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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2011-06-07MINUTES OF THE 1,010TH PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, June 7, 2011, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,010th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. Lee Morrow, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: Scott P. Bahr Ashley V. Krueger R. Lee Morrow Lynda L. Scheel Carol A. Smiley Gerald Taylor Ian Wilshaw Members absent: None Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, and Ms. Margie Watson, Program Supervisor, were also present. Chairman Morrow informed the audience that if a petition on lonighfs agenda involves a rezoning request, this Commission makes a recommendation to the City Council who, in tum, will hold its own public hearing and make the final determination as to whether a pefifion 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 len 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 pefifions upon their fling. 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. Mr. Morrow: I want to welcome Scott Bahr. This will be his first official act. He is our new Commissioner. I speak for everyone here. We welcome you aboard. Mr. Bahr: Thankyou. ITEM #1 PETITION 2011-05-02-05 FELLOWSHIP COMMUNITY Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Pefifion 2011-05- 02-05 submitted by Fellowship Community requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(() of the City of Livonia June 7 2011 25673 Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a second-hand store (New 2 U) at 15950 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebell Road between Five Mile Road and Sunnydale Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 13. Mr. Taormina provided background on the item and presented a map showing the property under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Mr. Morrow: Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first dem is from the Engineering Division, dated May 31, 2011, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced petition. The legal description provided is correct. The address is confirmed to be 15950 Mldd/ebe# Road." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated May 9, 2011, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the petition submitted in connection with a request to operate a second- hand store in a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. 1 have no objections to this proposal, with the following stipulations: (1) The business complies with NFPA 101, Chapter 37 Existing Mercantile Occupancies. (2) The Fire Sprinkler System must have an Inspection Document, from a qualified fire sprinkler inspector, that is less than one year old showing no deficiencies." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fesler, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated May 17, 2011, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. The parking lot has only one poorly marked handicapped space on the south side of the building. 1 would recommend that two handicapped spaces be reserved in the front (west) lot. In addition, the bushes surrounding the entire front (west) lot are creating vision obstructions and site line safety issues at the sidewalk at the entrances to the parking lot There is also a collapsed storm sewer in the southwest comer of the lot. A larger sink hole is located in the southeast lot that needs to be repaired as well." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated June 1, 2011, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) The current number of parking spaces provided is 51. The proposed change in use would require that 93 spaces are to be provided. The spaces are required to be 10' by 20' and double striped. A variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals would be required to maintain the number of deficient parking spaces. (2) With the requirement of 93 parking spaces, four of June 7, 2011 25674 the spaces are required to be barrier free with one of the four spaces to be van accessible. These parking spaces shall be property sized, signed and striped. (3) The parking lot shall be repaired as necessary. (4) The sidewalk located on the southwest side of the building is cracked and heaved and shall be repaired or replaced. (5) No signage has been reviewed at this time. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. The next letter is from Dorothy Bruce, dated June 2, 2011, who resides at 29218 Broadmoor Street, which reads as follows: 7 and my neighbors who live behind the above property are opposed to the above use request. This sounds like a thrift shop of some sort, clothing? furniture? machinery? household items? We already have a'second hand store' two lots south of this parcel known as a Consignment shop. We are always picking up packing materials in our yards frem that, plus being subject to loud noise and traffic. Another shop in the same area opens the vacant buildings around it to undesirable future business such as pawn shops, resale shops, thrift stores, etc., that could downgrade surrounding properties. This is an older neighborhood, well kept and with newer homes being built within the past five years. We don't want another'old Michigan Avenue' to start in Livonia. Also, there is already another 'Buy, Sell, Trade' store around the comer that just opened, also in Section 13. There are other vacant buildings in Livonia and these facilities should not be located in one area. The City Planner could assist Fellowship Community in finding a more suitable location for their business. The area does not need a store of this type as it is surrounded by convalescent and retirement homes, the future Marycrest Senior facility, a funeral home, dentists' offices, accounting offices, insurance companies, realtors, food service which includes Steve's Restaurant, one lot to the south, which was updated with many dollars spent, and has added a lot to the area. A church is also adjacent to the lot in question. We do not want a cluster of resale shops taking over the vacant buildings along this strip. And there are a number of other vacancies within .that block. We urge you to vote no on this waiver use request." The letter is signed by Dorothy Bruce. The next letter is from Ward Presbyterian Church located in Northville, Michigan, dated May 12, 2011, which reads as follows: 7 would like to recommend to you Pastor Daryl Ounanian and the plans he is presenting for an upscale resale store in Livonia. Ward Church is involved in this plan in several ways. First we have known Pastor Ounanian for several years. We know of his passion for helping young inner city children get a quality education that will change their life for the better. We support his plans for the store for all of the good that it will do. Also, our church is involved in practical ways. We June 7, 2011 25675 plan to help provide guidance, staffing, and donated items for the stone. We art= just as concemed as you might be that this operation would be run in a first class manner. So we plan to be involved with the look and feel of the store from the very beginning. We will have volunteers working there, construction people to create the interior set up, and people supplying items for resale. We are confident that this stone will benefit the area by being a place where people can purchase great items at significant savings. We also are sure that this store will bless many children. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the store or our commitment to it. Thank you." The letter is signed by Rev. Paul Clough, Pastor to the Community. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Mr. Taylor and I were out there looking at the furniture store. Are those parking spaces currently 10 feet by 20 feet? Mr. Taormina: They are not striped sufficiently to really mean much. The entire lot would have to be repaved and restriped, and they would have to comply with the 10 foot requirement. I don't know if that would adjust the parking. If those are nine feel and he had to make them 10 feet, we would probably lose two or three spaces in the process. Mr. Morrow: And the van accessible .... Mr. Taormina: That is going to adjust it loo. That's correct. Mr. Morrow: So we have 93. That's not a hard and fast number at this point. Mr. Taormina: Ninety-three is not a hard and fast number. What exists, 51, is probably not as well. We'd have to verify that. Mr. Morrow: Excuse me. Ninety-three is hard and fast. Its the 51 that is not hard and fast. Mr. Taormina: They are showing 10 feel on the plan. The plan is showing 51 spaces. I'm not sure we would lose one space with the addifional barrier free spaces that are required. They would be at 50 or 51 by the time it's fully striped. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Are there any other questions for the staff? Ms. Smiley: The consignment shop is two or three doors down? Mr. Taormina: Yes. I want to say three but I'm not sure. June 7, 2011 25676 Ms. Smiley: Was this the place the Salvation Army wanted to go into? Didn't they want to go onto Middlebelt somewhere? Mr. Morrow: It was Middlebelt and Seven Mile Roads. Mr. Taormina: That was a much earlier petition. They were interested in the shopping complex at the southwest comer of Middlebelt and Seven Mile Roads. Ms. Smiley: My last question is, Newton Furniture used to only have an entrance in the veryfront. Mr. Taormina: As far as for customers, I believe that is the case. That's correct. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Are there any other questions of the staff? Then we'll ask the petitioner to come forward. We'll need your name and address for the record. Feel free to add anything that you've heard so far and any other comments you would like to make regarding the pefifion. Pastor Daryl Ounanian, Fellowship Community. 