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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2014-10-21MINUTES OF THE 1,063r4 REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, October 21, 2014, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,063'" 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: Kathleen McIntyre R. Lee Morrow Carol A. Smiley Gerald Taylor Ian Wilshaw Members absent: Scott Bahr Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, was also present. Chairman Morrow informed the audience that if a petition on tonight's agenda involves a rezoning request, this Commission makes a recommendation to the City Council who, in 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 wnting, 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 2014-10-08-14 WRIGHT'S HARDWARE Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2014-10- 08-14 submitted by Wright's Hardware 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 construct an addition to the hardware store at 29150 Five Mile Road, located on the north side of Five Mile Road between Middlebell Road and Harrison Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 13. Mr. Taormina: This is a site plan petition involving a request by Wright's Hardware to expand its business located on the north side of October 21, 2014 26597 Five Mile Road just east of Middlebelt Road. The request this evening is to construct a new building on the property. The property is half an acre in area. The zoning map shows the location of the site in relationship to the surrounding parcels, land uses as well as zoning. It is situated on the northeast corner of Cavour Avenue and Five Mile Road. It also has frontage along the back portion of the lot which is Lancaster Drive. The site has about 100 feel of frontage on Five Mile and 220 feet of frontage along Cavour. The existing hardware store is situated near the southeast corner of the property adjacent to Five Mile Road. The building is roughly 4,000 square feel in total size. It is one story in height. The rear part of the property is more or less unimproved. A propane refill station is located on the west side of the property just north of the building. It was in 2013 when the northerly portion of the property was rezoned from RUF, Rural Urban Farm, to C-2, General Business. The entire site is now zoned C-2. Following the rezoning, the petitioner sought and obtained waiver use approval to conduct open air sales of merohandise, including the sale of utility trailers. As a condition of that approval, the outdoor storage of merchandise, including the trailers, was limited to an existing 1,360 square feel fenced in area which is along the north side of the hardware store. The fenced in area is adjacent to the existing building. The plan today is to construct a new building situated just north of the existing hardware store. This would be a prefabncated metal structure about one story in height and 2,700 square feet in size. The floor plan shows the interior layout which would be used primanly for storage and display of merchandise as well as for small engine repair operations which are currently being conducted inside the existing building. Because of that, it has created some space limitations within the existing building and its one of the main reasons, as I understand it, that the petitioner would like to construct this building in order to move those operations outside of the existing store. Once completed, it would be about 6,700 square feel of total floor area. The area between the two buildings, again it's about 36 feel that separate the existing building from the proposed building, would be hard surfaced. It would be hard surfaced with concrete and used as a patio to display various merchandise including plant materials, garden and landscape supplies, as well as outdoor furniture. The plans show an open metal frame canopy over the new patio. I'll let the petitioner describe that in further detail because we really don't have much information regarding what that portion of the structure involves. Also proposed is a six foot chain link fence that the petitioner would like to use to enclose the rear and side yards. The fence would extend to the edge of the rights-of-way line of Cavour as well as Lancaster. The areas would remain open but October 21, 2014 26598 the fencing, because it extends all the way to the properly lines, would require approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Itis not something that is permitted by the ordinance. We do require the area where the outdoor storage and display of merchandise is located be fenced in, but the extent of fencing proposed here goes beyond just simply enclosing the merchandise. It is our opinion that would require Zoning Board of Appeals approval. In terms of the exterior of the building, the rendering shows the existing hardware store. The west elevation is masonry block. The front of the building facing Five Mile is brick but there is a gray block along the west side. The new building would consist of pre -finished metal panels and it is the intent to match the colors of both of these buildings. I'm not sure if that means the color on the block building would be painted to match the metal color on the new building or vice versa, but we will let the petitioner describe what his intent is there. There are some door openings along the west side of the building as well as the south side. Those include man doors, some windows as well as some rollup doors to be able to move the equipment in and out of the building. In terms of parking, they are complying with the ordinance. They are required to have one space for every 500 square feel of useable floor area within the structure. That requires a total of 14 parking spaces and they are showing 15 parking spaces on the site. With that Mr. Chairman, I will read out the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Yes, please Mr. Taormina: There are three items of corespondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated October 