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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2011-11-15MINUTES OF THE 1,017" REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, November 15, 2011, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,017 1h 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 Bahr Ashley Krueger R. Lee Morrow Lynda Scheel Carol A. Smiley Gerald Taylor Ian Wilshaw Members absent: None Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, was 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 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 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. ITEM #1 PETITION 2011-10-08-11 WEST BAY EXPLORATION Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2011-10- 08-11 submitted by West Bay Exploration Company requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.52 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to dnll an oil and gas exploration well on the Schoolcraff College campus at 18600 Haggerty Road, located on the east side of Haggerty Road between Six Mile Road and Seven Mile Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 7. November 15, 2011 25897 Mr. Taormina: This request occurs in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 7, which is the square mile bounded by Seven Mile Road to the north, Haggerty Road to the west, Six Mile Road to the south and Newburgh Road to the east. It is a request to install an oil and gas exploration well on the grounds of SchoolcraR College, which is located on the east side of Haggerty Road between Six and Seven Mile Roads. The actual well site would be located on the easterly side of the campus property adjacent to the 1- 275 expressway and just north of a storm water management pond. On this aerial photograph you can see the various buildings on the left hand side. The box bounded in yellow illustrates the approximate location of the proposed well site. The darker patch below that is the surface water pond that is to the east of the campus buildings. To the north are a series of buildings that are a part of the Seven Mile Crossing office development. Immediately to the east is the 1-275/1-96 expressway. To the south is a continuation of property owned by SchoolcraR College, which is the College Park retail and office development. West Bay Exploration in 2007 received approval to drill and operate two oil and gas wells at a location on the east side of Haggerty Road adjacent to 1-275 and 1-96 between Seven and Eight Mile Roads. This is a facility referred to as the Livonia Production Facility. It's about three quarters of a mile to the north of the property that we're reviewing today, but the two are connected in that there will be a flow line connecting the two sites along the highway. The site to the north occupies an area about two acres in size. It is at this production facility that contains the various equipment including storage tanks. The request we're looking at this evening at SchoolcraR College would not contain any of that ancillary equipment, the heaters or the storage tanks, but instead would be used only for a well site. The well would be located in an area that is about an acre in size. This would be the initial pad that is created in order to set up the equipment and everything else to drill the well. Upon completion of the well, the size of the pad will be reduced substantially. So initially its about an acre in size, about 200 feel by 250 feet. When completed, it will have about a 75 fool radius. The area would be graded level. Some of the excess lop soil would be used to create a 24 inch containment berm around the perimeter of the well site as required by the Slate of Michigan. Besides the actual well cap which protrudes only a few feet above the service, the facility would not contain any other equipment. The well would be on the east central part of the site. This is a diagram that illustrates the original pad that would be built in order to drill the well, and then the next line shows what it would look like on a permanent basis, a much smaller area. It is located adjacent to the pond. Based on a discussion we had at our study session, there have November 15, 2011 25898 been changes made to this plan. They pulled it back a little bit away from the waters edge, modified the slope, made that more manageable as well as showing some landscaping around the perimeter of the base. These are details that still need to be worked out with SchoolcmR College. This photo will show how access to the well site will be provided. An easement will be recorded. There will be a gravel driveway that would extend from the northeast corner of the college's north parking lot. That gravel drive would then extend in an east and south direction for about 1,650 feel and then enter the site at the north end. The easement will actually be described all the way out to Haggerty Road that would run along the existing drive aisle that is part of the north parking lot. It is just a legal means by which it guarantees West Bay access to their site 24/7 and it provides the ability to get there whenever they have to service the well. With that, Mr. Chairman, I will read out the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: If you will do that please Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated November 7, 2011, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced petition. The written legal descriptions (access easement and well pad) shown on the plans are connect. The address for this site is confirmed to be 18900 Haggerty Road. It is noted that the well pad area is over an acre in size. The petitioner is hereby notified (via copy of this conespondence) that after plans are complete, three sets must be submitted to the Engineering Division to review. Any site changes which will impact public utilities, road right-of-way, easements, or changes in storm or sanitary sewer volumes must be approved by the Engineering Division of Public Works. The petitioner may find it beneficial to schedule a meeting at the earliest convenience by calling the undersigned." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated October 28, 2011, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a proposal to drill an oil and gas exploration well on the Schoo/craft College campus on the property located at the above -referenced address. 