. Casini: Yes.
Ms. Smiley: Thank you.
Mr. Casini: Korca's on Five Mile was mine. I sold it. I had five, six different
places before.
Mr. Wilshaw: I don't know if you've ever seen those backpack coffee dispenser
things, but you might want to get one of those and just walk the
line. It might be an idea for you. Is there anyone in the audience
wishing to speak on this petition? We have the landlord coming
forward.
Steven Cohen, Burton Hollow Plaza L.L.C., 2856 Anchor Avenue, Los Angeles,
California 90064. I grew up with the center. My family has owned
it for a good part of 30 years, and we've seen a lot of
transformation over the years and have actively navigated the
tenancy from the drugstore to now the Secretary of State and
many others. We appreciate all the general support we've had
and been happy to be a part of the City of Livonia for many years.
We try to keep the center in good upstanding condition. If there is
something with a curb, which is the first I've heard of it, we'll be
happy to address it. We did a series of concrete curb repairs this
summer along with re-striping and sealing to keep it looking fresh.
And then we put up some fresh building holiday lights this year
again, so we try to keep it to be a nice marquis center in the
community. So we're happy to comply with that. I respectfully
request your support of this. I've gotten tremendous positive
feedback from many of the current tenants and even some of the
customers around that I've been talking to. I've been in town for
a few days. I think it would be a well welcomed real restaurant.
You'll get a proper meal in the neighborhood.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Cohen. Are there any questions for Mr. Cohen?
Thank you for coming here tonight and addressing those issues.
Your center has definitely been there a long time but also as you
said, it's been well maintained and always has a nice
January 10, 2017
28005
appearance. It certainly Is doing very well for a strip center in this
city. I'm sure largely due to the presence of the Secretary of State.
So it's nice to see these other businesses supplement and
complement that business as well.
Mr. Cohen: Yes. I think all the tenants in a way stand on their own. Golden
Gifts is a tremendous business for the community, not a typical
strip center business. The quality of their establishment
surpasses most.
Mr. Wilshaw: And Spartan Barber has been there forever and others.
Definitely.
Mr. Cohen: I have leases back to the 70's still from them.
Mr. Wilshaw: Seeing no one else coming forward, I will close the public hearing
and ask for a motion.
On a motion by Caramagno, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#01-04-2017 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 10, 2017, on
Petition 2016-12-02-24 submitted by Medi Brian Cacani
requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the
City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to increase
the seating capacity of a previously approved limited service
restaurant (formerly Carlton's Coffee House) into a full service
restaurant (Town Grill) at 17162 Farmington Road within the
Burton Hollow Plaza shopping center, located on the east side of
Farmington Road between Six Mile Road and Curtis Avenue in
the Southwest 1/4 of Section 10, which property is zoned C-1, the
Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City
Council that Petition 2016-12-02-24 be approved subject to the
following conditions:
1. This approval is subject to a legal and binding cross-access
parking agreement between the owner(s) of the shopping
center and owner(s) of the abutting property to the north,
17200 Farmington Road, currently occupied by Abbey
Flooring & Design. The agreement shall give notice and
outline the terms of how the subject properties will share
parking, access and maintenance;
2. This approval is subject to City Council modifying the
requirement specified in the C-1 zoning waiver use
regulations that restricts the seating capacity of a restaurant;
January 10, 2017
28006
3. That the maximum customer seating count for this
restaurant shall not exceed seventy-two (72) seats;
4. 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;
5. That no LED light band or exposed neon shall be permitted
on the site including, but not limited to, the building or around
the windows; and
6 That the issues as outlined in the correspondence dated
January 10, 2017, from the Inspection Department
regarding the landscaping and curb repair at the south drive
off Farmington Road shall be resolved to that department's
satisfaction.
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use complies with all of the special and
general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth
in Sections 10.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543;
2. That the subject site has the capacity to accommodate the
proposed use; and
3. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Caramagno: Did we talk about the curb? Is the curb repair in the resolution?
Mr. Wilshaw: You may want to add that?
Mr. Caramagno: Let's add that to the resolution that the petitioner will fix the curb
in line with the letter that was submitted by the Inspection
Department.
Mr. Cohen: Given the time of the year, can we have some leeway until the
spring to do that?
January 10, 2017
28007
Mr. Wilshaw: Sure.