9, 2014, which reads as follows: "in accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced planning petition. The proposed plan indicates that project will consist of constructing a new metal building to the north of the existing hardware store with a metal canopy connecting the two structures. Minor paving additions around the proposed building, as well as a new concrete drive approach are also proposed. We have no objections to the petition at this time. The proposed plans do not indicate any alterations or additions to the existing utility leads to the property, so there should be no impacts to the existing utility systems. Should the owner wish to provide the proposed building with utility leads, or need to make alterations to the existing leads, plans will need to be submitted to this department to determine whether an Engineering Department permit will be required. An Engineering Department permit will be required for the new concrete drive approach that is proposed near the northwest corner of the property. The legal description included with the Planning petition appears to be October 21, 2014 26599 correct and should be used in conjunction with this petition. The parcel is assigned an address of 29150 Five Mile Road which should be used for any correspondence relating to this project." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated October 15, 2014, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct an addition to commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal."The letter is signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated October 13, 2014, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal" The letter is signed by Joseph Boitos, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Does the Commission have any questions of the Planning Director? Seeing none, is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and address for the record please. You can add or detract from anything you've heard so far. Jeri Dort, 29495 Gilchresl, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334. 1 don't think so. Joe Dom, 29495 Gilchresl, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334. He does a lerifc job describing everything. It's verygood. Mr. Morrow: Do you have anything to add to what you've heard so far? Mr. Dort: No. We just need the space just to get the shop and all the filth that comes with it out of our retail store and put it out in the back storage, and then we can have a nice clean hardware inside free of all the used equipment that lays around the place. We would have nice free aisles with nothing cluttering the floors anywhere. I think it would be a super plus for the store itself. The rear building is slnctly storage for all the equipment and the nursery sluff for the winter. We could be moving sluff into that back storage building that would ordinarily be out there in the summertime. We'd be able to move that indoors and protect that as well. As for the metal frame structure in the nursery area, is what we're calling that piece in between the two buildings, it's just a pure metal thing. I do have one brochure I can show you a simple picture of it. It's something similar to like a Westboro Market. It's a simple metal structure. We would probably paint it red just to give it some color to pick up some tones that are going along the lop of the building and just make it a little more eye friendly, that might be a good word for it. So if you care, I do have one brochure if you'd like to see it. Ms. Smiley: Your structure between the buildings, that's not covered at all? Mr. Dort : Its not a metal or a rain containing roof. It's a see-through screen. They use it to block the sun so it doesn't kill plants or flowers that we're going to have for sale in there. They are in that brochure on the same page. It shows a picture of it. It's a real light film cloth, lighter than canvas you know. Ms. Smiley: But it wouldn t keep rain or snow or anything out of there? Mr. Dort : I don't think so. Its not designed for that. A direct downpour would not gel to you but it isn't like a metal or a roofing. It's not designed for roofing. It's more designed to slop the direct sunlight from gelling in there. So @'s kind of an open air area. Ms. Smiley: What kind of floor is in your new building? Mr. Dort : Just raw concrete. October 21, 2014 26600 Mr. Morrow: You can pass it along to the Commission here. Ms. Dorr: I think what we're trying to do just every year or so we've been trying to do some kind of capital improvements, and we're finally at the point where we feel like we're ready to get the shop outside into a different building. As a female, it bothers me and I know it bothers my shoppers. The shop is important to our store, obviously, but I really want to look at how I can make that experience inside befler for everybody. As a female, it drives me crazy. That's really what we're doing. Mr. Morrow: Does the Commission have any questions? Ms. Smiley: The additional building that you're putting on, is that going to be healed, insulated? Mr. Dort : No. Ms. Smiley: No. And is your workshop going to be out there? Mr. Dort : There will be an area for them to work, but we're talking about . . . @'s not going to be the whole building. It will probably be like a 10 by 10 room. In that small area, I'll probably put a small space healer if needed in the winter. Ms. Smiley: Do you anticipate any customers going into that building? Mr. Dorr: No. It's not for any kind of retail. There will be nothing out there but raw storage. Ms. Smiley: Your structure between the buildings, that's not covered at all? Mr. Dort : Its not a metal or a rain containing roof. It's a see-through screen. They use it to block the sun so it doesn't kill plants or flowers that we're going to have for sale in there. They are in that brochure on the same page. It shows a picture of it. It's a real light film cloth, lighter than canvas you know. Ms. Smiley: But it wouldn t keep rain or snow or anything out of there? Mr. Dort : I don't think so. Its not designed for that. A direct downpour would not gel to you but it isn't like a metal or a roofing. It's not designed for roofing. It's more designed to slop the direct sunlight from gelling in there. So @'s kind of an open air area. Ms. Smiley: What kind of floor is in your new building? Mr. Dort : Just raw concrete. October 21, 2014 26601 Ms. Smiley: What kind of floor would be underneath this structure? Mr. Dorr: The same cement. Its all poured cement. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Taylor: I know your store. I'm familiar with it. Are you going to move all of your equipment, like you fix lawnmowers and snowblowers, back into this building? Mr. Dort : Yes, absolutely. Mr. Taylor: So you have more area for display? Mr. Dort Correct. Mr. Taylor: All of that area is going to be display area? Mr. Dorr Correct. Mr. Taylor: All the repair is going to be done at the rear. Mr. Dort : In the other building, correct. Mr. Taylor: In the new building. Mr. Dorr: Yes. Mr. Taylor: If I was going to bring my snowblower, would I bring it into the new building? Mr. Dort : I think, atter 50 years, everybody's coming into that front door anyhow, but the equipment is not going to come in there anymore. We're going to slop it at that door. The customer can come in. We'll have work orders in the same front of the building to lake care of their name and address and sluff. Then we'll push it out to the back of the building. Mr. Taylor: So you come in through where the opening is. Mr. Dorr: Where the front fence is. They're all going to come in there naturally to be taken care of, but the equipment is not going to be allowed into the building up front any more. We'll be taking it right outside to the second building. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Wilshaw: The propane refilling station would still remain outside? Mr. Dorr: Absolutely. Mr. Wilshaw: And you're just going to change the flow of traffic a little bit to have people just pull up there and then pull out onto the side street? Mr. Dorr: That dirt road has been there for 50 years and its going to remain exactly where it is. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. It's just a little arched road there? October 21, 2014 26602 Mr. Taylor: I know you need the space, but I'm a little concerned about what the building is going to look like to the apartment building behind it. Its a metal building. Is it pre -painted? Mr. Dorr: Yes, they are pre -manufactured painted. It will be color coded to match my building and then we're going to put some red trim on the existing building. The top cap is painted red so we're going to add some red paint to make it look identical to my existing building. Down at the bottom is a dark two foot brown colored paint stripe. We're going to add that on just so that it breaks up the back building and makes it match the front building. Ms. Dorr: Yeah. We've looked at how you make it consistent all the way through, and then obviously on the other side too, we would do a little bit of shrubbery and a little bit of landscaping in the back too. Mr. Dorr: Yes. That will help break up a solid steel building. That's why we're throwing in some windows to break up the walls and a small canopy over that front door on the new building so that will help break up that whole wall so it won't look like a big cold stone building. Mr. Taylor: And the only signage you'll have will be directional signs, right? Mr. Dort : Yes. No signs back there. Mr. Taylor: No newsigns. Mr. Dort : Correct. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Wilshaw: The propane refilling station would still remain outside? Mr. Dorr: Absolutely. Mr. Wilshaw: And you're just going to change the flow of traffic a little bit to have people just pull up there and then pull out onto the side street? Mr. Dorr: That dirt road has been there for 50 years and its going to remain exactly where it is. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. It's just a little arched road there? October 21, 2014 26603 Mr. Dorr: Yeah. That little arched road has always been there. That's the main traffic. If they want to drive back there, they can. A lot of people stay in the parking lot. Also, RV's go back there so we need that road anyhow to service RV's in there, but it's always been existing. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. This structure that's going to be between the two buildings, if the pictures that we saw in that diagram are representative, it doesn't look real super strong. Obviously these little panels that help with shading look like a nice concept, but I just wonder, do you know what the durability of this material is? Is it going to be able to handle winters and wind and everything else? Mr. Dorr: Its all bolted together and bolted to the concrete. It's definitely durable. They are used at every supermarket, Home Depots, Lowe's, Westboro Market, they're all using the same product out of that same company. The screening material that you're concerned about is strictly just a sunblock like an umbrella that would go over it. Perhaps we may be taking that down during the winter months. I don't know exactly. It's relatively new to us, whether you leave it up all season or if you take that material down, but its basic purpose is just to block the sun for the plants so theyre not overheated or scalded with direct sunlight. Mr. Wilshaw: Sure. I definitely see the appeal of that, and the pictures look nice and certainly in summertime that would make a lot of sense. I'm just concerned that come wintertime that would gel tattered or tom up. Mr. Dorr: It might be something that we just roll right off and take down during the winter months. Mr. Wilshaw: Really what you're talking about is a material that's not unlike almost like a greenhouse type. Mr. Dorr: Probably, exactly, yes. Ms. Dorr: I think its called a sunscreen. It's like a sunscreen is what it is. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. It sounds goods. I think definitely the concept of having a building back there for you to have not only storage for your retail operations but then also the repair and the other aspects of your business which are growing, makes sense so that then you can have your retail store laid out nicely and shine and not have to worry about clutter. October 21, 2014 26604 Mr. Dorr: That's the ultimate goal. Get the clutter, the smoke and the oil and gas scent out of there and hopefully pick up thousands of female shoppers that don't want to come in there. Mr. Wilshaw: The concept sounds really good. I like the idea. We just need to make sure we understand all the details. Thank you. Mr. Dorr: Absolutely. Mr. Morrow: Any olherquestons? Mr. Taormina: If it's okay, a question for the petitioner. A utility pole and service leads to the existing building extend from that pole. The pole is situated probably 20 feel or so from the northwest comer of the building. Have you looked at how that would affect your ability to build this framed connecting piece between the buildings? It seems like you might have some interference with some of the wires. Ms. Dorr: Are you talking about the Pergola right here, the red, the Pergola itself? Mr. Taormina: That's correct. Mr. Dort : The Pergola is only going to be about five feel outside of that building. It's not going to get nearly as far as the telephone pole, but the lines that hold it down to the ground, we'll be coming to that area, but we'll probably take two roll up tables that you would put plants on and just back them up side by side to those cables. Mr. Taormina: You're referring to the guy wires. The guy wires probably run real close to where that frame structure is. Mr. Dorr: Those are the only things that will be close, and we will plan on just taking two rows of tables and button them up on both sides of the guy wire so nobody will get near them. Mr. Taormina: But then you also have the leads themselves extending to the building to the roof portion of the building. Mr. Dorr: Oh, the electrical lead? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Mr. Dorr: I'm in the process of having the main one raised higher than the top of the roof or he's going to bring it to the right side of my building to that front corner. October 21, 2014 26605 Mr. Taormina: So you will have to adjust that? Mr. Dorr: Yes. Absolutely. Mr. Taormina: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Morrow: This rendering I have here, it looks like a stark white. Is that the color you're going to have? Mr. Dort; On the building? Mr. Morrow: Yes, on the rendering here. It's got the red. Mr. Dorr: Its actually a real light soft vanilla cream kind of color. It's not while. I don't know its proper color. Its in a beige color and that's why we have an undertone of brown or chocolate going underneath it. Then there's a third lone at the very front of the building where it looks like a fireplace, is another color. So we're going to match it to one of the two on the main wall there. Mr. Morrow: And that will also be the color on the metal panels? Mr. Dort : That's going to be the main color of the main cinder block building, correct. Mr. Morrow: And that will match the regular hardware store? Mr. Dorr: Absolutely, yes. Mr. Morrow: And you say it's kind of a cream color? Mr. Dorr: Yeah, it's not while at all. Its really more beige. Its in the brown family. Mr. Morrow: Okay. It's in that family. Mr. Taormina: Another question. Do the panels on the new building gel painted, the lower part, oris that the block that extends up from the foundation? Mr. Dorr: That will be painted. The whole panel will be one color to match the cinder block. We're going to paint that brown stripe on the bottom with red. That's how the original building is painted right now. We're just going to mimic the same color. Mr. Taormina: But that gets painted on the metal panels or is that block? October 21, 2014 26606 Mr. Dort: Its metal panel. It's kind of designed to make it look like there's block there. Mr. Taormina: Does any block extend above grade? Mr. Dorr: No, sir. Mr. Morrow: Is that it, Mr. Taormina? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Ms. Smiley: If you're going to paint that right down to the ground, is that what you're saying? Mr. Dort : Right. Ms. Dorr: Well, its going to sit on a slab. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Won't the snow and sluff bother that? Mr. Dort : No. They are designed and engineered for that. There's no snow or min or water could possibly gel inside of that building. Mr. Morrow: If there's no more questions or comments, 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 Wilshaw, and unanimously adopted, it was #1037-2014 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2014-10-08-14 submitted by Wright's Hardware 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 construct an addition to the hardware store at 29150 Five Mile Road, located on the north side of Five Mile Road between Middlebell Road and Harrison Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 13, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet 1, dated September 25, 2014, prepared by R. Grabowski, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That this approval does not authorize any type of outdoor storage or display of merchandise, including utility trailers, within the rear or side yard portions of the site, except as provided within the previously approved boundaries of the October 21, 2014 26607 outside display area and the concrete patio area between the two (2) building as shown on the submitted site plan; 3. That all new fencing beyond the limits of the outdoor sales and display areas as described above shall be subject to the approval of the Zoning Board of Appeals; 4. That the Elevation Plan marked Sheel2, dated September 25, 2014, prepared by R. Grabowski, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 5. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feel (20') in height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into adjacent roadways; 6. 