1 have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Earl W. Fesler, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated October 27, 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 November 3, 2011, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the November 15, 2011 25899 above -referenced petition has been reviewed. This Department has no objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Alex Bishop, Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Do we have any questions of Mr. Taormina? Seeing none, will the petitioner's representative come forward and give us your name and address, and you can add anything to the presentation you've just heard, and we'll probably ask you a few questions as we go along. Tim Baker, Operations and Engineering Manager, West Bay Exploration Company, 13685 S. West Bay Shore Drive, Suite 200, Traverse City, Michigan 49684. As far as additional information I wish to supply, we will be meeting with SchoolcraR to work out some additional landscaping that I think they would like to see and we may, perhaps, add some additional berming with the City's approval to further provide some site breakup from both the expressway and the College. Mr. Morrow: Do we have any questions of the petitioner? Mr. Taylor: Maybe, Mark, you can clear this up. The temporary road that you had up there, is that going to connect with the existing cement road that's now just south of the building on the corner? Mr. Taormina: I'm going to let Wade answer that because I'm not sure which concrete road you're referring to. Mr. VandenBosch did the design. Mr. Taylor: There's already a road there. It goes from Haggerty Road into the parking lot. The farthest north road, I guess it is, but it's cement. I assume that this gravel road is going to connect to that. Is that right? Mr. Morrow: We'll need your name and address, sir. Wade VandenBosch, Westshore Consulting, 2534 Black Creek Road, Muskegon, Michigan 49444. We're West Bay's consultant. You're referring to this hard surfaced area as the road, right? Mr. Taylor: Right. Mr. VandenBosch: Its the north end of the parking lot, and there is a drive bay through there nghl now. The gravel road is going to connect up to the end of that drive bay and it will be gravel from this point. In fact, it's going to be 25 feet as requested by the College. November 15, 2011 25900 Mr. Taylor: Okay. So it will conned to the existing road? Mr. VandenBosch: Thats correct. It will be 25 feet wide along this corridor right here, which is in line with the College's master plan for a permanent road, and then at this point, it's going to be 20 feet wide to the well. Mr. Taylor: And maybe a question to Mr. Baker. You've been very successful with your other site to the north as far as any problems that you have. This is a little different site. This is on a college campus. I assume that the security on this particular site is going to be a little different than what it is farther to the north. Mr. Baker: We'll be adding some video monitoring and some motion detectors and things of that nature. Also, all the piping and tubulars, of course, essentially there's just going to be a well head, but they will be fail closed design. In other words, if there is damage or something, they'll have redundancy in their shut down system so that they fail close so somebody cant walk up there with a sledge hammer and do damage and that sort of thing. Mr. Taylor: Just for the benefit of the listening audience, you're going to have a chain link fence around it also, right? Mr. Baker: We are. Yes. Mr. Taylor: Just so that we know, when you think about an oil well, we're thinking about derricks and all those kind of things, and I know we're going to put one up temporarily. How long will that be up there? Mr. Baker: Il will be up there for about two weeks, and then once the well is completed, and we run the five and half casing and cement it, a smaller rig will come in there to install another string of tubular down into the zone that we intend to produce. It's a two stage operation. Mr. Taylor: You've related to us at the study, that no trucks will be going in there. You're going to pipe the oil or gas out of the site and across Seven Mile Road to the other site. Mr. Baker: That's correct. We're going to be essentially following the bike path up to our existing facility. We'll add a heater treater to the facility and then the oil and gas will flow from the well to that facility and it will be processed at the facility. We also hope to November 15, 2011 25901 have a solution and provide gas back to the College as well. We're still working on that. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Ms. Krueger: I just wanted to confirm that, you said that the pipe was going to run along the bike path. We talked about this at the study session, but I just want to confirm that it's not going to interfere with the bike path in any way. Mr. Baker: That will be directionally boring. There will be some disturbance during the penod that it will be installed. We also have to obtain some Stale permits, but we first have to get the City permit and approvals, and then we'll be pursuing the rest of the approvals. Of course, we first have to make a well. Ms. Krueger: Okay. So other than just the construction phase, it will not be impacted at all. Mr. Baker: Right. Our plan is to use directional boring. If for any reason there is a disturbance, of course we will repair the disturbance, and we're happy to place any type of a bond that the City sees as potentially necessary for that. Ms. Krueger: I know previously at our study session, you mentioned something about a sign on that pad for the College. Mr. Baker: I think that's a question that might have to be directed to the College. I don't know what their present plans are for that. They were thinking about incorporating a sign and we kind of left that open ended. That's going to be part of our discussion. There's talk of a berth and the final design we're not aware of, but we're going to meet with the College and see where they are on their view of it. They had to gel some approvals and talk to some of their folks about that. Ms. Krueger: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Smiley: I understand that this not only benefits Schoolcraft College with their natural gas, but also the City in some way by having an additional well. First I want to ask you, when you say bore down, it was quite a ways down that you go. Mr. Baker: Directional boring was in reference to the pipeline where we will bore along much the same fashion that we actually drill the well. We dnll down about 3,500 feet. The actual length of the well bore is going to be about 8,000 feet by the time we go down and November 15, 2011 25902 then over. But if you were standing nghl on the surface over the pinnacle reef, it would be about 3,500 to 4,000 feet below you. Ms. Smiley: You said that this also benefits the City? Mr. Baker: The City has minerals in the form of the roads and so forth. I don't know the exact percentage. The Land Department handles that, but they own not just the road, but I think there's a City turnaround or something. We have a sign or something for the City of Livonia, so there's some additional minerals that come in the form to the City too. Ms. Smiley: This is all natural gas that goes out to your other site? Mr. Baker: Natural gas and oil. Ms. Smiley: And oil. Okay. That goes out to the other site. Mr. Baker: Then it's processed into propane, butane and oil, and then the methane gas. Ms. Smiley: Thank you. This