Ms. Smiley: Yes. Tonight would be a bad night.
Mr. Wilshaw: I think that's reasonable. So we will add that the items mentioned
in the Inspection Department's report be fixed to their satisfaction.
Does the maker and seconder agree to that?
Mr. Caramagno: Of course.
Ms. Smiley: Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #5 PETITION 2016-11-08-14 MYSTIC CREEK CONDOS
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2016-
11-08-14 submitted by Leo Soave requesting approval of the
Master Deed, bylaws and site plan pursuant to Section 18.62 of
the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in
connection with a proposal to construct a site condominium
development (Wayne Road Condominiums) at 18000, 18040 &
18080 Wayne Road, located on the east side of Wayne Road
between Six Mile Road and Curtis Road in the Southwest 1/4 of
Section 9.
Mr. Wilshaw: This item was tabled at a prior meeting. Do we have a motion to
remove the item from the table?
On a motion by Long, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-05-2017 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby
recommend that Petition 2016-11-08-14 submitted by Leo Soave
requesting approval of the Master Deed, bylaws and site plan
pursuant to Section 18.62 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance
#543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to construct a
site condominium development (Mystic Creek Condominiums) at
18000, 18040 & 18080 Wayne Road, located on the east side of
Wayne Road between Six Mile Road and Curtis Road in the
Southwest 1/4 of Section 9, be removed from the table.
Mr.Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
January 10, 2017
28008
Mr. Wilshaw: We'll go to Mr. Taormina. This item did not get the full
presentation last time, so we'll let him do it this time.
Mr. Taormina: This is a request for approval of the Master Deed, bylaws and site
plan for a new single family site condominium development that
is on the east side of Wayne Road between Six Mile Road and
Curtis Avenue. The zoning of the properties that are involved in
this petition are R-4, One Family Residential. The R-4 zoning
district requires a minimum lot area of 11,700 square feet per lot
with minimum lot dimensions of 90 feet in width by 130 feet in
depth. The project area measures roughly 5.95 acres. Looking at
the adjacent properties and zoning classifications in the area, to
the north, south and west are all similar zoned properties under
the R-4 zoning category and developed residential homes.
Immediately to the east of this property is a drainage course that
also borders Heiman Park, which is zoned PL, Public Lands. This
is a proposal for conventional site condominiums that would
consist of a total of 13 lots or units. All 13 of the units would front
on a proposed new public road that would extend from Wayne
Road approximately 460 feet in an easterly direction and then
turn south and proceed another 200 feet ending in a T-designed
turnaround. The proposed road would be located within a 60-foot
wide public right-of-way. Originally, the plan showed a 50-foot
right-of-way, so it has been increased to 60 feet. The site is made
up of portions of three acreage parcels, all of which contain
existing single family homes. Two of those existing homes
identified on the plans as 18040 and 18080 Wayne Road, will be
removed. The other house at 18000 Wayne Road will remain on
a downsized lot. All 13 condominium lots, including the one I just
referenced, shown on the plans as Parcel C, would meet or
exceed the R-4 district requirements. The minimum required
setbacks for homes in the R-4 district is 40 feet for the front yard,
35 feet for the rear yard, and 10 feet for the side yards. Units 1
through 13 show side yard setbacks from Wayne Road of 30 feet.
