HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,182 - January 25, 2022 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,182"d PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, the City Planning Commission of the City of
Livonia held its 1,182nd Public Hearing 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 p.m.
Members present: David Bongero Sam Caramagno Glen Long
Betsy McCue Carol Smiley Peter Ventura
Ian Wilshaw
Members absent: None
Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, Jacob Uhazie, Planning &Economic
Development Coordinator, and Stephanie Reece, 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.
ITEM #1 PETITION 2021-12-01-11 Maple Real Estate Group, LLC
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2021-
12-01-11 submitted by Maple Real Estate Group, L.L.C. pursuant
to Sections 13.13 and 13.15 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning
Ordinance, requesting to rezone the east fifty-eight feet (58') of
9120 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt
Road between Joy Road and West Chicago Avenue in the
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Southwest'/4 of Section 36, from RUF (Rural Urban Farm) to C-
1 (Local Business).
Mr, Wilshaw: Mr. Ventura?
Mr. Ventura: Mr. Chairman,
I have
a conflict of interest
on this agenda item and
I would like to
recuse
myself
from these
proceedings.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we will note that Mr. Ventura is going to step away from
our dais and stay in the audience for the remainder of this agenda
item. With that, we will move on to Mr. Taormina with background
information on this petition.
Mr. Taormina: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a request to rezone property
that is located on the east side of Middle Belt Road just south of
Grandon Ave. The change would be from RUF (Rural Urban
Farm) to C-1 (Local Business). The address of the property is
9120 Middle Belt Road. The rezoning would affect only the east
58 feet of the parcel. The remaining westerly part is currently
zoned Local Business, thus, the intent is to bring the entire parcel
under the same C-1 zoning classification. 9120 Middle Belt Road
is an "L" shaped parcel with 67 feet of road frontage by a depth
373 feet along its north property line. The rear 58 feet of the
parcel extends south for a distance of 151 feet. This is the area
that is proposed to be rezoned. It measures 58 feet by 151 feet,
for a total area of 8,758 square feet. The parcel overall is roughly
29,800 square feet in size, or 0.68 acres. Adjoining 9120 Middle
Belt to the south is 9106 Middle Belt Road, which is under the
same ownership and is zoned C-1. 9106 Middle Belt adds
another 35 feet of road frontage and 33,464 square feet of land
area. Together, the two parcels have roughly 100 feet of frontage
on Middle Belt Road and contain a total land area of 1.45 acres.
Both parcels are vacant and would be combined and developed
as a single site. The purpose of the rezoning is to facilitate the
future development of a Planned Residential Development
consisting of a multi -family apartment complex. Section 5.02 of
the zoning ordinance provides special standards for Planned
Residential Developments, which are treated as a waiver -use in
commercial districts, subject to the review of the Planning
Commission and City Council. Planned developments are
afforded considerable design flexibility, including modification in
lot sizes, yard requirements, and allowing uses that are not
permitted in the zoning district, within which the planned
development is located. The preliminary plan shows a multi-
family apartment complex that would be made up of three
buildings. Each building contains eight units, for a total of 24
dwelling units. The proposed development would occupy both
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30360
parcels, including the rear portion of 9120 Middle Belt Road.
Building 1 is positioned toward the front of the site, whereas
Building 2 would occupy the rear, including the area that is
proposed to be rezoned. Between these two buildings is Building
3, which is along the southern edge of the property. A two-way
private road from Middle Belt would provide access to all three of
the buildings. The plan shows 48 parking spaces. Each building
would be two -stories in height and would contain eight units, four
on each floor. Each unit would have two bedrooms, a living and
dining area, kitchen, one and a half baths, as well as a walk-in
closet. The buildings would be constructed out of brick. The
roofs would be peaked and would consist of asphalt shingles.
Fiber cement siding would be used on the gable ends of the
apartment buildings. This is a rendering of what the buildings
would look like. Bordering the site to the north are four single-
family homes that are on lots that measure approximately 62 feet
in width by 113 feet in depth. These lots are part the Pearl Wilson
subdivision. The zoning is N-1 (One family). To the east and
partially to the south are single-family homes along Oxbow
Street. These homes are on slightly larger unplatted parcels that
are zoned RUF (Rural Urban Farm). To the south is Newport
Park, which is multi -family development zoned NM1. This is a 27
unit attached condominium project that was approved in 2001
under the previous R-C (Condominium Residential) regulations.
The Future Land Use plan designates the subject property as
medium density residential. This corresponds to a density of
between 5 to 14 dwelling units per acre. The proposed multi-
family housing development as shown on the preliminary plans
has a density of 16 '/2 dwelling units per acre, which is slightly
higher by about four units than what the Master Plan
recommends. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the
departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated December
29, 2021, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your
request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above
referenced petition. We have no issues with the proposed re-
zoning at this time. The subject parcel is assigned the address of
#9120 Middlebelt Road. The legal description contained within
the submittal appears to be correct for the overall parcel, although
the owner should provide a legal description for the portion of the
property to be rezoned. The existing parcel currently has access
to public water main, storm sewer and sanitary sewer, although
the sanitary sewer is located on the west side of Middlebelt Road.
At this time, there is nothing that would indicate negative impacts
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30361
to any of the existing utilities since the petition is for zoning
purposes and shows no development details. Should the site be
developed, the owner would need to submit drawings to this
Department for a proper plan review and permitting. " The letter is
signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next
letter is from the Finance Department, dated January 14, 2022,
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
Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the
Treasurer's Department, dated January 13, 2022, 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. That is the extent of
the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? If not, Mr.
Taormina, can you explain for our benefit and also for our
audience, the difference that would occur in developing this as a
C-1 zoning with Planned Residential Development versus an
NM1 or NM2 Multi -family zoning? There is a reason that these
are being done differently. I am curious as to what the criteria is
that is different between them.
Mr. Taormina: The NM1 and NM2 districts
are the
city's
two neighborhood multi-
family districts. NMI is
strictly
for owner -occupied housing,
including condominiums, whereas NM2 would allow for
apartment dwellings. The standards are slightly different in terms
of setbacks, percentage of lot covered by buildings, and a few
other items. I am not sure how it affects this particular
development since it has not been reviewed under those
standards. What I can tell you is that the petitioner is looking to
retain the majority of the existing zoning, in this case, C-1. The
change only affects a small portion of the property. The ability to
develop the site under the special waiver -use provisions really is
very similar if the entire property was rezoned to NM2. The
planned development option, however, affords flexibility in the
design standards. It does give us the ability to move things
around that may not entirely comply with the strict standards of
the NM2 district regulations. That is one of the benefits of
applying these special waiver -use standards in this case.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, thank you, Mr. Taormina. I think that is beneficial for us to
hear ,but also even for anyone is interested in this petition.