question is to Mark. Where is that big Schoolcraft sign in relation to this that you see on the expressway? Mr. Taormina: Let's see if it shows on this aerial photograph. It's a little bit to the north. I think it probably doesn't pick up here. It's probably a couple hundred feet to the north of this location. Ms. Smiley: I was just trying to get a visual. Thank you. Mr. W Ishaw: Mr. Baker, the location that you picked for the drilling operation, obviously you had to work with the school as well. Is there a reason that it's so close to the pond? Mr. Baker: That was their preference. We actually would have preferred to I be a little closer to the anomaly, but it seemed like a good spot. Mr. Wilshaw: And there's no concern about the pond and the drilling operation inlerfenng with the pond. Right? Mr. Baker: No, not from our perspective, but that's because we have secondary containment and tertiary containment if you will. Around the well head we have a containment area and then the rig sets all on plastic that's put down, and then another big plastic mal is on top of that so that any fluids that come out of the well or the mixing of the mud tanks is all captured and recycled. November 15, 2011 25903 Mr. Wilshaw: You have a bene around it so if there is some kind of spill, it would contain in that area. Mr. Baker: That's right. If there were a spill of some sort, you have a number of measures that would come into play before it would ever get to the pond. Mr. Wlshaw: Excellent. Have you ever thought about, or on this particular site, have you thought about putting a building over the well head instead of having the fencing and the landscaping and so on? Just stick a steel building around it and then not have to worry about security as much? Mr. Baker: We have. There are two schools of thought. Most of the security folks will tell you that they like to see everything open so they can see every aspect and that the building gives too many hiding places. But I see your side as well, and we've actually entertained building a masonry building that would completely hide the existence of the well head. We've haven't done it yet, but it seems a logical solution to me. Mr. Wilshaw: When I was in the area, I walked back to that location. I assume the slake that is there is the approximate location. Mr. Baker: Yes. Mr. Wlshaw: Its quite pretty back there actually, but I saw the lower, the cellular tower. The sign has a little building on it. I looked over at that and thought you could stick a little building over here loo if you really wanted to, and then it would be pretty discrete. Mr. Baker: We don't have opposition to that, we just haven't done it before and ft's certainly worth discussing. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Something to think about and maybe as this goes on, I like either way. Its fine. The landscape drawings that we got from you look nice. They have arborvilaes around it and I think R's pretty decent as well. The only other question I had was, we talked at our study meeting briefly about the smell that emanates occasionally from the other facility, which I think is hydrogen sulfide or something along those lines. Mr. Baker: No. It's not hydrogen sulfide. It's a natural mercaptan that we put in to scent the gas. That's when some issues were brought up in the study session, and so I investigated that. It turns out the tank is dark in color and with the heat in the summer ... you mentioned, Ms. Krueger, that when you ran by sometimes you November 15, 2011 25904 could smell it. When the heat beats on that lank, it creates some vapor loss and that's what is creating the odor. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much of that stuff to create a pungent odor, and that's its purpose, so that when it mixes with the gas, it creates an odor so that people know that there's a leak. Mr. Wilshaw: So you're odonzing the gas on site? Mr. Baker: We are. We really don't need to do as much of that but we're trying to figure out how much to do. We're kind of on the learning curve with that. We're hoping to start to sell this gas locally. We haven't until now. We just recycle it. We use it on the site to fuel the compressor and engines. Mr. Wilshaw: So it's safe to assume, because that's the reason for that particular issue, obviously, because there's only going to be a well head at this site that there's no chance of that smell being multiplied. Mr. Baker: We will put some odor detection devices on the fence. Mr. Wilshaw: Just out of cunosily. We haven't really seen it yet and I dont know if its in one of these maps that are available. What's the size of this field? Do have a concept of how big of a field this is as far as who may be under or above this location? Mr. Baker: We run seismic. We run it on the available roads. In this case, we ran it down Eight Mile and one of the north/south driveways there. That's the only place that we could, where there wasn't quite a degree of urbanization, houses and things like that. What happens is, if you look at it, you gel maybe a line that shows you this dimension, so you can pick these edges. Then you gel a line that shows the north south dimension, and you gel a circle or an egg shaped kind of a situation when you view it from the surface. Mark, could you go back one slide? So we ran a line here and we ren a line here. Its kind of a correct - the -dots thing. We saw that an edge existed along here. So it would be nice to be able to run additional lines, but that's all we could win. So we said, okay, it looks like this 80 acre unit is substantially under lane, and so that's how we determined it could be more or less, and it also could be, if you'll drop back one slide to the pinnacle reef diagram, a lot of these wells contain oil, gas and a component of water. So you might think the outline is here and here, but when you dnll you find that this is the oil column, so the true production is here and here. The only way to really know is to drill the well. The saying is that it lakes cold cash and cold steel to find oil and gas. November 15, 2011 25905 Mr. Wilshaw: You've been successful so far, and we certainly wish you the best and success with this site as well. Mr. Baker: Thankyou. Mr. Taylor: Do you have a time element? Would you work all through winter or are you trying to gel something done before winter breaks? Mr. Baker: We're trying to actually drill the well during the break for the College. Again, the drilling phase is a couple of weeks. The completion phase is a couple weeks. So most of the disturbance would be over within a month. So we were looking at December, January. There would be some period of time where we apply for the approval to bring the pipeline up to our facility so it may be that the well wouldn't gel on line for a couple of months after that. It's difficult to know how long that approval process will take at this point. Mr. Taylor: So you'd like to gel it done as soon as possible. Mr. Baker: We would just to mitigate traffic in the area and creating congestion with the students coming to school. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. 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, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was #11-68-2011 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2011-10-08-11 submitted by West Bay Exploration Company requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.52 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to dnll an oil and gas exploration well on the Schoolcraft College campus at 18600 Haggerty Road, located on the east side of Haggerty Road between Six Mile Road and Seven Mile Road in the Northwest 114 of Section 7, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Proposed Easement Plan marked Sheet 2 dated October 12, 2011, prepared by Westshore Consulting is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; November 15, 2011 25906 2. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet 5 dated October 12, 2011, prepared by Weslshore Consulting is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That the petitioner shall secure the necessary permits, including storm water management permits, wetlands permits and soil erosion and sedimentation control permits, from Wayne County, the City of Livonia, and/or the Stale of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; 4. 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, 5. 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 and construction has commenced, this approval shall be null and void at the expimlion of said period. Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Mr. Taylor: Do we need any time on this, Mark, as far a date on the landscape plan? Do we have the new plan now? I don't see a new date on it. That's why I ask. Mr. Taormina: We'll reference the plan as conceptual and provide a dale on the final resolution that goes to Council. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Mr. Taylor: I asked the question about the urgency of getting this in. Obviously, there is some sort of urgency. I would ask for a seven day waiver that goes before the Council. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Wilshaw, and unanimously adopted, it was #11-69-2011 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby determine to waive the provisions of Section 10 of Article VI of the Planning Commission Rules of Procedure, regarding the effective dale of a resolution after the seven-day period from the date of adoption by the Planning Commission, in connection with Petition 2011-10-08-11 submitted by West Bay Exploration Company requesting approval of all plans required by Section November 15, 2011 25907 18.52 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to drill an oil and gas exploration well on the Schoolcraft College campus at 18600 Haggerty Road, located on the east side of Haggerty Road between Six Mile Road and Seven Mile Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 7. 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 #2 PETITION 2011-10-08-12 MASRI ORTHODONTICS Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2011- 10-08-12 submitted by Masri Orthodontics requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to demolish an existing building and construct a new medical office building at 15230 Levan Road, located on the east side of Levan Road between Lyndon Avenue and Five Mile Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 20. Mr. Taormina: This is a request to demolish an existing building and construct a new medical office building on property that is located on the east side of Levan Road, a few hundred feet south of Five Mile Road. This property is about seven -tenths of an acre in area. It has 175 feel of frontage along Levan Road and a depth of just over 200 feel. This property is split -zoned meaning that it has two zoning categories associated with it. The northerly 100 feet of the property is zoned OS, Office Services, while the southerly 75 feel is zoned G7, Local Business. Property to the north abutting this site is a gas station, to the east is an auto service center and car wash, to the south is Levan Road Veterinary Hospital, and immediately to the west across Levan Road is St. Mary Meroy Hospital. Under both the OS and C-1 zoning, professional offices including medical, are treated as a permitted use. The petitioner, Dr. Masrl, is a dentist that currently practices in Livonia at 35200 Schoolcmft Road. He would be relocating his offices to this facility. The proposed medical building would be two stories in height with a full basement. The building would contain a gross floor area of about 15,369 square feel. Access to the parking areas would be provided via two existing driveways that are located off of Levan Road. One is to the south of the building and the other one is to the north of the building. Parking would be provided in November 15, 2011 25908 somewhat of a horseshoe armngemenl around the north, east and south sides of the building. Access to Levan Road would be provided on the north and south sides. The interior space is broken down as follows. The first floor totals about 5,400 square feel that would be divided into two suites. Suite A is identified as an office at about 1,575 square feet, whereas Suite B is identified as a dentist office at 2,356 square feel. On the second floor there are two suites. Overall, it's about 5,400 square feet in area, the same as the first floor. Suite C is identified as a dentist office at 1,326 square feel and then Suite D is Dr. Mash's orthodontist office. That is about 2,565 square feel. The basement would be used strictly for slonage purposes. In terms of setbacks, the ordinance requires 40 feel from Levan Road where the property is zoned OS, Office Services, and 75 feet where the building is located within the C-1 zoning district. Because we have a split zoned piece of property, there are two different setback requirements. One 40 feel, which this building does comply with, and the other one is 75 feel, which it does not comply with. So it would require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. In terms of parking, their analysis distinguishes between the areas of the building that would be used for general office purposes, which requires one space for every 200 square feet of usable floor area, versus patient care, which requires parking at a natio of one space for every 110 square feel of usable floor area. If you break everything down for this building, they're indicating that 49 parking spaces are needed to support the overall use. They are providing a total of 44 spaces for a deficiency of 5 spaces. That too would require approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. All parking spaces are shown to be 10 feet in width. Because landscaping is provided around the perimeter of this site and the parking spaces border that landscaping, they would be allowed to have an 18 fool length. There