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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUBLIC HEARING - 2019-01-07 - REZONING - PET. 2018-10-01-09 CITY OF LIVONIA PUBLIC HEARING Minutes of Meeting Held on Monday, January 7, 2019 ______________________________________________________________________ A Public Hearing of the Council of the City of Livonia was held at the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, January 7, 2019. MEMBERS PRESENT: Laura Toy, President Jim Jolly, Vice President Scott Bahr Brandon Kritzman Kathleen McIntyre Brian Meakin MEMBERS ABSENT: Cathy White OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Taormina, Director of Economic Development Paul Bernier, City Attorney Bonnie J. Murphy, CER-2300, Certified Electronic Recorder The Public Hearing was called to order at 7:32 p.m. with President Laura Toy presiding. This is a Public Hearing on Petition 2018-10-01-09 submitted by Livonia Hotel Group, L.L.C., to rezone the property located on the west side of Victor Parkway between Seven Mile and Pembroke Avenue, in the Southeast ¼ of Section 6, from C-2 (General Business) to C-4-1 (High Rise Commercial – Maximum 6 stories). The Public Hearing is now open. There were eleven people in the audience. Toy: Mr. Taormina? Taormina: Thank you, Madam President. This is the site of the former Doc’s Sport Retreat located on the west side of Victor Parkway just north of Seven Mile Road. This property is about 3.2 acres in area. currently zoned C-2, General Business, the proper zoning classification for the former restaurant. The plans moving forward, however, are to redevelop the site with a hotel. And under the C-4 zoning, hotels are treated as a permitted use. The Zone 1 designation as proposed would require that the buildings be over two stories in height, with a maximum of six stories in height. Immediately to the north of the subject property are similar zoned sites, C- 2, this includes the Los Amigos Don Juan Restaurant, as well as Dave & Busters. There is a detention pond immediately to the south, that 2 stormwater basin handles much of the storm flow from Victor Corporate Park. Looking east across Victor Parkway are single family homes that are zoned R-U-F and then bordering the site to the south and west is the I- 275, I-96 Expressway. So the proposal basically is to develop the site as I mentioned with a new hotel. This is a conceptual site plan showing the footprint of the new hotel. It’s envisioned that this would be five to six stories in height, it would be about 130,000 square feet in total size, contain roughly 220 rooms, and as you can see it would be located near the middle of the property with parking to the north, to the west, and partially to the south. This site is subject to cross access and parking agreements with the parcel to the north including the Los Amigos and Dave & Busters Restaurants. The Future Land Use Plan currently shows the site as Commercial which does correspond with the current as well as the proposed zoning. The Planning Commission is recommending approval. Also included in your packet are some renderings that show how the site, what the building might look like developed as a hotel, it could possibly be a dual branded Marriott Hotel. This concept before you shows an Aloft as well as a Springhills Suites and I’ll let the Petitioner provide additional information on the plans. Thank you. Toy: Thank you so much. Council, any questions for Mr. Taormina? Hearing and seeing none, is the Petitioner here tonight? If so, if you’d approach the podium and state your name and address for the record. Ponton: Tim Ponton, 28454 Woodward, Royal Oak, Michigan. Toy: Go right ahead. Ponton: Good evening, Madam President, members of the Council. I’m the design engineer for the project with Stonefield Engineering & Design. What we’re looking to do at the site is essentially come with a permitted use that would also be allowed under the current zoning designation and rezone it. The main reason that we’re looking for the rezone is primarily the height. There are some constraints on the site that make the site very challenging overall to develop. When you look at the site and you look at the request, from the northern portion of Victor Parkway is actually about 10 feet higher than the southern portion of Victor Parkway. So essentially when you take a look and you compare our site as compared to the sites to the north, our building even though we’re going for a six-story building, visibly it won’t look like it’s that much higher. Because when you compare it even to the hotel that’s two sites to the north, that building and that property is about 20 feet higher than ours in elevation overall. You can also notice that 3 there’s a very unique geometry to the site where we have 3.2 acres overall for the development, however we only have 139 feet overall of frontage onto the roadway. So we do have a lot of different constraints to the site. Lastly, when you look at where the on/off ramp for the highway is associated with our project, that puts us approximately 300 feet further than the other development to the north as compared to visibility from the highway. So for all these reason we’re making the request for the rezoning. Toy: Thank you very much. Questions for this gentleman? Yes, please, Councilman Meakin. Meakin: