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Home My WebLink AboutPLANNING MINUTES 1998-02-24 15907 MINUTES OF THE 759TH REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARINGS HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, February 24, 1998 the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 759th Regular Meeting and Public Hearings in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan Mr. James C. McCann, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM with approximately 30 interested persons in the audience. Members present: James C. McCann Daniel Piercecchi Michael Hale Robert Alanskas Elaine Koons* William LaPine Members Absent: None Messrs. John Nagy, Planning Director and S. Allen Nowak, Planner IV, were also present. Mr. McCann informed the audience that if a petition on tonight's agenda involves a rezoning request, this Commission only makes a recommendation to the City Council who, in turn, will hold its own public hearing and decide the question. If a petition involves a waiver of use request and the request is denied, the petitioner has ten days in `" which to appeal the decision to the City Council; otherwise the petition is terminated. The Planning Commission holds the only public hearing on a preliminary plat and/or a vacating petition. Planning Commission resolutions become effective seven days after the resolutions are adopted. The Planning Commission has reviewed the petitions upon their filing and have been furnished by the staff with approving and denying resolutions. The Commission may use them or not use them depending upon the outcome of the hearing tonight. Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the first item on the agenda is Petition 98-1-8-4 by Manor Care Health Services requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the zoning ordinance in connection with a proposal to construct a senior housing facility on property located at 32440 Seven Mile Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 3. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas, seconded by Mr. LaPine and unanimously approved, it was #2-20-98 RESOLVED that, Petition 98-1-8-4 by Manor Health Care Services requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the zoning ordinance in connection with a proposal to construct a senior housing 15908 facility on property located at 32440 Seven Mile Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 3 be taken from the table. `.. Mr. McCann: Mr. Nagy, is there any new information on this petition? Mr. Nagy: As a follow up to your Study Meeting last week, the plan has been revised to show a doubling of the landscape materials along Mayfield Avenue right-of-way in connection with the fence. They had 8 Austrian Pines initially proposed in that area. The pines are still retained, and they are doubling them up with 8 White Spruce trees in that area, so you have twice the amount of plant material. Mr. McCann: Is the staff satisfied with the landscape plans at this point? Mr. Nagy: Yes. Mr. Piercecchi: Were there additional pine trees placed along the fence line? Mr. Nowak: The additional planting will be 8 white spruce trees 6' to 8' in height placed at 15 feet spacing on centers. The previous plan shows 5 Austrian Pines along the southerly portion of the fence and 3 along the northerly part where the Fire Department would come in. Now between those areas they are proposing 8 additional White Spruces. Mr. Piercecchi: And the brick is identical to what we saw at the Study Meeting? Mr. Nowak: Yes. On a motion by Mr. LaPine, seconded by Mr. Hale and unanimously approved, it was #2-21-98 RESOLVED that, the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 98-1-8-4 by Manor Care Health Services requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the zoning ordinance in connection with a proposal to construct a senior housing facility on property located at 32440 Seven Mile Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 3 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet 2 prepared by Nowak& Fraus, as received by the Planning Commission on February 13, 1998 is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the three walls of the trash dumpster area shall be constructed out of the same brick used in the construction of the building and the enclosure gates shall be maintained and when not in use closed at all times; 15909 3. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet 3 prepared by Nowak& Fraus, dated February 19, 1998 is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 4. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding; 5. That underground sprinklers are to be provided for all landscaped and sodded areas and all plant materials shall be installed to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department and thereafter permanently maintained in a healthy condition; 6. That the Exterior Elevation Plan marked Sheet A4 prepared by David L. Hoffman, as received by the Planning Commission on February 17, 1998 is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 7. That the exterior of the facility shall be finished in earth tone colors and the short fencing around the ground mechanical equipment shall be painted or finished to match the color of the building; 8. That the petitioner shall meet to the Engineering Department's satisfaction the following requirements as outlined in the correspondence dated February 3, 1998: - sidewalks are required along the Seven Mile side of the property to connect existing sidewalks together - both the sidewalk and approach location will need approval by Wayne County prior to obtaining a permit from the Engineering Dept. 9. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted a variance by the Zoning Board of Appeals for the location and height of the proposed fences. Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. Piercecchi: The next items on the agenda are approval of the minutes of the 757th Regular Meeting and Public Hearings held on January 27, 1998 and the 758th Regular Meeting held on February 10, 1998. On a motion by Mr. Piercecchi, seconded by Mr. Alanskas and approved, it was #2-22-98 RESOLVED that, the minutes of the 757th Regular Meeting and Public Hearings held on January 27, 1998 are approved. 15910 A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: `�► AYES: McCann, Piercecchi, Koons, Alanskas NAYS: None ABSENT: Hale Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas and seconded by Mr. Hale, it was #2-23-98 RESOLVED that, the minutes of the 758th Regular Meeting held by the City Planning Commission on February 10, 1998 are approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Alanskas, Koons, Piercecchi, Hale NAYS: None ABSENT: McCann ABSTAIN: LaPine Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. N... Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the next item on the agenda is Petition 97-12-1- 22 by McLaren Engines, Inc. requesting to rezone property located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Parker Avenue and Hubbard Road in the NE 1/4 of Section 3 from R3-A to RE. Mr. Nowak presented a map showing the property under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Mr. Nagy: The Engineering Division in its letter dated January 29, 1998 states that the petition has been reviewed and has the following concerns that should be noted: 1) The proposed development may require the extension of storm sewer to service the southern portions of the lot. 2) The proposed development may require the extension of watermain, as required by the Fire Marshal, to provide adequate fire protection for the lot. We also have a letter from Ms. Kelly Catherine McCarty dated February 14, 1998 as follows: Dear Commission Members: My residence is located at 20325 Parker, Livonia, Michigan. I have reviewed the request made by McLaren Engines, Inc. and I have the following comments: 1. McLaren Engines, Inc. has been a good neighbor and their name and expertise bring a degree of prestige to the Livonia Community. 2. The City of Livonia through its 15911 Planning Commission and City Council have made this area of the Community a fine place to live and work. 3. The interface between Industrial, Research& Engineering and Residential use is a very delicate "'..- and difficult planning area to maintain in a physically positive posture. The Planning Commission and City Council has through its land use policies and screening requirements created a stable planning unit in this complex area. 4. The intrusion of the RE (Research-Engineering) zoning district as proposed under Petition 97-12-1-22 would: a. Be contrary to good planning principles. b. Lead to an unstable planning area. c. Result in future rezoning requests and a degradation of the existing stable residential area. I would therefore request that the Planning Commission and City Council deny the Petition 97-12-1-22. That's the extent of our correspondence. Mr. Alanskas: On the perimeter of the property on the southwest/east, we are showing a 26' wide berm, how high is that berm, 5'? Mr. Nagy: At least 5'. Mr. Piercecchi: Mr. Nagy, I looked at this site several times. It is landlocked between the M-1 zoning and the R-3 homeowners. Is there any other use for that property inasmuch as it is landlocked? When someone owns a piece of property, it is a shame he can't use it, but there are some reservations by the people in that area. Mr. Nagy: It is isolated. On all four sides there is development and unless it is combined with some other property, particularly the property to the south, unless it was split off and combined, it would largely remain in a landlocked condition. Mr. Piercecchi: You would never be able to get in and build a home in there. Mr. Nagy: Maybe if it were combined and used as a subdivision plan. Maybe with a combination where you could extend a road from Parker Avenue to adjoining larger lots to the south, maybe access it that way. I am not saying that it is ideal or economical, but it is the only feasible means I see of accessing the property other than directly from Eight Mile Road and then having to go through the industrial area and I don't think that would be desirable. Mr. Piercecchi: That piece of property is only about 312' wide. If you ran a subdivision in there, you would have to have a street of at least 30', so I wonder what type of homes you could put in there. 15912 Mr. Nagy: I agree it would be very difficult and not very practical, but that's the only means in which I can visualize its development. I don't know if the land is even available for that. Mr. Piercecchi: The map shows there are homes on every lot on Parker from the rear of that current facility all the way down to Norfolk. Wylie McCoy, President of McLaren Engines, 32233 W. Eight Mile: This is a preliminary. What we looked at, and this was on advice from Mr. Nagy's office, that the only way to do this reasonably for the neighborhood was to maintain a greenbelt and a berm between our neighbors on three sides and the parking lot with enough room for parking, then we had enough room left for a 24,000 sq. ft. building which is what we need for the expansion we are considering for office space under RE zoning. Mr. Piercecchi: Are you opposed to putting a wall around it rather than a berm? Mr. McCoy: We are not opposed to anything. The berm seemed to be a good idea. We wanted to allow room for 10' of extra yard for our neighbors before we start the berm. Mr. Piercecchi: Some people have fences. We are not here tonight to discuss the site plan, but the rezoning. However, it is nice to get a feel of what you are planning on doing. Who is going to maintain that 10' between the fence and berm? Mr. McCoy: We could maintain it. It depends on what they would like. It would be grass areas which would be mowable. It would be a one story building. Mr. McCann: There was a question earlier about the size of the berm. Mr. McCoy: We had considered 8', but my chairman is an architect and he thought a 5' berm would be more appropriate than 8'. We assume that to mask the area there would be some sort of hedge growth around the top on all three sides. Mr. McCann: Can you tell us what the anticipated use of the new building is and describe the type of activities, the type of noise, the type of transportation coming into it. We want to get a feel, if this were to be approved, what the neighbors in the area would be facing. Mr. McCoy: We see it as office space for engineering. The bulk of the work in here would be clerical. Some prototype shop space. There would be no outside noise from that. All the noise from our site is in this front building which 15913 is our test site. We have a small prototype shop, not a production shop. We have fabricating capabilities. No,.