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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2014-09-15 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. by President Brosnan. Present: Susan Nash, Brandon Kritzman, John Pastor, Laura Toy, Lynda Scheel, and President Maureen Miller Brosnan. Absent: Vice-President Brian Meakin. Elected and appointed officials present: Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Judy Priebe, Director of Legislative Affairs; Terry Marecki, City Clerk; and Mayor Jack Ki rksey. Nash wished Councilmember Scheel a Happy Birthday; her birthday is September 28tH Toy congratulated Councilmember Nash on the new addition to her family, a new puppy named Bentley. Kritzman announced the Mayor's Office has been working with the St. Nicholas Institute in preparing a proclamation of St. Nicholas week in Livonia from October 5, 2014 through October 10, 2014. He recognized Father Joseph Marquis, Pastor, Sacred Heart Byzantine Catholic Church in Livonia, who oversees this event each year; this is their 3rd Annual St. Nicholas Institute. Awards will be given at their banquet to Thomas Monaghan, Actress Maureen O'Hara, Father Gerardo Cioffari, Paul W. Smith, Joe Kocur, Ron Mann, Chris Baker and Debra Bonde. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. 1. BLOCK PARTY: Abigail Edwards and Deb Strautz, re: to be held on Sunday, October 19, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Woodside Street, between Roycroft and Sherwood, with a rain date of Sunday, October 26, 2014. Abigail Edwards presented her request to Council and was ready to answer any questions Council may have. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. REQUEST TO BARRICADE CITY STREETS: Tina Schiller, Valassis, re: for a 5K Fun/Run/Walk Wellness Event for their employees, to be held on Saturday, November 1, 2014 from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Victor Parkway, between Seven and Eight Mile and Pembroke off of Newburgh, no rain date scheduled. 2 Tina Schiller presented her request to Council and was ready to answer any questions Council may have. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO EXTEND THE WORKING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LIVONIA AND THE WAYNE COUNTY OFFICE OF SENIOR CITIZENS' SERVICES TO SEPTEMBER 30, 2016: Department of Community Resources, re: for the distribution of U.S.D.A. TEFAP commodity products to low-income residents in Livonia. (CR 353-85) Linda McCann, Director of Community Resources, presented the request to Council. She said this is for the distribution of U.S.D.A. TEFAP commodity products to low-income residents in Livonia. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REQUEST TO EXTEND CONTRACT WITH BRENDEL'S SEPTIC TANK SERVICE, LLC: Public Service Division, re: to provide portable toilet service through the 2017 season at the unit prices agreed upon in November 2011 with a price freeze for the next three years. (CR 389-11, CR 348-10 and CR 165-07) Kevin Maillard, Director of Public Works, presented the request to Council. On November 30, 2011, City Council adopted Resolution No. 389-11 which extended the contract with Brendel's Septic Tank Service, LLC, for three years for year-round, seasonal use and special events portable toilet service. At that time, Brendel's had agreed to reduce the monthly rental of the handicap units $5.00 per unit and hold the price of all other units. Brendel's has offered a price freeze for the next three years, which would last through the 2017 season. This contractor has provided excellent service for the last eight years and has been very responsive in meeting the needs of the Department. It is the recommendation of the Public Service Division that Council proceed as follows: Approve a three-year extension of the contract with Brendel's Septic Tank Service, LLC, 9481 Highland Road, White Lake, Michigan 48386, to provide portable toilet service through the 2017 season at the unit prices bid in their proposal, dated February 5, 2007 with the $ 5.00 per unit reduction for monthly handicap units and an estimated total annual cost of$34,900.00. Waive the formal bidding process under Section 3.04.140.D.4 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. No additional appropriation is required since 3 funds have been budgeted for in the 2014-2015 proposed budget for the Municipal Refuse Fund Account for this purpose. Future budgets shall reflect this contractual obligation. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. REQUEST TO WAIVE STREET LIGHTING AT LIVONIA MANOR II SITE CONDOMINIUM: Enrico E. Soave, Esq., Attorney on behalf of, Leo Soave Building Company Inc., re: to keep the lighting consistent with Livonia Manor Site Condominiums directly to the east of this subdivision. (CR 452-06) Enrico Soave, Attorney on behalf of Leo Soave Building Company, Inc., presented the request to Council. He said his firm represents the developer, Leo Soave Building Company Incorporated, of Livonia Manor 2 Site Condominium and the purpose of this correspondence is to respectfully request a waiver of required street lighting for this subdivision. Directly to the east of this subdivision is Livonia Manor Site Condominium which was developed by developer and does not have street lighting except for four decorative entrance lights. The required street lighting for Livonia Manor was waived by City Council upon a super- majority vote by the residents of Livonia Manor who expressed their desire not to have them. Currently, the approved plans for Livonia Manor 2 does not contain decorative entrance lighting as Livonia Manor has, but the developer is agreeable to install such similar lighting in the event City Council waives the current requirement of street lights. Since both subdivisions are related to one another we believe it is in the best interest to have both communities mirror each other. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6. REQUEST TO APPROVE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVEMENT BONDS: Engineering Division, re: to assure the installation of public improvements at Livonia Manor II Site Condominiums, located at 31700 and 31750 Seven Mile Road, in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 3. (CR 452-06 and Petition 2006-07-08-13) Enrico Soave, Attorney on behalf of Leo Soave Building Company, Inc., presented the request to Council. Council Resolution 452-06, dated September 13, 2006, approved the preliminary Master Deed, Bylaws and Site Plan for the above referenced condominium. Upon review of the plans for the subject development the Engineering Division has determined that the following bonds should be established pursuant to Section 18.66 of Ordinance No. 543. The 4 bonds in question are required at this time to assure the installation of public improvements. General Improvement Bond $556,000.00 ($55,600.00 minimum cash) Sidewalk Bond $30,800.00 ($5,000.00 minimum cash) Grading & Soil Erosion Control Bond $3,000.00 (all cash) Entrance Markers/Landscaping $5,000.00 (all cash) Monuments and Markers Bond $700.00 (all cash) An estimate of the cost of the public improvements for the purpose of establishing the improvement bond requirement, along with the required cash payments, is shown on the attached schedule in accordance with Section 18.66 of Ordinance No. 543. In accordance with Section 16.24.310 (modification of requirements of the Livonia Code of Ordinances), it will be noted that a cash payment is being recommended herein representing a contribution in aid for possible future street lighting within the subject development. The contribution amount has been based on the number of future street lights (as determined by this office) and cost factors as estimated by the Detroit Edison Company in accordance with a ruling of the Michigan Public Service Commission in December 1990. To facilitate the maintenance of our records, the Engineering Division will require that "as built" plans of all public improvements installed in connection with the development be submitted to this office on Mylar reproducible material. Further, appropriate utility easements and deeds will be required for future maintenance by the City. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Toy asked that it be placed on the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 7. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2014-07-02-10 submitted by Stucky Vitale Architects to construct and operate a credit union with drive-thru facilities (Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union), located on 5 the southwest corner of Farmington and Eight Mile Roads (20595 Farmington Road) in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 4. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented the request to Council. This is a request to develop the southwest corner property at Farmington and Eight Mile Roads. This is a vacant parcel. It previously contained a gasoline service station. The property is about 0.68 acres in area with 146 feet of frontage on Eight Mile Road and about 200 feet of frontage along the west wide of Farmington Road. Drive-up facilities are treated as a waiver use under Section 11.03 of the Zoning Ordinance and that is the reason for the public hearing this evening. The proposed credit union would be one-story in height and approximately 3,314 square feet in area. The rendered site plan shows the location of the building in relationship to the property lines. The building is situated near the center of the property. There is an overhead canopy that is located on the north side of the building, more or less at a 45 degree angle towards the intersection of Eight Mile and Farmington Roads. The building's main entrance is on the south side. The majority of the parking is on the south side of the property. There are a few additional spaces located on the west side. There will be two drive approaches servicing the site. There is one from Eight Mile and one from Farmington Road. This is a former gas station site, so there are additional curb cuts to the site right now, but those will be eliminated as part of the redevelopment. The zoning ordinance requires a minimum 60 foot building setback from the right-of-way. That would also apply to the overhead canopy. In this particular case, the setback of the canopy would be roughly 35 feet at its closest point to Eight Mile Road and only about 14 feet from Farmington Road. The location of the canopy would be nonconforming and require variances from by the Zoning Board of Appeals. This will also apply to one side of the building. The building itself is about 60 feet from the right-of-way of Eight Mile Road but only 34 feet from Farmington Road. So the building as well will require a setback variance. Just to put this into some perspective in terms of what previously existed on the site, the old gas station building itself was located roughly 40 feet from Eight Mile Road and 50 feet from Farmington Road. So that too was nonconforming, and the canopy at its closest point was only 6 feet from Eight Mile Road and 40 feet from Farmington Road. So the canopy that used to exist for the previous gas station was much closer to the roadway than is proposed for this project. The drive-thru facilities would be provided on northeast side of the building. This will consists of three auto teller lanes as well as one ATM lane. Customer traffic would commence along the east side of the building via a 22 foot wide, one-way drive aisle, which is sufficient to accommodate two lanes for stacking of vehicles. Cars would be able to immediately exit onto Eight Mile Road via the existing site ingress/egress drive, or alternatively, they could loop back around the west and south sides of the building and then exit from a new site driveway that will be on Farmington Road located on the southeast corner of the property. The traffic lanes serving the drive-up service facility are required to be at least 10 feet in width. You will recall at our study meeting, the plan presented at that time showed the drive-thru lanes 9 feet in width. The latest plan has been 6 modified to widen those by an additional six inches. So it is still slightly less than what the ordinance requires, but it is an improvement over what we saw previously. The City Council can approve this modification. The overhead canopy would project off the northeast corner of the building and extend over the