is a privacy wall that is shown along the portion of the east property line. The overall length is about 175 feel. The wall itself would only extend for about 71 feel along the back portion of the property. We believe that the purpose of this wall is basically to provide a visual barrier between the offices in the proposed building and the adjacent car wash. The landscaping is shown at about 15.7 percent of the total site. They have provided a detailed landscape plan. One of the suggestions that came out of the study meeting was modifying some of the trees on the site. They have done that. They are showing Ruby -Red Horse Chestnut trees in lieu of the Hawthorne trees that were shown previously. All landscaped and sodded lawn areas would be fully irrigated as required. They are providing details on light fixtures. There are a couple different fixtures that would be used. In terms of how trash would be handled on the site, general trash would be provided November 15, 2011 25909 in an enclosed container located along the east property line in the southeast corner of the site. That enclosure would be constructed out of CMU and brick, and it would contain solid panel fiberglass gates. The building would be constructed out of a combination of brick and cultured stone. The exterior treatments include limestone veneer along the base, with brick and cultured stone along the upper parts of the facade. There are flat metal awnings installed over the windows. The entryways would be defined by a tower element or an extended facade with a decorative cornice above that. The building is two stones in height with roof mounted mechanical equipment that would be concealed from public view. Lastly, in terms of signage, the medical clinic would be allowed one wall sign not to exceed 78 square feet. This is based on the overall length of the building frontage. They would also be allowed one ground sign not to exceed 30 square feet. This rendering illustrates a sign above the main entryway. That would appear to be in compliance with our ordinance. There is another graphic below that. I'm not sure how that plays into the calculation of signage. I do not believe we have any details on any monument sign. Wdh that, I'll read out the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: That's a very nice presentafion, Mr. Taormina. Not that your others aren't, but that was exceptional. Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated November 7, 2011, which reads as follows: 'in accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced petition. The written legal description contained in the project plan is comect. The address for this site is confirmed to be 15230 Levan Road. The petitioner's Engineers have already met with the Engineering Division to discuss storm water management. They are aware of the need to provide plans to the Engineering Division after they have determined the best option as regards a storm water outlet, to ensure that there is no negative drainage impact to any adjacent property." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated October 28, 2011, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a proposal to demolish an existing building and construct a new medical office building on the property located at the above referenced address. 1 have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Ead W. Fesler, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated November 1, 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 November 15, 2011 25910 Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated November 2, 2011, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) The parking calculations used by the petitioner are different than we would normally calculate, in any case the parking is deficient and will require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for the deficiency. Note: The lower level (basement) must remain as storage or the parking deficiency would increase. Should this area, in the future, be proposed to convert into office space either additional parking to accommodate this would need to be provided or an additional parking grant from the Zoning Board would be needed. (2) No signage has been reviewed. In a C-1 district they would be allowed a ground sign of 30 square feet and (1) wall sign on the west elevation of square footage equal to their lineal front footage. (3) The Inspection Department will review the construction documents for code compliance at the time of plan review should the project move forward. (3a) However, as noticed it appears the private restroom on the second floor would not be code compliant. Even though for a private occupant it must be property sized for future conversion to barrier free. (3b) At this time the required permanent rooftop access has not been shown. (4) Any mechanical rooftop equipment shall be screened from view, all sides. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Alex Bishop, Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions of Mr. Taormina? Ms. Smiley: Why is the property split -zoned? Mr. Taormina: That is the way it's been for many years to my knowledge. It does reflect the fact that there are two different buildings on this property that are connected. There may have been a situation where there was some type of business or retail use located in the building on the south side of the property whereas the office was on the north side of the property. I think more recently it was used entirely for office purposes, but there may have been a time when there was some other use on that C-1 zoned property. Ms. Smiley: So the new person, do they own both pieces that are zoned differently? Mr. Taormina: Yes. It's part of a single consolidated parcel. Ms. Smiley: Should we zone it one thing? Would that make it easier? November 15, 2011 25911 Mr. Taormina: That could be done ultimately. To rezone it all Office Services would eliminate the need for him to get the setback variance, but that would take some time to do that. If you recall, this issue came up with the eye clinic on Six Mile and Farmington Road. That was previously a Comerica bank, and when we reviewed it for conversion to the office, it was approved subject to a follow- up request to have that zoned to OS, Office Services, which we did some months later. We could do something similar here. Unfortunately, depending on their liming, they may have to seek the variance ahead of that if they want to gel started on the building soon. Ms. Smiley: I just thought it would clean it up. Mr. Morrow: That would help their position at the Zoning Board of Appeals if they would say that they're going to pursue the rezoning, which would remove that requirement. Mr. Taylor: Through the Chair to Mark Taormina. Mark, the C-2 to the south, is that where the veterinarian building is? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Mr. Taylor: I thought that's what it was, but I wasn't sure. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Is the petitioner here this evening? You can add to what you've heard so far and we may have a few questions for you. Ghassan Abdelnour, GAV & Associates, Inc., 31471 Northwestern Highway, Suite 2, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334. Good evening. It's nice being here tonight, and we thank the City with all their help. We've been going through the process with the Planning Department and the Engineering Department to try to put that project together. Like we heard, we're planning to demolish the existing building. Now the building is used as one use and the setback is 40 feel. So they use it like its an OS zoning. Our proposal shows a two story building with a basement that actually would be used for storage only. The first floor has a little area for an office, like 24 percent of the first floor. We have a dentist. The Doctor, I'm going to present here tonight, Dr. Masri. He will be here tonight to talk to you loo. The second floor will put in an orthodontist and a dentist next to him. We have a 40 feet setback. Actually, the building is 41, 42 setback from the front. We tried to work with the side with the landscaping and tried to work the project to be a workable building. All the setbacks, all the requirements, the height, and we do have to provide the mechanical. We're going to be November 15, 2011 25912 planning to cover all the units on the roofs. The material of the building, we're trying to put some ... there's a stone. I have a sample. I'll go around and show it to you. We'll be using limestone with some nice lint to the glass to the building. It's a metal fascia on the lop. We're trying to come up with a nice building that actually looks good in the corner. We're trying to do a big improvement for that area because the existing building, the doctors start looking at it first to see if he can have it as an office, but its in bad shape. Whatever you do to that building, its not going to gel any better. So he decided, he works with the City of Livonia. We're here to work with the City and see what we have to do to meet the requirement and make everybody happy. I'll be taking any questions. I'll show you the sample so you can get an idea. Mr. Morrow: Why don't we have those first Mr. Taylor: Mr. Chairman, what is the illustration in the window up on the lop there? Mr. Abdelnour: We're coming up with an orthodontist and dentist. Sometimes they put something in the windows to reflect kind of. Its mainly for the kids. The Doctor will tell you more about that one, but actually, it's to show what the building is the use for. There is no retail. There's nothing in it. It's just mainly for dentists and orthodontists to kind of make it. Mr. Taylor: So this is for real. Mr. Morrow: Its not a sign, Joe. Mr. Abdelnour: Its not a sign. Mr. Morrow: Its just a little enhancement. Ms. Scheel: That's not going to be on the building itself, right? Mr. Taylor: Its not going to be on the building? Mr. Morrow: No. It'sjuslwhalgoes on inside. Mr. Abdelnour: Its behind the glass. Mr. Morrow: Its a dentist working on a patient. Mr. Taylor: Okay. It's just magnified. Mr. Abdelnour: No. No. The Doctor will explain it to you. November 15, 2011 25913 Mr. Taylor: Lel the Doctor explain it. Nawaf Masri, Masri Orthodontics, 35200 Schoolcraft, Livonia, Michigan 48150. This lower will be lit from the inside. It will have light. The idea of this building will be a very nice building. I'm trying to bring something very attractive to the area. The business we do is kind of dealing with very upper end plastic surgery and a lot of cosmetic things. The idea of this, it will be like transparent facade. Its not a picture. Its very light shading and the light behind it so when you walk from a distance, you see it, but when you get close, you don't see anything. Mr. Taylor: If I wanted to see something like that, where would I go? Dr. Masri: I can show you a picture online. It's very attractive. You cannot see it during the day unless during the night when the light comes from the lower. It looks very, very attractive. Mr. Taylor: You have a great looking building but I'm not sure I buy the picture. Dr. Masri: Its not a picture. Its a shade. Lifetime, the massage area, they have some sign similar to this. If you're very close to it, you cannot see anything. But if you're far and the light is behind it, you can see some shading. It's not a sign, for sure. Mr. Morrow: Joe, you caught it. I didn't. I thought it was just representative of a dentist working inside. Mr. Abdelnour: Its an idea for decorelion. It not part of the design. Mr. Morrow: Joe, are you ... Mr. Taylor: No. I'm not convinced. Mr. Morrow: You say there's something like that at Lifetime? Dr. Masri: Al Lifetime, inside, they have this massage suite when you enter. They have this design. Its not signage. It's an image to hide what's behind 9. So if you have some clinical room, it will hide it during the day. Al night, the light will shine through it so you're not allowed to see behind it. Just like some kind of tmnsparency. Mr. Morrow: Is that the one on Haggerty Road? Dr. Masri: The one I go to is in Commerce, but I've seen it in Novi. November 15, 2011 25914 Ms. Scheel: So during the day time, it just looks like a window? Dr. Masri: It looks very light shade. It's a shading. It's almost like one of those screens. Ms. Scheel: Like a tinted window then. Dr. Masri: It does not reflect as a picture. Usually at night you would see this. Because if you're going to have light underneath, it makes a very nice reflection, a nice image for the building. The lower is going to have stairs in it. It's going to be a very nice center for the building. Ms. Scheel: That faces Levan? And it would just be coming out those windows there, nowhere else in the building? Dr. Masri: Yes. Right. Mr. Morrow: Mark, could this be construed as a sign? Mr. Taormina: That's something the Inspection Department would have to lake a closer look at. Mr. Morrow: You spring something on us tonight. Mr. Taormina: This might be similar to the mortar and pestle feature on the Walgreens building at Six Mile and Middlebelt, and I think those were considered architectural features of the building and not signage. Again, if they call it a sign, then they'll have to get approval. It either complies with the area or it doesn't. That's something we can look at in greater detail. Ms. Scheel: Will this have to go to the Zoning Board at all? Mr. Taormina: He's got to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals for setback as well as parking deficiencies. So either way, he has to go to the ZBA. So it could be determined that this is part of the package of variances that he'll need. Mr. Bahr: Mr. Taormina, he mentioned that he can pull something up online to look at. Is that something we have the capability to do here on your computer? Dr. Masri: I will bring you some images from Lifetime and tell you how this looks. Mr. Bahr: That might resolve some of the