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; 7. That all condifions imposed by Council Resolution #391- 13, which granted waiver use approval to conduct open-air sales of merchandise including the sale of utility trailers, shall remain in effect to the extent that they are not in conflict with the foregoing conditions; 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. Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed use is in compliance with all of the special and general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in sections 16.11 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543; 2. That the subject property has the capacity to accommodate the proposed use; and, October 21, 2014 26608 3. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding uses in the area. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Good luck to you on your project as you move forward. Mr. Dorr: Thank you. Do you know when City Council meets, or would we gel a letter from them? Mr. Taormina: You'll receive notification. It will be a couple of weeks. Mr. Morrow: The Council Office will notify you. Mr. Dort : Thank you all very much. ITEM #2 PETITION 2014-10-08-15 BERNARDINI Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2014- 10-08-15 submitted by Joseph Bemardini requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to remodel the exterior of the commercial strip center at 29217- 29226 Seven Mile Road, located on the southeast corner of Seven Mile and Middlebelt Roads in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 12. Mr. Taormina: The review of this petition falls under Section 18.47, Special Area Development Control. This "control zone,' as theyre called, encompasses the quarter sections surrounding the Seven Mile and Middlebelt intersections. This property is located right at the southeast corner of Seven Mile and Middlebelt Roads. The request this evening is to remodel the exterior of what is currently a three -tenant commercial building. This building is a total of about 4,675 square feet. It curently has two tenants, Livonia Travel as well as a Cricket wireless store. The zoning of the property is C-2, General Business, as is most of the surrounding properties. In 1979, this site received approval to renovate and use what was an abandoned service station as a retail sales building. The approved elevation plans at that time showed the exterior of the building being finished with rough sawn cedar panels. I'm going to go to some photographs that I look today. You will recognize the building because it is highly visible right there at the corner of Seven Mile and Middlebelt Roads. These are the wood panels that October 21, 2014 26609 have been on the building since, according to our records, 1979. The changes proposed would affect all four elevations of the building. These wood panels would be removed and the building would be refinished with a combination of E.I.F.S., which is Exterior Insulated Finish System, also known as dryvil, and then also a cultured stone veneer that would be installed along the bottom three feet of the building. This shows you the side of the building. On the bottom as it faces Middlebell Road the tower structure or the tallest part of the building visible in this rendering is actually that part of the building that is right at the corner. It's where the Cricket sign is located. Then looking at the north elevation or the side of the building facing Seven Mile Road, you'll see the bright colored awnings. The one on the right or the gold one is what was formally a Cash for Gold store, and then the green and white and red is the existing Livonia Travel business. You'll see on the plan the stone veneer being placed along the bottom three feet of the structure and then the lighter color is the E.I.F.S. material that we're used to seeing on a lot of these commercial structures. This shows what the building would look like from the other two elevations, the south as well as the east. There are no other site changes or improvements proposed as part of this petition. With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll read outthe correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Yes, please Mr. Taormina: There are three of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated October 10, 2014, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced planning petition. We have no objections to the proposed site renovation at this time. The proposed plan indicates that project will consist of renovating the exterior of the building which will not require Engineering Department permits. The legal description provided with the petition appears to be correct and is acceptable to this office. The existing parcel is assigned an address of 29217 Middlebelt Road with a range of #29217 to #29235 Seven Mile Road for the individual units within the building. The existing structure is currently serviced by public uUNties, which are to remain in place. Should changes to the existing utility leads be needed,, the owner will need to submit plans to the Engineering Department to determine if permits will be required." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated October 15, 2014, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to remodel the exterior of the commercial strip center on property located at the above referenced addresses. We have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter October 21, 2014 26610 is from the Division of Police, dated October 13, 2014, 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 Joseph Boilos, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Ms. Smiley: Just one. Can I see those pictures again of the building now? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Any particular view? Ms. Smiley: Those Cricket signs are sfill up? Mr. Taormina: These were taken today, so there is a banner on the front of the building, as you can see, which needs to be removed. And there is a banner on the back of the building that also needs to be removed. I believe those are the only two. They look down two but they still have two more to take down. Ms. Smiley: And their signage was approved? That Cricket sign? Mr. Taormina: Yes. They are entitled to two permanent idenlifcafion signs. There's one on the north elevafion facing Seven Mile Road and one on the west elevation facing Middlebell Road. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: If the pefifioners would come forward. We need your name and address for the record, and you can add or detract from what you've heard so far. Joseph Bemardini, 36915 Clanta, Livonia, MI 48152 Troy Choncos, 100 Galleria Offcenler, Suite 401, Southfield, MI 48034. Mr. Morrow: Thank you. You may proceed. Mr. Choncos: This is the concept for the proposed elevations. We would have the stone veneer bell to three feet in height. We'd have a limestone sill on top of that and then the E.I.F.S. material on lop. That would continue all the way up to the parapet at the lop of the building where we would have a medium brown color lop of copping, basically just upgrading the existing elevafions, trying to maintain the canopies at the travel and the old Cash for Gold store. There are two other canopies that are on the building at the Cricket location. That will come down and signage will be October 21, 2014 26611 put back in those locations without any canopy there. I think that's it in general. Mr. Morrow: Anything else before I go the Commission with questions? Okay. Commission, any questions? Mr. Taylor: Can you tell me if you put this some other place in town here or anyplace around? How long has it been up? It looks faidy new to me. Is it a new product? Mr. Choncos: Oh, this product. No, these veneer products have been around for years but they are a direct application to what's on this particular building. We have masonry backup. So on part of it we have block. On the other portion we have brick and this is directly adhered to that. So we don't require a footing underneath that. But these products, you'll see them all over. You'll see them on homes. You'll see them on commercial properties Mr. Taylor: You have three colors there. I'm having a hard time seeing all three of them. Is that the lop, the while? Mr. Choncos: The darker color that you see is this color here, which is the Sandman color. The lighter color is this color here. We also have another one that is similar called a Concord. It's a little bit darker. Mr. Taylor: That's the darker one. Is that the one that's up like the lower? Mr. Choncos: The one that's on the tower, I think, is this one dght here. Mr. Taylor: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Along that same line, that's dryvit. Is this attached to the dryvit? Mr. Choncos: This finish here is part of that system. It's actually a synergy system which is similar to dryvil but it's a built up type of matedal so you have what they call an area for water drainage behind it, an actual foam material, and then they have a skim coat, which basically gives it a hard finish on the foam. This would be the finish coat with the color. Mr. Morrow: That goes on the foam or the finish? Mr. Choncos: Correct. Mr. Morrow: Does the whole panel come finished? October 21, 2014 26612 Mr. Choncos: No. It's a process. The foam would go on first with the skim coal, and then the finish product. Mr. Morrow: Would be attached to that? Mr. Choncos: Correct. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Like Mr. Taylor said, you're saying that its in use all over? Mr. Choncos: Correct. Yes. Mr. Morrow: Thank you. Any other questions? Ms. Smiley: Would you have an address of some place where it's been used? Mr. Choncos: We could provide that. Ms. Smiley: That would be great. I'd like to look at that. Also, so basically the building is going to be that off while cream? Mr. Choncos: This, I believe, would be the field color, the majority of the color. Ms. Smiley: Okay. And you're not concerned with dirt? I guess I would have the tendency to go with more of a darker color. On another subject, you're going to take all the awnings down to do this procedure, right? Mr. Choncos: That is correct. Ms. Smiley: That might be an opportunity. Have you thought about the red, white and green awning and then the yellow awning, not having a very finished look, like it was kind of piecemeal? Mr. Bernardini: Both awnings belong to two different businesses. So the red, while and green awning is themed for Livonia Travel and the gold awning at the time that it was installed was for the Cash for Gold. The new tenant that would come in would provide a new design for a sign and apply for the awning. So it's possible that it would change because I don't foresee another Cash for Gold coming in there. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Well, what I'm thinking though, is, I mean you've put all this money and time and investment into this. I mean, it's one building. If you look at Livonia Marketplace where they have a building with two or three different tenants in it, it doesn't chop into different colors as you go down. It has a finished look to it. October 21, 2014 26613 I mean maybe, have you talked to Livonia Travel and see if maybe they would be interested in updating or changing so that it looked consistent. Mr. Bernardini: Well, that's something that we can ask and see what they want to do obviously. As far as consistency, if we gel an Italian, let's say, tenant or something, then that could really work in favor of that one awning, red, while and green there. Ms. Smiley: But you're limiting yourself. I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of Italian businesses, I'm just saying that it doesn't look like it was professionally done. It looks piecemeal. You wouldn't do that on your house. Even if you had a duplex, you wouldn't put half of them this color and the other half would have another color. I mean now that you have an opportunity to lake it down, you could have it done so that it looks like it was done. Mr. Bernardini: Again, it would be up to the new tenant to gel his input on how we would want it