drive- up facility. That structure has dimensions of approximately 40 feet by 45 feet. The support columns are constructed out of brick and it has a prefinished flat metal panel roof. In terms of storm water runoff for this project, all of the detention would be handled underground in conformance with Wayne County storm water regulations. They are required to have a total of 18 parking spaces based on the square footage of the building. They are providing 22 parking spaces so that does conform to the ordinance. As far as landscaping, they are keeping some of the existing trees along both Farmington Road and Eight Mile Road, and then adding additional trees and other plantings both along the perimeter of the site as well as around the building foundation. Overall, the landscaping constitutes about 23 percent of the site, which is about 7 percent more area than what the ordinance requires. Our minimum is 15 percent. Looking at the building itself and its appearance, you can see it's primarily a masonry building. There is cast stone around the base of building, extending about two feet above grade. It is the same treatment for the columns for the canopy. Brick will be the primary exterior building material used on the face of the building as well as the support columns. There are some design elements that are within the brick itself. The trade colors for the credit union include the blue trim along the top coping of the building. The roof mounted mechanical equipment would be concealed from public view with the use of corrugated metal wall panels. Overall, the height of the building is about 22 feet. Lastly, in terms of signage, the credit union would be allowed one wall sign 60 square feet maximum on the front of the building facing Eight Mile. Because this is a corner lot situated on two major thoroughfares, they are allowed a second wall sign facing Farmington Road at one-half the allowable area of the main sign. So they would be allowed a second wall sign at 30 square feet. They are also entitled to a ground sign at 30 square feet in area with a maximum height of 6 feet, setback 10 feet from the right-of-way. The site plan shows a sign that can conform at least to the setback requirements. We don't have any additional information regarding its size. The southwest corner is where the dumpster enclosure will be located. We have recommended conditions that will require the dumpster enclosure to match the materials on the building, and all proposed new lighting on the site would be limited to a maximum height of 20 feet as measured from grade to the top of those fixtures. Mike Blanek, Stucky Vitale Architects, 27172 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067, pointed out the materials on the building, it is a full face brick - standard full back brick and stone. Elements that we're putting on there, along with the metal panel which is an aluminum panel system that we would use for that. The brick is a full faced, earth toned brick with an element inside there as part of the aggregate. And then the stone is a cast product that would be at the base, two feet up as Mark had indicated, and then the metal, it's a prefinished 7 metal panel that we use for the coping and the screening, and the window framing would be out of this material. Pretty much brick, stone and some metal. And just to point out on the drive-thru window, there was some concern about the width so we shrunk down our islands a little bit and added six inches to each lane to get it to 9 foot 6. We're trying to keep the canopy and building as far away from the intersection as we can. As Mark indicated, we are improving what was there before. Those canopies were a lot closer. If you look at the old plans, you can see there was a lot more encroachment into that setback. So our plan was to try to pull that back as tight as we can and make that an improvement to the current site. Thank you. So other than that, this is a prototypical branch that they've been building in other areas of Macomb and Oakland Counties. And their branding is that they like to keep the drive-thru area and that ATM at the front part of the building as opposed to the rear. It's part of their branding. It's also for security, and visibility makes the members comfortable. When they go up to the ATM during the evening hours, they feel like they're visible from the corner so they'll use the branch freely without any concern for their security. Kritzman made some suggestions to the architect for their consideration. Nash asked about the parking to the west being designated for employees. She said there are only three (3) parking spaces there and asked how many employees would be utilizing that parking area. The petitioner said it would most likely be just three (3) employees that will be closing the store in the evening. President Brosnan asked Taormina if the signage would come back before Council for final approval. Taormina said the resolution would forward that decision making to the Zoning Board of Appeals. She asked Taormina if the letter "M" emblazoned on the masonry is considered part of the signage. Taormina said more than likely that will be treated as an architectural feature. He said if she would like a response prior to the voting meeting he would have to check with the architect and the Inspection Department and report back with a response. President Brosnan said she would appreciate that especially since there have been similar requests regarding signage where logos and such are counted as part of the signage. She just wants to be fair in considering this item. Taormina said he agrees and said previously they said with emblems and logos and such that it would be looked at on a case by case situation. He said he believes this one will most likely be one that is treated as an architectural feature rather than signage but said he would check with the architect and the Inspection Department and report back prior to the voting meeting with a response. Kritzman offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. 8 As there were no further questions or comments, President Brosnan adjourned the Study Session at 8:42 p.m. on Monday, September 15, 2014. DATED: September 26, 2014 TERRY A. MARECKI CITY CLERK