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Thank you. Is there any other questions for our planning staff? If
not, our petitioner is in the audience. We will need your name and
address for the record please.
Sam Faklh, 16030 Michigan Ave., Ste. 200, Dearborn, MI. I am one of the owners
of Maple Real Estate Group. I don't have anything formal to
present. I think Mr. Taormina did a wonderful job in presenting
the project. Today's petition is really to rezone this 56 x 100 feet
of land. I think it is kind of like an island in the back of the property
where the entire property is zoned C-1. This one, I think, they
might have forgotten about it or I am not really sure why it was
stuck back there and was never rezoned with the remainder of
the property. The property was all one parcel or two parcels. It
was never separated, but I think that maybe when the zoning map
was created, didn't recognize the fact that this was the same
owner for the entire parcel. In terms of the project, the future
project, I could talk about it if you would like. I talked about it
briefly last time I was in front of you at the study session. It is a
unique property in terms of shape. So, it is kind of hard to develop
this property as a commercial property because it only has 100
feet of frontage. To maximize the use of the property, because it
is kind of a triangle, we thought about developing it as a multi-
family and these are luxury apartments. As we spoke before and
I mentioned before, these are all two -bedroom apartments, 800
square feet, open space, two bedrooms with a walk-in closet,
high -end finishes, all the buildings are brick and stone. We have
a two-story atrium or lobby for each building and four units on
each level. In terms of the building size itself, it is about 29 feet
in height, which is similar to the condos right next door, so it's not
really an enormous height that doesn't fit in the area. It is an
enclosed community, meaning that it is going to be fenced off all
the way around. There are a lot of mature trees in the back of the
property where the 50 x 106 that is being rezoned. There is going
to be a lot of mature trees. This particular site plan doesn't show
it, but we have a newer site plan that shows the mature trees that
we are going to keep. That will keep a little bit of privacy between
both the residences in the back and the building we are going to
develop. Same thing on this side of the property where the
condos are at. Lots of mature trees that will give a lot of privacy.
In terms of the development itself, as you can see, we are not
using the entire property. We are keeping a lot of greenery. We
have the footprints in terms of square footage compared to the
entire property is somewhat low. We did a nice gazebo on the
property, and we also did a walkway across the property for the
residents to enjoy. A couple detention ponds on the property. I
think that is basically summarizes the highlights of the project
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30363
itself. If you
have
any
questions, obviously, I am here. We have
the architect
here
that
can answer any of your questions.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Fakih. It is important to note that this is rezoning
that you are asking for today. We are going to try and focus our
discussion and decision making on that rezoning. The site plan
presented to us is certainly conceptual. It gives us an idea of
what you want to do to develop it, but that will come back to us in
a separate process. The site plan process. If this moves forward,
we will get into a lot more details about that site plan and the
building materials and so on. I just want to reiterate that. Is there
anyone on the Commission with questions for our petitioner?
Mr. Caramagno: Hello sir. I was over there today looking around a little bit. I
looked at the condos to the south of there. I know that I looked
at some of the details here aside from the rezoning and it looks
like there is a lot more thought put into the layout of this than what
the property next door would be looking like. At least in my mind.
It appears that this would be a fair application in my mind. I just
wanted to tell you that right out of the gate.
Mr. Fakih: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions or comments
for our petitioner?
Mr. Long: Mr. Fakih, I think this makes sense bringing in the zoning inline.
Obviously, this is a preliminary site plan. There are some
concerns when I look at that, as far as proximity to the property
lines and things like that, but obviously we will take care of that if
and when you come back for site plan. I think this makes sense.
Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Any other questions or comments? Is
there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against
this item? Feel free to come forward. I see a gentleman getting
up in the back. Good evening, sir. We will just ask for your name
and address for our record.
Don Schekel, 29161 Crandon, Livonia, MI. The proposed property that you are
talking about rezoning abuts my property. Several things on this
that I have noticed. About a year ago when they put this property
up for sale, I contacted the Planning Department and the Zoning
Board. 9120 the L-shaped lot was zoned as single-family
residential and 9120 was commercial office. When we seen the
notice and got this notice, I looked it up again. It changed to C-
1. When did that happen?
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30364
Mr. Wilshaw: We
will
see if we
can get an
answer for you,
sir.
Mr. Taormina,
are
you
aware of
the history
of the rezoning's
on
these parcels?
Mr. Taormina: Yes. So, the adoption of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance,
as you will recall, consolidated several of the districts. One of the
major changes was the elimination of the OS district and those
districts being rezoned to C-1. That affected all of the OS zoned
properties in the city, including several properties along Middle
Belt Road, including this site.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. So, sir, when we went through a
process last year to update all of our zoning classifications, the
office zoning was eliminated. They were all incorporated into
commercial or C-1 zoning, so that is when that happened. That
was 9120. 9106, excuse me. That was 9106 that was changed.
9120 was single-family. It wasn't office. It was single-family
residential and then you have it behind my property as Rural
Urban Farm. It wasn't classified as that before. That was single-
family, so I don't understand how these changes got made and
we were never notified, but now someone wants to build on it and
we have to have a hearing that says we are going to rezone this,
and we are going to notify you. Why was there never any
notifications given out before?
Mr. Wilshaw: When the zoning map was updated for the entire city, it was
notified to the entire community as a large project of all zonings
being updated. That would have changed the office zoning to the
commercial. That wouldn't have changed any commercial to... or
residential to commercial. That would not have happened. So,
what is 9120 zoned now?
Mr. Wilshaw: 9120 is currently zoned C-1 commercial.
Mr. Schekel: That is
what
I am saying. It was single family and now it is C-1.
When...also
the urban family.
When did that get changed?
Mr. Wilshaw: Let me see if Mr. Taormina has some information for us.
Mr. Taormina: Yes, so I think maybe part of the confusion is what was the zoning
of 9120 prior to the adoption of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning
Ordinance. This is the parcel right here, although it may be
difficult to see the outline, but the westerly portion of the site was
zoned OS (Office Services) prior to the adoption of Livonia Vision
21. This area to the east that we are reviewing this evening, that
was always zoned RUF (Rural Urban Farm), so the change only
affected this portion of 9120 Middle Belt and it went from OS to
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30365
C-1. It was not previously zoned single-family residential as Mr.