done. Obviously, the Cash for Gold, all the letters are coming off. When we do remove it, I'm sure that, at that point, it will spade some interest as this is a rental property. Ms. Smiley: But I mean you're the owner. Mr. Bernardini: I'm the owner of the rental property, yeah. Ms. Smiley: But would you... Mr. Bernardini: Want to change? Ms. Smiley: As a tenant in an apartment building, I wouldn't be able to pick a new color. What I'm saying is that I think it's up to you. Mr. Bernardini: Again, I would like to see some symmetry and some better coordination with that, but again, it depends on the tenant themselves, what they want and sometimes you have to say, you know you have to give up a little color coordination, but I believe what we've done there is pretty symmetrical even though on the drawing itself, like this, it kind of doesn't look so great, but on the actual picture, I think it looks a lot better. Mr. Taylor: Sir, our approving resolution, and I can read it to you, "That upon the removal of the existing awnings during construction, the existing awnings or any replacement awnings shall not be reinstalled without the review and approval of the Planning Commission." So I just wanted to give you an update on that, and that's going to satisfy, I think, Mrs. Smiley, as far as we're going to get a chance to look at it again. So you may want to October 21, 2014 26614 think about what kind of awning and how consistent it may be across the building. Just for your information. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Yes. Just to follow up on that a little bit more, once the awnings are down and you folks indicate that you're not really sure what some of the awnings are going to look like, and I think what we're saying is, once you have your plans, the Planning Commission would like to see it subject to their approval. Mr. Bernardini: Would the Livonia Travel sign be allowed to be put up? Mr. Morrow: What we're saying is whatever you decide to do, just bring it back to us. We're not going to say it can't go up. I think they're looking for just continuity of the awning, but we're talking about something you cant really firm up tonight because a lot of that awning has a new tenant over the store. Mr. Bernardini: I don't have a tenant yet, so it's a question of sometimes, you know, the chicken or the egg. What goes first? While obviously we will do our best to color coordinate everything there as you see, the Livonia Travel Service sign is an ongoing business and to persecute them — not persecute them but to say, well, you can't put your sign up because, you know, the City has to review the other part of the sign on an empty space, that would kind of hurl their business I would think. Mr. Taormina: Just so that the petitioner understands, this provides a great opportunity for you and your architect to step back and re -think the appearance. Once the awning comes down, you have an opportunity now to look at the building and decide what might be a better ft in terms of maybe a different style awning, one that is designed just as an aesthetic feature for the store fronts and then maybe providing space above that awning for new signs that the tenant might prefer over the awning that's there. Certainly during construction and any time during the Cilys process of reviewing this item, the City is going to allow you to have temporary signage in the form of a banner. So Livonia Travel does not have to go at any time without signage, without identification on that building. We would certainly work with you to make sure they remain visible to their customers during construction and beyond that for however long it takes to resolve this issue. Mr. Bernardini: I have a question. Does your recommendation influence the fact that the City Council had approved the awnings and at some meeting back in the late '70's or early '80's, so this would tromp their approval because as far as I knew, the awnings were grandfathered in, obviously. October 21, 2014 26615 Mr. Morrow: Let me just say this and then I'll go to the Planning Director. This is a recommendation to the City Council. There is nothing etched in stone. All were asking is that it come back to us. Now the final authority will be the City Council regarding what you said eadier about approvals in the past. Mr. Taormina: You basically said what I was going to say and that is, whatever occurs this evening does go to the City Council in the form of a recommendation. So the Council can lake whatever action. They can allow you to keep these awnings and replace them as is, or they could follow the advice of the Planning Commission and take a second look at it. Mr. Morrow: So we have an opportunity to try to get some re -thinking done on the awnings as they blend in with the new construction and that's a condition we have. It's our attempt to have you folks re- think it and see if you can come up with something. But the City Council will review what we send them and you'll have an opportunity to express yourself at that time. Ms. McIntyre: Just once comment about the City Council approval. I think you referenced the fact that it was in the '70's. Aesthetics have changed quite a bit since the '70's as evidenced by the work you're doing on the building. We certainly appreciate this building being updated and the fact that you have your space that you lease in Livonia. I think the concern is that we just want to have a site at that corner that is attractive and reflects the aesthetics of today and not the 1970's. Mr. Wilshaw: Mrs. McIntyre stole some of my thunder, but I do have a question through the Chair to Mr. Taormina. This cultured stone material is similar to what we would see on Red Robin. Mr. Taormina: That is the perfect example of where you'll see this type of cultured stone material. It's in use throughout the City in commercial applications so it is something we see very often. Quite frankly, its a wonderful compromise from what we first saw when these plans came in with the brick patterned E.I.F.S. down on the lower part