- Mr. McCann: Would you say this would be more typical of an office building than an industrial building as far as windows, brick walls and that type? Mr. McCoy: Yes. We would have a couple of areas, probably in front, where we would need a garage-type door where we could bring vehicles inside. Probably 5000 sq. ft. would be where we could bring vehicles inside. Mr. McCann: What would be the purpose of having vehicles inside the building? Mr. McCoy? The work we do, which is prototype vehicle car framework, we put different combinations of engines in vehicles for the Big 3. They are like model rooms where we show the model of a vehicle and how it is going to be assembled. Mr. McCann: There would be no manufacturing in the building, no manufacturing of parts? Mr. McCoy: No manufacturing. We are strictly an engineering company. Mr. McCann: Would there be any assembling in the rear of the building? Nom. Mr. McCoy: There would be one prototype assembly. We build one item of a prototype. Mr. McCann: Can you give us a description? Mr. McCoy: We would receive a vehicle chassis that needed a unique engine package placed in the engine compartment, and we would fill that and mount it in the vehicle and we would do the engineering measurement of that. Mr. Piercecchi: Are these for Formula One engines which I know you are famous for? Mr. McCoy: No. These are for everyday street vehicles. Mr. Piercecchi: So you don't have any dynamometer involved? Mr. McCoy: Yes, we do, in the front of the building where they have been for 29 years. Mr. Piercecchi: Your main plant is in England, isn't it? 15914 Mr. McCoy: We have a sister plant in England which we are not financially connected to. �.• Mr. LaPine: You have owned that property for 29 years? Mr. McCoy: No. We purchased that property in 1988. We were a renter up to that point. Mr. LaPine: If you were denied this petition and you need this expansion, I assume you would have to look elsewhere to find property to build additionally and maybe move out of Livonia. Is that a fair assumption? Mr. McCoy: That is possible. We have expanded in the first 20 years with this building and then buying it. Then we bought the next two buildings. This is the logical place to expand before we have to build someplace else. Mr. LaPine: You have three buildings on the premises right now. Most of your testing is done in the front building. What are the other two buildings used for? Mr. McCoy: This is the vehicle shop. This building we assemble engines that are prototypes for one of our customers. Mr. LaPine: The second building close to Eight Mile Road is the one where you drive the vehicles in, but you don't actually do any testing in those buildings? `""' The new building which is Research and Engineering, there won't be any type of testing of engines? Mr. McCoy: That's correct. Mr. LaPine: If you are granted this rezoning, are you seeking any type of tax exemptions for this building? Mr. McCoy: No. Mr. LaPine: You are in a unique situation there. I am sympathetic to your petition, but you are surrounded by residents. I think you have come up with a pretty good idea, but you mentioned something about 10' of property. Are you going to deed that property to the neighbors and then start your berm, or are you going to let them have 10' of your property, but they don't own it? Mr. McCoy: That's entirely open for negotiation. Mr. Hale: Do you have any other locations where your company owns property? Mr. McCoy: No. This is it. 15915 Mr. Alanskas: If you did get this 24,000 sq. ft. building, would that satisfy your needs for a few years where you would not be moving out of Livonia? Mr. McCoy: Yes. Mr. Piercecchi: This would increase your employment too? Mr. McCoy: Yes. We work in teams. The type of projects we are looking for require computers. Everybody uses computers to draw. We can get 50-60 people in that building and cubicles. Mr. Piercecchi: When you do put that building up, would you plan on putting brick all the way around? Mr. McCoy: We plan on making it look the best we can on what we are asked to do. We want the building to look nice. We like brick. Mr. McCann: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against this petition? Robert Austin, 2030 Hubbard: From the site plan, you can see that the proposed rezoning is surrounded by 8 residents. I have lived on Hubbard for 12 years and McLaren has been a good neighbor. I was here a few years ago to speak `'r" against a proposal for above ground storage tanks for fuel, and I am here again to speak against this petition. A lot of the houses on Hubbard have small children and I would hate to see this piece of undeveloped land turned into a parking lot and a brick building regardless of what it looks like. I think it is honorable of Mr. McCoy to give the neighbors 10' of property, but I would like to see him go further and donate that parcel and develop it into some type of park land for the children. Jim Duncan, 20446 Hubbard: I have been living here for 10 years. I have a lot of good neighbors, a lot of peace and quiet. If I recall back in the late 80s, early 90s, the people in this house tried to get it rezoned for a brick wall so that these businesses could have more parking. Your Commission denied them that for the reason how far are we going to go to keep rezoning this line? Look all the way down Eight Mile. You have vacant property. You have people with homes there. If you allow this rezoning, where do you stop? The second thing is, I like the idea of what he wants to do with the building, but what comes with that, you have a vacant parking lot at night, people coming in behind that building trying to hide from people in the street doing whatever they want to do. I can't see it happening. You have to do something more than a berm. You have a brick wall that is almost 10' here. A 5' berm isn't going to do it. You give me 10' on my property, 15916 I want to make use of it. I don't want to be looking at a berm Sometimes I have to sleep until 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning and it's bad enough now that I have to listen to noise that comes through. I have had to call `r► several times and complain because some of the mechanics that work there work on their race cars. It gets so loud there because of the echoing in the building on that back wall, the police can't even hear me on my phone with the windows shut. Again, the safety reasons. There are a lot of kids that go in there. There are a lot of kids around there. The kids are going to want to see what is in there. I didn't move to Livonia to see a building in my back yard. I just had my house appraised and the only reason I didn't get the appraisal I was looking for is because of the businesses. Who is going to pay me for the loss on my house because now there is a business there? You have just depreciated my property even more. My opinion to you is to decline this rezoning petition. Mr. Alanskas: When you called the police, was there a police report made on this? Mr. Duncan: Yes. He came with a police car and said the dispatcher could hardly hear what I was saying because of the noise and that's why they had to send a police car out there. Mr. Alanskas: Was this in the past year? Mr. Duncan: In the last couple of years. Lloyd Carlisle, 20421 Parker: I have three children of my own and I have had problems with guys that work there that build their own cars and they race them up and down my street. This past summer I had to call the police. I got into it with a guy there for racing down my street. I asked him what if he hit one of my kids? He said he was sorry. I said how sorry would you be if you hit and killed one of my kids? His attitude was "Oh well". I don't want to see it happen. There are too many kids. These people don't live in the neighborhood and so they don't care. I have people looking over my block wall to see what is going on in my backyard. There is no privacy. I think it is dangerous to the kids and I would hate to see it go that way. Mike Horton, 20414 Hubbard: Although there's quite a few things McLaren Engines brought up that I would disagree with, especially the noise, I think the two gentlemen already brought that up. We talked about the brick, how high the building was going to be, whether or not there's going to be a berm. Guys, look at that, that is a residential neighborhood and no matter what he does to that building, it is not going to look like a house. 15917 Jim Brossard, 20391 Parker: When I heard about this being zoned for commercial, I think it is commercial enough as it is. I don't want our houses devalued because of commercial. Also the privacy aspect of it. I hear noise several `rear times, especially in summer during the night. The screeching of tires and racing engines. I don't care for any more industrial moving in on the south side of Eight Mile Road. Mr. Alanskas: Sir, you say you hear racing of engines, is that from inside the building or from cars going up and down the street? Mr. Brossard: That's from the work inside the building. Alice Rotondo, 20351 Hubbard and I am also representing Josephine Rotondo who lives on 20400 Parker: I am asking you not to let them in. I hear the noise at night. From my house and across the street down to Eight Mile there are children 8 years old and under. We have traffic coming constantly from McLaren Engines. Some nights we have trucks coming up and down the street. There is also a school at the end of that street. You worry about him moving out and his taxes, but if you do this you are going to lose a lot of residents and their taxes. I feel that you should be here representing the people who live in Livonia, not if you are going to lose this business to Farmington, Novi or somewhere else. Robert Pommerville, 20404 Hubbard: I have been here for 29 years. I can testify that '`".. every word you heard from my neighbors is absolutely true. The biggest concern I have is the noise that is generated now in the existing facility and that will be brought backwards right in back of our houses within 30', 40' earshot. Four years from now I will be 60 and I won't be this easy to deal with. I don't want slamming truck doors at all times of the night. I don't want an ugly commercial building of any kind behind me. If you want to build some houses, that's fine, kids and all. Ralph Martin, 20366 Hubbard: I moved there in 1963. It was zoned RUF at that time. I would hate to see it changed from what it is right now. I don't want a factory in my backyard either. Lloyd Lexson, 20355 Parker: I have two children and I moved in there two years ago, and one of the reasons I moved in there is because we have this beautiful piece of land behind there. I am concerned about the noise level in the neighborhood. Right now they are running their engines 24 hours a day, weekends and Sundays. I am worried about if this is rezoned, where are our guarantees? He said he is never going to have any testing back there, but once it is rezoned, do we have guarantees? 