Schekel has indicated.
Mr. Wilshaw: Perhaps it is a bit of a misunderstanding in the sense that the rear
portion of the lot, which is what we are discussing tonight, has
been zoned RUF and that has been zoned RUF for a long long
time.
Mr. Schekel: Like I said, I went through your Planning Commission just about
a year ago. The site maps for the City of Livonia show that L-
shaped lot, the entire thing as single-family residential. Now it is
C-1 and Rural Urban. At some point that property got split and
like I said, I am curious as to when that... how that happened?
Mr. Wilshaw: I think we are at a bit of an impasse. We don't have that
information for you right here as you understand it. Let's see if
we can find out your feelings on it at this point with what we are
dealing with right now.
Mr. Schekel: Also, with the rezoning of that, and listening to a number of times
people are talking about all the different waivers. Looking at the
site maps and the plans all ... they look great and all that stuff, but
you are talking about an apartment complex right behind my
property. Is there a waiver on the footage from my property line
to where they are actually going to establish a building?
Mr. Wilshaw: There are standards as to how close they can be to property lines.
Mr. Taormina can give us those details if you would like, but we
are at the point right now where we are looking at the zoning of
this one parcel. When we get into the site plan process, is when
we will look to see what they propose in terms of where they want
the building located and where they fit within those setbacks and
those limitations and if there is anything that violates those, then
they would have to go through an additional process of getting
zoning and waivers from the Council and zoning boards and so
on. We are not at that point yet.
Mr. Schekel: I am just trying to figure it out before we get to that point and if
there are gong to be waivers and all that put in, are we going to
be notified or do I have to read it in the Livonia Observer.
Mr. Wilshaw: You will definitely be notified. You are within the radius of the
property.
Mr. Schekel: Thank you.
Or.
Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. Next, Mr. Wilshaw.
January 25, 2022
30366
Jeff Wilshaw, 29137 Westfield, Livonia, MI. I am a few hundred feet north of the
property. A little nervous about the entire parcel going C-1. As
C-1 can be restaurants is my understanding and other more
commercial. I don't think we have very many properties in the
city where it is a narrow band that jets in deep like this piece of
property. I have no problem at all with an apartment or a
condominium complex. I think this proposed development is a
little too dense in nature personally, but I would welcome
something in that property, just not as dense, but certainly not in
C-1 classification because from my understanding and please
correct me if I am wrong, is that if the developer at the end after
having the C-1 says you know what, I want to throw a restaurant
there or something different that he would have the green light to
go ahead and do that more or less. It is a real long piece of
property jetting right into the middle of the residential area. That
is my only concern about it. Thank you for your time.
Mr. Wilshaw: Very good. Thank you. Good evening, sir.
Brandon Grysko, 41700 West Six Mile Road, Northville, MI 48168. I represent
Ventura Real Estate. I am here representing Ventura Real Estate
as I said. They are currently the property owner. I commend you
Mr. Chair for keeping us on track today with respect to what the
issue actually is that is before the Commission at this time.
Which, in my view, is simply whether or not it makes sense to
leave sort of this little island in the back of this parcel that is zoned
for Urban Farm, whereas the rest of the parcel is zoned C-1 for
commercial. I think that is really the appropriate focus of the
Commission and I again, I commend the Commission for keeping
us focused kind of on that issue there. I think it is pretty clear that
planning standards and public policy sort of all favor the idea that
a parcel probably shouldn't be split zoned. Particularly not in this
manner where you have sort of these wild different standards for
one part of the parcel, in fact for a vast majority of the parcel and
a totally separate set of standards for another more narrow piece
of the parcel, so I really urge the commission to recommend that
this entire parcel be zoned cohesively for all the reasons you
would expect, including cohesive administration of the zoning
ordinance and the ability for developers to come in and do
something with the property without having to go back through
this sort of process again, so I think that is really important to keep
in mind here. I don't want to stray too far off track from what the
purpose of this hearing is, but I will say that being someone that
is out in the community and involved in the community, being
involved in the local Chamber of Commerce, I do hear a lot from
local businesses that there is an urgent need for housing and this
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is certainly a project that I commend Mr. Fakih for putting forth a
nice looking project and understand that this is going to be back
before probably the Commission and City Council for waiver -use
approval and things of that nature in the future, but overall this is
a nice looking project and I think it fills a need in the city's Master
Plan for this type of housing, so Ventura Real Estate and myself
would encourage the Commission to recommend approval of this
rezoning for just this one piece of a parcel to C-1.
Mr. Wilshaw: Great. Thank you, Mr. Grysko. Is there anyone else wishing to
speak for or against this project? If not, I don't see anyone else
in our audience. Mr. Taormina, there was a question asked in
regard to other uses that could occur on this property if it is
rezoned to C-1. Of course, we are just looking at the back
portion, but what controls are in place to follow-up on that
question? What controls are in place that would exclude or
prevent this project from becoming a commercial development,
like say a McDonalds or something along those lines through this
process?
Mr. Taormina: There are a couple of answers to that question. So, the current
zoning of most of the property is C-1. There is nothing that would
prevent a petition being submitted, at this point, for a commercial
development. As long as it included uses that were treated as
permitted under the C-1 district regulations and it complied with
all the other regulations, height, bulk, and area standards, there
is very little the city could do. Now, with the development of a
planned residential project, like the one we are discussing, we
have the ability through this process to include a development
agreement. Through that development agreement we could look
to have certain terms and conditions included that would restrict
the future use of this property to only the apartments or other
specific uses that the city deemed would be appropriate for that
land, should the apartment complex not be developed. There is
a couple options we could look at, but a general planned
residential development agreement is something that we could
consider along with the waiver application to address some of
those concerns.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, Mr. Taormina. I appreciate that answer to that question.
Also, the process by which the city goes through the rezoning and
site plan process and correct me if I am wrong, we look at the
zoning and we send this on to City Council and City Council will
hold the rezoning of a parcel until the site plan catches up to it
and then they approve both he rezoning and the site plan at the
same meting typically, and that provides some protection as to
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making sure that this rezoning is used for the intended purpose
that the petitioner indicated.
Mr. Taormina: Yes, it offers some protection, but it is no guarantee.