of the building. So I'd like to really thank the petitioner for changing his plans to provide this maintenance free material, the masonry product as opposed to using 100 percent E.I.F.S. on the building. Mr. Wilshaw: I agree, and I definitely want the petitioner to realize that I think that the materials as presented, the overall look of the building, is a nice improvement, a dramatic improvement over what is currenfly there, which hopefully will make that one available October 21, 2014 26616 space easier for you to lease in the future. I think the fad that you were willing to work with the City and come up with this particular slate of materials, which all has complementary colors of the E.I.F.S. and so on, is very attractive and I think will be a nice looking building. I share in the Commission's concern over the awnings, very much for the reason that Mrs. McIntyre staled that you are making this effort to bring the building up to 2010 standards that you're seeing on a lot of buildings, and we've seen a number of petitions in recent years come to us, people who have had awnings in the past from say the '70's or '80's, who are getting rid of them and want something different. Theyre taking their awnings down. They're putting up other types of materials to freshen their appearance. We're seeing straight metal awnings that sit over doorways, we're seeing gooseneck lamps and channel letter signs and all sorts of upgrades. There's two strip centers adjacent to each other on Eight Mile west of Farmington that's in the middle of a renovation right now where they're updating their look and feel and so far it looks very attractive. You can see the changes that are being made. Some of that is also in the signage. As they update the building, some of the tenants want to update their signs as well. The fad that you dont have a tenant for the one space lends itself to a nice opportunity to have a blank slate for a future tenant to put some type of sign that fits their business appropriately as opposed to being pigeon holed into an awning which they may not want. So at lead go into it with an open mind of that, and I do appreciate the investment that you're making in the improvement of the building. Thank you. Ms. McIntyre: A procedural question. In the approving resolution we mention some language. Is it possible or advisable to add a condition that the non -conforming Cricket signs be removed? Mr. Morrow: The nonconforming? Ms. McIntyre: The Cricket signs. Mr. Morrow: Would that be automatic. Mr. Taormina: Its okay to add that to the language. Mr. Morrow: What you could do is make the motion, and then you can add it. But before we gel to that, any other comments before I go to the audience? Mr. Bernardini: I just want to be clear on the awning itself. The real issue itself is not so much the appearance of the awning itself, the structure, it's more or less the colors and the continuity with that. October 21, 2014 26617 Is that correct? So if we proposed we're going to keep the structure and wrap it with a different color or came up with a different idea, you'd be open with that? Mr. Morrow: You would know if it's a good structure and if it's worthy of going back up. We're not trying to change the structure. We're just trying, as you indicated, to have continuity. Is there anything else? 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 McIntyre, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #1038-2014 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2014-10-08-15 submitted by Joseph Bernardini requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to remodel the exterior of the commeroial strip center at 29217- 29226 Seven Mile Road, located on the southeast corner of Seven Mile and Middlebelt Roads in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 12, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Elevation Plans marked Sheet No. 1 and Sheet No. 2, both dated October 7, 2014, as revised, prepared by Ark -Tec Arohilects, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. 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; 3. That no LED lighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows; 4. Except during construction when it may be necessary to temporarily remove the tenants' permanent signs, all banners shall be removed from the exterior of the building; 5. That upon the removal of the existing awnings during construction, the existing awnings or any replacement awnings shall not be reinstalled without the review and approval of the Planning Commission. 6. 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, October 21, 2014 26618 7. 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 dale 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? Ms. McIntyre: I'd like to add the stipulation that the nonconforming Cricket sign be removed in order for this to be approved. Mark, does that make sense? Mr. Taormina: That's fine. Mr. Morow, Chairman, declared the motion is canied and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. They will be in contact with you relative to when you will appear. Thank you very much. Very nice job on the plans. Mr. Bernardini: Thankyou. ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,062^^ Regular Meeting Ms. Smiley, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,062nd Regular Meeting held on October 7, 2014. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Smiley, and adopted, it was #1039-2014 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,062nd Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on October 7, 2014, are hereby approved. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Taylor, Smiley, Monow NAYS: None ABSTAIN: McIntyre, Wilshaw ABSENT: Bahr Mr. Monow, Chairman, declared the motion is canied and the foregoing resolution adopted. October 21, 2014 26619 On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,06V Regular Meeting held on October 21, 2014, was adjourned a18:00 p.m. ATTEST: R. Lee Morrow, Chairman CIN PLANNING COMMISSION Carol A. Smiley, Secretary