In cases where there's a corner lot, the minimum setback along
the adjacent road is 21 feet. So that too complies with all the
setbacks. The development as it's shown complies with all of the
height, area and bulk standards of the R-4 district including the
width of the road right-of-way. In terms of storm water
management, that would be handled using an open system that
consists of a forebay, which helps treat the storm water, and then
a detention basin which holds the water before being released at
a controlled rate and discharging into the creek. You'll notice that
portions of Units 4, 5, 6 and 7 fall within a designated flood plain
There is also a narrow fringe of wetlands that runs along the creek
bed; however, neither the flood plain nor the wetlands would be
January 10, 2017
28009
impacted by any portion of the development. The plans show a
five foot wide sidewalk being installed along the north side of the
right-of-way. Typically, we have sidewalks on both sides of a
road, but because of the limited access here with only 13 lots, in
reviewing this with the Engineering Division, they felt that
sidewalk on only one side of the road would suffice. They did not
see the need for sidewalks on both sides. The Petitioner is here
this evening. I'm going to let him discuss the type of homes that
are being considered for this site. We do have some photographs
of some of the homes that the petitioner has constructed at other
locations within southeast Michigan. He would like to build similar
homes as part of this development. With that, I can read out of
the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: There are seven items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated December 29, 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 development at this time. The existing
properties are assigned the addresses of #18000, #18040 and
#18080 Wayne Road, from the southerly parcel to the northerly
parcel. The legal descriptions included with the petition appear to
be correct for the northerly two parcels (#035-99-0018-001 &
#035-99-0019-001), but the southerly parcel(#035-99-0020-001)
does not close and will need to be corrected should the project
move forward. The proposed condominium legal description does
address the mis-closure error and should be used for the
proposed project. The changes to the plans have incorporated
our previous comments, and appear to be in conformance with
Engineering Department standards. The submitted drawings do
indicate a general proposed layout and calculations for the future
utilities, but until we have full engineering drawings, we are
unable to determine if the sizing will be appropriate, or if there will
be negative impacts to the existing systems. We will provide
comments for these systems once we have a chance to review
the full engineering drawing submittal." The letter is signed by
David Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is
from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated December 29,
2016, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the
revised plans submitted in connection with a request to construct
a condominium development 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 November 29, 2016, which
reads as follows: "I have reviewed the plans in connection with
January 10, 2017
28010
the petitions. I have no objections to the proposal.
Recommendation: Install a stop sign on the proposed road for
westbound traffic, entering onto Wayne Road." The letter is
signed by Brian Leigh, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter
is from the Inspection Department, dated January 10, 2017,
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,
Director of Inspection. The fifth letter is from the Treasurer's
Department, dated November 16, 2016, which reads as follows:
"In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has
reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. At
this time, there are no outstanding amounts receivable for taxes.
Therefore, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is
signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The sixth letter is from the
Finance Department, dated November 21, 2016, which reads as
follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the
above noted petition. As of today, November 21, 2016, there is
an outstanding water bill in the amount of$808.11 for the service
address 18040 Wayne Road." The letter is signed by Coline
Coleman, Chief Accountant. I don't know whether or not that has
been paid yet. Lastly, we have an email correspondence from
Jack D'Antonio, 35232 Bennett Street, dated January 9, 2017,
which reads as follows: "I am writing you to express my concerns
regarding the planned condominium development in Section 09
located east of Wayne and south of Curtis. My home is situated
at 35232 Bennett, which is located on the south edge of this
project. Currently, my family enjoys very scenic views and an
abundance of wildlife to the rear of our home, as this area is
undeveloped. I have concerns regarding car headlights filling my
home with light as they travel south and east on the proposed
Milana Drive. My home is located directly south of where the
street is slated to end. I would respectfully request that the
developer, Leo Soave, plant an adequate amount of trees along
the south edge of this project to reduce this negative impact on
my property. A combination of a small berm with trees may also
be a viable solution. In addition, the elevation on this proposed
development is significantly higher than my property, as well as
my neighbor's property to my east and west. I am again making
a request to have the developer grade his project to the north to
limit the amount of water that flows south into our yards.
Currently, our yards flood at times, and it takes many days to
drain. Fortunately, the water that floods our yards is rain water
that contains little or no chemicals because the land is not treated
with pesticides. With the addition of a dozen or so homes, I do
not want the drainage from those properties heading onto our
lots. I understand that there is a planned detention basin, but I
January 10, 2017
28011
would respectfully request the assurance that the elevation is
sloped away from our fence line." That is the extent of the
correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for the Planning Department? Hearing
none, is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name
and address for the record please.
Enrico Soave, 37771 Seven Mile, Suite C, Livonia, Michigan 48152. Good evening
everyone and Happy New Year as well. I'm here on behalf of the
petitioner. Once again, thanks Mark for your detailed
presentation. A couple corrections on the site plan. The proposed
street name is Milana Drive, and it's no longer Wayne Road
Condominiums. That was the preliminary name. It's Mystic Creek
Condominiums. Mark did show on the screen some proposed
homes that would have similar elevations that we intend on
building there, which meet or maybe exceed the brick
requirements - I believe 65 percent on multi-story dwellings and
80 percent on ranches. Square footages - 2,800 square feet
would be the minimum for a multi-story unit, which would be first
floor, master or a colonial as well, and ranches would be a
minimum of 2,200 square feet at this juncture. I'd like to take any
questions the Commission may have this evening.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions from the Commissioners'?
