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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRDA MINUTES 2000-02-03 MINUTES OF THE 107TH REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLYMOUTH ROAD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA The 107th Regular Meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority of the City of Livonia, Michigan was called to order at 3:01 p.m., Thursday, February 3, 2000 in the 4th Floor Conference Room at City Hall. Members Present: Mayor Jack E. Kirksey Mr. Michael Polsinelli,Chairman Mr. Jerry Wordhouse,Vice Chairman Mr. Scott Grace Mr. Dennis Kujawa Mr. Bill Pike Mr. Raby Mr. Duane Wolfgang Mr. Marvin Walkon Mr. Lowell Peterson Mr. Rod Crider Members Absent: Ms. Toni Mette Mr. Stan Anderson Others Present : Mr. John J.Nagy, Director,P.R.D.A. Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director Mrs. JoAnn Marshall, BRI Mr. Scott Reinholt, BRI Mr. Bob Gunnigle, Bill Brown Ford Mr. Dan Dirks, SMART Mr. Larry O'Connor, Livonia Observer Mr. Ralph Williams Ms. Susan Annibal, Secretary 1. Roll was called. 2. Adoption of the January 20 2000 Minutes: On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, it was #2000-63 RESOLVED,that the Minutes of the 106th Regular Meeting held by the Plymouth Road Development Authority on January 20, 2000 are approved. Mr. Polsinelli,Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. 3. Comments from Chairman: We are in receipt of transmittal letters from John Nagy regarding the loan and grant programs and transmitting same to the Department of Law and Finance. 4. Bill Brown Ford: Mr. Bob Gunnigle, representing Bill Brown Ford, presented a site plan which affected the former Terrace Theater property. Petition 2000-2-2-4 for waiver use approval of plans concerning new vehicle display, used vehicle display and sales, parts storage and vehicle servicing on the site, which property is located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Sears Drive and Tech Center Drive. This petition is scheduled to come before the City Planning 2 lkirow Commission soon. The petitioner is seeking a letter of support from the Board endorsing the plan and acknowledging that Bill Brown Ford had appeared before the P.R.D.A. A brief overview of the substance of the petition, as well as site particulars, was offered. About 25 employees were anticipated at the new facility, and about 300 new/used vehicles were expected to be displayed. The George Burns Theater site has been used for the storage and display of vehicles, but the number was under 300. Mr. Gunnigle addressed proposed landscaping, stating that there was a new landscape plan, which had been requested by the P.R.D.A., as well as a stone fence, which would be bordered by flowers (salvia) and planting of"lots of shrubs" in the area. Green space and lawn area around the building would be retained, adding about 250 new plants. The proposal was only a percentage point from complying with landscape requirements. To begin with, only the front portion of the existing building floor area will be used until plans are finalized for the rear portion,which is being considered for a body shop area, although it isn't quite complete, as yet. Irrigation will be maintained on the site. Addressing the three (3) curb cuts in front of the building, the petitioner hoped to retain all three along Plymouth Road. When questioned if there is any plan to remove the middle one, Mr. Gunnigle said, "No; it's a big piece of property," and the middle curb cut looks like it belongs. The Buick dealership next door had its own drive. Both new and used vehicles were proposed for display in front of the building. BRI's recommendation was to eliminate a drive. The petitioner's desires to make ingress and egress easy for customers. BRI had also recommended that the plant selections be changed, which the petitioner confirms has been done. A discussion followed on the subject of wall signage and that the "Terrace" sign was coming down to be replaced with a tasteful blue (Bill Brown Ford) oval sign there. As to the repair facility in the rear, there will be four (4) service bays there. The east elevation showed six (6) doors, and the west elevation showed two (2) doors. This might change slightly; an error has been detected. Mr. Gunnigle presented a color rendering of the façade. As other Bill Brown buildings, this would be a neutral color done in good taste. Although there would be a locked gate, which could be chained and locked, so that the Fire Department could use bolt cutters should it be necessary to gain access. There could be certain ways to accomplish that. It is more a matter of public safety rather than aesthetics, although appearance along the corridor was a factor. As far as an alternative, possibly the petitioner will utilize a metal gate with a padlock, so the Fire Department could gain entry easily. Revisiting the signage issue again, Mr. Gunnigle believes that adequate signage is "key" to the success of this location. Mr. Nagy explained that the petitioner was entitled to both a wall sign and a freestanding sign. The existing marquee will be cleaned up and used for advertisement of community events, i.e.,the annual holiday parade and other events The petitioner hopes to be in at this location pretty quickly, as early as the 1st of May and believes that this location will introduce Bill Brown Ford to a completely different group of customers. Regarding the gate closure,the petitioner would look into black wrought iron. On a motion by Mr. Wordhouse, seconded by Mr. Crider, and unanimously approved, it was: #2000-64 RESOLVED,that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does hereby unanimously support the proposed use and the site, building and landscape plans as submitted by Bill Brown Ford for their new facility,which will include new vehicle display, used vehicle display and sales, parts storage, body shop and vehicle servicing in the S.W. 'A of Section 26, at 30400 Plymouth Road(former Terrace Theater property). Mr. Polsinelli,Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution is adopted. 3 trio 5. Mike Slater—Budget Report: Commentary covered financial statements as of November 30, 1999 for the Construction and Special Revenue Funds. The new balance for the Construction fund is $260,689.11, most of which will be gone when we get through with projects up to Phase III. We'll have about $350,000.00. When this is gone we can simply go on to the Special Revenues Fund for further monies. Total liabilities and Construction Fund balance at year's end amount to $1,246,476.46. The deadline for spending the $1.2 million will be in May without the Retainage. The Special Revenues Fund now has total liabilities and a fund balance of $4,024,536.80 for the 1999 Fiscal Year, with liabilities of$40,000.00. Total Fund balance at the year's end is$3,983,275.89. There was quite a bit of activity due to the Winter Holiday Parade. 