Mr. Wilshaw: Sure, Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else in our audience
wishing to speak on this item? If not, is there anyone on the
Commission wishing to speak on this item?
Mr. Bongero: Mark, just so I understand, a planned residential agreement, is
that something that we would do tonight?
Mr. Taormina: No. That is something that we would do along with the waiver
petition.
Mr. Bongero: Okay. So, it would be down the road?
Mr. Taormina: Yes, it would.
Mr. Bongero: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Any other questions from any of our
commissioners? Mr. Fakih, is there anything else you would like
to say I regard to this petition before we make our decision? We
always like to give you the last word.
Mr. Fakih: Nothing further. I just want to thank you for your time and hope
that you guys approve the rezoning of this little parcel. Thank
you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. If there is no other business or questions from
any of the commissioners, I can close the public hearing at this
time and a motion would be in order.
On a motion by McCue, seconded by Caramagno, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#01-04-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 25, 2022, on
Petition 2021-12-01-11 submitted by Maple Real Estate Group,
L.L.C. pursuant to Sections 13.13 and 13.15 of the Livonia Vision
21 Zoning Ordinance, requesting to rezone the east fifty-eight
feet (58') of 9120 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of
Middlebelt Road between Joy Road and West Chicago Avenue
in the Southwest 'Y4 of Section 36, from RUF (Rural Urban Farm)
to C-1 (Local Business), the Planning Commission does hereby
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recommend to the City Council that Petition 2021-12-01-11 be
approved for the following reasons:
That the proposed change of zoning is compatible to and in
harmony with the surrounding land uses and zoning districts
in the area.
2. That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the
developing character of the area.
3. That the proposed change of zoning represents a
reasonable and logical zoning plan for the subject property
which adheres to the principles of sound land use planning.
4. That the proposed change of zoning affects only a small
portion of the property and will bring the subject parcel under
a single zoning classification, and
5. That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the
Livonia Vision 21 Future Land Use Map.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.13 and
13.15 of Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go onto City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #2 PETITION 2021-12-02-25
Portillo's
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2021-
12-02-25 submitted by HD Group, Inc., on behalf of Portillo'sI
requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.51 of the
Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, to construct and operate a
freestanding full -service restaurant with drive -up window facilities
at 13000 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt
Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and Schoolcraft
Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 25.
Mr. Wilshaw: For the record, Mr. Ventura has returned to our meeting, and we
will go to Mr. Taormina for background.
Mr. Taormina: This request is for the construction of afull-service restaurant with
drive -up window facilities. The location is the east side of Middle
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Belt Road between the CSX Railroad and Schoolcraft Road. The
zoning is C-2 (General Business). The site area is just over 2
acres with 273 feet of frontage along Middle Belt Road. The site
would be proposed as an outlot at the site of the Meijer store.
Meijer is part of Millennium Park, which is a retail complex of
several major retailers, including Home Depot, Pet Smart, Bob's
Discount Furniture, Famous Footwear, Marshall's, and others.
The original approved plans for Millennium Park included three
outlots that were located at the north end of the Meijer parking
lot. These were identified on the plans as outlots C, D, and E. All
three have been developed with full -service restaurants that
include drive-thru window facilities. They include Popeye's
Louisiana Kitchen which is on outlot C, Culver's on outlot D, and
Outback Steakhouse on outlot E. The proposed new restaurant
would be positioned near the middle of the proposed outlot. This
is adjacent to Middle Belt Road. It was originally shown as part
of outlot E. The proposed new restaurant would be one-story in
height and contain a gross floor area of 7,900 square feet. The
main customer entrance would be on the east side of the building
facing the Meijer parking lot. Portillo's would have 184 interior
seats, as well as 4 outdoor patio seats. The outdoor dining patio
is shown on the east side, adjacent to the main entrance. I will
show some renderings and more details of the building in just a
moment. Drive -up window and vehicle pick-up service is planned
on the west side of the building facing Middle Belt Road. There
will be two traffic lanes serving this purpose. Both would
commence on north side of the building and then loop around to
the west side. The lanes used for drive -up services are required
to be at least 10 feet in width. In this case, both lanes measure
11 feet in width. Primary access to the development would be
from Millennium Park's main entrance road, which is north of the
proposed restaurant and is where most of the incoming and
outgoing traffic occurs. This is a divided access road. It is
signalized with two major connecting points to the Meijer site.
One is between the Outback Steakhouse and the Culver's. The
other is between the Culver's and Popeye's chicken. This is the
Meijer store located here on the bottom of the map. The
proposed outlot that we are discussing, and the location of the
restaurant is here, along the west side of that parking area and
adjacent to Middle Belt Road. This is the main entrance drive that
I just mentioned coming into Millennium Park. Here is the
Outback Steakhouse, the Culver's, and the Popeye's Louisiana
Chicken. These are the two access points into Meijer located
here between the Outback and Culver's and then the second one
between Culver's and Popeye's. There is secondary access
provided to Meijer located just south of the proposed restaurant.
This road runs in an east/west direction along the front of the
January 25, 2022
30371
Meijer store. Where this road connects to Middle Belt, it is not
signalized and is located roughly 600 feet north of the CSX Rail
overpass. The drive approach here allows for full left and full
right-hand vehicle turn movements both to and from Middle Belt
Road. From within Millennium Park there are additional
connecting points to the Meijer parking lot. These are available
along the east through an internal road, as well as to the south.
The additional points are located here. This major north/south
drive extends north all the way to eastbound Schoolcraft Road.
In terms of parking, the Meijer store requires 974 parking spaces,
whereas Portillo's requires 134 spaces. Combined, they require
1,108 spaces altogether. Currently there are 1,505 parking
spaces available at Meijer. Construction of the restaurant would
consume roughly 143 spaces. This would leave a total of 1,362
for both uses. The site plan indicates that Portillo's would have
112 parking spaces provided on the restaurant site and an
additional 24 spaces would be available through a shared parking
arrangement with Meijer. The site does provide for an adequate
number of parking spaces. This is the landscape plan that was
submitted with the application. It provides for plantings
throughout the development, along the street frontage, as well as
within the parking lot islands, and along the foundation of the
building. Between the building and Middle Belt Road there is a
greenbelt. This greenbelt is roughly 45 feet in width with 273 feet
of frontage. The site requires at least seven full-size deciduous
or evergreen trees, as well as three ornamental trees, and 56
shrubs. The landscape plan, from what we have reviewed, does
comply with the city's minimum planting requirements. Looking
at the building itself, the proposed materials include split -faced
block, face brick, and ribbed metal panels. There is also some
smooth faced block and metal louvre sections. Structural canopy
sections are installed over the windows and doors. The outdoor
patio would be screened overhead with a structural metal canopy.