15918 Rosalie Giss, 33211 Fargo: I live in Woodland Condominiums. I did not notice the decimal level until last summer. Something changed over there. I am very sensitive to noise. One night I was sleeping and my bedroom walls '�► were bouncing. I started walking around to see where the noise was coming from. Finally I walked to my door wall which faces east. The noise in my ears, the decimal level was atrocious. I closed the door wall and could still hear it. I can hear it all winter long. The dogs are always howling. Weren't the homes there before McLaren Engines? I think the residents should be looked at first. We are going to be around a long time, but McLaren Engines can go anywhere they want; they have a lot of money. They don't belong in a residential area. Until I go deaf, I am going to keep on this because this is going to be my retirement home. I complained to Mr. MacDonald and I've called Lansing because I wanted to know what noise pollution rights I had. The noise bounces. I don't know how the people right behind them can stand it. When I was determined to find out who was making that noise, I drove along and followed the noise right to McLaren Engines. I will be canvassing the neighborhood, and you will be hearing from us. Wylie McCoy:Mr. MacDonald and McLaren have been working on the noise issue for years. I know about the noise she is talking about and we fixed it. It was a fan failure, a bearing in the fan. We couldn't hear the noise inside the building. We fixed the fan the next day, and as far as we are concerned, the noise went away. If she still hears the noise, we haven't heard that fact '"' until tonight. Our neighbors who have been around with us for 29 years have complained before from Farmington Hills and Livonia. When we expanded about ten years ago, we went through quite a silencing program to silence the noise from our test service. The main issue has been the actual fans we use on top of the building to extract the exhaust from the building making a lot of racket. We silence the fans to the level of your code which is 68-69 decimals from our property line after quiet time which is 11:00 at night. Mr. MacDonald comes out at 3:00 in the morning with his decimal meter and we have our own decimal meter. We missed the noise that the lady is talking about. The fans put off a very high shriek which she heard. The noise has always been an issue that we try to deal with it. The screeching tires in the parking lot and the driving down Parker, I would like to know more about that. If that's happening at 3:00 in the morning, it's somebody who doesn't belong there. Mr. McCann: Do you operate 24 hours a day? Mr. McCoy: Yes, 7 days a week. There was no one else present wishing to be heard regarding this item and Mr. McCann, vr.. Chairman, declared the Public Hearing on Petition 97-12-1-22 closed. 15919 On a motion by Mr. Hale and seconded by Mr. Piercecchi, it was RESOLVED that,pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 24, 1998 by the City Planning Commission on Petition 97-12-1- 22 by McLaren Engines, Inc. requesting to rezone property located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Parker Avenue and Hubbard Road in the NE 1/4 of Section 3 from R3-A to RE, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 97-12-1-22 be denied for the reason that it is inconsistent with the surrounding area. The motion was postponed for further discussion. *8:10 Mrs. Koons arrived at this time. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas, seconded by Mr. LaPine and approved, it was #2-24-98 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 24, 1998 by the City Planning Commission on Petition 97-12-1- 22 by McLaren Engines, Inc. requesting to rezone property located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Parker Avenue and Hubbard Road in the NE 1/4 of Section 3 from R3-A to RE, the Planning Commission does hereby determine to table Petition 97-12-1-22 until April 21, 1998. FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Alanskas, LaPine, Piercecchi, McCann NAYS: Hale ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Koons Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the next item on the agenda is Petition 98-2-1-1 by Leland Bittinger requesting to rezone property located between Fairfield and Brookfield Avenue south of Five Mile Road in the NW 1/4 of Section 22 from R- 7 to R-1. Mr. Nowak presented a map showing the property under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. 15920 Mr. Nagy: We have a letter from the Engineering Division dated February 4, 1998 N... stating that the development would require extension of both sanitary and storm lines as public utilities; the Engineering Division has no other problems with the proposed development. That is signed by John Hill, Assistant City Engineer. That's the extent of our correspondence. Leland Bittinger, ReMax Classic on Morton-Taylor Road in Canton, Michigan: The intent of rezoning the property is to do a site plan condominium that constitutes 10 lots that are approximately 66' wide by 136' deep and build a mix of houses approximately 1400 sq. ft. to 2000 sq. ft. depending on the product mix and the demand, probably a mix of ranches, and/or capes, and/or colonials. Mr. Piercecchi: I notice that you are going to do these as site condominiums. Why not standard R-1? Mr. Bittinger: I think the site plan condos concept has been done in many other locations and requires a lot less time and a lot less effort. — Mr. Piercechi: There's generally problems with common grounds on it. Mr. Bittinger: We are working with an attorney right now to go through those problems. We are going to go through the Planning Commission to solve any problems that come up. Mr. Piercecchi: Would you withdraw your petition if R-1 residential were insisted on in that development? Mr. Bittinger: I am not sure. I can't answer that right now. My intention is to develop the lots and build buildings on there. I suppose if it were a regular platted subdivision and if I can do it in a timely period, that would be acceptable to me. Mr. LaPine: Do you own the property now? Mr. Bittinger: Yes. 15921 Mr. LaPine: I am all in favor of rezoning it, but I am not in favor of condos. I am more in favor of single family homes. The only excuse you have to take a different route is that it is a quicker way to go about it. Mr. Bittinger (showing a plan): As you can see, this shows existing housing on the south end. It is not a condominium project that we are putting together, these are all single family homes for all intensive purposes. They look exactly like single family homes on single family lots. Mr. McCann: My question is there is no existing difficulty within the subject area to build R-1 housing in the same outline you put here, correct? Mr. Bittinger: I don't believe so. Mr. McCann: The only reason you are going to condominiums is to save time and money? Mr. Bittinger: Yes. That's a big reason. Mr. McCann: I agree with you. When we looked at RC before, we looked to see if there is a specific need in that area to see if R-1 would work or if there were a limited number of lots, only four lots. Here we are talking about 10 lots. Is there any particular difficulty with this project that you could not go along with a normal preliminary plat approval process? Mr. Bittinger: I don't think there is any difficulty. I believe we are going to put a nice product on there, and I think it is a product that the neighborhood would be proud of. I'm sure it would increase values in the area. I honestly NE. don't see anything negative about the project at all. Mr. McCann: Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak for or against this petition? Rita Luitink, 14833 Fairfield: When I originally got your letter stating he wanted to put in homes, I was thrilled. Over half of our street is already taken up by apartments on one side. On the other side, we have single family homes that are practically surrounded by apartments. I feel we don't need any more apartments in that area. Mr. McCann: Did you see the preliminary plan that he showed us? Mrs. Luitink: When he mentioned condominiums, that's when my concern went up. I came here to say I want single family homes. We already have condos all across Five Mile there. With single family homes there, it would make it more of a continuous community instead of people who are just renting and gone. Mr. McCann: I think I can explain it to you. What he is trying to do is more for legal purposes. The preliminary plan has to go to Lansing and it takes approximately a year to get through. He is going through this residential condominium act that is presently on the books so that he can do it within the City. It saves him almost a year of time. To look at it from the street, 15922 you would never know the difference between the RC and the R-1 from the plans that he provided us. These would have one and two car garages, separate homes, separate lawns, everything else would stay the same. Now Mrs. Luitink: Well, if it is going to be single family homes, than I say go for it. Diane Maxwell, 15101 Fairfield: I am all for it. I need some neighbors. I am kind of by myself I have the senior community on the east side of me, I have the condos on the north and I have condos on the south side as well. I have just one neighbor behind me. There's a piece of property next door to me that I maintain and we were wondering if this is going to be included with what he wants to do with his original plan. Mr. McCann: You can talk to him after the meeting. We are going to focus on this plan tonight. Daniel Cubrillo, 32629 Meadowbrook: I am not too crazy about having condos built and having renters come in. I would rather see single family homeowners come into the community. It's been my past experience that when you get increased numbers of renters in the community, the overall value drops in the neighborhood. So if the petition includes renter condominiums, it should not be allowed. If there are mainly single family homeowners, — people who have a stake in the neighborhood, then I would approve of it. Ron Sweiger, 32448 Meadowbrook: I have lived in the neighborhood for 25 years. Whether it's single homes or detached condos, as long as it's individual sites, we are all for it. It's great - about time. Mr. Bittenger: For those of you who are afraid of these being condominiums, the term condominium is just a term. In the real estate industry we have been having a real tough time with the misconception that these site plan condos are actually condominiums. They are not. These are single family homes. There have been many articles about them. This would enhance your neighborhood. You are welcome to come and see me after the hearing and we can show you the kinds of homes we are going to put up. These will be high scale family homes that will definitely enhance the neighborhood. There was no one else wishing to speak on the item, and Mr. McCann, Chairman, closed the public hearing on Petition 98-2-1-1. 15923 Mr. Alanskas: Mr. Chairman, tonight is the rezoning from R-7 to R-1 only and if it is approved, it will come back as a site plan. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas, seconded by Mr. LaPine and unanimously approved, it was #2-25-98 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 24, 1998 by the City Planning Commission on Petition 98-2-1-1 by Leland Bittinger requesting to rezone property located on the south side of Five Mile Road between Fairfield and Brookfield Avenue in the NW 1/4 of Section 22 from R-7 to R-1, the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 98-2-1-1 be approved for the following reasons: 1) That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the zoning in the adjacent residential subdivision; 2) That the proposed change of zoning will provide for lot sizes which are consistent with other development in the area; and 3) That the proposed change of zoning is compatible to and in `- harmony with the surrounding uses and zoning districts in the area. FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. LaPine: I have no objection to the rezoning, but I am not in favor of the condos, I want single family. If it takes a year to go through the process, so be it. Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the next item on the agenda is Petition 98-1-2-1 by Angelo Mauti requesting waiver use approval to construct a six (6) bay coin- operated self-serve car wash o property located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Haller Avenue and Camden Road in the SW 1/4 of Section 25. Mr. Nowak presented a map showing the property under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. 15924 Mr. Nagy: We have a letter from the Engineering Division dated January 29 stating they have no objections to the proposal. That was signed by David Lear, Civil Engineer 1. The Inspection Department in their letter of February 4411 111110" 3rd states: Pursuant to your request of January 23, 1998, the site plan for the above subject petition has been reviewed. The following problems or deficiencies were found: 1) The parking lot lighting near the north property line should be shielded to reflect light away from the abutting residential district. 2) The landscape plan does not indicate if the grass areas are to be sod or hydroseed. 3) There is no detail of the proposed ground sign. That is signed by David M. Woodcox, Sr. Building Inspector. The Fire Marshal in his letter of February 3rd states their office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a six bay coin operated car wash located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Haller and Camden and they have no objection to this proposal. That's signed by Rockney Whitehead, Fire Marshal. We also have a letter from the Clements Circle Civic Association as follows: Dear Commissioners: At our Clements Circle Civic Association board meeting held on February 16, 1998 the proposed six bay coin operated car wash on Plymouth Road between Camden and Haller Roads was discussed. It was the unanimous opinion of the board (nine persons) that we were opposed to that use for the following reasons: 1) It would be directly across the street from a present car wash. Two car washes this close is more than the neighborhood needs. It was also pointed out that several other car washes are now located on Plymouth Road. 2) The car wash with its six large openings facing the street with hoses hanging and soap water on the ground does not present an attractive front, even with the proposed landscaping. 3) It would not be an attractive neighbor to the new Livonia Nursing home now being completed. 4) We felt that a better use for this property could be found considering the new beautification coming to Plymouth Road. That is signed by Stan Anderson, President, Clements Circle Civic Association. Richard Zischke, architect for Mr. Mauti, 18324 Middlebelt, Livonia: What we are proposing is a 6 bay auto car wash. We think it is a proper use for the property. We have developed a very decent landscape plan. We meet the criteria for the percentage of landscape. There were some comments from the Plymouth Road Development Authority. They had comments that we work with the Planning Department and made some changes in the landscape plan to further screen the building and the cars and dry off cells along Plymouth Road. We have developed a nice looking building and we feel it is a proper use of the area. Mr. Alanskas: How many hours a day would the car wash be open? 15925 Mr. Zischke: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One comment I would like to make, all the lights will be screened from the adjacent property. `o' Mr. Alanskas: Do these have external speakers where music is played while people are washing their cars? Mr. Zischke: No. Mr. LaPine: I would assume you don't have anyone there. You have an area where people can get change, is that correct? Mr. Zischke: Yes. Usually it is serviced once a day. Mr. LaPine: What happens when someone loses money? Do you have vandalism when someone gets mad, or anything like that happen? Mr. Mauti: I have a four bay car wash now and I haven't had any problem with it. I have a phone number on there. Mr. LaPine: You are so close to that convalescent home. Being open 24 hours a day, I just can't see someone going in there 3:00, 4:00 in the morning and washing their car. It's a concern I have. I notice we don't have any screen per se along that east property line to cut down the noise. Mr. Zischke: In terms of the screening, we are only required to have screening on the west 40' where we are adjacent to an R-6. What we are showing is a screening wall approximately 6' high across the entire back of the property. It doesn't make sense to have a wall 40' across 140' of property so we are continuing it all the way across. Mr. Piercecchi: It isn't unusual to build a car wash when you have a car wash right across the street? Mr. Zischke: Not necessarily. One of the things about business today, competition fosters competition. Automobile dealerships are next to automobile dealerships; restaurants locate next to another restaurant. You see a lot of grouping of businesses today. Mr. Piercecchi: You mentioned the Plymouth Road Development Authority. Have they given their blessing to this project? Mr. Zischke: I don't know if they have approved or denied. We got a letter from Mr. Nowak of the Planning Department. We worked out the majority of the items. Some of the items they asked for we felt were not relevant to the v.. situation. For example, they wanted us to take property from the next door 15926 neighbor to create a greenbelt. They wanted us to move the building 5' to the east which would require a variance from the zoning ordinance which requires that on one side of the car wash the setback be 30'. They were `" asking for some things that might sound good, but in reality were actually asking us to violate your own zoning ordinance. We screened the dumpster and they thought it would be in our interest to move the driveway to the east and create a greenbelt, and we did that. For the most part we incorporated a lot of their comments. There were a few however that we didn't think were relevant like taking property from an adjacent neighbor and asking him to tear up his own parking lot to create a greenbelt. Mr. Nagy: I also serve as the Director to the Plymouth Road Development Authority and Mr. Mauti did appear on two occasions before the board and presented his plans. After the conclusion of the first meeting, the Authority asked our consultant, Beckett& Raeder, look at the site plan that was prepared. It was through their offices that they made certain recommendations with respect to placement of the building setbacks, the greenbelt divider, and so forth. It was done at the discretion of the consultant without having full knowledge of the precise standards of the zoning ordinance. It was a concept as a way to improve the site plans realizing that even they didn't have the full standards of the ordinance. Mr. Mauti to his credit did incorporate many of the suggestions that could be worked out in his site plan. He then came back a second time and the Board did evaluate his NN` request and chose not to render a recommendation. They did not take any formal action either for or against, but did thank Mr. Mauti for his efforts in trying to accommodate their concerns. Mr. Piercecchi: I notice here that the Civic Association of Clements Circle that Stan Anderson, President, also serves on the Plymouth Road Development Authority. Mr. Alanskas: You are going to have six vacuums available? Mr. Zischke: Yes, there are some at the back and along the front. Mr. Alanskas: How long do those vacuums run per car? Mr. Mauti: About 3 minutes. 15927 Mr. Alanskas: So they could be there about 5 minutes to clean their car. So if you had 6 cars you would have about 18 minutes where they are running and noisy. When people clean their cars, naturally they have to open the doors and ''r they play their radios in their vehicles. Why do you have to have 6 of those for only a 6 bay car wash? Mr. Mauti: I can cut it down. I am willing to take any recommendation that you have. Mr. McCann: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against this petition? Bonnie Mostrelli: I've lived on Camden Street for 27 years. We have a lot of children in our neighborhood too. Across the street we have a beautiful car wash which I don't mind. They have vacuums and everything set up, but why do we need one on our side of the street? The children come off of Cleveland. I tied to petition for a light to help our children who live between Harrison and Plymouth Road. There is a lot of congestion for kids who want to visit across the street. We have a beautiful Lutheran Home coming in now which we have given up a lot of our farm country in back of us, but we want something beautiful in our neighborhood. Why do we have to have a car wash when we have one down on Plymouth and `.. Inkster. I don't see it loaded every time I go by there and I used to work there. There's one at Joy Road near Middlebelt that doesn't seem to be that busy either. I don't see what's wrong with one car wash. Nathan Beanie, 36556 Joanne: My girlfriend lives on Camden and there's a U-turn in and there's a car wash right across the street and during the summer it gets pretty busy, people turning in and out to go towards Middlebelt and then people will be trying to turn in to this car wash and you will have cars in the left turn lane. That's a lot of combined traffic and I think it will cause too many accidents and too much hassle for the people who live there. I am against it. Mr. Mauti, 20154 Riverside, Livonia: A coin operated car wash is really a different business than a drive through. Self serve and automatic are different. Livonia is a pretty big city and we only have two coin operated car washes. The ones they are talking about are in Westland and Redford. I think with another car wash it would cut down traffic. If someone didn't want a self serve car wash in their own city, it would cut down traffic anywhere else and divide it equally. 15928 There was no one else wishing to speak on this petition and Mr. McCann, Chairman, r.., closed the public hearing on Petition 98-1-2-1. On a motion by Mr. LaPine, seconded by Mrs. Koons and unanimously approved, it was #2-26-98 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 24, 1998 by the City Planning Commission on Petition 98-1-2-1 by Angelo Mauti requesting waiver use approval to construct a six (6) bay coin-operated self-serve car wash on property located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Haller Avenue and Camden Road in the SW 1/4 of Section 25, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 98-1-2-1 be denied for the following reasons: 1) That the petitioner has failed to affirmatively show that the proposed use is in compliance with all of the general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Section 19.06 of the Zoning ordinance #543; 2) That the proposed use is detrimental to and incompatible with the surrounding uses in the area; 3) That there is no demonstrated need for a car wash at the subject location; and 4. That the nature of the proposed use is such that it will not enhance the image and character of the commercial development along Plymouth Road in this area. FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. McCann: The petition fails. You have ten days to appeal to City Council Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the next item on the agenda is Petition 98-1-2-2 by Rite Aid of Michigan requesting waiver use approval to utilize an SDD license 15929 and SDM license for a store located on the southeast corner of Eight Mile and Merriman Roads in the NW 1/4 of section 2. Mr. Miller presented a map showing the property under petition plus the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Mr. Nagy: We have one letter from our Engineering Division dated February 3 indicating they have no objections to the proposal. John Doyle, attorney for Rite Aid, 422 South Capital Avenue, Lansing, Michigan: With me tonight is the Liquor Manager for Rite Aid in Michigan, J. R. Reyes and Jim Barrens, District Manager. As was stated, we are asking for approval for the waiver use. The