questions. November 15, 2011 25915 Mr. Taormina: I could do it if you told me what it is. Dr. Masri: For sure it's not a sign. I understand. This is like a very expensive building. This is not the look of a veneer. Mr. Taylor: Unfortunately, it's not your decision to whether it's a sign or not. Its up to the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Inspection Department. Mr. Abdelnour: Whatever they decide, we'll go with it. Ms. Krueger: I don't necessarily have a problem with it, whether it's a sign or not. I'm not sure about the image of people's mouths wide open, but I like the concept. I don't mind it. Dr. Masri: This is something the architect put. It's something I told him. It will not be something like that. Ms. Krueger: I have a question that's not about that. You're aware that your parking is deficient. How many employees do you usually have and how many patients are usually at the office? What would you expect? Dr. Masri: This will not be a medical building. This will be a dental facility. The dental office runs by appointment. Everybody has an appointment. They come in their slot. I just got some calculations. One of the offices has five chairs and another office has four chairs. Each office, if you want to maximize the staffing, you're going to have four staff to five staff in each one. So you have nine staff in the dentist offices. In my offices right now, we have seven including me. If you add some growth to it, you'll have eight to nine staff members max with the dentists, including my space. So you'll have at least, maximum, 20 staff spots. Now, the way denfists work is by appointment. So if you say all the chairs are full at the same time, you'll have four patients, five patients in the dental office. Those are nine spots. In the orthodontic office, you will have a lot of the rooms are not occupied at the same time, meaning you'll have a flow of patients. A new patient comes in the morning and that's when the doctor is spending time, and all the clinical chairs are empty. So most of the chairs present in the sketch, x-ray, or new patient exam, will be used in the morning, while in the afternoon you'll have the clinical check. You have six chairs. Those are going to be used in the afternoon. They will never be full unless it's after school time, which is 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Even if you say the maximum amount of people will be using that facility, will be six chairs at time. That's for my office. That's six November 15, 2011 25916 patients at a time. A lot of limes it will be siblings at the same time in one car. So if you say six patients, that's the maximum patients. I'm doubling that up, meaning every single patent in the next set coming at the same time and they're all waiting. So you would have 12 cars at the same time. That's never happened, but assume. So you'll have 12 cars for patients, and that my max. And I have staff, max is about 8 to 9 cars. So my max for the space I'm going to use is probably about 20 to 21 cars maximum. It will never be used, but just assume everything is full at the same time. And then you have six patients wailing. So that's my explanation. It's not going to be medical where a lot of walk-in coming in. So everybody will have enough room. Ms. Krueger: So you think 44 spaces is enough? Dr. Masri: I think we have about 45 spots extra, even during the max traffic time, which is only for two hours knowing every other patient is in the dentist's office early, in there at the same time, and all his hygienists, all his staff is there at the same time. If everything is full and I have double occupancy waiting for their seating, you will be having only 40 spots. Ms. Kruger: Okay. And I have one other question. So the building that exists there now is going to be demolished. What do you plan on doing with those materials? Are they going to be recycled, reused in any way, sold, trashed? Mr. Abdelnour: It depends on the builders. For the parking, if we can take the asphalt and re -use it for under the asphalt. So the parking area, they keep the stone at the side. They crash @ like asphalt and sluff like this. The building now is a block building. So actually when you take @ out, you're going to have to destroy the block, especially if @'s reinforced. And it's a very low ceiling building. The inside is like seven and half feel. So its very low and uncomfortable. There is one side of the building has a little break, but mainly it's going to be crashed. There is nothing you can use a lot for the new construction, besides using it for the sides and under the asphalt. Ms. Krueger: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Smiley: Is there an elevator orjust stairs to go to the second floor? Dr. Masri: There is an elevator. Ms. Smiley: Okay. My question is really through the Chair to Mark. Is it all 10 by 20 parking? November 15, 2011 2591] Mr. Taormina: Yes. If the Planning Commission wanted to recommend, and they would have to follow this up with the Zoning Board of Appeals , we could add a couple more spaces by going with 9 fool wide stalls. Probably that would be advisable for employees. We could do that maybe along the east side of the property. You've got enough parking spaces running along the east property line that you could gain maybe one space and the same thing could be done on the north and south sides. You can gain a couple spaces by going to 9 feel. I don't know if we would suggest that for all of the client spots, but where the employees are going to be parking, it might make sense to do it. Ms. Smiley: Because they're there for a longer shift I would assume. Dr. Masri: Yeah, and especially if you have smaller cars, we can save for smaller cars. Ms. Smiley: If you designated an area of parking for employees, right? Dr. Masri: I know a lot of cities will use 9 feet, but I know in Livonia it's 10 feet. Ms. Smiley: Yeah, we like our doors open big. Mr. Morrow: We normally reserve that for staff. Customers we will want the 10 by 20. Dr. Masri: We can have the staff park in the back. It can become an office requirement. Mr. Morrow: That could be relief if you need it. Dr. Masri: That's why we're here. We want to make sure the proposal, suggestions or how we can do this. Mr. Bahr: I want to clarify on the parking thing. You were talking about your maximum situation would be about 20 spaces. When its full capacity, there's going to be four offices in this building, right? Dr. Masri: Two dentists and myself. The office space, I dont think we can lease it, but right now, the design says there's an extra space there, but it won't be for dental use. Mr. Bahr: That 20 spaces that you were talking about earlier, that's one- fourth of the building's suites, right? November 15, 2011 25918 Dr. Masri: Probably about like one-third. Mr. Bahr: Okay. Dr. Masri: The 20 spaces for my space Mr. Bahr: So when that building is full capacity ... Dr. Masri: Forty cars. If everything is maxed out and I have six patients