9540 Bmmell. Detroit, Michigan 48230. I appreciate that. I have a school called Westside Chrlsfian Academy at 9540 Bramell in the City of Detroit. One of the things that parochial schools have trouble with is being able for people to afford tuition. There's only probably five parochial schools left in the City of Detroit. You could count them all on one hand, where there was a flourishing probably at one time of about 150. We have a concern. There are schools in the State of Michigan, one in particular, that is working to help supplement tuition. One of those schools is Southfield Chrlstian and Highland Park Baptist Church. They have an upscale resale store. What I'd like to emphasize is that this store is going to be similar to that store. In other words, we want to make it nice for the community. We don't want it to be something that's looked at as a negative thing, obviously. What we want to do is make it upscale resale. So when you walk into the store, you wouldn't think of it as a second hand shop. We're not trying to sell a lot of appliances, if any. What we're trying to do is to sell clothing and household items, but to make it in such a way ... and I did make some pictures. I took some pictures of our sister store in Southfield. I included those in my package just to give you an idea of what we want it to look like because we don't want to have a negative impact in the community. We want it to be something very positive. The reason is for us to be able to take those funds and use those funds to help June 7, 2011 25677 supplement tuition for children in the City of Detroit so we can keep a parochial school in our city. I, myself, am a resident of the City of Detroit, born and raised. My dad was a Detroit fireman for 30 years, and also a carpenter. My son graduated from this school in 2003 and he is a corporal in the Marines right now. We have also graduated more young men than young ladies at our school. So there are a lot of young men that go off to college. The school has a 17 year history. It's very significant in the City of Detroit. It has made an impact, and it has made a difference and allowed young people to come to a school that is safe and in a loving environment. So what we want to do is to help keep a parochial school. There are other stores in the Slate of Michigan similar to Encore, which is in Southfield. Ours, which is going to be called New 2 U, some in Grand Rapids, some in Lansing. What they are trying to do is help supplement the cost of tuition in order to keep their parochial schools open. I would like to say that the owner of the store is here today. We signed a lease with him and the lease states that he is responsible for repairing and striping and making the parking lot beautiful. So it's resealed. Everything is restriped. The catch basins are fixed. Then also that the roof is repaired as well. Mr. Morrow: Thank you, Pastor. Does the Commission have any quesfions of the Pastor? Ms. Krueger: Good evening. I can appreciate what you are trying to do at this store, but you are significantly deficient in parking and that's a concern to me, as one Commissioner. I wondered if you have considered other sites for your store. Rev. Ounanian: The stores, when you look at the parking, they may not be heavily ... from the stores that I've seen, and I know the one at Southfield Christian, there may be 10 cars at a time. They do pretty well, even with that. There may be 10, 20 cars at the most, and they are able to, because of the store, and I don't know if you all have the pictures, but their retail business does pretty well still. There is a flow but there's probably not more than 20 cars at a time at their own store. They've mel their expectations, and the income of that store is probably about $60,000 a month in retail sales. The parking is not something that we see as a problem in terms of the amount of people, but they will come every hour, so many. The parking has not been a problem in the other stores. I can't see us using that much parking. That would be nice if we were able to use that much parking. I don't see us using that much parking space at all. In terms of the consignment store, Newlon Furniture, the reason that I like it is because it has a great processing center. So that June 7, 2011 25678 way, there is plenty of room to process clothes and furniture. Also, what I like about it, it has open space. When you walk in the store, all the space is open. It's not going to look cluttered. That's going to be different than other ... a second hand store is really not going to help us mise the kind of money that we need to raise. A store that is upscale, also with clothing that is very nice, will help us. The better our store, which Southfield Christian was able to create their store to be very nice. That's why they have the turnover that they have in terms of goods and materials. We will be picking up some things and bringing them there, but we're very conscious about the cleanliness and the orderliness because we're on a mission. It's not just to make money for ourselves at all. Most of the people that work there will be volunteers. So the desire is for us to have a good store to produce as much money as possible. The nicer the store is, and the better the community ... one other thing that Southfield Christian does, their Encore store does, they have a senior citizens day. What they do is they allow senior citizens to come in and to gel what they want. So certain days they don't charge them at all. So people can go in there and gel what they need. On some other days, there may be an organization in the city that all the proceeds from that day go to that non -prof(. So that's something that our sister store does as well. Ms. Krueger: I just have a few more questions. Currently, the landscaping is very overgrown. Do you have a plan for that? Rev. Ounanian: Oh, yes. Along with the owner of the store, we plan on making the store visible so that people from the street can see it. So all the bushes have to look nice. Again, let me say that again. Our store has to look appealing, and it has to look well kept for people to come in. The reason for Livonia is because we want people from Livonia and the surrounding areas to come to the store. Ms. Krueger: Okay. We understand that. I think you've made that clear. Rev. Ounanian: I just want to lel you know that, yes, it will be. Ms. Krueger: And what is your plan for the landscaping? Are you going to be replacing items or are you going to be expanding your landscaping? Rev. Ounanian: I think, for right now, to keep it well groomed and to resod it. Anything that is older looking, and I haven't taken pictures of that ... there are maybe some wood material that needs to be replaced. June 7, 2011 25679 Ms. Krueger: How many employees will you have at any one time working? Rev. Ounanian: Mosty volunteers. There will be at least five full time employees, and the rest will be volunteers. Ms. Krueger: Finally, my last question is, can you describe how you're going to acquire items for the store, how drop-offs work and the hours that will take place? Rev. Ounanian: Most of the items will be given to us by different people. We have a truck that will bring the items into the store. The hours of the store, they close pretty early at 6:00 or 7:00 p.m., opens at 9:00 a.m. One of the agreements that I wanted to do before I took on this project was to get a commitment from Ward Presbyterian. They said they would help us fill the store. I believe that they have probably 6,000 members at that church. Without their commitment, I probably wouldn't have taken on this project. Ms. Krueger: So trucks will be dropping off items? Rev. Ounanian: Not trucks, just one truck, and they will pick up those items and deliver to the back and bring them in. Yes. Ms. Krueger: So there will not be any circumstances where people will just be dropping bags off at the backdoor? Rev. Ounanian: Not at all. Ms. Kruger: Okay. Thank you. Mr. W Ishaw: Pastor, you talk about this truck that is going to stop by and drop things off. Whose truck is it? Is it your truck that goes around and picks things up? Rev. Ounanian: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. It is. You're not using a third party? Rev. Ounanian: No. It's our truck, our store. It will have our name on the side of R. Mr. Wlshaw: I just don't fully understand what the difference is between upscale resale and a second hand store. You're saying very adamantly that this is not a second hand store; this is upscale resale. Explain the difference for me. Rev. Ounanian: It is second hand in the sense that the items are used, yes. June 7, 2011 25680 Mr. Wilshaw: It sounds almost like the difference between a used car and a certified pre -owned car, which is essentially the same thing. Explain to me what differentiates your product from a Salvation Army or a second hand store. Rev. Ounanian: I think what brings success from my study in terms of these second hand retail stores is the quality of how the merchandise is laid out, and also the appeal when you walk in the building. From what I've noticed, because there's a kid section, a book section, different things. From what I found out, is that there are items that are used, but a lot of the items that would not be sold are packaged and delivered to other places. So the difference is that it's the appeal when you walk into the place. They may be resalable clothes, but they are nice clothes that people will be attracted to, plus the building, the interior itself will be attractive. A lot of second hand stores can be cluttered. You can't move around very well. This will look like a retail store, and you wouldn't know the difference between this store and a regular store because the layout would have a lot to do with it. Mr. Wilshaw: Now some of this merchandise that is going to come in, the truck is going to come in and bring bags of clothes and things like that that you want to put out. How do you define what clothes you're going to put out versus which sluff you're not going to accept as you process this? Is that going to happen in the processing center? Rev. Ounanian: Yes. Mr. W Ishaw: What's going to happen with the material that you choose not to put out because it doesn't meet your criteria? Rev. Ounanian: What we're going to do is recycle. What we want to do is to ... everything will be kept in . . we will have a dumpsler, but mostly everything, that processing center, the attraction that we had to it, is that most stores like ourselves don't have as large a processing center. When they don't have as large a processing center, they have too much. The problem is not enough things. The problem is there's loo many. Our goal to make this work is to be getting things in and out. So they will be bundled up and taken out by our truck and taken to other places so there are not things that are cluttered in the back. The processing center is big enough for recycling things. So we want to teach our students recycling with that as well. June 7, 2011 25681 Mr. Wlshaw: Are the clothes going to be laundered before they're put out or are they just going to be put out in the condition you receive them? Rev. Ounanian: Some will be laundered. Believe it or not, we receive a lot of clothing that is already in dry cleaning bags. A lot of people have given us things that are already nicely packaged. Mr. Wilshaw: I understand that. A lot of times when we've donated things ourselves, my wife is adamant about making sure they're laundered before. Rev. Ounanian: Exactly. That's what most other people do as well. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Now, this may sound a little gross as you talk about it, but I think it's worth mentioning. How do you deal with things such as bed bugs or other things that may come in with this merchandise that could contaminate the rest of your store? Rev. Ounanian: Yes. We will have places where they can be laundered and cleaned. All the stores, one of the keys things is inspection of everything and the processing is so important. We'll probably have about in any given day there will be 10 volunteers that will be there every day at the store coming in and that will lake up some of those additional parking spots. They'll lake up the spots in the back. So there will be 10 to 15 people every day processing clothes. That's really what is the most important thing about the whole store. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Well, thanks for educating me on that. I appreciate it. I'm all set. Mr. Taylor: Pastor, I donate to many things like that, like you're talking about, but they call me. Purple Heart calls maybe once a month. How do you gel in touch with these people that you're talking about? Rev. Ounanian: In terms of bringing things? Mr. Taylor: How do they know the truck is coming? Rev. Ounanian: What will happen is that, we'll have, because of the news, because people will know about the store, I have churches already that are committed to having their parishioners, like Ward and other churches in Livonia and Redford and Farmington, and Bloomfield, that are committed to giving us clothes. So all we have to do is pick them up. I did have one church that had a truckload of stuff that they brought to us, and June 7, 2011 25682 that's in storage right now. One of the things about the processing center, there's really not a problem getting enough clothes. People will bring those to us, and we'll be able to go get them. So churches play a large role in the clothes that we gel, the church community. Mr. Taylor: Like Purple Heart, can people write that off? Rev. Ounanian: When they come in, they will gel a donation slip. They have to put the value of the items on there. We'll list the items and then they put the value. Mr. Taylor: It sounds like your cause is very just. I like what you're doing and what you're doing in Detroit. My problem is its a waiver use, and we have a used clothes store, whatever you want to call it, consignment, a few doors down from you. A waiver use goes with the land. If we give you this waiver use, and for one reason or another, it doesn't work out for you, then another person can come in and use that exactly the way you want to use it, only maybe not at the same lop quality that you want to use R. That's one of the problems I have. Rev. Ounanian: We plan on being there for a long time. I think that really one of the keys to what we're doing and one of the reasons that I committed myself to doing this, is not only the success of the store in Southfield, and the amount of money they're able to put back into their school, was the success, the commitment of Ward Presbyterian. I must admit that their commitment, with the help of making it successful and helping us and the commitment from the Pastor of Community there, and so we plan on being there as long as we can. If that store is successful, that store will be there. And also, if I can use some pastor language, be a blessing to the community. We don't want it to be something that's negative. We want it to be something that's positive. We want to be a blessing to the City of Livonia. I think that the reason we call it upscale resale, which means it's going to be a nice retail store. I've been to consignment stores. I've been around the clutter. I've seen the different things that they have. I see the space that you can't walk around. I see the stuff that's Teff out there. That's not what we're trying to do. The more successful our store is, it will better help our children. Mr. Taylor: Doesn't Mr. Wolf still own the store? Rev. Ounanian: Yes, he does. Mr. Wolf is right here. If you lel him come down here, I'd like him to say something if that's all right. June 7, 2011 25683 Mr. Morrow: That's perfectly all right. Before you do that, is there any other questions of the Pastor? Mr. Taormina: If I heard you correctly, Pastor, you said that your items would be delivered via a truck that you own. Then I heard you say that you will be giving out receipts to persons who donate clothing. Rev. Ounanian: When they come in. They will be able to drop off some things, yes. Mr. Taormina: So you will be accepting donations. Rev. Ounanian: Yes. Mr. Taormina: Where will that occur? The area to the rear of the store is fenced off. Are you going to accept donations at the back of the store during limited hours? I'm just curious to know how that's going to be handled. I think that was one of the Commissioner's earlier questions, and I think maybe you need to expand on that. Rev. Ounanian: What we're trying to do is to pick up items from people mostly. Drop off items, people will be able to do that. The spot that I like the best is in the rear of the store because it has the largest doors. So people would go to the rear of the store and come at certain hours. The fenced in area should be locked so that way . I dont want to have a store where people are dropping off stuff in the middle of the night. I don't want to encourage that. I want to create an atmosphere where we're not encouraging people to drop stuff off but that we're coming to pick it up. That's the only way it's got to be. But I think the rear of the store, on the other side of the fenced in area, would be the best. Mr. Taormina: So what you're saying is, you will accept donations only during store hours. Rev. Ounanian: Yes. Mr. Taormina: And then your intention is to lock off the back lot when the store is closed to prevent people from dropping off items at the back of the store. Rev. Ounanian: Yes. Mr. Taormina: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: We'll need your name and address for the record. Mr. WoIF, Wolf Investment L.L.C., P.O. Box 159, Hamburg, Michigan 48139. June 7, 2011 25684 Mr. Morrow: The Pastor indicated you had some comments. Mr. Wolf: I just wanted to clarify that the reasons why the fence is being locked right now is because about eight months ago, I was notified by the Police Department that, unfortunately, there were people dumping merchandise back there, old bricks and things. So we secured the area to prevent that from happening. It's also part of our lease agreement. There was some discussion regarding the parking lot. It is spelled out in our lease agreement that I am responsible to bring the parking lot up to a high level. I already have bids, which I brought with me today, to fix the damaged catch basins. We will patch up any damaged asphalt, crack fling, black topping, seal coating, and restriping the parking lot before the building is occupied. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions? Mr. Taylor: The store has been vacant I know for quite a while. The weeds growing up along the side and in the back, it just does not look good at all. Are you planning on cleaning all that up? Mr. Wolf: Yes. I do have a contract with a company called Tru Green. They also maintain my building on Schoolcraft. They just have applied a weed killer product in the cracks. Mr. Taylor: The front of the building doesn't look loo bad, a little overgrown. Mr. Wolf: The back will also be addressed as far as cutting all the weeds down. Mr. Taylor: The rest of it doesn't look good at all. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: One thing I noticed out there, I guess it would be the south wall. It looked like it had some white striping where maybe some repairs had been done. Any there any plans to paint that? Mr. Wolf: Yes. As I discussed with Pastor Ounanian, the walls will be painted. The south wall and the east wall will be painted. I do have painters already under contract that are ready to go ahead as soon as everything is approved. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Mr. Taylor: One more. Do you plan on signing a lease with the Pastor? How does that work? June 7, 2011 25685 Mr. Wolf: We do have a lease signed at this point. The lease will commence upon approval from the City. Mr. Taylor: And how many year lease would that be? Mr. Wolf: Its a three year term with a three year extension. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: I think that will do it, Mr. Wolf. I've got one more question for the Pastor. Ithink you indicated that when the people bring things in to donate, at that lime you write out a list of all the things that you've received, and you give it to them and they put the value on it. Is that what I understood? Rev. Ounanian: Yes. That's a requirement. The IRS gives them that opportunity. Mr. Morrow: I know some places the donator makes out the list in advance so they can transcribe it on the donation form. Rev. Ounanian: Yes. We have a slip that's already printed, and all we have to do is fill in the items that they bring in and give it to them. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Anything else? Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? These lights are so bright I couldn't see you. Sir, we'll need your name and address for the record. Pastor Roderick Revels, 24736 Graham, Redford, Michigan 48239. Basically, I'm assisting Pastor Ounanian with the store. I wanted to clarify a couple of things. I was looking on the internet today, and one of the things I noticed, a gentleman asked about the difference between upscale resale and a regular store. Again, we are getting most of the things ... the quality of the clothes would be a big difference. I was looking on Manhattan Island. There are 30 upscale resale stores. We're modeling ours after Encore as well as those stores in New York. They get some of the best products from some of the well known people. That's going to be one of our strategies is to get very nice things from political sports people, and we're going to try to get that kind of product in our store. We're going to feature some of the things and people will know that a bishop or a Detroit Piston has donated a certain amount of items. So it's going to be an improved kind of material that we're doing here. I think that the people behind there will be proud to come to our store. As far as the striping and everything with the parking, I was there when I believe Goodwill just opened a store in Canton. I believe somewhere in December or earlier this year. They had probably about 50 June 7, 2011 25686 parking spots all filled on that day. It was the first day and it was a madhouse. They had a smaller space than we do, if we're allowed that is. They were able to handle the traffic. They used upscale clothing and people did come and see them. I think we're going to have that kind of store. Mr. Morrow: Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else wishing to come forward to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Do you see anybody else? Then I'm going to close the public hearing and ask the Commission for a motion. Ms. Krueger: Mr. Chair, I'm going to make a denying resolution. Before I read it, I'm going to state that the reason I'm denying it is my big concern with the parking and because this is a waiver use and it runs with the land. Twenty years from now, you may not be around and the store may not be around, and I would be concerned that a not so upscale retail shop would move in. So for those reasons, I'm going to make a denying resolution. On a motion by Krueger, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, it was #06-30-2011 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on June 7, 2011, on Petition 2011-05-02-05 submitted by Fellowship Community requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(t) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a second-hand store (New 2 U) at 15950 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road between Five Mile Road and Sunnydale Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 13, which property is zoned G2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2011-05-02-05 be denied for the following reasons: 1. That the petitioner has failed to affirmatively show that the proposed use is in compliance with all of the special and general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Sections 11.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance; 2. That the City is currently well served with similar uses to that which is being proposed; 3. That the petitioner has failed to demonstrate the need in the area for the type of commercial service proposed to be operated on the subject site; 4. That the petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated that the proposed use would be compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding uses in the area; June 7, 2011 25687 5. That the pefifioner has failed to adequately demonstrate that the facility has the capacity to accommodate the proposed use; and 6. That the proposed use is contrary to the goals and objectives of the Zoning Ordinance which, among other things, are intended to insure suitability and appropriateness of uses. 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. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Pastor, you just heard this was a denying resolution. In my opening remarks, I indicated that you will have ten days to appeal that to the City Council who will ultimately make the final decision if you appeal it. Rev. Ounanian: All right. Mr. Morrow: So everything we had here tonight will go forward. ITEM #2 PETITION 2011-05-02-06 BIGGBY COFFEE Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2011- 05-02-06 submitted by R&B Coffeehouse of Livonia, L.L.C. requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 10.03(i) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a limited service restaurant (Biggby Coffee) at 33443 Seven Mile Road within the Millennium Plaza shopping center, located on the south side of Seven Mile Road between Farmington Road and Irving Boulevard in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 9. Mr. Taormina provided background on the item and presented a map showing the properly under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Mr. Morrow: Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated May 31, 2011, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering June 7, 2011 25688 Division has reviewed the above- eferenced petition. The legal description provided is comect. The address is confirmed to be 33443 Seven Mile Road for that space to be occupied by Biggby Coffee." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated May 6, 2011, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request for waiver use approval to operate a limited service restaurant at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal" The letter is signed by Earl W. Fester, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated May 11, 2011, which reads as follows: 'I have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. 1 have no objections to the plans as submitted." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated June 1, 2011, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above-eferenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) The petitioner's proposal is a change in use. This would require that the proposed space must conform to all cument barrier free codes, building codes and all mechanical codes and standards. This will be addressed further at time of plan review if this project moves forward. (2) No signage has been reviewed at this time. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions for the staff? Ms. Smiley: I'm a little confused about'The petitioner's proposal is a change in use." So now they need banner free and they didn't have barrierfree because itwasjewelry store. What's that about? Mr. Taormina: I think that for purposes of the building code, the change of use requires certain banner free upgrades, something that maybe the previous office or some other retail use did not require. Ms. Smiley: In like restrooms? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Again, these are all building code issues that they would have to address at the time of plan review by the Building Department. It's nothing that really affects significantly the layout of the store, but there are probably some details that will have to be remedied. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. June 7, 2011 25689 Mr. Morrow: Seeing no other questions of the staff, if the petitioner could come forward and give us your name and address for the record. Robert Perry, 10025 Dorian, Plymouth, Michigan 48170. Hello, I'm Bob Perry. Mr. Morrow: Are there comments you want to make relative to Mr. Taormina's presentation or any comments of your own? Mr. Perry: Its pretty cut and dried. I think Mark pretty well described R. I don't really have anything else to add. I think the seating is within the guidelines. We're all set to go. The health department has approved the plans. The next step is to get the approval here and then have the plan inspector take a look at it as well. Mr. Morrow: Thankyou. Anyquestions of the petitioner? Mr. Taylor: Have you given any more thought to the outside sealing that you were talking about? Mr. Petty: I did lake a look at a couple design experts who could come in and actually put a plan together for your review. I have not acted on that yet. I have a couple different options. As I staled in the study session, my goal is to have that in place for the Spring of next year. I'm going to take a month or two here and get a couple people looking at it and quote it out, find out how much it would cost to have them put the plan together, and then get that plan together and bring it back to you as we discussed. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Wilshaw: You'd be okay with us having the outdoor seating as a callback item to go over those details once you gel those sorted out? Mr. Perry: Absolutely. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Just to talk about the number of sealing. You can have no more than 30 seals total. So explain to us, when you do gel this outdoor seating, how are you going to make sure that you slay at 30 seats? Mr. Perry: We talked about potentially approving up to 10 for the outside sealing. If I put 10 seals out there, my intention would only be to put eight. So I would probably only put eight out there. That means I would have to reduce the inside seating by four chairs. So I'd have to pull two tables and four chairs out and set them in the back of the office while I had the seasonal seating out there. June 7, 2011 25690 That will occur in the summer months, maybe early fall, but once it gels cool, I'll have to take those seats back out. Then I can bump the seats back up to 30 on the inside or 26 or whatever. Mr. W Ishaw: Okay. So you'll manage that by moving seats in and out. Mr. Perry: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: I notice in our proposed resolution there is mention of a grease container. Do you do anything at Biggby ... Mr. Perry: Not at all. There is no grease whatsoever. Mr. Wilshaw: No sandwiches or anything that produces grease, or fries or anything like that? Mr. Perry: None. Mr. Wlshaw: My question then for Mr. Taormina would be, is that condition still appropriate or should we leave it in there just in case they do decide to have grease producing things in the future or can we exclude condition three? Mr. Taormina: I think that can be removed altogether. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Morrow: Just one question along that line, Mr. Taormina. Because the waiver runs with the land, would this be something we would make an exception for any future tenant, or would they be bound by some ordinance or code? Mr. Taormina: I think that's a very valid point because it's not something that would typically come back to you for review. If this was to change to a different style restaurant that did require those facilities, then maybe we would want to include that condition. We could just write it that should a grease trap be required for this use or any future uses. So that's a very good point. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Scheel: Can you tell me what the hours of operation will be? Mr. Perry: It will be 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Ms. Scheel: Did you plan on adding any outdoor lighting? June 7, 2011 25691 Mr. Perry: I think when we come back with the outdoor seating plan, we're going to have to lake a look at lighting, the music. I think we discussed having a window on the side of the building so we could actually see out and monitor the outside seating. So that will be part of when we come back with the callback session. I'll explain exactly how that works at that time, but I think we're probably going to need some lighting out there. Fabrizio, is there already lighting out on that side? Mr. Pesce: Yes Mr. Perry: So there may already be some there. Mr. Pesce: There are utility lights, ambient lights. Mr. Perry: Is that where your concern was? Ms. Scheel: Just to see if you were going to add any further lighting. If you're not going to plan to do anything until you look at a patio design, then that's fine. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Maybe we should have your name and address for the record, sir. Fabrizio Pesce, 30508 Munger, Livonia, MI 48154. Good evening. My name is Fabrizio. I live in Livonia. I am the landlord. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Your comments if they appear in the record, we want to know who made them relative to the lighting. Mr. Pesce: Absolutely. Thankyou. Mr. Taormina: I do have one question. Mr. Perry, there is only one dumpsler to service all of the tenants within this shopping complex. Will there be a need for a second container for your needs? Mr. Perry: No. I've been working with Fabrizio. We're going to have the dumpsler picked up twice a week rather than once a week so there will be no new dumpsler. It will just be a more frequent pickup. Mr. Taormina: So no changes regarding the trash other than the frequency of pickup? Mr. Perry: That's right. And the bottom line is, the Biggby store doesn't produce a lot so it's very minimal. We'll be able to accomplish that pretty easily. June 7, 2011 25692 Mr. Taormina: Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I'll close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Wilshaw, and unanimously adopted, it was #06-31-2011 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on June 7, 2011, on Petition 2011-05-02-06 submitted by R&B Coffeehouse of Livonia, L.L.C. requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 10.03(1) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a limited service restaurant (Biggby Coffee) at 33443 Seven Mile Road within the Millennium Plaza shopping center, located on the south side of Seven Mile Road between Farmington Road and Irving Boulevard in the Northeast 114 of Section 9, which properly is zoned G2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2011-05-02-06 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the maximum number of customer seats shall not exceed a total of thirty (30) seats, including a maximum of len (10) outdoor patio seals; 2. That a fully detailed patio plan, including information concerning overall dimensions, lighting, perimeter fencing, furniture, access points and landscaping shall be submitted for approval to the Planning Commission; 3. That if a grease container is required now or in the future, it shall be adequately screened from public view either within the existing dumpster enclosure or within a separate enclosure; 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; and 5. That no LED Iighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on the site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows. Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for the following reasons: June 7, 2011 25693 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. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Ms. Scheel: For Item #3, do we need to put if it so needs it in the future, Mr. Taormina? Its worded like it needs it right now. Should we add the words, if it needs it in the future? Mr. Taormina: Yes. We will modify that language. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #3 PETITION 2011-05-02-07 MJ'S RESALE SHOP Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2011- 05-02-07 submitted by G&D Properties requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(() of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a second-hand store (MJ's Resale Shop) at 34385 Plymouth Road located within the Stark Plaza shopping center, on the south side of Plymouth Road between Farmington Road and Stark Road in the Northeast 114 of Section 33. Mr. Taormina provided background on the item and presented a map showing the properly under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Mr. Morrow: Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated May 31, 2011, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering June 7 2011 25694 Division has reviewed the above -referenced petition. The legal description provided is for the overall parcel and is comect. The address is confirmed to be 34385 Plymouth Road for this space." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated May 11, 2011, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to operate a second-hand store in a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. 1 have no objections to this proposal, with the following stipulation: The business complies with NFPA 101, chapter 37 Existing Mercantile Occupancies." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fesler, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated May 16, 2011, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. 1 have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated June 1, 2011, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) The restroom provided in this space must be accessible to the public. (2) No signage has been reviewed. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions for the staff? Seeing none, would the petitioner come forward please? Craig Gonzalez, G & D Properties, 34389 Plymouth Road, Livonia, Michigan 48150. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I think I just wanted to discern from the explanation of the use of the space. We're looking at this concept as a consignment shop. Now, perhaps that is synonymous with resale in the code, but in a consignment formal, people bring in clothes that they think have value, that have been cleaned, and that they would like to regain some value from by selling it to the public, and maybe perhaps they don't have the time nor the gumption to do. We'd like to use social networking with this store, a website, and also a Facebook page to bring patrons into the store. Our business model supports that. A large percentage of the product is going to be catalogued and placed on the internet, and sold over the internet, and then they would pick up the stuff in the store because shipping has become so costly. Empowering those new networks of buying, purchasing, point of purchase, we feel that this would be a suitable space. It is a much smaller size than what I've heard about this evening than some of the other ones in the city. We want to look at it as more of a boutique June 7, 2011 25695 item. We're looking at doing specific price points of $5.00 to $25.00 for items, and obviously, very discriminating on the product that is brought into the store and how it's displayed. Mr.Morrow: Mr. Taormina, I think we can say a consignment shop is a used resale shop. Mr. Taormina: Il would fall under that category. Its not classified as an antique store, so it would fall under our definition of second hand stores, and it does require the waiver use. We've had similar requests. There was one at Five Mile and Merriman a few years back, a verysimilar concept to what Mr. Gonzalez is proposing here. Mr. Morrow: I think we had one on Plymouth Road too. Mr. Taormina: It was a little bit larger though. The one at Five Mile and Merriman was very similar in size to this. Ms. Smiley: My understanding is that the items will be brought there after you've done your internet sale on them. Are you like a spot where Craig's List comes and picks up things? Mr. Gonzalez: The idea is fluid and we're trying to put together a unique business model from our perspective that its a hybrid of a consignment shop. That people bring their sluff in and they consign it with you for 60 days. We would catalog it for them, place it on our internet site, and also put it on Craig's List and/or Ebay if it's that valuable of an item. People would purchase it over the internet or come in and view it, to feel it tactilely and see if that would be something that would fl them and see if the size is right, because sometimes buying over the internet, there's so many unknowns. People don't want things that they can't feel or try on. So this, hopefully, makes more opportunities for people to purchase things. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Krueger: Do you have any experience with running this type of shop? Mr. Gonzalez: I've done estate sales in the past. Thal was more of a weekend Rem and/or a week item where you have a specialty venue and like a store front and do a kiosk for several days at a time. I haven't had one as a permanent location in the past, but I've done special events for sales. Ms. Krueger: Okay. Thank you. June 7, 2011 25696 Ms. Scheel: You mentioned that people could come in and touch the items, look at them, and possible try them on. Where will they try them on? Mr. Gonzalez: The restroom was going to be the area. There is a 9' x 6' bathroom in the facility, and we were going to look at that as a filling room. There is also a smaller room next to it, but it just didn't seem suitable for an adult. It didn't seem like there was enough space for mirrors and a person in that one. Ms. Scheel: So the bathroom would serve as a bathroom and a fitting room? Mr. Gonzalez: Thatwas the idea. Yes. Ms. Scheel: Thankyou. Ms. Krueger: I have a question for Mark. Can they do that under the ordinance, use it for both? Mr. Taormina: There is nothing in the zoning ordinance that regulates that. That would be a building code issue. He will have to address that at the time of plan review with the Building Department. Ms. Krueger: Okay. Mr. Morrow: I do have one question. How will you process or handle people bringing things into the store? I know this is a small scale operation, but in the past, we had to keep people from bringing things in through the front door, which would interfere with normal retail trade. Do you have any plans along that regard? Mr. Gonzalez: The premise of the consignment is that people would bring it in the front door on certain days and it would be processed at the front counter. Not everything is suitable to be taken in on consignment. I would just hypothecate that less than half the sluff will be acceptable just because not everything is saleable, and we don't have the space nor the room to take in every item. But to answer your question directly, they would be bringing it in through the front door under the premise of how this was to be worked through, and it would be processed at the front counter. Mr. Morrow: I guess my biggest concern and maybe it isn't a concern, normally the ones in the past were bringing in big pieces of furniture or appliances or something of this nature. Is this something that you would accept into the store? Mr. Gonzalez: We are, again, limited in space as you know and you've mentioned. What we're thinking of doing and have processed is June 7, 2011 25697 to go to the site where people have larger sets of furniture and take pictures of it on-site leaving it in the home and signing an agreement with them and then listing and selling it for them and then facilitating it to be moved out of their house. It gives you the opportunity to have the credibility to be able to do that for people. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: This kind of goes along with the same questions we've heard. I may be repeating the quesfion somewhat, but is there any particular niche that you're going for with your store or is it just going to be a little bit of everything? Mr. Gonzalez: The niche with the clothing is more children's and you hear the commercials on TV and the radios now, Once Upon a Child. That's become a national phenomenon, and children's and women's clothes, and I'm not a retailer by nature, but those are the bulk of the sales of purchases. Men typically don't buy things as readily as females and mothers of children that need different sizes. That is probably the focus of the niche. The small decomtive items for houses would be, and again, because of the limited space of the doorways and the access, we wouldn't be staging large pieces of furniture in the properly other than maybe taking a picture of it on site and taking it back to the space. Mr. Wilshaw: That's kind of where I was headed. I was trying to understand if this was going to be like Once Upon a Child or Plato's Closet, which goes after a teen crowd, or if there was some particular niche. It sounds like its going to be a little more flexible than that, right? Mr. Gonzalez: It would be, but to be specific, again, the bulk of the sales we are targeting are children's clothes because they are so readily available and hardly used or wom through. And again, women's clothing, probably more name brand items and not just other products. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Krueger: I just have a couple more questions. How many employees do you plan on having working at one time? Mr. Gonzalez: Probably no more than three. Ms. Krueger: Okay. And you said the processing would take place at the front counter? June 7, 2011 25698 Mr. Gonzalez: The processing is minimal in the consignment other than inspecting the items, signing a contract with the person, having them walk through the contract and then hanging it on the shelf. In line with that, there's a window in the back of the room. It used to be a jewelry shop. They could process it in the back of the property so it wouldn't clutter the front by the reception area where they're doing the cash register. Ms. Krueger: Okay. Because that's my concern. I have taken things to consignment shops. The one I've been to has processing in the back and there's just bags and bags of clothes. That's what I'm picturing when you say you're going to have the processing up at the front, and to me, that doesn't make for a very attractive retail operation. Mr. Gonzalez: Yes, I would agree. Ms. Krueger: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Any other questions or comments? Then I'm going to go to the audience. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Taylor, and adopted, it was #06-32-2011 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on June 7, 2011, on Petition 2011-05-02-07 submitted by G&D Properties requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(() of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a second-hand store (MJ's Resale Shop) at 34385 Plymouth Road located within the Stark Plaza shopping center, on the south side of Plymouth Road between Farmington Road and Stark Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 33, which property is zoned G2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2011-05-02-07 be denied for the following reasons: 1. That the petitioner has failed to affirmatively show that the proposed use is in compliance with all of the special and general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Sections 11.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance; 2. That the City is currently well served with similar uses to thatwhich is being proposed; June 7, 2011 25699 3. That the petitioner has failed to demonstrate the need in the area for the type of commercial service proposed to be operated on the subject site; 4. That the petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated that the proposed use would be compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding uses in the area; 5. That the petitioner has failed to adequately demonstrate that the facility has the capacity to accommodate the proposed use; and 6. That the proposed use is contrary to the goals and objectives of the Zoning Ordinance which, among other things, are intended to insure suitability and appropriateness of uses. 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. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Scheel, Taylor, Bahr, Krueger, Wilshaw, Morrow NAYS: Smiley ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. As you heard in my opening remarks, this petition has been denied. However, you have len days in which to appeal to the City Council in writing, and they will make the ultimate decision. Mr. Gonzalez: Okay. Thank you. ITEM #4 PETMON 2011-05-08-05 UNIQUE DESIGN Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2011- 05-08-05 submitted by Unique Design Services requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the Zoning Ordinance in connection with a proposal to renovate the exterior of the commeroial building at 29419 Six Mile Road, located on the south side of Six Mile Road between Middlebell Road and Oporto Street in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 14. June 7, 2011 25700 Mr. Taormina: This is property located near the southwest comer of Middlebelt and Six Mile Roads. It's a site that is approximately 0.13 acres in size. It has 55 feet of frontage on Six Mile and a depth of 105 feet. The zoning oflhe property is C-2, General Business. The site does contain an existing building that is roughly 5,130 square feel in size. The building was most recently occupied by Shooters Service, which moved across the street into a portion of the building that was formerly Jimmie's Rustics. The building is now empty. What the petitioner would like to do is renovate the structure. Adjacent to it to the east is a small restaurant called Lefty's, which is zoned G2. Further to the south is the Teachers Store under the same zoning classification. To the west is a multi -tenant commercial building and then north, across Six Mile Road, are several commercial uses, including a gas station, B&B Pool Supplies and an office building. The existing building on the site is mostly of block construction. It has a mansard -style roof on the front and portions of the east side of the building. Under this petition, only the north and east elevations, the north being the side of the building facing Six Mile and the east elevations facing the comer, would undergo a facelift. The west elevation of the building is attached to the adjacent multi -tenant commercial building and is not visible. Also, there are no planned improvements for the rear or south elevation of the building. This building is somewhat worn and dated. The existing walls, as I indicated, are constructed out of blocks that have been painted. The main entrance currently is on the north side facing Six Mile. There is a storefront window located along that elevation. I think most of you are familiar with the painted sign that is located on the east side of the building. All of that would be modified under the proposal. I will show you what the elevation plans look like. The building as it exists today is represented in the two lop side views of the building. On the top right hand side is the front of the building facing Six Mile as it looks today. Directly below that is what it would look like after the improvements. Similarly, on the left hand side of this drawing up at the top is what it looks like today along the east side. After the renovations, this is what it would look. What the improvements consist of would be the placement of a decorative stone veneer along the base of the building. What you see here represented in the darker brown coloration is actually the stone veneer that would be placed mostly along the base of the building, but you also see where they've continued that same treatment at the comers of the building on the front elevation and then in another area along the east side of the building. The lighter tan areas of the building would consist of EIFS, which is an exterior insulated finish