SDD is actually a transfer of a current license that is in escrow from Apex Drugstore which is an affiliate of Rite Aid. The escrow address is within the City of Livonia which was located at 29350 Plymouth Road. It should be noted that the escrow period is set to expire in early April this year. There is some urgency. As you may recall, we have attempted to move this license on two prior occasions which didn't work out. I believe one had an SDD license location too close to it, and the other was too close to a public golf course. On this location we are not having any of these problems. The requirements of the ordinance 11.03(r)(1) that it not be within 1000' of any existing SDD licenses nor within 500' of any SDM licenses, we do meet that requirement. The parking area is well lit. There is easy access on both `.., Eight Mile and Merriman Road. The area currently isn't being served by an SDD outlet. The closest one is a half mile away on the other side of Eight Mile Road in a small party store. Rite Aid is a full service pharmacy, they have a food market and retail outlet. It offers the public one stop shopping. Adding the SDD and SDM license would complete the operation for Rite Aid and for the public. All the employees and clerks are CAM trained, it means they are trained on not only why they have to check birth dates on anyone they sell alcohol to, but also to spot intoxicated persons. The cash registers are operated so that whenever there is a liquor, beer or wine sell the birth date of the purchaser has to be typed in so the purchase can be validated. On a monthly, if not weekly basis, internal memos are sent to the employees of Rite Aid reminding them to follow all rules and procedures on the sale of alcohol. We do not want any problems with this. Rite Aid goes so far as to operate their own sting operations on their own locations. Rite Aid has been in Michigan for over 20 years and I believe they have a good track record. All the employees are told that if they violate the rules and regulations on the sale of alcoholic beverages, their employment will be terminated immediately. This location does have a drive-up window, however this window is only used for prescription drugs, no alcohol nor any other products. Rite Aid signs an affidavit to that effect. As an example I believe there are 25-30 15930 Rite Aid stores and there has not been a single problem involving alcohol with any of them. There are signs on the drive-up window to that effect as well. In general, Rite Aid operates a responsible operation. I believe adding the SDD and the SDM at this location would increase the harmony and development of the area. I believe we have met the waiver use standards that are necessary. It is important for Rite Aid to have this as a profit reason as well. Excluding the pharmaceutical end of the stores, whenever the sale of alcoholic beverages are allowed, it is approximately 10-18% of our sales. It is a significant factor. The hours of this location, as all Rite Aid locations, are Monday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM and on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. It will not be a late night place to purchase alcoholic beverages, but to make it more of a one-stop shop for its customers. Adding the alcohol would compete the operation for Rite Aid. It's not only an important draw for Rite Aid, it's an advertising tool and it helps get people into the stores. Again, I believe it is in harmony with the present neighborhood. I have pictures of the surrounding area. Mr. Alanskas: You said your beer and liquor sales would be about 10-18% of the total store sales? Mr. Doyle: Yes, excluding the pharmacy products. Mr. Alanskas: How many stores do you have in the metropolitan area? Mr. Reyes, 5400 Water Drive, Waterford: 150 stores. Mr. Alanskas: Of the 150, how many do not sell beer and liquor? Mr. Reyes: About 15. Mr. Alanskas: And they still survive without beer and liquor licenses? Mr. Reyes: They don't make the same business as the others. Mr. Alanskas: They don't make the same profit, but they still survive. Mr. Reyes: We are looking to relocate those stores right now. We would like to have the beer and wine as part of our business. There was no one in the audience who wished to speak for or against this petition. On a motion by Mr. Piercecchi, seconded by Mr. Hale and approved, it was 15931 #2-27-98 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 24, 1998 by the City Planning Commission on Petition 98-1-2-2 by Rite Aid of Michigan requesting waiver use approval to utilize an SDD Noe. license and SDM license for a store located on the southeast corner of Eight Mile and Merriman Roads in the NW 1/4 of Section 2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 98- 1-2-2 be denied for the following reasons: 1) That the petitioner has failed to affirmatively show that the proposed uses are in compliance with all the general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Section 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543; 2) That this area of the City is currently well served with SDM and SDD establishments selling packaged alcoholic beverages; and 3) That the petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated a need in the area for additional sales of packaged alcoholic beverages such as are permitted by the utilization of an SDM and/or SDD license. FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Alanskas, Piercecchi, Hale, Koons, McCann NAYS: LaPine ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. Piercecchi: I am opposed to both licenses not on the basis that there are currently 90, repeat 90, SDM licenses in Livonia. That's about 3 per square mile, or on the basis that there are 32 SDD licenses, or about 1 per square mile, and several dozen restaurants and bars that serve alcohol by the glass, although collectively the above do make a strong case for denial. I base my argument on the location of the requester. The granting of this waiver would result in 3 locations selling beer and wine, or beer, wine and liquor within the distance of 7/10ths of a mile. This is a clear example of over-saturation. This new facility will compete with 2 family run businesses with a predictable result. I am not calling for a moratorium, but 3 within 7/l0ths of a mile is poor planning. 15932 Mr. LaPine: I am going to vote against the proposal because I don't see any justification for denying it. They meet all the requirements of the ordinance, there is no other existing SDM or SDD licenses within 100'. Mr. Piercecchi is pointing out that one of those places that sells liquor is in Farmington and the other one is the Country Market which is almost one mile away. I don't see any justification for denying them. There are no licenses in this area that close to this one. None between Merriman Road and Farmington Road that sells packaged liquor or beer and wine. I can understand the denial at the other two locations, but at this location I can't see any good reason to deny it. Mr. Piercecchi: I respect your opinion, but those requirements of 500' and 100' go back to the 40s. They were put into effect by the Liquor Control Commission and they don't really care how many we have. It is up to our neighbors and us to determine how many of these licenses that are put into existence. Probably the Liquor Control would like one every 1000' because they sell the liquor. We have the right to do this and I don't know how many you want when you have 32 stores selling liquor and 90 selling beer and wine. What we have is sufficient. We don't need one on every corner. They do have one down the street on Newburgh Road that sells liquor. They have 11 stores in Livonia and most of them do have these products. Nur Mr. LaPine: You and I have a difference of opinion. I believe you have to have justification. You had justification to turn them down on the one on Eight Mile and Haggerty, and Five Mile and Merriman because you had a liquor store right there. The one at Eight Mile you had a child care facility right across the street. In this location there is nothing around there that justifies a denial. Mr. McCann: You have ten days to appeal your denial. Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the next item on the agenda is 98-1-6-1 by the City Planning Commission, pursuant to CR#769-97 and pursuant to Section 23.01(a) of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, as amended, to determine whether or not to amend Section 18.47(a) of the Zoning Ordinance to create a new control zone in the area of the intersection of Plymouth and Farmington Roads. Mr. Nowak: This is a proposed language amendment to Section 18.47 of the zoning ordinance which is commonly known as the City Control Ordinance. This language amendment would create a new control zone in the vicinity of the intersection of Plymouth and Farmington Roads. The proposed control zone would encompass land a half mile radius of this intersection. 15933 It would include land within the southwest 1/4 of Section 27, the southeast 1/4 of Section 28, the northeast 1/4 of Section 33 and the northwest 1/4 of Section 34. The effect of the proposed new control area would be to `w provide additional regulations with respect to signage in the designated area. Mr. Nagy: This petition was initiated by the Planning Commission pursuant to Council Resolution#769-97 which requested that the Planning Commission consider whether or not such an amendment could be made to Ordinance #543 to incorporate this area as a control zone. Mr. McCann: I think it would be proper to give the audience some background as to what effect making this a control zone would have on the city. Mr. Nagy: The control zones were created to create an added measure of site plan review and approval in certain critical areas of the city. The first zone was established at the Civic Center area. What distinguishes the control zone from the general site plan approval requirement is that areas that were heretofore outside of the control zone, any site plan for commercial or office development was reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved at that level. Those that fell in the control zone, the role of the Planning Commission was one of review and recommendation with final approval at the Council level. Over the years that first Control Zone was created in the Civic Center area, additional control zones were established around the two regional malls, Livonia Mall and Wonderland, and some time after that there was one created when the new Kmart center was incorporated at Seven Mile and Farmington and in recent times, the new Laurel Park Place Mall and then the entire I-275 corridor. About two years ago, the overall provisions of the site plan approval were amended which now in effect creates a total control zone for the entire City of Livonia. All site plans now are reviewed, recommended for approval and go on to Council. What now distinguishes a control zone from general site plan approval is one of signage. With this added control zone now at Farmington and Plymouth Roads, no sign can be placed on a building, free standing or fixed to the wall of the building, without having that signed being reviewed by the Planning Department and then sent on to the City Council for final approval. There was no one else present wishing to be heard regarding this item, and Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the Public Hearing on Petition 98-1-6-1 closed. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas, seconded by Mrs. Koons and unanimously approved, it was r.. 15934 #2-28-98 RESOLVED that,pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 14, 1998 on Petition 98-1-6-1 by the City Planning Commission pursuant to Section 23.01(a) of Ordinance #543, as amended, and Council N.B. Resolution#769-97 to determine whether or not to amend Section 18.47 of the Zoning Ordinance to crate a new control zone in the area of the intersection of Plymouth and Farmington Roads, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 98- 1-6-1 be approved for the following reasons: 1) That the proposed zoning ordinance amendment will provide more control over and more uniform standards for development within the designated area; and 2) The proposed zoning ordinance amendment is consistent with the City's policy of paying particular attention to areas of the City with special development potential. FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. `..- Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced that the next item on the agenda is Preliminary Plat Approval for Cross Winds Estates proposed to be located on the west side of Farmington Road south of Norfolk Avenue in the NE 1/4 of Section 4. Mr. Nowak: This proposed subdivision is located in Section 4 which is bound on the north by Eight Mile Road, on the south by Seven Mile Road, on the east by Farmington Road. The area contained within the plat was recently rezoned to the R-3 classification. It consists of the westerly portion of 7 lots and 1 lot in its entirety which would be used to bring a road in from Farmington Road. The street pattern of the subdivision would consist of bringing a road in westerly from Farmington Road where it will turn and go norhward and terminate at the north boundry of the subdivision area. The subdivision would consists of 12 lots, all of which would conform to R-3 regulations which is minimum lot size of 80'x120'. Mr. Nagy: The Fire Marshal in their review of the preliminary plat indicates that they have reviewed the preliminary plat. This Division is requiring a method of turning around emergency vehicles at the deadend of Irving Drive. Per scale of blueprint submitted, it appears tht it is proposed to back up emergency vehicles approximately 350 ft. which is unacceptable. It is also expected that hydrant(s) will be provide with spacing consisent with 15935 residential areas. Hydrants are expected to flow 750 gallons per minute with a residual pressure of 20 lbs. PSI. That is singed by Rockney Whitehead, Fire Marshal. The Superintendent of Parks and Recreation states that in their review of the Preliminary Plat of Cross Winds Estates and at this time find no discrepancies or problems in this plan as submitted. The Engineering Division indicates that they have reviewed the preliminary plat per our request and the following items should be noted: 1) The Engineering Division considers the appropriate full width right-of-way for a residenital street to be 60 feet (not 50 foot as indicated on the plan). 2) In order to service the reference lot configuration with a water main, it will have to be brought from Myron Drive to the proposed right-of-way between houses which will require casing on the water main between said houses. 3) This preliminary plat shows no bearing on the drawing. The Enginerring Division has no othe robjections to the concept of the proposed subdivision layout. That is signed by Robert J. Schron, City Engineer. Leo Soave, 34822 Pembroke: We propose a 12 lot subdivision. The road is to be brought in from Farmington Road. The homes will be a mix of three and four bedroom homes priced at probably $275,000. Mr. Alanskas: Mr. Nagy, how is the proposed turnaround being taken care of? Mr. Nagy: There will be a T-type. There will be a flare in the pavement so that the emergency truck can head into either an easterly or westerly direction and back up into the other end of the T and then head back south. Mr. Alanskas: So that is adequate? Mr. Nagy: Yes. Mr. Pierchecchi: I would assume that the two homes on Farmington Road that are adjacent to the road going into the project are going to be quite concerned over that. What screening plans do you have? Mr. Soave: I own the home to the south and the lady to the north is more than glad to see it. Those homes are probably 1930s, 1940s. I think probably in the future those homes might be rezoned to R-3. Maybe we will demo them and put some new houses in there. Mr. Piercecchi: If I were living next door to that, I would certainly want some screening. Mr. Soave: The lady to the north is glad to sell half of her property. As far as `,� screening, what would you recommend? 15936 Mr. Piercecchi: We have one of the best experts here in Western Wayne County. He can tell you how to do that. Mr. Nagy: We do have a call back as to the landscape plan with respect to the landscaping of the cul-de-sac and the subdivision entrance marker. At the time the plan is brought back, we can look at some additional landscaping. Mr. LaPine: Did you try to purchase any of that RUF land there so that you could square that off and make that Irving Road connect with that other Irving Road comming off of Norfolk. Mr. Soave: I started with this probably about 1984. At that time I approached the people and they said no. After I bought this property, I approached them about two weeks ago and they said no at this time. Mr. LaPine: Is that Irving set up so that at such a way at a future date either you or someone else buys that property and decides to sell off, we can hook up those two roads? Mr. Soave: Yes, those two roads do line up. There was no one else present wishing to be heard regarding this item and Mr. McCann, _... Chairman, declared the Public Hearing on Preliniary Plat for Cross Winds Estates closed. On a motion by Mr. Hale, seconded by Mrs. Koons and unanimously approved, it was #2-29-98 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held on February 24, 1998 by the City Planning Commission on Preliminary Plat approval for Cross Winds Estates Subdivision proposed to be located on the west side of Farmington Road south of Norfolk in the NE 1/4 of Section 4, the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that the Preliminary Plat for Cross Winds Estates Subdivision be approved subject to the waiving of the open space requirement of the subdivision rules and regulations and to the following additional conditions: 1) That a landscape plan be submitted to the Planning Commission for approval prior to final plat approval which shall provide for landscaping for the cul-de-sac island area; and 15937 2) That a plan for the required entrance marker shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for approval prior to approval of the final plat; For the following reasons: 1) That the Preliminary Plat is drawn in compliance with all applicable standards and requirements as set forth in the Zoning Ordinance #543; and 2) That a plan for the required entrance marker shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for approval prior to approval of the final plat; FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was sent to the abutting property owners, proprietor, City Department as listed in the Proof of Service and copies of the plat together with the notices have been sent to the Building Department, Superintendent of Schools, Fire Department, Police Department, and the Parks and Recreation Department. .., Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. McCann: It is my understanding that you wish to get on the next Council meeting and would like to waive the seven day rule. On a motion by Mr. Alanskas, seconded by Mr. Hale and approved, it was #2-30-98 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 requesting the seven day period concerning effectiveness of Planning Commission resolutions in connection with the Preliminary Plat for Cross Winds Estates. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: McCann, Alanskas, Hale, Koons, Piercecchi 15938 NAYS: LaPine ABSENT: None Mr. McCann, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. Piercecchi, Secretary, announced the last item on the agenda is Petition 98-2-2-3 by My Place (Just for Kids) requesting waiver use approval to operate a child care center in a retail shopping center located on the south side of Five Mile Road between Newburgh Road and Blue Skies Avenue in the NE 1/4 of Section 19. Mr. Nowak: The proposed day care center would be located in Section 19 which is bound on the north by Five Mile, on the south by Schoolcraft Road, on the east by Newburgh Road and the west by Eckles Road. The proposed location is located within the New Five Village Shopping Center. It would occupy a middle unit in the shopping center that was previously occupied by Colonial Cards and it is located between Domino's Pizza and Prestige Cleaners. The unit that they would occupy is 3000 sq. ft. in area, 30' wide x 100' deep. He is proposing to operate a drop-in day care center ,` and he is proposing that the outdoor play area be omitted which would require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Mr. Nagy: The Traffic Bureau in the Police Department indicates that they have reviewed the petition and have no objections to the site plan as submitted. The Fire Marshal in his review indicates that they have reviewed the site and have no objection to the subject petition. However, in some instances, State requirements concerning alarm systems, interior finish, exiting, multi-occupany structures, etc. are more stringent than local codes/requirements. Further the State does not consider this proposal as a re-occupancy of an existing structure. Because the proposed day care facility is new, it will be considered as "new construction." At this stage of the review/investigating process for the proposed day care facility, this Division feels it would be prudent that a formal plan review from the Michigan Department of Social Services be submitted and accompany application for any local permits. Initiating this process early on would not create a burden for the applicant. That was signed by Rockney Whitehead, the Fire Marshal. 15939 We have a letter from the Inspection Department dated February 10, 1998 stating that the site plan has reviewed and the following is noted: 1) The proposed day care nursery is deficient in property area and play area. The petitioner has filed an appeal with the Zoning Board of Appeals. 2) Section 10.03(d) requires written consent of 55 percent of the residential property owners within a 400 foot radius of the property lines of the proposed nursery prior to the public hearing. 3) If the building is not equipped with an automatic fire suppression system, each day care room would be required to have an exit door directly to the exterior. That's signed by David Woodcox, Sr. Building Inspector. We have a letter from St. Edith Parish, 15089 Newburgh Road, Livonia: As Pastor of St. Edith's Parish and School, I would like to state that we would be very supportive of Richard Shaye establishing Day Care Center, MY PLACE his kind of business and center close to our parish facility and St. Mary's hospital. We are impressed with Mr. Shaye's background and experience and believe his business would be a good addition to our neighborhood. That's signed by Fr. Jim Scheick. Richard Shaye, President of My Place, 12916 Sherwood, Huntington Woods: We are not a normal day care in any way, shape or form, yet we follow all licensing rules and regulations required by the Department of Social Services of child care licensing. We follow all the finishes that Mr. Nagy was talking about as far as Fire Marshal codes and we have to follow all those plans submitted to Lansing. You've seen the layout plans and location map of what we have for 15 years . We opened in West Bloomfield and Farmington Hills area 11 years ago. We have operated very successfully in both those locations. One of my friends told me about the shopping center at Five Mile and Newburgh and I came over and saw it and was extremely impressed. I happen to have some friends who are very close with some people at St. Edith and I went and spoke with the parish over there and asked them if they would like us there. If anyone along the line had said no to me, we would have turned around and left. We provide secondary child care which is not a normal situation. It's when schools are closed, when normal day cares are closed, when there are conferences at school, when someone is going to visit at St. Mary's hospital and they aren't