wailing for six patient chairs, we'll be using about 40 cars. That's not very logical because you're not going to have every single patient wailing. Mr. Bahr: I understand that but you're taking all four suites into account when you're giving that number. Dr. Masri: The first suite is only 900 square feel, so that's not a very practical space for any dental office. As of now, I dont think it's going to be leased for anything. Its a very small space. If it's going to be used for anything, it would probably be an office with maybe two or three cars, if maybe like a lawyer. Its not going to be used for dental. It's not leasable space for sure. Mr. Bahr: Okay. So you have three office spaces. Dr. Masri: Right. Mr. Bahr: And the 40 cars is what you think is a maximum situation? Dr. Masri: For sure. I've been in business for eight years and I know how many cars come and go. I checked with a few denfists and everybody runs by appointment. You don't gel extra traffic. Mr. Bahr: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: So the good news is you've pretty well got the building full so you know exactly what the demand is. Dr. Masri: Right. I'm trying to find a second. I have one denfist that's very interested. It's going to be only for dentists, not for medical, for sure. It's in my interest to keep dentists. Mr. Morrow: I see. Mr. Taylor: Mark, is there enough room for the garbage truck to access to the dumpsler? The reason I ask is the new dermatology building over on Farmington Road, evidently they can't gel a November 15, 2011 25919 garbage truck in to empty the dumpsler out. There's something wrong with the way it's set up, I guess. Mr. Taormina: I'm not aware of what happened across the street, but in this particular case, it's a straight shot back. As you can see from the site plan, the truck would be able to come in off of Levan Road, go right straight, pick up, back up and then circle around the site to exit. So it shouldn't be a problem here. Mr. Wilshaw: Just a brief comment. I want to say I think it's a very attractive building. I think the design and the materials that you brought to us look really good. I like the fad that you're opening up the parking lot to a circular access. I think it makes it much easier for your patients and for employees to gel in and out of the property compared to the way it's set up now. Its a good improvement, and I'm fine with 10 fool spaces by the way. I don't know that we necessarily need to do 9 footers. If the petitioner thinks it's adequate parking based on his needs, I'm fine with that. 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, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Bahr, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was #11-70-2011 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2011-10-08-12 submitted by Masri Orthodontics requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to demolish an existing building and construct a new medical office building at 15230 Levan Road, located on the east side of Levan Road between Lyndon Avenue and Five Mile Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 20, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet SPA dated October 26, 2011, as revised, prepared by GAV Associates is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet L.1 dated November 7, 2011, as revised, prepared by GAV Associates is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That the Exterior Building Elevation Plan marked Sheet A.201 dated October 26, 2011, as revised, prepared by November 15, 2011 25920 GAV Associates is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 4. 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; 5. That the back used in the constmction shall be full face four (4") inch brick; 6. That the three walls of the trash dumpsler area shall be conslmcted out of the same brick used in the construction of the building or in the event a poured wall is substituted, the wall's design, texture and color shall match that of the building 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; 7. That this site shall meet either the City of Livonia or the Wayne County Storm Water Management Ordinance, whichever applies, and shall secure any required permits, including storm water management permits, wetlands permits and soil erosion and sedimentation control permits, from Wayne County, the City of Livonia, and/or the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE); 8. 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; 9. That no LED lighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows; 10. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for deficient parking and any conditions related thereto; 11. 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 12. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance No. 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 November 15, 2011 25921 by the City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained and construction is commenced, this approval shall be null and void at the expimtion of said period. Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Ms. Scheel: Mr. Taormina, do we need to address a couple of the concerns that were on the Inspection letter, that the mechanical rooftop equipment shall be screened. Should that be in the conditions? Mr. Taormina: Yes, we can add that. I think the other issue in the letter dealt with the parking. We've covered the packing in condition #9. The rooftop access, that's something they'll take care of as part of the plan review. Ms. Scheel: But the mechanical rooftop can be added? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Mr. Morrow: That's a good catch. Anything else? Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Mr. Abdelnour: Just a question. For the variance, we have to go ... will the Council do that? Mr. Taormina: You will go to the Council and then the Zoning Board of Appeals will be the final step in the approval process. Mr. Abdelnour: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Thankyou very much. Good luck on the project. It looks nice. Dr. Masri: Thankyou. ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,010'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,0W Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on October 25, 2011. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Krueger, and unanimously adopted, it was November 15, 2011 25922 #11-71-2011 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,016th Public Heanngs and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on October 25, 2011, are hereby approved. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Taylor, Krueger, Bahr, Smiley, Wilshaw, Scheel, Morrow NAYS: None ABSENT: None Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,0171' Regular Meeting held on November 15, 2011, was adjourned a18:10 p.m. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Lynda L. Scheel, Secretary ATTEST: R. Lee Morrow, Chairman