Thirty feet is shown as the highest point of the building. In this
case, the C-2 district allows for a maximum height restriction of
35 feet. The height of the building is in compliance. All of the
rooftop mechanical units would be screened with the extended
parapet. There is a dumpster shown on the site plan. It would
be on the north side of the building and would be fully screened.
The walls surrounding the dumpster would be eight -feet in height
constructed out of masonry, including four -inch face brick and
eight -inch CMU walls. Site lighting details show the location and
type of poles and fixtures in the parking lot. Although the city's
outdoor lighting policy recommends all pole mounted light fixtures
be limited to a height of 20 feet above grade, the photometric
diagram submitted with the plans show a mounting height of 30
feet. The lights in this case are shown to be 10 feet taller than
January 25, 2022
30372
what the city's outdoor lighting policy recommends. In terms of
storm water management, the runoff would be managed using an
underground detention system that would be located in the
parking lot on the east side of the building. The proposed number
and area of signs is in excess of the city's sign regulations. The
restaurant is allowed one wall sign, but the plans show four wall
signs. One on each side of the building. As a separate parcel,
the outlot is allowed one ground sign not to exceed 30 square
feet in area, six feet in height, and a setback of at least 10 feet
from any right-of-way line. The site plan shows a monument sign
in the northwest corner of the outlot, but no details are provided.
I will go through these renderings quickly. This top view would
be the west side of the building. This is the side facing Middle
Belt Road and is where the drive -up operation and pick-up
window would be located. You can see these canopies extending
over that drive -up operation. The various materials here ... the
lighter color being the split -faced block as well as along the
foundation of the building with a combination of brick and metal
panels. You can see the feature on the top part of this parapet.
These are some perspective and isometric views. This shows
the east side of the building. This would be the side facing the
parking lot at Meijer. This would be the main entrance into the
restaurant. The outdoor dining patio is shown here just to the left
of that facing the parking lot. Here is a view of the north side of
the building. Another view showing the east side ... the outdoor
dining patio. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the
departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated December
20, 2021, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your
request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above
referenced petition. The subject parcel is assigned the address
of #13000 Middlebelt Road, although a new address will be
assigned to the proposed parcel during the lot split process
should the petitions be approved. The legal description provided
by the petitioner appears to be correct and should be used for the
petition purposes. The existing parcel currently has access to
public water main and sanitary sewer owned by the City of
Livonia, although the utilities are contained within the Middlebelt
Road right -of --way. Ayn connections to these utilities will require
permits form both the City, and Wayne County. Privately -owned
storm sewer is available within the existing parcel. The petitioner
does indicate that they will be installing storm water detention in
compliance with the Wayne County Stormwater Ordinance, but
no calculations have been provided at this time. Full review of the
January 25, 2022
30373
utilities will be completed when drawings are submitted for
permitting. "The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant
City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue
Division, dated December 14, 2021, which reads as follows:
This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection
with a request to construct a restaurant on property located at the
above referenced address. We have no objections to this
proposal with the following stipulations: Per NFPA 13, 2014
6.4.5.4 Fire Department Connection Proximity to Hydrant Fire
department connections shall be located not more than 100ft
(30.5m) from the nearest hydrant connected to an approved
water source." The letter is signed by Greg Thomas, Fire Marshal.
The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated December 13,
2021, which reads as follows: "Objections are that the driveway
to Meijer from Middlebelt is already a known problem area. There
is extremely high traffic at that driveway throughout the day and
it is a high crash area. This area is one of the highest crash
locations within the entire city. It is already difficult for people to
turn in and out of the Meijer driveway at this location. It is not a
good idea unless the traffic flow is addressed at the driveway to
Middlebelt possibly with additional traffic control devices andlor
traffic signals." The letter is signed by Scott Sczepanski,
Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection
Department, dated January 18, 2022, which reads as follows:
"Pursuant to your request, the above referenced Petition has
been reviewed. 1. A variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals
would be required for the excess number of signs. This
Department has no further objections to this Petition." The letter
is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of Inspection. The next
letter is from the Finance Department, dated December 13, 2021,
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
Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the
Treasurer's Department, dated December 14, 2021, which reads
as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's
Office has reviewed the name and addresses connected with the
above noted petition. At this time taxes are due, but not
delinquent, therefore I have no objections to the proposal." The
letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. That is the extent of
the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? I am going to
try stumping you again, Mr. Taormina. I am doing that a lot
tonight. You mentioned that the light poles are 30 feet in height
and normally we require 20 feet. Do you happen to know if there
January 25, 2022
30374
was any waivers or variances granted for either the Meijer or the
other outlots to have 30-foot poles, or .... so we can try and keep
everything at the same height?
Mr. Taormina: Our outdoor lighting policy was adopted after the construction of
the Meijer store. Prior to that there was no position or policy with
respect to the height of light poles. It was usually included as a
condition of approval. With the policy, we wanted to encourage
commercial lighting to be limited to a height of 20 feet. We have
made exceptions mostly in the case of larger retail complexes like
Wonderland, Livonia Marketplace, and others that have taller
light poles by virtue of the much larger parking areas. This is
something that we could waive as part of the site plan review
process. It is not something that would require a variance. It is a
recommendation. We keep it to that 20 foot height limit for a
majority of our local business establishments. For this we are
looking to have a bit more flexibility to be more consistent with the
other lighting in the parking lot.
Mr. Wilshaw: Exactly. That is why I asked the question. I was just curious
if ... especially the outlots in particular. I can see Meijer having the
potentially higher light poles, but maybe the outlots...
Mr. Taormina: I will check to see what those are and if we granted any
exceptions to the outlots, because we would want to keep those
consistent.
Mr. Wilshaw: That would be great. That would be something helpful.
Obviously not necessarily at this moment, because you have to
look it up, but at a future meeting or even if it moves to City
Council. Thank you. If there are no more questions of our
planning staff, we will go to our petitioner who is in our audience.
Good evening. We will ask for your name and business address
for the record please.