Ms. Smiley: Did you say you're going to start at 2,800 square feet'?
Mr. Soave: Twenty eight is the minimum.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Twenty eight.
Mr. Soave: Twenty eight hundred. Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw: Twenty-eight hundred for colonials and 2,200 for ranches. Any
other questions, Ms. Smiley?
Ms. Smiley: No.
Mr. Caramagno: Enrico, are you going to put up a monument sign for Mystic Creek
Condos at the entrance?
Mr. Soave: There will be an entrance sign, yes.
Mr. Caramagno: Where is that going to go?
January 10, 2017
28012
Mr. Soave: It will either be on the north or the south. We were debating that
but the plan has changed now. We're eliminating both of those
residences. So most typically it would probably be at this juncture
either north or south - one of those two houses depending upon
where the infrastructure would be less intrusive.
Mr. Caramagno: Okay. Are these all condos?
Mr. Soave: Well, they're site condominiums.
Mr. Caramagno: But they're all considered the same thing?
Mr. Soave: They are all part of one development. There's not any land splits
to be outside of the community. They are all part of the
condominiums. So there will be 13 units.
Mr. Caramagno: I was just paging through some of these things, the condominium
bylaws and things. One of them says there's only nine condos.
That must have been something originally?
Mr. Soave: That was the purpose of tabling it. We polished up this site plan
with the department heads for various reasons and all interested
parties decided this was the best for that area and with the larger
right-of-way which was a concern from the Engineering
Department.
Mr. Caramagno: So it was early on in the process?
Mr. Saove: Correct. Originally it was nine plus the outlots.
Mr. Caramagno: Okay.
Mr. Long: Are you agreeable to screening off the end of Milana Drive as the
one resident on Bennett said to try to mitigate the headlights
going into his property?
Mr. Soave: Yes. Jack's a very tough negotiator but we caved in and said we'd
put a landscaped screen wall to help block car traffic, lighting,
etc., from being intrusive on his own property.
Mr. Long: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against this petition?
Jack D'Antonio, 36232 Bennett, Livonia, Michigan. You read my letter. One of my
primary concerns was the screening issue. I also have a couple
January 10, 2017
28013
questions for Enrico regarding the detention basin. Is that going
to be a dry basin where it drains completely and doesn't hold any
water or is it a perma pool where it's going to be subjected to hold
some amount of water that may become stagnant and mosquito
ridden?
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. D'Antonio, if you could just address the questions to us, we
will definitely make sure they get answered by the petitioner.
Mr. D'Antonio: Okay. Well, that's my question. What type of basin is it going to
be because I'm concerned with the amount of geese that come
to that property. I don't want there to be standing water and then
defecating in there and it becomes an issue with smells and
odors. That's going to be literally 50 feet from my house and my
deck.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any other questions?
Mr. D'Antonio: Yes. I'm looking at lighting. Is the street proposed to have street
lights or is it going to remain like an option for the residents to
choose if there's going to be street lamps or not? Like right now,
we have a real country atmosphere. It's dark. I know with the
addition of the homes there's going to be light from the homes,
but my street on Bennett, right now, currently has very limited
street lamps and adds to the neighborhood without all the artificial
lighting. So I want know if that's an option to where the condo
residents can elect not to have street lamps.
Mr. Wilshaw: We'll check into that for you.
Mr. D'Antonio: Okay. And lastly, the detention basin. My neighbor to the west of
me has a small child. Is that going to be any danger? Is there
going to be a fence around this or is it just simply going to be
sloped and seeded? I can't really envision what it's going to look
like until it's actually there, but I have concerns with what looks to
be a pretty large detention basin. It's going to end up directly
behind my home. So I want to know how that's going to be
constructed and maintained.
Mr. Wilshaw: We'll ask for a little bit more explanation of that, but typically what
happens with detention basins is it depends on the slope of the
basin. If it's within a certain angle, if it's a shallow enough slope,
it does not need to be fenced. If it's a steeper slope, it does need
to be fenced. So we'll certainly get that addressed as well as we
talk about these items.
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28014
Mr. D'Antonio: Okay. Lastly, I have one other question. He said the colonials
begin at 2,800 square feet. What's the largest home that could
potentially be built back there?