allowed to bring in children, they use us. We are open from 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night, Monday through Thursday, on Friday and Saturday, we are open until 1:00 in the morning, so if someone can't find a sitter, they can use us. If someone wants to go to a football game, they can use us. We have replaced Grandma, Aunt Susie and the girl next door. It's hard to find baby-sitters and child care and we have gone into that business and try to provide a fun place for kids, a safe place for 15940 children and a great place for parents to go so they know their children are having a good time and having no problems. We are fully licensed as a full day care, although we only accept drop in children. We don't take children for long periods of time. In the past the State has granted us a waiver for outside usage for this reason, and I believe you also have a letter stating that. The reason for that is that our average stay is 3-1/2 hours. We did a complete study for the State of Michigan for child care and they asked us how many children are actually there longer for that period of time. We said less than 5% of the children actually stayed longer than that period of time or longer than a few days in a row. We are more of a safety net for parents today to allow the flexibility so that the kids don't have to stay at home alone. A low cost affordable child care facility in a community like Livonia I think would be very, very strong. Mrs. Koons: I looked at your literature and saw that there was no minimum stay, but there is a maximum stay of 10 hours. Are you legally considered a drop-in center? Mr. Shaye: No, we are licensed legally as full time day care, but in the last 15 years, we don't take full time children. As a matter of fact we are priced prohibitively against regular day care. Regular day care charges about $2.50-$3.50 an hour and we charge $4.50-$5.00 an hour, and we charge by the minute. Mrs. Koons: My concern with the maximum of ten hours and are you a drop-in or a day care center is it looks to me like you may be playing both ends against the middle. In drop-in centers, children are not allowed to be there more than 4 hours of every 24 hours. Are you familiar with those licensing rules? Mr. Shaye: Yes. Mrs. Koons: They are not allowed to be there more than 6 days out of one month, so while you are not calling yourself a drop-in center and following those rules, you are calling yourself a drop-in center to fall under the rules of no outdoor play. Mr. Shay: We are a drop-in center, however because of licensing requirements overall, they are more stringent for day care and there are very few drop-in centers. When we first opened up back in 1984, the State said we would rather you go licensing as a full day care so that if someone did come and 15941 wanted to stay for a longer period of time, that a child wouldn't have to stay home along. We don't have structured programs, we are not a full ` service operation of handling full day care on a regular basis, so the operation that we have is basically a drop-in center. Mrs. Koons: But you are not licensed for a drop-in center, so you are not following the drop-in center regulations to allow for no more than four hours. Mr. Shaye: From that standpoint yes, you are right. I don't think there is anyone in the State that has that operation. There are no other facilities that's why the State asked us to go full day care because before we were around, there was no one else doing what we did. Mrs. Koons: When you have children up to 1:00 AM, at what point is it bedtime for them? Mr. Shaye: It's up to the parents. We had one situation where we had two children coming to us and one was a six year old and the other was 18 months old at the time. We asked when will they go to bed. The 18 month old won't go to bed at all. Can we put him in pajamas and put him in a crib and or a "`- cot and they said he would just scream. He won't go to sleep. I said, how about the older one. They said at 8:00 he will go out cold and no matter what you do he is not going to wake up. At about 8:15 I checked on him in the movie theater and he was out cold. We carried him and put him in a cot. With the 18 month old, about 9:30 I thought I would show the parents that I know what is going on here. I tried to put the child to bed 3 or 4 times that evening, but the child screamed bloody murder. At 12:45 the child's parents walked in the door and the child was walking up and down the ramp. So it really depends on the child and the parents as to what their needs are. Mrs. Koons: Do you have a place for each child to go to bed if they need to go to bed? Is it separate? I went to the Orchard and Fourteen Mile facility. Mr. Shaye: We have the baby room at Orchard and Fourteen and it is isolated off and the lights are different, we keep lights off in that area, and the staff can look into the area over bookcases. Again, it's isolated enough so that the sound doesn't go in, and if the child wants to lay down, we have cots for them to lay down. In 15 years we have never run out of cots and we have taken care of almost one million children. 15942 Mrs. Koons: You see children from two weeks to twelve years. Mr. Shaye: We are licensed for children from two weeks, but we don't take them until two months because of medical problems the child may have. We want to make sure the child is stabilized more. Mrs. Koons: And with children from two months to twelve years, the ratio of all those children, there are break points in the ratio. For example the youngest children need one adult for every four children, while the older children is one to ten. The way I read the licensing regulations, the ratio has to stay the ratio of the youngest child there. Mr. Shaye: In the area you have. We have an infant/child area where children under 2-1/2 can be put into or separated. You have to have a designated caregiver with those children. Those children are separated, but they are not separated. For example if you come early in the morning we may have only seven kids in the whole place. We are not going to separate them from their older brother and sister at that point. There is a designated caregiver with that child to make sure that it is a 1 to 4 ratio. Mrs. Koons: With them mixed together, the ratio should be 1 to 4. Mr. Shaye: As long as you have a designated caregiver to the youngest child that is there. Those other 3 children with that child, that designated caregiver can be 12 years old. Mrs. Koons: Your layout that you showed us had a Nintendo and TV viewing in a large motor movement and arts and crafts. I didn't see books. Mr. Shaye: Yes, there are. We probably have about 100 books of various types. In the West Bloomfield area they were next to the Nintendo. We keep probably about half of them put away because a lot of little ones will come over and rip them. So that they don't rip all of them up at once, we try to ration them. Mrs. Koons: The other thing I didn't see was anything having to do with dramatic play. 15943 Mr. Shaye: We have in our closets fireman's hats and other dress up things. In `... another area we have toys and a lot of those toys are in that area as well so that they can use them for dramatic play. The only thing we don't have are clothes at that point. There are kids coming and going all the time and we found it just wasn't as effective. At one time we had paints and easels and found that wasn't effective either because parents would get upset that little Johnny would play with the paints and not Susie. We said it was their choice. Mr. Alanskas: On your site plan here, it says that there is a sleeping area for 3 to 9 children, but on this whole thing it doesn't have what size the rooms are. Mr. Shaye: There is a scale marking on the bottom of the plan. At Orchard Lake you have one big room there, no walls whatsoever, and for children to try to sleep there, when I was there there were 35 children and 3 young children trying to sleep, but it was so noisy, they couldn't. Mr. Shay: That's one of the reasons we changed the design of that particular location. Our Birmingham facility has a cut out area. We are building more structured walls. When we set that up in our West Bloomfield location, the bookcases have sound conditioning on the back of them and muffled the sound. The children can't see out over the walls, but parents and staff can see in and know what is going on at all times. In that particular room we decided we would make it so that it would be quieter. We put in a panel to block out that one side. Mr. Alanskas: I see you have 4 half walls here which means that you will have noise going over. When I was there you had two very young employees. I asked one what the age was to work there and she said as young as 17 years of age up to 35. So I saw these 2 very young people trying to take care of a lot of young children. Mr. Shay: The one woman that you met is 28 years old and has 2 children of her own. If the staff member is under 18 years of age, they have to have an accredited course from a high school in the area of early childhood education otherwise they must be 18 years of age. Mr. Alanskas: Do you hire a lot of people in the 17 year bracket? 15944 Mr. Shaye: Not that many. Most of them are in college. I don't think I have anyone �... on staff now that is that age. Most of them are 19 and older. Mr. Alanskas: Also when I was there there was a very young child being fed in the middle of the room in a high chair all by himself. Mr. Shaye: I am glad you told me that. That is not our policy. Our policy is that when a child is in a highchair someone has to be within an arm's length. Mr. LaPine: I can only speak about the facility in Birmingham and there the infant room was enclosed. There were 3 or 4 baby beds and cots on the floor and there were 2 people there to take care of all these kids. The facility was quite crowded, but everybody seemed to be getting along fine. I was impressed with the security. They had to press a button to get in the door and when I went in the back, you can't leave this area, kids can't reach the knob so they can't walk out. I was impressed by the red carpet in one area where kids are not supposed to go beyond that red carpet. Overall I was impressed. The theater was well maintained. I asked to look at the movies they had. They had kids movies and some for older children. You have been in the business for 15 years. During that time have you ever had any complaints filed against you with the Department of Social Services? Mr. Shaye: Absolutely. I don't know of many centers taking care of children like we have that wouldn't have complaints. In every single case we have had, we have come out with a stellar reputation. Our reputation is one of the strongest in the state. Mr. LaPine: Whatever was filed against you was taken care of I am looking at you as different than a day care center. It's hard for me to believe that if someone comes in there and wants to leave a child every day for 8 hours a day that you don't accept them. I have to believe that you do accept some of those children. Mr. Shaye: It is less than 5% and we have a variance for 10%. We had a situation a few years ago where a mother came up to visit. They lived in the area before and she was visiting grandma. She went into the hospital for tests and found out she had spinal meningitis. Grandma was a real estate 15945 person and worked unusual hours. She used us for two months. We strongly suggested she find someplace else that would be more structured and better for her because of the hours she works. We recommend other Now day cares all the time. Mr. LaPine: The one criticism I would have to say about your location out there, the kitchen area wasn't the most cleanest I've seen. It was crowded and all kinds of things piled in there. Might have been kid's backpacks. So you do accept approximately 10% of people who come every day? Mr. Shaye: We try to keep it a lot less than that. Mr. LaPine: One of the problems with day care centers is the problem