Amanda Schwerin, 805 Via Altos, Mesquite, TX 75150. Good evening. I will start
by introducing our team that came tonight. We have Randall
Guse, Vice President of Real Estate for Portillo's, Preston
Funkhauser, Vice President of Construction Facilities, and Taylor
Eschbach, Kimley-Horn Civil Engineer. They are here to facilitate
answering any questions you guys may have. I know we gave a
little bit of background last week, but I will give a quick rundown
for anybody that didn't hear it. Portillo's has been in business for
over 40 years. They have been successfully running drive-thru
restaurants for almost 40 years. Currently there are 69 corporate
owned restaurants and counting. The restaurant that we are
proposing here in Livonia will also be corporate owned. We
January 25, 2022
30375
are ... do you have the slides that we sent? We brought with us
some building materials. Do you have the samples to pass?
Mr. Taormina: Why don't you hold them there so the camera can pick them up?
You can set them there.
S. Schwerin: These are here in case anyone wants to touch them later,
because I know somebody was asking that.
Mr. Wilshaw: Your best bet is
to set them
right here in
front of this front chair
and then one of
our cameras
that is over
my head will be able to
zoom in and get
pictures of it
for our vast
audience.
Ms. Schwerin: One of the questions that arose last week in our study session
was with regard to the split -faced block veracity and maintenance
of it. Facilities has a yearly assessment of their buildings. Every
year they will go out and they will assess the building. If it needs
maintaining or if it needs cleaned, they will schedule that, as well
as the general managers on a daily basis are checking the
facilities and if there are issues, they take care of them as it arises
and this split -faced block.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay.
Ms. Schwerin: The other question was if they would be sealed. This particular
brand is Arriscraft. It is manufactured and recommended to not
be sealed.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay.
Ms. Schwerin: Do you want to move to the photos? We have some photos of a
restaurant that was recently constructed in Ft. Wayne, Indiana
that uses the split -faced block.
Mr. Taormina: Tell when to stop.
Ms. Schwerin: Go back a little bit.
Mr. Taormina: This is the restaurant, correct?
Ms. Schwerin: Yes.
Mr, Wilshaw: Ms. Schwerin, you indicated at our study meeting that many of
your buildings have unique architectural elements. You really
don't have two buildings that are alike.
January 25, 2022
30376
Ms. Schwerin: Right. So, the restaurant that we are proposing here might not
look like Ft. Wayne, but it just happened to be one that has split -
faced block.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay.
Mr. Taormina: This is the photo?
S. Schwerin: Yeah, you can look at the other two as well. Yeah.
Mr. Taormina: Just so the Commission understands what we are looking at, the
split... and correct me if I am wrong, but the block would appear
along the base of the structure here. I believe this material is a
composite material. This too would be masonry. I am guessing
this is smooth -faced block. Is that correct?
Ms. Schwerin: Do you have our elevations on these slides? We can go back
and...
Mr. Taormina: I do. You tell me when to stop.
Preston Funkhouser, Vice President of Construction Facilities. You are exactly
right. The split -faced block would the white components that you
see here and the darker color you see would be the brick. There
is also the white bands you see that Mr. Taormina is highlighting
with his mouse. That is also a split -faced Arriscraft product. Like
Ms. Schwerin said, this is a highly durable product. It is more
durable than the brick product. It is a little bit thicker. It is a very
high quality product. You see a lot around this community. There
is some E.I.F.S product. This is a lot more durable than that. It
is virtually maintenance free product, but I know that a concern
was brought up by the commission at the last session that ... what
if it get dingy or dirty and that is why Ms. Schwerin mentioned our
maintenance program. We have a lot of recurring services,
preventative programs, and then there are also reactive
programs where we catch it at a minimum on an annual basis. If
we required an exterior clean we would certainly take care of it.
We suspect that we would find out that it was needing cleaning
before anybody else would. We are very proud of our buildings
as you can see.
Or.
Wilshaw: Excellent. Thank you. Anything else you would like to present,
Ms. Schwerin?
Ms. Schwerin: Just about the drive-thru. So, it was discussed that we have a
two lane drive-thru. So, Portillo's does have a two lane drive-thru,
but the way their drive-thru works is their employees are out there
January 25, 2022
30377
taking orders and once the cars finish through that ordering
process, the outside lane is coned off and the outside lane will
merge into the inside lane and the second lane becomes a true
bypass lane from that point on. Once somebody has their order,
they can go ahead and leave. They don't have to wait through
the entire line.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Alright, excellent. Is there any questions for our petitioner
at this stage? A lot of information that we just received. Mr.
Long?
Or. Long: At the study meeting we talked about a traffic study. Where are
we in that process?
Ms. Schwerin: All of the data has been collected and they are working on the
final study. They should be done in the next three weeks,
maybe?
Mr. Long:
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Okay, any other questions for our petitioner?
Mr. Caramagno:
As part of your traffic study, I noticed today that the Outback
driveway that comes in on a curve off of the entrance to Costco
there that is a thru-pass right to your property. Would your traffic
study intend to study how many people drive through the parking
lot to get to Portillo's?
Ms. Schwerin:
Taylor will come up for that.
Taylor Eschbach,
Kimley-Horn. We did have an initial scoping meeting with the
city and the police sergeant. That kind of cut through at the
Outback parking lot did not come up as a potential short-cut or
challenge. We had at least seven different cameras set up to
collect data from different locations around the site, but the
Outback cut through was not mentioned previously.
Mr. Caramagno:
It seems like a natural, doesn't it?
Mr. Eschbach:
Well, there is a main drive aisle maybe 30 feet beyond that right
in only entrance, so rather than cutting in that right only and kind
of circumnavigating that parking lot, you can go an extra 30 feet
and just have a straight shot to the Meijer parking lot.
Mr. Caramagno:
Yeah, I see that. It looks like you have a couple options. I don't
know how it would take to it, but
if or when I visit
Portillo;s
I will
January 25, 2022
30378
probably cut through Outback because it is a short-cut. Okay,
thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: The Caramagno by-pass, alright.
Mr. Long: We aren't condoning that.
Mr. Wilshaw: We are not condoning that. Any other questions from any of our
commissioners? We got all of our questions out for now, okay.
Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against this item? Seeing no one coming forward. So, Ms.
Schwerin, is there anything else that you would like to present
before we make our decision?
Ms. Schwerin: Not at this time.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, very much. With that, if there are no other questions
for our petitioner, I will close the public hearing and a motion
would be in order.