Mr. Wilshaw: We can find out based on the envelope, but yes, they would start
at 2,800 for colonials, 2,200 square feet for a ranch-style home.
My guess is most of them will probably be colonial just based on
what we see around the city.
Mr. D'Antonio: Well, that's all I have. If those issues can be addressed, I'd
appreciate it.
Mr. Wilshaw: We will ask the petitioner. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Lindsey Kubitskey, 35244 Bennett, Livonia, Michigan. I'm Jack's neighbor to the
west. I have similar concerns about the lighting coming down the
street. The grading of the property is also a concern. My backyard
floods. It's flooded now. It will be flooded tomorrow. So I just want
to make sure that we can actually address the concern of it to
make sure that it's useable. Basically, I lose half my backyard
anytime it rains because of the grading the current lot has. So if
we can make sure that happens. I was also wondering if we could
know like the potential break ground. I know it would depend on
obviously decisions here and the expected timeline for
completion just because I have another child on the way. I have
a small child and another one on the way, and so constant
construction noise is not going to be a big fun thing for me at that
time. And the standing water and the mosquitos. Right now
because my backyard floods all the time, I have them. If we can
make sure we address that with the basin, be it dry or standing
water, however it turns out to be. I want to make sure we can kind
of figure those things out.
Mr. Wilshaw: Understood. Thank you, ma'am. Is there anyone else in the
audience wishing to speak? Seeing no one else coming forward,
Mr. Soave, if you'd like to come back. You've heard a number of
questions asked tonight. Would you like to address some of
these?
Mr. Soave: Yes, certainly. Where do I begin? The detention basin is always
a popular item of concern, mostly because people don't have
much experience with them, and it's an engineering concept that
the developer is not very fond of because they are very costly.
This retention basin appears to be very shallow. You probably
can't see the numbers, but in looking at it previous to this meeting,
I think the low water level is probably about 3 feet, 4 feet different
from the high water level, which is top of grade, which is a shallow
January 10, 2017
28015
pond. We always strive to engineer a dry well. I know that's over
Wayne County objection sometimes, which is always fun dealing
with engineering, as Mark knows, but we always like to create a
dry pond rather than engineering it the whole four or five inches
of water which Wayne County requirements like to see. So our
intention is just to be a dry pond to help alleviate a lot of those
concerns. In developments you set minimums. You don't really
set maximum house sizes. Usually building envelopes, zoning
and setbacks kind of takes care of that in and of itself. We can't
give a maximum. It's just whatever. If someone wants a house
there, it would be the maximum allowable per the building
envelope and lot coverage, the actual size of the lot.
Mr. Wilshaw: Do you have a feel in general of what the typical house size would
be on these lots?
Mr. Soave: I'm guessing for colonials, first floor masters, cape cods, between
2,800 to 3,200 is what feedback or what people calling us
inquiring about this development would like to see there. Maybe
there's a few retirees, people that left Livonia and now want to
move back to Livonia would want a ranch. So it would be a good
mixture I believe. I think that was a few of their concerns.
Mr. Wilshaw: There was a question about lighting.
Mr. Soave: We're opposed to the installation of lighting even though I believe
the requirements are for street lighting. Correct me if I'm wrong,
Mark. I don't recall what the actual requirements are, how many
lights per lineal feet of street coverage there, but we're definitely
amenable to deleting the street lighting from this development. I
know it's only 13 homes and the south remains a private park. I
think it would be an addition to the neighborhood not to have
street lighting, but that's something that the Commission and the
City Council could address and has the authority to eliminate.
Mr. Wilshaw: But you're proposing to have street lighting'?
Mr. Soave: The last time I checked, the ordinance required it. Am I correct
or incorrect, Mark? We don't want them.
Mr. Taormina: Again, I can't tell you where and how many street lights would be
required. Typically, that is determined by the City Engineer, and
the Council can waive or modify those requirements, which they
often do. In fact, Mr. Soave has been involved in two such recent
projects along Seven Mile near Merriman Road where it was the
desire at those locations to provide just entry lighting at the main
road to be able to see the entrance drive. In both cases, no other
January 10, 2017
28016
street lights were provided within the interior of the development.
I expect that a similar request will be made for this project to
possibly only have one or two streetlights along Wayne Road to
illuminate the entranceway.
Mr. Wilshaw: That makes sense. Okay. Very good. Thank you.