of turnover help. I don't know what your pay scale is, but normally the pay is minimum wage and therefore there is a big turnover of help. Can you give me an idea of how often you have a turnover of help, and do you have any people who have been there at least 5 years or longer? Mr. Shaye: Yes. A lot of our staff has been there for many years. If they stay for more than 6 months, I usually have them for a few years. Sometimes we get people who are going through college and they are studying for their teaching degree and it's a second job, or it's their first job while going to school. I know we don't pay them very well so they must like the work they are doing. We are pleased with the staff that we have. The last General Manager that I had was with me for 9 years. Mr. LaPine: Do you have on each shift at least one person who knows how to handle a medical emergency? Mr. Shaye: I am a certified instructor in CPR and first aid. I train my staff at least once a year. We have to have by State mandate at least one person on a shift that has first aid training. Mr. LaPine: My other question was why you picked that center, but I believe you said you had friends who owned that center and friends who go to St. Edith. Mr. Shaye: I never thought of Livonia before. I must tell you that before I went into r.. child care I was in marketing for 3M. I went into the census to look for 15946 schools in the area, I looked at the trends, I looked at the day cares in the immediate area and the elementary schools at how filled they were and I was extremely impressed. I think that Livonia will be one of our best locations. I had a chance to go to Troy or Livonia, and from a dollar standpoint, the Troy location made more sense, but Livonia won out. From a business standpoint, I am extremely impressed with Livonia, and I wish I had come here 10 years ago. Mr. Alanskas: Your people were very friendly and honest. That location on Orchard Lake is way around the back of the mall and there is no problem with traffic. I asked if they ever had a problem with customers parking their vehicles right in front of the building and she said not in the summer months, but in the wintertime. In bad weather the parents will pull right in front of the building and run in. Mr. Shaye: At Orchard Lake there is parking is right in front of the building, and they are allowed to park there. At Birmingham we posted a sign saying please don't park here. Mr. Alanskas: Our location here, in the front of the building, if you have parents pull up there and park for 5 or 10 minutes, that could be a safety problem. It happens at the other location and I am trying to stress it might happen at this location. Mr. Shaye: I agree with you wholeheartedly. To stop it from happening, I would work with the Livonia Police. Mr. McCann: I have children in the SAC program and I see them after 4 or 5 hours, 8 hours, without getting outside. If we have a bad weather day, my kids start to get cranky. I know in the school system, they make sure every couple of hours the kids get outside and run or get to the gymnasium, they have the gross motor skills program, the SAC program, some type of physical activity to keep the kids going. You said certain children get there for 8 to 10 hours. Mr. Shaye: We have slides and ramps and platform areas. There's about 1000 sq. ft. of gross motor skills that they can crawl and run on. We try and keep it down to a safe level. With the gross motor skills we have there, we have never had a child get edgy about wanting to go outside. It's kind of a cross between going to a Discovery Zone and going to grandma's house. '.. 15947 Mr. McCann: I do see a need in the City of Livonia for that. We are pressed to find adequate baby-sitting. I believe the concept may be there, but my concern is that you have 3000 sq. ft. and you want to put 60 children in there, some of them for long periods of time, without any outdoor play space. I think 60 children in 3000 sq. ft. is too much. I think anything over 5 hours is too long. You say you have a variance for 10%. I think it is wrong for the 10% of the children not to have an outdoor play area. I am looking to you to see if you can find some kind of compromise. Could you live with 5 hours and reduce the amount of children to 45 at one time so that there is some room? Mr. Shaye: Let me answer the question of 60 children. Our Maple and Lasher location is licensed for 77 children. In the last 15 years we have gotten to that level only on New Year's Eve because we have an all night party. That's the only time of the year that we have an all night sleepover. No child is under the age of 3 that evening. The second situation is that we had 35 children during break week. That's about it. Rarely will we go for a long period of time over 2 or 3 hours. If I were at 60 children on a regular basis, I would open a second center very quickly. Third, as far as long periods of time, we keep computer records and at the end of the month the computer tallies what the average stay is. When we first opened, we had 2 hour minimum stay. The reason for that was that we gave out coupons that was for one hour free with a second hour pay. At the 5 year point, we allowed people if they wanted to go to Farmer Jacks, or if they wanted to go pick up something, or get their hair done,they could use us for a shorter period of time. Our average stay at this point is 3 to 3-1/2 hours, day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, year in, year out since the day we opened. Rather than saying to a parent they can't come and use us and you must leave that child at home, I would rather they came to us for 7 or 8 hours instead of leaving that child home alone. That's why a lot of latch key operations have been built and have flourished. Again, it's that safety net. Mr. McCann: You are coming to us for a new type of use in the City, and I think if we are going to look at this not just for you, but for other businesses if they want to do it, and I think if we are going to look at something like this, we have to decide up front a policy on how these things can be used. Mr. McCann: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this petition? 15948 Helen Pulice: We belong to St. Edith. We have known Richard since he was knee high. He has a lot of integrity. I go along with what he says. I think this is kind of nice for the people. Maybe someone would like to run over to Laurel '` Park and shop around for a few hours. A lot of mothers now don't have a grandmother or aunt that they can call on. We had 6 children and I had an aunt that I could call on to help out. I think this would be nice in Livonia. Mr. Shaye: We have beepers that we give the parents so that we are able to get a hold of them at a moment's notice. On a motion by Mrs. Koons, seconded by Mr. Pierchecci and adopted, it was #2-31-98 RESOLVED that, pursuant to a public hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on February 24, 1998 on Petition 98-2-2-3 by My Place (Just for Kids) requesting waiver use approval to operate a child care center in a retail shopping center located on the south side of Five Mile Road between Newurgh Road and Blue Skies Avenue in the NE 1/4 of Section 19, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 98-2-2-3 be denied for the following reasons: v.► 1) That the petitioner has failed to affirmatively show that the proposed use is in compliance with all of the special and general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Sections 10.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543; 2) That the proposed use fails to comply with Section 10.03(d) which specifies a minimum size area of outdoor play space; 3) That the subject site lacks the capacity to be able to comply with all of the special and general waiver use standards and requirements; 4) That the location of the proposed use is incompatible with and not in harmony with the existing commercial uses in the subject retail shopping center; and 5) That the proposed location within a large retail shopping center raises concerns relative to potential conflict between vehicular and pedestrian traffic, particularly with respect to children. 15949 FURTHER RESOLVED that, notice of the above hearing was given in r.,. accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Alanskas, Piercechi, Hale, Koons, McCann NAYS: LaPine ABSENT: None Mr. Alanskas: I think the petitioner is a very sincere person, and I think the concept is very good, but I think there are too many intangibles. I think what you want to do needs some very fine tuning before I could say yes. Mr. McCann: This is a new idea to me. I read the notes and I first said no. I always fought for the outdoor play area. I didn't want to give any type of variance on it, but I can see the point of having emergency care. This drop-off center of four hours - I think there is logic for having 4 hours. There are too many couples where husband and wife are working and the brothers and sisters all work, and it is not easy to find a relative to take care of the kids. Something like this might work. This might not be the best location in Livonia. I'm going to look to Mrs. Koons as our expert on this panel. She has a tremendous background on child education. With limitations like 5 hours, reducing the number of children, possibly work on the site plan, is that something that you can see as workable, Mrs. Koons? Mrs. Koons: I do have over 21 years in the field of education, multiple degrees and certifications in early childhood education and other areas of education. I appreciate your honesty and yes, I see integrity there also, I think this is the wrong place. I am very concerned about the lack of outdoor play, the lack of natural light. Right next door to you is a dry cleaners and the potential smell. When we talk about child care, we want quality child care. I am concerned about the location, about the outdoor play and I am still confused about drop-in care and day care, however, I hope we can work that out. I can't think 5, 4 or even 1 hour is what I consider quality child care. I consider you a potential quality child care provider, and I hope that maybe we can find a different location because it is unfortunate that we don't have places to leave their children, but I feel this is the wrong place. 15950 Mr. Piercecchi: To approve this petition, in my opinion, would be to subject children to many adverse conditions. A 3000 sq. ft. building, 60 children, Nintendo and TV as major activities, no outdoor play space, or even r.. windows in this building. As you know, the Planning Department and the City Council has spent many hours to provide good standards which insure proper environment for our children in care centers. Let's not lower them now. Mr. LaPine: I am going to vote against this because I think this is a legitimate business. The gentleman has been in business for 15 years. He's got a track record. I was impressed with his location at Lasher and Maple. You can look at every angle you want, but I am putting a lot of faith in the Department of Social Services who waived the outdoor play time for the children. I would assume they have inspected the location and therefore I don't see any reason to deny this. I think we need this in Livonia. It's a problem to find a baby-sitter, or to find someone to shovel snow or any chores. These type of facilities help the parents. Mr. Hale: I am going to follow up with what Mr. LaPine said. I have known My Place Just for Kids for some time and it is an organization that does have a lot of integrity, and I think Mr. Shaye certainly does have a lot of experience in this area, but I am not convinced that this is the correct location either. I believe his overall operation is a very good one. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 759th Regular Meeting and Public Hearings held on February 24, 1998 was adjourned at 10:15 PM. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION C. Daniel Piercecchi, Secretary /f ATTEST: James C. McCann, Chairman /du ,