On a motion by McCue, seconded by Bongero, and adopted, it was
#01-05-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 25, 2022, on
Petition 2021-12-02-25 submitted by HD Group, Inc., on behalf of
Portillo's, requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section
6.51 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, to construct and
operate a freestanding full -service restaurant with drive -up
window facilities at 13000 Middlebelt Road, located on the east
side of Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way
and Schoolcraft Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 25, the
Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City
Council that Petition 2021-12-02-25 be approved subject to the
following conditions:
1. That the Site Plan identified as Sheet Number C0.0
prepared by Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., dated
December 8, 2021, is hereby approved and shall be
adhered to.
2. That appropriate recordable legal instrumentation, such as
a cross access agreement, that gives notice and outlines the
terms of how the subject property would share parking and
access with abutting property(s), be supplied to the
Inspection Department at the time a building permit is
applied for.
January 25, 2022
30379
3. That the Landscape Plan identified as Sheet Number L1.0
and the Landscape Notes and Detail Plan identified as
Sheet Number L1.1, prepared by Kimley-Horn and
Associates, Inc., both dated December 8, 2021, are hereby
approved and shall be adhered to.
4. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of
hydro -seeding.
5. 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.
6. That the maximum customer seating count shall not exceed
a total of 184 interior seats and forty-four (44) outdoor patio
seats.
7. That the Building Elevation Plans, prepared by Jensen &
Jenson, dated January 19, 2022, are hereby approved, and
shall be adhered to.
8. 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.
9. That the three walls of the trash dumpster area shall be
constructed out of building materials that shall complement
that of the building and the enclosure gates shall be of solid
panel steel construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel
fiberglass and maintained and when not in use closed at all
times.
10. That all pole mounted light fixtures shall not exceed a height
of twenty feet (20') above grade and shall be shielded to
minimize glare trespassing on adjacent properties and
roadway.
11. 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.
January 25, 2022
30380
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. That the issue concerning Fire Department Connection
proximity to hydrant, as outlined in the correspondence
dated December 14, 2021, from Livonia Fire & Rescue, shall
be resolved to the satisfaction of the Fire Department and
Inspection Department.
15. That the petitioner shall submit a traffic study to the City prior
to review by the City Council
16. That the specific plans referenced in this approving
resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department
at the time of application for building permits; and
17. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning
Ordinance, this approval is valid for a period of one year only
from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a
building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and
void at the expiration of said period.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.13 of
Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Ms. McCue: The only question would be on the light poles, I think, right? Is
that we had discussion that Mr. Taormina was going to see about
the consistency of the height of the light poles in the area. If we
could note that.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay.
Or.
Taormina:
Or.
I did
have
a chance to have
a look at one of the items at Culver's.
We
had a
similar restriction
of 20 feet
in that case.
Wilshaw: Okay. So, you think 20 feet would be appropriate.
Or.
Taormina: To be consistent.
January 25, 2022
30381
Or, Wilshaw: Yes, to be consistent. You are okay with that Ms. McCue?
Ms. McCue: Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we will leave it as it is. Ms. Smiley?
S. Smiley: We
don't
have
the traffic study and it is a little concerning forme.
Will
it be
done
before it goes to Council?
Mr. Taormina: I don't know the answer to that.
Mr. Wilshaw: Ms.
Smiley, let's have Ms.
Schwerin come forward or
I believe
the
Civil Engineer, either one.
I believe
that they are
targeting
two
or three weeks,
was it
for completion
of that?
Ms. Schwerin: Three weeks. We had a tentative date of 2/16 for a study session
and 2/28 for a City Council Meeting. We should have enough
time to have the traffic study completed if we are on that 2/28
Council Meeting.
Mr. Wilshaw: Right, because that is giving you four weeks or a month to
complete that. Okay. Ms. Smiley, does that answer your
question?
Ms. Smiley: Yes, thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any other questions or concerns about the motion? Mr.
Taormina?
Mr. Taormina: The only comment... item #3 adressing the by-pass lane. I think
it was adequately described this evening so there is no need to
provide any additional lane in this particular case. It will all remain
as was indicated and the outer lane would serve as the function
of the by-pass, so I think we can eliminate condition #3 altogether.
Mr. Wilshaw: Alright. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Ms. McCue, are you alright
with that?
Ms. McCue: Agreed.
Or,
Wilshaw: Supporter, Mr. Bongero, you are alright with that?
Or.
Bongero: Yes.
Or.
Wilshaw: Okay, we will eliminate #3.
January 25, 2022
30382
Ms, McCue: Mr. Chair, I am going to go back to the traffic study again.
Mr. Wilshaw: Of course.
Ms. McCue: Should that...I mean, should we have more detail of that in this?
I am just feeling like I just...I think it is worth... it is going to be an
issue there.
Mr. Wilshaw: Definitely.
Ms. McCue: Sometimes I can say that I am not going to worry about that, but
that is going to be an issue. Them turning left out of that onto
Middle Belt is not going to ... it is going to be a problem.
Mr. Wilshaw: Since you are offering an approving resolution, it may be
appropriate to have a condition that a traffic study be prepared
and available for our City Council to review.
Ms. McCue: I think I would feel more comfortable with that.
Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, and Mr. Bongero is okay with that?
Mr. Bongero: Totally agree.
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina, you understand what we are asking?
Mr. Taormina: I do.
Mr. Wilshaw: Of course. Any other questions or comments?
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Bongero, McCue, Smiley, Caramagno, Wilshaw
NAYS: Long, Ventura
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adoptedI It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #3 PETITION 2021-12-02-26 Portillo's (Tavern License)
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2021-
12-02-26 submitted by HD Group, Inc., on behalf of Portillo's,
requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.22 of the
Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, to utilize a Tavern license
January 25, 2022
30383
(sale of beer and wine for consumption on the premises) in
connection with the operation of a freestanding full -service
restaurant at 13000 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of
Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and
Schoolcraft Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 25.
Mr. Taormina: This is a request to utilize a Tavern license, which would be for
the sale of beer and wine for the consumption on the premises.
This is in connection with the operation of Portillo's, the full -
service restaurant that we just reviewed. The zoning, as you
know, is C-2 (General Business), which treats Tavern licenses
and other on -premises licenses, such as Class C, as a wavier -
use under the provisions of Section 6.22 of the zoning ordinance.
There is a special requirement that applies. In the case of new
establishments with on -premises liquor licenses, the facility must
be at least 1,000 feet from any other such licensed businesses.
For establishments which are utilized primarily as restaurants,
this 1,000-foot separation requirement can be waived. In the
case of Portillo's, there are three other restaurants within 1,000-
feet that operate on -premises licenses. The closest is the
Outback Steakhouse, which is at 13010 Middle Belt Road.