system that would extend over the existing block. You can see how the treatments June 7, 2011 25701 that are proposed would actually raise the appearance of the building height. These would be parapet walls that would extend the roofline up a bit. In particular along the east side of the building, they would actually cover up some of the area of the building where you see multiple offsets. There's actually an apartment up on the second floor of the building. Some of the details on extending this roofline up will have to be reviewed carefully by our Building Inspection Department. There are windows and access points to that unit. I discussed that issue with the Building Department today, and they will review that to make sure it is in compliance with all safely codes. You can see how the treatment that's proposed along the east side of the building would actually cover up that portion. It would square off the building and make it a more consistent height all the way across. There are also some changes proposed for the site. The site to the east is Lefty's restaurant. These two properties are owned in common. They share parking and access as you can see from this plan. The petitioner is also showing some additional landscape material along the front of the building. This area that is highlighted in green is asphalt that currently runs right along the foundation of the building and butts against the concrete sidewalk. He would tear out the asphalt and add a little bit of green space. He would reconfigure some of these parking spaces along the east side of the building. He is also looking to add a ground sign here in the northeast corner of the adjacent properly that would serve to identify not only Lefty's but whatever future tenant goes in this building. In order for him to do that to prevent this from being considered an off -premise sign, we would have to treat this more or less as a planned development with the two properties. He would have to record instruments in terms of the ingress and egress, and he would need a reciprocal easement agreement for both access and parking between the two properties in order to be eligible to construct that sign. It may still require some variances depending on the setbacks and the fact that this building currently has a nonconforming setback from Six Mile Road. We typically will not allow a ground sign on a site that doesn't comply with the front setback requirement. Because this building doesn't comply, the sign may have to be ultimately considered by the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval. But again, the intention here is to construct a sign probably 6 feet in height and 30 square feet in area, similar to what was done across the street for the shopping center that was built that has the LA Insurance and the liquor store. They constructed a sign on that corner and he wants to do something very similar on the southwest corner for these two buildings. That is pretty much the extent of the petition. June 7, 2011 25702 Mr. Morrow: Thankyou. Mr. Taormina: I'll read the correspondence now, Mr. Chairman. There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated May 31, 2011, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above- efemnced petition. The written legal description does not agree with the drawn description shown on the plan sheet provided by Unique Design Services and dated May 11, 2011. The Architect should review this matter and make the necessary changes to the plan sheet. The address is confirmed to be 29419 Six Mile Road for this space." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated May 20, 2011, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the petition submitted in connection with a request to renovate the exterior of a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. 1 have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fester, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated May 18, 2011, which reads as follows: 7 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. 1 have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated June 6, 2010, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above- eferenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) Signage proposed must meet the requirements of city's sign ordinance as it relates to the number of signs, size and location. (2) The petitioner shall submit a cross parking and cross access agreement to the city for the two properties involved in this petition. (3) The barrier free parking space is required to be van accessible. This requires a minimum of a 5 foot wide hashed access aisle alongside of an 11 foot wide parking space. This space must be property signed and striped. (4) The windowsropenings proposed to be installed on the east wall of the structure are not permitted due to the distance of only four and a half feet between the existing exterior wall and the property line. This is based on the Michigan Building code fire separation requirements. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Taormina: Just to go back to Mr. Hanna's Iasi point, what he is referring to, and I failed to mention this in my opening remarks, but you can see there are no openings along the east side of the building. What the petitioner would like to do is move the main entrance to the store to the east side of the building. He would like to June 7, 2011 25703 increase the amount of store front windows, not only along the front of this space facing Six Mile Mile, but he would like to add all these windows along the east side of the building. What Mr. Hanna is referring to, going back to the site plan, because the property line runs basically four and half feet away from this building, the code requires that in order to have openings he has to have a greater setback. I'm not exactly sure what that minimum setback is required to be to have that percentage of openings. I think it's based on the setback and the percentage of openings. That is something that this petitioner can seek a variance for, not from the Zoning Board of Appeals, but from the Michigan Building Code Board of Appeals. He does have the right to go the Building Code Board of Appeals for a variance regarding placement of the windows on that side of the building. That's something that Mr. Hanna and I discussed earlier today. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions of Mark? Mr. Wilshaw: Mark, to dwell on this issue, obviously that's very disappointing to hear that, as it stands, the entrance couldn't be moved there because I think that's an excellent idea. The letter also states that a barrier free space is required to be van accessible. Would he be referring to the barrier free spaces that essentially would be right in front of the entrance that they can't put in - the barrier free spaces that are on the adjoining property that really aren't even on his property? Mr. Taormina: That is correct. I think what would happen, Mr. Wilshaw, if he's not allowed to move the entrance, he'd still be required to provide a van accessible space. Chances are it would have to be the space closest to the customer entrance, which would be the north space. He is showing that barrier free space located here. He would probably have to move it to this location closest to the entryway. Mr. Wlshaw: But in all technicality, he already owns both parcels, but the reality is that if he was to sell that corner parcel, there wouldn't even be a space to use. It seems kind of silly. Mr. Taormina: That's correct. I think that is all contingent on having a cross access agreement, as Mr. Hanna pointed out. Mr. Wilshaw: Just thinking about these issues, would it be easier for him to combine the two lots into a single parcel? That way he doesn't have the issues of the glass and the entrance and the parking on one unified piece of property. The sign issue at the corner would be negated. June 7, 2011 25704 Mr. Taormina: Yes. That is something that we'd have to consider with the Assessment Department. Typically, where we have separate users and separate buildings, they want to see them separated for tax purposes. But I think we can still treat this as a single development and, hopefully, he would succeed in going before the Building Code Board of Appeals for this. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. So you think we can go forward assuming that the entrance is on the east side, all the glazing is there, and the parking the way it is? Mr. Taormina: I think it would be subject to his getting the approval from the Building Code Board of Appeals. Correct. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Very good. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Anyone else? Mark, the restaurant known as Lefty's, there is no upgrade to that? Mr. Taormina: The building, no, but the site, yes. We don't have the details yet on the comer, but I'm not sure if he proposing to grass this area. This area is currently not being utilized for parking. It would make sense to me that we would ask him to provide landscaping around the sign as part of the improvements to the adjoining site in order for him to get the benefits of a sign at that corner. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. If there are no other questions, if the petitioner could come forward please. We'll need your name and address please. Ron Khamou, Unique Design Services, 28103 Everett, Southfield, Michigan 48076. The reason I'm here, basically, what we're doing here is improvement for previously Shooters Service building that has been vacant for the Iasi two or three weeks. Everybody who ever sees this building I believe will agree with me, if we keep it the way it is, I think nobody will want to lease it or use it for any reasons. So after all the improvements we're doing, hopefully will make this building better and could be a step ahead for someone who can use it. As Mark said, we are not doing the major renovation for inside the building, more than taking the ceiling out to make it look big. Hopefully, we try to put in as many windows and openings per the building code to make more natural light inside. We are not increasing any square footage of the building. We are trying to just elevate the parapet of the building so it will look all around like a box. The stone that we're using will be decorative stone, quality stone. We will June 7, 2011 25705 be using it in the dark brownish area. The other side will be all dryvit, stucco. Regarding the site plan, there is like a greenbelt in front, the elevation facing Middlebelt, the east elevation, we've taken out and take advantage of that area by adding one more parking spot. And you were right about the location of the handicap. It should be in front close to the window. I believe by relocating the entrance to that elevation will be better because all the parking, convenience for the people just to get in there, and more convenience and safety. In order to keep the percentage of the landscape, we're adding the greenbelt to the east elevation. If there is any issue regarding the design, I will be really pleased to cover it. Mr. Morrow: Thank you. Are there any questions? Ms. Smiley: Are you interested in doing some landscaping around the sign? Mr. Khamou: That is correct. We're going to make it more visible and more greenish area. Ms. Smiley: Forgive me. Shooters. Did you have a shooting range in there? Mr. Khamou: The Shooters Service, I believe they are no longer there. It has been vacant for the last two or three weeks. They moved across the street. We're trying to do a retail store. The owner behind me, he decides to put either a clothing store or medical equipment or gift shop. It will just make the building better for the customer to come in. To make the corner nicer, it's really a nice corner the way it is I think. Ms. Smiley: I agree with you totally. I'm not going to miss that deer getting shot at all. But what I'm asking you is, was there a shooting range inside there? Mr. Morrow: No. Mr. Khamou: No. Just selling guns and bullets and sluff like that. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wlshaw: Sir, you understood what we talked about earlier with the fact that you'd have to go to the Michigan Building Code Board of Appeals to gel an appeal for having your entrance on the east side of the building, correct? Mr. Khamou: That's correct. Mr. Wlshaw: And you're going to do that? June 7, 2011 25706 Mr. Khamou: Actually, I will discuss my option with the owner. If he agrees to keep it the way it is, it will make our problem easier. Otherwise, if he really insists to go in that direction, we will follow that way. Mr. Wilshaw: The approving resolution, if it's offered tonight, will be based on your plan of having the door and the windows over on the east side. So obviously if for some reason you lost your appeal or you chose not to go down that road, you'd have to bring a different site plan to us because it would substantially change the appearance of the building. Mr. Khamou: I understand. Thankyou. Mr. Wlshaw: The other question was, the apartment that's on the roof right now, is that occupied? Mr. Khamou: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Is this going to box in that apartment in any way that makes it unrenlable? Mr. Khamou: Actually, we're not touching any access of the lighting that goes to that building. There will be more than a 10 fool difference between the parapet and the face of wall where the window is located. So there is some kind of open space in between. Mr. Wlshaw: Hopefully, it's more than four and half feet because apparently the building code doesn't lel you ... Mr. Khamou: More than 10 feel, I believe. Mr. Taormina: Just a point of clarification, and I misspoke. It's not the Michigan Building Code Board of Appeals. It's a local body that would review it, not something that he has to go to Lansing for that I'm aware of. I think it can be handled locally. Mr. Khamou: I just want to mention something. We try to keep the height of the elevation the same height that's in corner with the apartment. That will be consistent all the way around. That's the reason. We're not elevating more than that comer height. Mr. Wlshaw: Very good. Well, it looks like an excellent upgrade to the building. I really like the material that you just showed, and also the concept of using that east entrance as the primary entrance. I think that's a great idea. June 7, 2011 25707 Mr. Khamou: Thank you. I will see what my chances are to keep that entrance to that elevation and see how it goes. Mr. Wilshaw: Good luck with that. Ms. Smiley: I guess I'm a little confused. You're going to take the wall up but its not going to block their window because there's going to be 10 feel of space between the apartment and wall? Mr. Khamou: Basically, there is an apartment sifting almost in the middle of the roof area. The elevation wall goes this way. Pretend this is the apartment with the window. There is this wall coming here. What we're going, we're going straight having this wall go all the way around the building. Mr. Taormina: If I can explain it, and unfortunately, it doesn't really show on this elevation view. There is a difference. This wall right here extends further east than this wall, which is where the windows of the apartment are. By extending this wall up, there is still a space between the two walls because the apartment wall is offset a few feet. There is still going to be a space between the parapet wall and the block window. This would appear to be a porch within the apartment, and then there are more windows on the other side, and there are windows on the south side of the building. This will not be completely blocked off. There will be just a small space between the parapet and this window. Mr. Khamou: I just want to clarify something. The reason I didn't shade the wall, the white wall with the window, just to show this is not part of this wall. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Taylor: I agree with you, but when you look out that window from inside, you're going to be looking at a wall. Mr. Khamou: That's correct. Mr. Taylor: That seems kind of strange. Mr. Khamou: We talked to the tenant and they are willing to write a letter and agree about any improvements. Mr. Taylor: You might want to put a glass block wall in there. Mr. Khamou: Thats correct. That will be another option to do, but we are just trying to be consistent now to have all the building elevation in one unit. If necessary, we will end up putting glass, yes. June 7, 2011 25708 Mr. Taylor: Your renovation of the building looks great. It sounds like you have a few fences to jump over before you're going to make it, but good luck to you. Mr. Khamou: Thanks. Mr. Morrow: If there is nothing more, I'm going to ask for a motion. On a motion by Wilshaw, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was #06-33-2011 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2011-05-08-05 submitted by Unique Design Services requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the Zoning Ordinance in connection with a proposal to renovate the exterior of the commercial building at 29419 Six Mile Road, located on the south side of Six Mile Road between Middlebell Road and Oporto Street in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 14, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan, Floor Plan & Survey Plan marked Sheet A-1 dated May 11, 2011, prepared by Unique Design Services, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Building Elevations Plan marked Sheet A-2 dated May 11, 2011, prepared by Unique Design Services, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That all rooftop mechanical equipment shall be concealed from public view on all sides by screening that shall be of a compatible character, material and color to other exterior materials on the building; 4. That 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 Iighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows; 6. That a Landscape Plan shall be submitted for approval by the Planning Department to include the area around the proposed sign; June 7, 2011 25709 7. That approval is granted by the Building Code Board of Appeals for window and door openings on the east side of the building; 8. That the specific plans referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time the building permits are applied for; and, 9. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a period of one year only from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Mr. Taormina: If we could possibly add an amendment to the motion, if the maker would agree, that a landscape plan be submitted to the Planning Department for approval to include the area around the proposed sign. I would also suggest that a condition be added that this be subject to approval of the Building Code Board of Appeals for the windows and doorway openings along the east side of the building. Mr. Wilshaw: Those sound good to me. Ms. Scheel: Yes. Mr. Morrow: So be it. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. We wish you good luck. Mr. Khamou: Thank you very much. ITEM #5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,009'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,009'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on May 10, 2011. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Wilshaw, and adopted, it was June 7, 2011 25710 #06-34-2011 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the 1,009'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on May 10, 2011, are hereby approved. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Taylor, Wilshaw, Smiley, Kruger, Morrow NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Bahr, Scheel Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. ITEM #6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 400" Special Meeting Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 400'" Special Meeting held on May 31, 2011. On a mo0on by Taylor, seconded by Wilshaw, and adopted, it was #06-35-2011 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the 400" Special Meeting held by the Planning Commission on May 31, 2011, are hereby approved. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Taylor, Wilshaw, Smiley, Kruger, Scheel, Morrow NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Bahr Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the moton is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,010'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on June 7, 2011, was adjourned at 8:56 p.m. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Lynda L. Scheel, Secretary ATTEST: R. Lee Morrow, Chairman