Ms. Smiley: The question about the grading. Do you know what the grading is
there? Is this property above the homes on Bennett?
Mr. Taormina: At this stage, we don't have all the information as it relates to the
surrounding area. We have some information on the existing
grades as well as some preliminary grading information including
the detention basin. It appears that some of these homes will sit
up higher than the grades that exists there today to make the
project work with respect to drainage and utilities. The pond will
have a lower elevation than many of the surrounding properties.
So I think when this goes to final design and review by our
Engineering Division, they will make sure that no part of the
drainage from this site enters onto the adjacent properties and,
where possible, they will facilitate better drainage off those
properties and maybe towards this detention basin. In looking at
it, I don't see where that's going to be insurmountable. It's
something that our Engineering Division is going to have to
review. There may have to be some work done by the adjoining
property owners in order to make it work. As I was having this
discussion with Mr. D'Antonio, if there is for some reason a slight
rise in elevation on his property line that prevents proper drainage
towards the basin, then that may need to be corrected. It may be
that he has to work a separate deal out with the developer or do
the work himself, but I see this as being non-impactful on the
adjoining properties in terms of drainage, just given the
information that we see now.
Ms. Kubitskey: Thank you very much. That's what I wanted to hear.
Mr. Soave: If I may, Mr. Chair, add to that point?
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, go ahead, Mr. Soave.
Mr. Soave I've been involved in a lot of different developments over the
years, and I've rarely seen where a development of homes
exacerbates the water runoff to adjacent communities. Sound
engineering principles provide when you develop a project you're
required to retain your own storm water and your runoff,
especially in a rural environment like this when you come in and
actually put sound engineering principles on how to collect and
January 10, 2017
28017
retain water. It actually improves the drain from surrounding
neighbors because right now this is in a stagnant undeveloped
and rough state. So I think it's actually going to improve their
actual water retention issues that they may be experiencing in
Nottingham Woods, the adjacent subdivision.
Ms. Kubitskey: Thank you.
Mr. Taormina: Mr. Chairman, if I may continue some of the discussion related to
the detention basin. The question regarding whether or not there
will be permanent standing water as part of the design, as Mr.
Soave indicated, it may not be his desire to have that situation
occur, but there are many factors that go into it aside from the
design - the composition of the soils, the slope, what he needs to
do to get the water to drain properly down toward the creek. So
to the extent that there may be some standing water in that basin,
we do have language in the approving resolution that addresses
the issue of mosquito control. As far as fencing is concerned, it
was pointed out that it depends on the slope of the basin. They're
showing generally 1 on 6 side slopes here, which typically does
not require fencing. But that would not preclude the adjoining
homeowners from installing fences on their property where it
borders this development for added safety. I just wanted to point
that out.
Mr. Wilshaw: I do appreciate you mentioning that part of our approving
resolution does talk about a mosquito control program. Typically,
if there is standing water, the Developer will be required to have
a program where they use dunks and other things in the water to
help control the mosquito population.That's important. There was
a question, Mr. Soave, in regard to the timeline of this project. Do
you have a sense of when you're looking to break ground?
Mr. Soave: Spring of this year.
Mr. Wilshaw: How long do you think these lots will be on the market in terms of
getting developed?
Mr. Soave: Best estimation probably half these homes will be built by the end
of this year. At least half these homes, I think, will be constructed
by this time next year.
Mr. Wilshaw: So you're expecting this development to go pretty quickly.
Mr. Soave: Correct. From the feedback we're receiving, yes.
January 10, 2017
28018
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. And that, of course, is a very subjective kind of question
in the sense that you don't really know what the market holds, but
right now things seem to be going fairly well in the housing market
in this area, and there's a demand for luxury homes in this area.
So it's obviously why you're doing this. Correct?
Mr. Soave: Right. There's a limited amount of vacant lots in northwest
Livonia. We're hoping for a good year and no unfortunate
incidents this year either worldwide that may impact it.
Mr. Wilshaw: Exactly. Hopefully, there won't be any mortgage meltdown.
Right?
Mr. soave: Or terrorist attacks.
Mr. Wilshaw: Exactly. Are there any other questions for the petitioner at this
point? If not, a motion would be in order.