Outback operates a Class C license and is roughly 200 feet from
the proposed Portillo's. The other two are located on the west
side of Middle Belt Road. The first is MOD Pizza at 13229 Middle
Belt Road. They operate with a Tavern license and is about 280
feet from the site. The other is Applebee's at 13301 Middle Belt
Road. They have a Class C license and is 325 feet away from
the proposed restaurant. As such, the 1000-foot separation
provision will have to be waived by City Council. In terms of
correspondence, I won't read all of the correspondence that I
previously read regarding this item, but we do have one new item
and that comes from the Division of Police, dated December 16,
2021, and it reads: "We have reviewed the plans in connection
with HD Group, Inc., on behalf of Portillo's requesting waiver use
approval, pursuant to Sections 6.51 & 6.22 of the Livonia Vision
21 Zoning Ordinance, to construct and operate a freestanding
full -service restaurant with drive up window facilities and to utilize
a Class C liquor license (sale of beer, wine and spirits for
consumption on the premises) at 13000 Middlebelt Road located
on the east side of Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad
right-of-way and Schoolcraft Road in the Northwest quarter of
Section 25. The review of the plans determined that the request
does not comply with prior separation requirement guidelines.
The proposed establishment would be inside the separation
requirement distance of at least one thousand (1,000) feet from
any Class C licensed establishment. Outback Steakhouse at
13010 Middlebelt currently has a Class C license and is 200 feet
January 25, 2022
30384
from the proposed Portillo's site. Mod Pizza at 13229 Middlebelt
currently has a Class C license and is 280 feet from the proposed
site. Applebee's at 13301 Middlebelt has a Class C license and is
325 feet from the proposed site. We would recommend that the
Planning Department and City Council maintain separation
requirement guidelines. It is ouropinion that this guideline is good
for local established businesses and maintains Livonia's family
atmosphere." That letter is signed by Jeffery Ronayne, Special
Service Bureau.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director?
Mr. Caramagno: Mark, when I look at this letter from the Police, from Jeff
Ronayne, this talks about Class C license, yet this request is for
only a beer and wine consumption, not spirits.
Mr. Taormina: Correct.
Mr. Caramagno: Are these two different things we are talking about here?
Mr. Taormina: So, initially we were under the... it was our understanding that
the request was for a Class C license, but we were advised by
the petitioner a couple of weeks ago that it was in fact a Tavern
license and not a full Class C. I think the request that we sent to
the police did indicate Class C. That was our mistake by
notifying them as such.
Mr. Caramagno: The petitioner is just asking for something less than that?
Mr. Taormina: They are. As you recall, from the study session, it was indicated
that roughly 1 % of their gross receipts are in the form of beer
and wine sales.
Mr. Caramagno: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: A Tavern license restricts them to just beer and wine.
Mr. Taormina: Just beer and wine, no spirits.
Mr. Wilshaw: Mr, Ventura?
Mr. Ventura: Mr. Caramagno, that was my question.
Mr. Wilshaw: Very good. Any other questions for our planning staff? Ms.
Smiley?
January 25, 2022
30385
Ms. Smiley: Thank you. Mark, a Tavern license doesn't allow beer and wine
to go, do they? This is primarily a drive thru. They have 184
seats, but beer and wine doesn't go...
Mr. Taormina: Some establishments are allowed to serve cocktails to go. This
does not include an SDM license, so it does not involve the sale
of any packaged beer and wine products. I believe the answer
to your question is no. They would not be allowed to sell beer
and wine products to go. Unless I am mistaken, I believe this is
not part of their business model. We can get better clarification
from the petitioner.
Ms. Smiley: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. Any other questions for our planning
staff? If not, we will go back to our petitioner. Welcome back,
Ms. Schwerin.
Ms. Schwerin: Do you need me to state my name and address again?
Mr. Wilshaw: We have you on our record already. Thank you.
Ms. Schwerin: In regard to on premises versus off premises, Portillo's will not
be selling alcohol to go. We don't sell it through the drive thru.
You already kind of covered all the comments I was going to
make, so given the very limited amount of alcohol service and
that it is a Tavern license versus a Class C license, we just ask
that you would give us a favorable recommendation to City
Council. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Let's see if there are any questions from any of our
commissioners for our petitioner? No questions in regard to this
petition? I don't see any questions. Is there anybody in the
audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? Seeing
no one coming forward, and if there is nothing else, I will close
the public hearing and ask for a motion.
On a motion by Caramagno, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#01-06-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 25, 2022, on
Petition 2021-12-02-26 submitted by HD Group, Inc., on behalf of
Portillo's, requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section
6.22 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, to utilize a Tavern
license (sale of beer and wine for consumption on the premises)
in connection with the operation of a freestanding full -service
January 25, 2022
30386
restaurant at 13000 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of
Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and
Schoolcraft Road in the Northwest 114 of Section 25, the Planning
Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that
Petition 2021-12-01-26 be approved subject to the following
conditions:
1. That the use of a Tavern license at this location is subject to
City Council waiving the 1,000-foot separation restriction
required between other such licensed businesses per
Section 6.22 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, and
2. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning
Ordinance, this approval is valid for a period of one year only
from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a
building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and
void at the expiration of said period.
FURTHER, The Planning Commission recommends the approval
of a Conditional Agreement limiting this Tavern license to this
user only, with the provision to extend this waiver use approval to
a new user only upon approval of the new user by the City
Council.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.13 of
Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion?
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will goon to City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,180t" Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of
the Minutes of the 1,180t" Public Hearing and Regular Meeting
held on December 14, 2021.
On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-07-2022 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,180t" Public Hearing and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on December
145 2021, are hereby approved.
January 25, 2022
30387
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Bongero, McCue, Smiley, Ventura, Caramagno,
Wilshaw
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: Long
Mr, Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
ITEM #5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,181stPublic Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of
the Minutes of the 1,181st Public Hearing and Regular Meeting
held on January 11, 2022.
On a motion by Long, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was
#01-08-2022 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,1815� Public Hearing and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on January
11, 2022, are hereby approved.
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Long, Ventura, Caramagno, Wilshaw
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: Bongero, McCue, Smiley
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and. the foregoing resolution
adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,182"d Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on January 25, 2022% was adjourned at 8:21
CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
Secretary
ATTEST:
Ian Wilsha , Chairman