5. Beckett& Raeder—Construction Progress Report: JoAnn Marshall reported that Jacobs was finishing up on light poles and bases, with Detroit Edison completing Merriman, Farmington and everything to the west. Edison is aware that there are a couple of poles to be energized. The remaining foundations are in with poles going in the next Monday, with fixtures and splicing to complete the work. Physical work would be done Monday and Tuesday. So, by the end of the next week, Jacobs will be finished there. Mr. Reinholt is very ill, but would be providing bus shelter information to the Board at the next meeting (February 17th) and will be bringing Mr. Gary Cooper along with him. Packets for the bus plaza and curb repair work is complete and will go out for bid this week. We are still waiting for MDOT's review comments. That would be ready to go by the end of the next week. The question of how long after energizing the new controllers will it take before tearing down the existing poles would be answered hopefully at the next meeting. Contractors would respond in about two weeks, and recommendation for a contractor with a price should be ready for the first meeting in March. BRI has made projections for bus plazas and picked the locations on a map trying to get a representative amount for a shelter in 12' brick landscaped area with a bench with trees, shrubs and perennials. There are 39 stops within our project area, 17 with the plaza work. Concentration was now on just four (4) bus stop enclosure areas. Covered in this discussion was curb ramps for handicap accessibility. Participating in this discussion was Dan Dirks, General Manager of SMART. There was a concern about the number of riders and where those numbers might be important. Which stops were priorities? It was suggested that we meet with SMART's Planning Staff on this. Wonderland is a high stop area, and SMART selected four plazas that warrant this type of shelter. Mr. Dirks will speak with SMART's Planning Staff and see what recommendations they might provide. He was looking forward to this, as he had a theory about the impact he thought it would have. It was pointed out that we didn't want SMART's advertising on our shelters along the Corridor. We would maintain the shelters ourselves in lieu of said advertising. The Chairman reminded SMART's representative that we are prepared to buy, but numbers we'd been given seemed very high with no advertising. We are trying to make these improvements in our program without the advertising allowed. SMART will provide us with a price without the advertising. The location of some stops could change. Some technical numbers about distance from the intersection, curb, etc. were discussed. Any maintenance we provided had to meet ADA requirements. Regarding the location of stops, SMART didn't change stops that often. when a stop is changed, it's because of bus or homeowners' requests, which wouldn't be probably because of the locations now. SMART's bus stop person will be sent out to address the Board. Also, SMART is flexible when it comes to signage. Ridership numbers were doing extremely well,with a 25% increase, being the top ridership in the County. We are doing a first- class job on Plymouth Road, and SMART's bus shelter, offered with or without advertising, is very appealing. The SMART rep offered to find out what the actual shelter itself does cost. Perhaps there is a manufacturer from whom we can buy direct. Is there a break if P.R.D.A. maintains them? The representative will get back with Mr. Nagy, Mrs. Marshall and Mr. 4 (by Reinholt. SMART's address is: First National Building, 660 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226. 6. Reports from Committees: Construction Committee: Nothing to report Public Relations: Nothing to report.. Vacant Buildings: Nothing to report. .Inspection: Nothing to report. Development Assistance Committee: Mike Fisher has under review the draft of the Development Assistance Committee program for financial assistance. When his review is complete it will be back for the full Board's review and adoption. 7. Director's Report: Our next scheduled meeting will be at the Legacy Restaurant. The former Lasky Furniture store is being converted into an office building. They have provided exterior elevations for a new store front with an office motif. (This is planned for a training center.) Planning Commission has been working with them. Horizon Properties has developed a site plan for an office use, and it is short on parking. The petitioner has negotiated the south one- half of the lot across the street for parking; however, they will still be deficient 19 spaces and will go to the ZBA. There are plans to continue the brick on the side of the building. The Planning Commission will address the issue of aesthetics with the petitioner, more than likely on the meeting next Tuesday. The petitioner will be put on notice that they are or aren't in compliance with the ordinance. Horizon is licensed with the State of Michigan and Wayne County. It was suggested that approval be held up until the petitioner had approval from the ZBA. Mark Taormina, the City's Planning Director, said more will be known about this proposal on Tuesday(P.C. meeting). No recommendation is offered. Regarding the new Floors America facility (formerly New York Carpet World), there will be new signage on the building, with a sign on the west of the Wonderland property. Ownership is still held by New York Carpet World. 7. Polling of Board Members Mr. Wordhouse: Passed. Mr. Raby: Board members were reminded of the Business Expo which will be held on Tuesday, February 22nd and Wednesday, February 23rd from 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and urged members to mark it on their calendars. On the evening of February 22nd there will again be the Taste of Livonia extravaganza. Mr. Crider: Passed. Mr. Pike: Passed. Mr. Wolfgang: Passed. Mr. Grace: Passed. 5 Mr. Peterson: Passed. Mr.Kujawa: Passed. Mr. Walkon: Home Depot will be opening at Millennium Park on March 2nd. Numbers of employees would be reported to the Board at another time. Mr. Taormina reported that someone is interested in a service station facility for the Showcase Video site on Wayne Road. 10. Adjournment: On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted,the 106th Regular Meeting held by the Plymouth Road Development Authority on January 20, 2000 was adjourned at 4:20p.m. The next meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority will be held on February 17, 2000 at the Legacy of Livonia Restaurant, 34110 Plymouth Road at 3:00 p.m. ---)a-x-Lteec-eSusan Annibal, Secretary C C