On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-06-2017 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby
recommend to the City Council that Petition 2016-11-08-14
submitted by Leo Soave requesting approval of the Master Deed,
bylaws and site plan pursuant to Section 18.62 of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with
a proposal to construct a site condominium development (Mystic
Creek Condominiums) at 18000, 18040 and 18080 Wayne Road,
located on the east side of Wayne Road between Six Mile Road
and Curtis Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 9, be approved
subject to the following conditions:
1. That the Master Deed and bylaws complies with the
requirements of the Subdivision Control Ordinance, Title 16,
Chapter 16.04-16.40 of the Livonia Code of Ordinance, and
Article XX, Section 20.01-20.06 of Zoning Ordinance #543,
and that all building and use restrictions shall incorporate the
following requirements:
• That the first floor of each condominium unit shall be
brick or stone on all four (4) sides;
• That the total amount of brick or stone on each two-story
unit shall not be less than 65% and not less than 80% on
one-story dwellings;
• That all exterior chimneys shall be brick;
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28019
2. That the brick used in the construction of each condominium
unit shall be full face four-inch (4") brick;
3. In the event of a conflict between the provisions set forth in
the Master Deed and Bylaws and the requirements set forth
in the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as
amended, the Zoning Ordinance requirements shall prevail
and the Petitioner shall comply with the Zoning Ordinance
requirements;
4. That this resolution shall in no way prevent or discourage
the Petitioner from seeking approvals, either by way of
variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals or a waiver for
a Planned Residential Development pursuant to Section
20.02A of the Zoning Ordinance, for the purpose of reducing
the front yard setbacks of the homes in order to preserve
additional open space and construct homes of a size and
with amenities commensurate with market demand;
5. That the Petitioner shall include language in the Master
Deed and Bylaws or a separate recordable instrument
wherein the condominium association shall reimburse the
City of Livonia for any maintenance or repair costs incurred
for the storm water detention/retention and outlet facilities,
and giving the City of Livonia the right to impose liens on
each lot owner's property pro rata and place said charges
on their real estate tax bills in the event said charges are not
paid by the condominium association (or each lot owner)
within thirty (30) days of billing for the City of Livonia;
6. That the Site Plan marked Sheet 1, dated December 19,
2016, prepared by Arpee/Donnan, Inc., is hereby approved
and shall be adhered to;
7. That only a conforming entrance marker placed within an
easement established for such purpose is approved with this
petition, and any additional signage shall be separately
submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of
Appeals;
8. That the Petitioner shall secure the necessary storm water
management permits from Wayne County, the City of
Livonia, and/or the State of Michigan;
9. That the Developer shall submit for approval an ongoing
mosquito control program, as approved by the Department
of Public Works, describing maintenance operations and
January 10, 2017
28020
larvicide applications to the City of Livonia Inspection
Department prior to the construction of the storm water
retention facility;
10. That the Site Plan referenced in this approving resolution
shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time
the building permits are applied for;
11. That landscaping and a possible berm shall be constructed
to screen adjacent homes from light intruding on their
properties, subject to the approval of the Planning and
Engineering Departments; and
12. That all required cash deposits, certified checks, irrevocable
bank letters of credit and/or surety bonds which shall be
established by the City Engineer pursuant to Article XVIII of
Ordinance No. 543, Section 18.66 of the ordinance, shall be
deposited with the City prior to the issuance of engineering
permits for this site condominium development.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Ventura: I'd like to add Item 12 that addresses the construction of a berm
and planning area at the end of the street to screen adjacent
homes from light intrusion. I'll leave that addition up to you and
Mr. Soave to determine the specific language.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for adding that additional item, Mr. Ventura, as well. I
think that was very important that we add that.
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
Thank you for coming in tonight, and thank you to the residents
as well for speaking on this item.
ITEM #6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,098TH Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of
the Minutes of the 1,098th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting
held on December 13, 2016.
On a motion by Long, seconded by Priddy, and unanimously adopted, it was
January 10, 2017
28021
#01-08-2017 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,098th Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on December
13, 2016, are hereby approved.
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Long, Priddy, Ventura, Caramagno, Wilshaw
NAYS: None
ABSENT: McCue
ABSTAIN: Smiley
Mr.Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,099th Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on January 10, 2017, was adjourned at 9:46
p.m.
CITY PLA ING COMMISSION
Sam Caramagno, Secretary
ATTEST:
Ian Wilshaw, Chairman