I actually had some questions for Mark. On the height of the property, is he still able to meet the parking requirements or is he going to need a variance for that as well? Taormina: That has yet to be evaluated in detail. As I mentioned, this is subject to some cross parking access agreements with the commercial properties to the north. We’ll take a look at that and to the extent that they have that shared parking, the numbers overall, I haven’t determined whether or not any variances are needed. I believe they’re trying to park this thing according to the ordinance in which case no variances are needed but we’ll look at that very carefully when the site plan is submitted. Meakin: I think this is a pretty exciting opportunity for us. This is a uniquely zoned piece of property, with the shape, I mean it does meet some unique classifications there. I like the idea of the Aloft. Is the other portion, is that more of an extended stay kind of place? Ponton: That’s accurate. It will be geared more towards professionals that are here for more than a day or two. Meakin: So you’re not looking at more families or anything like that where they might have more cars or more traffic as opposed to a business person? Ponton: That’s the target market. Meakin: I think this is very reasonable. I’ll offer an approving resolution. Toy: Councilmember Meakin has offered an approving. Any other questions? If I may, sir, will you be having any kind of banquet center or community center within the structure? Ponton: I’m better with the outside. Toy: I didn’t mean to throw you a curve there. 4 Ponton: That’s all right. Toy: Good evening, sir. Your name and address for the record? Abbo: Chris Abbo, 31100 Stephenson Highway, Madison Heights. Toy: Thank you, Mr. Abbo. Abbo: The Aloft portion of the dual brand has more meeting space than banquet space so it’s not going to be your full service hotel, although it will be a select service brand is what it’s called. And it’s multi-functional and it does have meeting space. The Aloft has a bar, bar and grill, and that’s incorporated into the lobby. Toy: How much would you say it constitutes within the hotel, the conference break-out rooms? Abbo: It will be two break-out rooms of 75 apiece, or something that opens up to about 150. Toy: Okay, appreciate it. Abbo: And we typically see corporate events during the day and a hospitality room by night and limited food will be served in there from the kitchen. But again, not a typical full service kitchen, so it’s more of a limited menu. Toy: So would you propose there would be perhaps an indoor pool as well as a workout room, etc.? Abbo: Correct, yes. It will have all of those other amenities that some of the nearby full service hotels have which is a pool, fitness room and business center. Toy: Great. Kritzman: Madam Chair? Toy: Please, go right ahead. Kritzman: First off I think it’s exciting, the project in general. The height doesn’t bother me in the slightest. In fact, if I recall correctly, Mark, I think this area was originally designated as having buildings up even higher than that, as high as 20 stories if I recall correctly. Taormina: In some cases, that’s correct. 5 Kritzman: And the area ended up not being developed in that manner but I think based on some of the comments that you said and the existing topography in the area, I certainly don’t see that as a problem. I think it’s existing to have Aloft, that’s an up and coming brand that is certainly making a splash in a lot of ways. I had a chance to take a look at the Aloft development that’s coming to Columbus, Ohio, it’s currently under construction and that’s a very sharp design. As I look at these renderings I can tell based on the site plan that’s been submitted, that these renderings are not intended to represent this particular project. Are you proposing that the characteristics of the building will be very similar? Ponton: I’ll have our architect speak on that respect. Bowers: Scott Bowers, Bowers & Associates Architects, 2400 S. Huron Parkway, Ann Arbor. Yes, the characteristics are there, as we’ve maneuvered this site and as Tim pointed out, we’re just not beginning that whole process. But we’re looking at high end materials, masonry, metals, stone on the base as you can see in some of those, a lot of glass and the Aloft has a signature swoop on the front that actually contains its sign which is pretty cool, so yes, that’s our intent. Kritzman: Thank you for that clarification. Toy: Sir, before you exit, where could we see one of these? Councilman Kritzman mentioned Columbus, is there any in Michigan at the moment? Is there one in Detroit? Ponton: Generally the Aloft brand has been known to be major urban markets in big cities, so this will be one of the first I think more suburban type markets that they intend to and the first in the State of Michigan. Toy: Great, okay, we’re going to beat Grand Rapids. Well, if there’s no other questions we do have an approving and we appreciate you coming in. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak to this? Hearing none, we’ll close the public hearing and this will be heard on Wednesday, January 16, 2019. Thank you very much. Ponton: Thank you for your time. As there were no further questions or comments, the Public Hearing was declared closed at 7:43 p.m. SUSAN M. NASH, CITY CLERK