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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,160 - September 22, 2020MINUTES OF THE 1,160th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,160th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting via Zoom Meeting Software. Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: David Bongero Sam Caramagno Glen Long Betsy McCue Carol Smiley Peter Ventura Ian Wilshaw Members absent: None Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, Scott Miller, Planner IV, and Stephanie Reece, Program Supervisor, were also present. Chairman Wilshaw informed the audience that if a petition on tonight's agenda involves a rezoning request, this Commission makes a recommendation to the City Council who, in turn, will hold its own public hearing and make the final determination as to whether a petition is approved or denied. The Planning Commission holds the only public hearing on a request for preliminary plat and/or vacating petition. The Commission's recommendation is forwarded to the City Council for the final determination as to whether a plat is accepted or rejected. If a petition requesting a waiver of use or site plan approval is denied tonight, the petitioner has ten days in which to appeal the decision, in writing, to the City Council. Resolutions adopted by the City Planning Commission become effective seven (7) days after the date of adoption. The Planning Commission and the professional staff have reviewed each of these petitions upon their filing. The staff has furnished the Commission with both approving and denying resolutions, which the Commission may, or may not, use depending on the outcome of the proceedings tonight. ITEM #1 PETITION 2020-08-01-05 Infinity Homes Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2020- 08-01-05 submitted by Infinity Homes and Company pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, requesting to rezone the property at 28400 West Chicago Avenue (former Wilson Elementary School site) located on the north side of West Chicago Avenue between Harrison and Middlebelt Roads in the Northwest '/4 of Section 36 from PL (Public Lands) to R-1 (One Family Residential). September 23, 2020 29740 Mr. Taormina: This is a request to rezone the former Wilson School site, which is at the northwest corner of West Chicago and Harrison Roads, from the current zoning of PL (Public Land) to R-1 (One Family Residential). The property is roughly 8.75 acres in total area. It measures 617 feet of frontage along West Chicago by roughly the same distance along Harrison Road, 617 feet. The land immediately to the north of this site consists of the Clements Circle Pool and Park. That too is zoned PL (Public Land). To the west, is the site that is managed by Great Lakes Water Authority that previously contained a water storage tank. As indicated on the zoning map, that is also zoned PL (Public land). To the east, across Harrison are single-family homes. These are within the Thomas Elliott subdivision. This subdivision was platted in the early 1950's before the current R-1 standards came into effect, and even though the area is zone R-1, many of the lots have widths that measure 50 feet instead of the required 60 feet. As you can see, most of that area has been developed as R-1. South, across West Chicago are single-family homes located on unplatted parcels zoned RUF (Rural Urban Farm). The rezoning is the first step in the process of obtaining entitlement for developing the site for residential purposes. The current owner is Livonia Public Schools, which is in the process of selling the land to the applicant, Infinity Homes. The future land use map indicates the site as Parks and Community, which reflects the current ownership and former use of the property for school purposes. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can get the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody on the commission with any questions at this time? If not, we will give Mark a moment and then he can read out the correspondence from the departments. Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated August 21, 2020, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed rezoning at this time. The parcel is assigned the address of #28400 West Chicago Avenue. The legal description submitted by the owner appears to be correct, and should be used to describe the proposed rezoned property. The proposed development is currently serviced by public water main, sanitary and storm sewers, which will need to be extended to service any new residences. The submitted drawing does not indicate any utility connections, so we do not have any knowledge of impacts to the existing systems at this time. The owner has been in contact with this office regarding the project, and is aware of the Engineering September 23, 2020 29741 Department requirements. It should be noted that should the project move forward the proposed construction will be required to meet the Wayne County Stormwater Ordinance, including detention requirements. A full review of the proposed development will be completed when plans are submitted for permitting."The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated August 24, 2020, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts receivable (general or water and sewer), I have no objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated August 26, 2020, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the name and addresses connected with the above noted petition. (On our records this is listed at 17800 Middlebelt Road / Midwest Memorial Group LLC). At this time there are no taxes due as the property is showing as exempt, therefore I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? There are no questions. I will look for the petitioner. Is there a petitioner in the audience tonight? If they could please click raise hand so we can recognize you. Good evening, Mr. Soave. Rico Soave, 37771 Seven Mile Road, Ste C, Livonia, MI, Good evening. Mr. Taormina gave a very detailed description of the proposed rezoning brought forward tonight. I really don't have anything more to add to his description, but would be happy to answer any questions that the commission may have this evening. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Soave. As always, we like to remind everyone, the commission and the audience members that this is a rezoning that we have before us tonight. We are going to be focusing our discussion on the rezoning from PL to R-1 and is that the appropriate zoning to go to. There is no site plan discussion that is going to occur at this meeting tonight. That would be a second process that would happen after rezoning. We will get into the details of the site plan and what the homes are going to look like and the layout of the lots and all of those details. Do we have any questions from any of the commissioners for our petitioner? Mr. Ventura: Mr. Soave, at the study meeting we inquired as to whether you had approached the Great Lakes Water Authority who owns the land immediately west and contiguous with this site as to the availability to purchase that and you told us that you had called September 23, 2020 29742 them but had not received any calls. Has anyone gotten back to you at this point? Mr. Soave: Not at this time, but if anyone is watching and knows how to communicate with the Great Lakes Water Authority, we would be most happy to discuss the potential purchase of the property keeping in mind that it would have to make good business sense in the even that they are willing to sell the property. Hopefully they are the true owners, not Wayne County, Mr. Ventura: Thank you, Mr. Soave. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Any other questions from the commission for our petitioner? I don't' see any questions from the commission. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? Steven Alexander, 9919 Deering, Livonia, MI. Good evening. Thank you for having us. Two quick questions. One I think you already answered about maintaining the water shed. As you know, a lot of water is collected there. Especially after the winter. Is there going to be a retaining pond or do you have plans for that? I know you talked about that, but my other question is about traffic. How will that be handled? There is a lot of traffic there with the school already and the pool. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Alexander, so I am hearing that your concern is over water drainage, the water situation in the area, and if there is going to be a retention pond. The answer to that is yes there will be. That is required by all developments that are done in the city now by Wayne County. There is a storm water management program that requires them to retain and slowing release water into the sewer system. Your other question I believe was about traffic. Mr. Alexander: Yes, sir. Mr. Wilshaw: The concern is just the added traffic there in the area? Mr. Alexander: Correct. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we can talk to the petitioner about that when we go back to him. Is there any other comments or questions that you would like to ask? Mr. Alexander: Yeah. Just adding on to traffic, sometime ago talking to Parks and Rec...where you had the top of the box butting up against the parking lot of the pool, one of the things that we had asked is September 23, 2020 29743 if during the time of the sale if that parking space of the pool and parking lot could be increased. Perhaps, to come into what you have is found in the yellow box that would probably help manage the traffic situation at least on Harrison Road. It gets pretty clogged up going into the pool or (inaudible). Mr. Wilshaw: We hear your comments and mind you that all these will go into our minutes and go on to City Council, so we will try to get back to the petitioner once we have heard from anyone else in the audience and hopefully get some of those questions answered for you, okay? Mr. Alexander: Thank you very much. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for attending this evening and we will have you stand by and we will go to our next audience member. One moment. That is going to be Beth Graham. Good evening. You can unmute yourself and introduce yourself. Name and address please. Beth Graham, 28815 West Chicago, Livonia, Mi. I am right across the street from it. I also have concern about the amount of water (inaudible). I have some pictures. I don't know if I can show it, but it is pretty much like a swamp at certain times of the year. Mr. Wilshaw: I don't think you can share your pictures on the Zoom platform. Ms. Graham: Okay. Fair enough. Like I said, the plan had a picture of the little pond in the corner and I have been to one of the other Infinity Homes areas that had one and it is just kind of a little gravel pit thing. So, I am just concerned about all of the water. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we will try to have our petitioner discuss how he is going to or what he can conceptually do about retaining water. There are a couple different options that we have seen. There is a dry pit, like a dry pond area like you are describing which only gets water in it when there is a rain event. There are other ones that have water typically in them with the fountain and all that kind of stuff. We will talk about that with the petitioner when we get back to him, okay? Ms. Graham: Okay. Or. Wilshaw: Any other comments that you wanted to make? Ms. Graham: I was wondering if the trees are going to stay? There are some really nice big trees there. September 23, 2020 29744 Mr. Wilshaw: We can ask about that. That is a good question. Ms. Graham: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Graham. We appreciate you coming this evening. Anyone else in the audience wishing to speak for or against this item? We have Ryan. Let me hit the right button here. Ryan, good evening. We ask for your name and address. Ryan Ennis, 9860 Garvett, Livonia, MI. I also have some concerns about the traffic and the aesthetics of the homes. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. I am not sure if we can answer your questions tonight, but what are your questions? Mr. Ennis: Because I don't' know...l mean um I am just concerned about the amount of traffic as well because West Chicago gets very clogged up, especially during rush hour, and then there is going to be additional homes added and then also, if we look around the neighborhoods surrounding it the homes are all ranches, 1950's style. What are these homes going to look like? Is it going to be like Royal Oak where you have like, you know, lofts that stick out like a sore thumb amongst historical properties? That is my concern. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. We can address that with the petitioner a little bit tonight, but we are really focused on the zoning at this point. The types or homes and the appearance of the homes would be more at the site plan process. That happens after zoning. But certainly the density of homes and how it relates to traffic is very appropriate to discuss. Mr. Ennis: Also, to, looking at the box it juts right up to the park. Are they going to be building homes almost into the park or how much space or leeway is there going to be between this subdivision and the park? Or, Wilshaw: That's a good question. We will see what we can find out for you tonight okay? Or, Ennis: Is this a meeting to say yay or nay? Or I guess I am little confused about what exactly is the purpose of this meeting? Is this to really take in public account of their views of this matter or is it already a done deal? We are just trying to get some questions answered. September 23, 2020 29745 Jr. Wilshaw: It is definitely not a done deal. Let me explain the process a little bit so that you understand. The Planning Commission is a recommending body. We make a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council is the one that actually makes the approval or denial ultimately of this change. This change that we are considering tonight is a rezoning of this land from PL (Public Lands), which PL is for schools, cities, and other governmental entities, to R-1 (Single-family residential). Similar to all the homes in the surrounding area. We are looking to see if that is the appropriate rezoning for this property. We will decide tonight... we will take a vote to either recommend that the rezoning happen or not happen. Then it will go on to City Council. The City Council will have an additional public hearing. It is an opportunity for you to attend and give your opinion and your comments, or questions. Then they will go through a process of approving it as well. Their approval is the actual approval. Ours is a recommendation to them. Once that takes place, and typically with a rezoning they will hold... once they have decided they want to move forward with this rezoning, that then starts the stie plan process. The site plan is where we look at the actual details of what is going to be in that yellow box. Where the lots are going to be laid out, what type of homes are going to be in there, where the road is, where is retention ponds is, and all those details. That then again starts with us. We look it. We make changes. We make suggestions. We approve or deny a recommendation to City Council and then the City Council will vote on that as well. So, it is kind of a four -step process. A recommendation on zoning from us, an approval for zoning from City Council and a recommendation for a site plan from us and then an approval or denial on the site plan from City Council. I hope that makes some sense for you. Mr. Ennis: Somewhat. Mr. Wilshaw: I understand. It is a little complicated, but we will...we do take into account everyone's comments and opinions. The seven of us will make a decision to either approve or deny based on what we feel is best. Your opinion does matter so thank you for attending and giving us your thoughts and opinions tonight. There are some additional folks wishing to speak. There is a phone in caller. Let me make sure that they are able to talk. This is a phone number ending in 6663. You need to dial *6 to unmute yourself. Good evening. Shane Foley, 9870 Harrison, Livonia, MI. I am directly across from the entrance to the park. September 23, 2020 29746 Mr, Wilshaw: Okay. very good. You are free to give us your thoughts for or against this. Mr. Foley: Thanks for explaining for the gentleman just prior, that was good for me to hear. Really, just a comment really. Living across the street from this area, one of the reasons that I like this neighborhood and it is kind of rare that you find a really nice open space like this in very well developed areas like this. I love looking across the street and seeing an open field and trees. It is quite relaxing and quite calming. For me I am generically against this rezoning. I like the space. A question to you or to the team would be is it better consideration to expand the park and include this as part of the park permanently. Mr. Wilshaw: One comment that I can tell you about, that is, this is property that was owned by the school district which is a separate entity from the City. They have chosen to sell this property to a private party and in this case, Soave Homes, to build a subdivision. They went through a process of deciding to sell this property and deciding who to sell it to. We did not have any involvement in it. At this point, we are just faced with the request of this private landowner now. Mr. Foley: Understood. In that case, I have some similar comments of the prior people. The trees are beautiful. It would be awesome to keep them. Concerns about traffic. The pool fills up quickly in the summer. The road gets clogged up. Things of that nature. Nothing different than the prior residents. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you very much for coming tonight and providing your comments. We appreciate your thoughts and opinions on that. Mr. Foley: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we will let you continue to watch and see what goes on here. Let me go on to the next person in the audience, which is going to be Tabby. You can unmute yourself and introduce yourself with a name and address. Good evening. We are not hearing anything from you Tabby. We hear you now. We did hear you. Tabby? Tabby Ortan, 28257 S Clements Circle, Livonia, MI. We are across from the park. I just had a question. Was this just for one property owner or more? Like families? Or. Wilshaw: I am not sure I follow your question. Are you asking if these are going to be single-family homes or... September 23, 2020 29747 Ms.Ortan: Yes. Mr, Wilshaw: Yes. The intention is that these would be single-family homes. Not condominiums or anything along those lines. Ms. Ortan: Oh okay. We actually love the area, but we would like to have more land so... I would be down for it. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you so much. Appreciate the comments. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to speak on this item? Ms. Ortan: No. That was my son. Mr. Wilshaw: Oh. He is going to give his comments too, right? Ms. Ortan: Yup. He wants to. Thank you so much. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Anyone else in our audience? We have one more person with their hand up. We have a couple more actually. We are going to go to Jonathan. Good evening. Again, we ask that you start with your name and address. Jonathon Fitzgerald, 28408 Cleveland, Livonia, MI. I do have concerns about this rezoning. Echoing some of the sentiments that have already been said. At least during the summer, I have definitely seen traffic increasing with the water park being open and if residential places get added in there, I can see that definitely being a problem. Additionally, with everything going on with COVID-19 I find solace in being able to take walks and enjoy a nice open area which is pretty rare in such a heavy residential area such as this. It is my wish that it stays the way that it is if possible. Mr. Wilshaw: Very good. Thank you for coming and giving your comments. We will talk to our petitioner when we have heard everyone's comments and try to get to the issues you addressed, alright? Mr. Fitzgerald: Thank you. Or. Wilshaw: We will go to Dave O next. Give him a chance to speak. You can unmute yourself. I am not hearing anything from Dave O. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to speak? If so, please click raise hand. Dave/Mary Ostrowski, 9532 Harrison, Livonia, MI. As some of the other guests have mentioned, traffic really is an issue. I know you don't have a site plan. Harrison is a feeder street. I know it is a main street. September 23, 2020 29748 It feeds all the community to the east of us. There is quite a bit of traffic. That is a big concern. In addition, we have lived here for 35 years and when the school was there and we had issues with... to make a long story short, the school is a separate entity. It seems like they don't have to behave like the community does. In other words, they have less restrictions. My concern is if they decide to sell this property, does it truly have to be approved by the city or are they an entity of their own and they can sell it to anyone? Mr. Wilshaw: Well, to answer your question, they can sell it. That is their choice and it is their property. What we are dealing with this evening is the rezoning of the property at this stage of the game. It is not for us to decide if they are allowed to sell it or not. That deal has been (inaudible) with the school. Mr. Ostrowski: Just the zoning situation. Yeah, when the school was removed it was essentially designated as a green space. That is truly what it has been used for. To rezone it and try to pack in another 30 or 40 homes, the congestion is going to be pretty significant. I would encourage the city to keep it as a green space as the other caller mentioned. It is really nice to have that in this community. I know that is the way it is up on Seven Mile. I know that is the way it is on Plymouth and Farmington. So, these green spaces, even though the community is a little bit older, it certainly is used and appreciated. Ms. Ostrowski: I would like to ask... I know you don't have any knowledge of any offers to the school or any negotiations they had, but is there any possibility that the city could make an offer on the property and even use this as public land, whether it is park or as some have said adding to the water park. Is that something the city has even entertained? Mr. Wilshaw: I can't speak for the city in terms of what they have or haven't done, but what I can tell you is that the school district...typically, if property changes hands between the school district and the city, that is done at no cost. The city doesn't typically buy property from the school district, as far as I know. The school district has been selling property, as far as I know, in an effort to get revenue by selling these properties for their budget. They are looking to not give away property. They are looking to do it for as a way to generate revenue for the school district. That is why they put this out for proposal for people to offer to purchase and however that process works, Infinity Homes was the one secured the offer that he school district was willing to accept. September 23, 2020 29749 Mr. & Mrs. Ostrowski: Okay. Thank you for your time. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you to both of you and continue to listen on and we will make our decision this evening. Thank you for coming. Is there anyone else wishing to speak on this item? I don't see anyone else with their hands up. I am going to go back to you Mr. Soave. As our petitioner, you have heard a number of comments offered by the audience in regard to traffic and water management on the property. Mr. Toarmina, I am going to go to you first. Mr. Taormina: Mr. Chairman. We did receive a few questions through the Zoom chat feature. I will read them just so that they are part of the record this evening. The first is from Been McBane and that message is: "Are these all going to be single-family residences?" That question was asked earlier. Next is a question that comes from Kelly. She asks, "Will the homes be the same style as the surrounding neighborhood?'. Next is a question from Katherine: "Do we have any idea how big these homes are going to be? What about the traffic issues? Especially with the middle school being just down the road." Lastly, I don't know who this is from but they ask: "is the petitioner using a fake name?' . Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, great. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. We will let the petitioner address those and others that have been made. Mr. Soave, we have heard a number of comments, specifically regarding the traffic, water management on the site, the existence of several large trees on the site and if those are gong to be retained possibly. Again, we don't want to get into all of the details of the site plan, but these are good questions as they relate to traffic because the R-1 zoning has a certain amount of density associated with it in terms of homes. If you could address some of those comments that you heard and anything else you would like to say this evening, I would appreciate it. Mr. Soave: I would be happy to address some of those comments to all the information we have at hand. Regarding the storm water, I am sure Mr. Taormina can comment on this as well, but any new development has to meet storm water management principles form Wayne County which is the governing body in this particular area. Any development you go into standing water becomes alleviated. The situation improves itself by putting in catch basins in and actually catching all of that standing water. As some of the neighbors correctly identified, there probably is standing water on that property because once the school was removed the Livonia Public Schools didn't put in infrastructure to collect the water and by walk the site, I know it is not graded out as well. So, when it rains it finds the lowest spot and sits there. Once new September 23, 2020 29750 development goes in there, those water issues will be mitigated. Trees... there are some mature trees on the property which you can't build a development around the trees, however, there will be more trees, new trees, being planted there than currently exist on the property. We will be adding a lot to the (inaudible) greenspace and trees as part of the new forthcoming site plan. I think some of the neighbors questioned about the park and the asphalt parking lot. The main reason why we don't have a conceptual site plan is we are in preliminary talks with Parks and Rec to see how the development may compliment these issues that they are having with the overcrowding of that small parking lot now. We started those talks and in the next month or two we should have something to bring forward as a conceptual that hopefully addresses some of those problems. In regard to traffic, keep in mind this is abutting West Chicago and Harrison. Two'/z mile roads that already have a lot of traffic because of the nature of the Yz mile roads. They are collector streets. They dump into mile roads. This is Middlebelt in this particular development. However, the impact the new development will have will probably be negligible based upon the R-1 zoning. I think the max amount of units that we are allowed will be 35. There will be no more than 35 single-family homes going on this almost 9-acre site. Anything else that I missed, or that you want further inquiry on Mr. Chairman? Mr. Wilshaw: I think that covers most of the questions I have seen so far. One of the questions that came in through chat was now many homes are planned for this site. You don't have a solid number on that yet because we don't have a site plan, but you are saying... Mr. Soave: We are looking at about 35. Mr. Wilshaw: 35 is what the R-1 would allow. Mr. Soave; Correct. So, based upon rough sketches, we are at 34 or 35 units. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Is there any other questions from the commissioners in regard to what we have heard so far this evening? Mr. Taormina: Mr. Chairman, I believe one of the other questions that I noted was home styles. I know this is early, but if Mr. Soave can speak to the type of homes that probably make up the majority of the development. If you can give the audience an indication of the types of homes. September 23, 2020 29751 Mr. Wilshaw: That is a fair question at this point. Rico, go ahead and let us know what type of homes you are planning. Mr. Soave: These homes would be very similar to other developments in the City of Livonia and adjacent communities. I believe probably ranches will be around 1200 to 1300 square feet up to maybe 2500 square feet colonials. It will probably be a good mix over there if the other developments give a good indication. It will be a good mix between ranches and colonials. Mr. Wilshaw: Any other questions from any of the other commissioners? I don't see any questions from any commissioners. I am going to close... anything else Mr. Soave that you would like to say before we close the public hearing? Mr. Soave: Nothing further. I appreciate the commission's time tonight. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. One quick question, Mr. Soave. Is this property that you have already into a purchase with the school district on or is this contingent upon the rezoning and site plan approval? Mr. Soave: Yeah, I think there were some comments regarding acquisition of the property. As you correctly stated, Mr. Chairman, Livonia Public Schools does have property that it has been sitting on for a period of years and periodically they do put these properties up for sale. They call them RFP's (Request for Proposal), which is essentially a public bid. Anyone can bid on them and then the school board goes through and analyzes those for qualifications of the bidder and of course the price they are offering. We were the winning bidder on this property, so we are under purchase agreement and it is conditioned upon the successful site plan approval process by the Livonia City Council. Mr. Wilshaw: Great, thank you for describing that. It helps, hopefully, some of the folks in our audience as to how we got to this point. If there are no other questions or comments, I will close the public hearing and a motion is in order. On a motion by McCue, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was #0946-2020 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 22, 2020, on Petition 2020-08-01-05 submitted by Infinity Homes and Company pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, requesting to rezone the property at 28400 West Chicago Avenue (former Wilson Elementary School site) located on the north side of West Chicago Avenue September 23, 2020 29752 between Harrison and Middlebelt Roads in the Northwest '/4 of Section 36 from PL (Public Lands) to R-1 (One Family Residential), the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2020-08-01-05 be approved for the following reasons or subject to the following conditions: 1. That the proposed change of zoning is compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding uses and zoning districts in the area. 2. That the proposed change of zoning will provide for single residential development similar in density to what exists in the neighboring area. 3. That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the Future Land Use Plan designation of low -density residential land use in the general area; and 4. That the proposed change of zoning constitutes a reasonable and compatible transition between the existing neighborhood and adjoining nonresidential land uses 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. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #2 PETITION 2020-08-02-07 Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2020- 08-02-07 submitted by Matthew Petrocy, on behalf of Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery, requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.03(e) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct a mausoleum in the cemetery at 17840 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road between Six Mile Road and Pickford Avenue in the Southwest'/4 of Section 12. Mr. Taormina: This is a request to construct a mausoleum at the Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery, which is on the east side of Middlebelt between Six Mile and Pickford Avenue. This site is September 23, 2020 29753 about 52 acres in total area. As you can from the zoning map, it is zoned AG (General Agricultural). Cemeteries are treated as a waiver use, and even though Mt. Hope has been in existence for a long time, the construction of additional burial crypts is considered an expansion subject to the waiver use review and approval process. In fact, in 2006 Mt. Hope received waiver use approval to construct a 3,520 square feet mausoleum, which is located in the south-central part of the property. It is about 430 feet east of Middlebelt Road. The yellow box includes not only the existing mausoleum, but also the area of the proposed mausoleum. In 2016 the Planning Commission and City Council again granted waiver use approval to expand the existing mausoleum by roughly 2,200 square feet. The current proposal adds another mausoleum to be built in the same general location as the existing structure. They would be separated by a distance of roughly 35 feet. As you can see, access is available via an existing drive that extends east from Middlebelt Road and then it forms a loop in the northeast corner of the property. The new mausoleum would contain crypts that would be arranged both side by side, as well as stacked. There would be personalized markers for each crypt that would be displayed along the outside of the structure, which would not contain any doors or windows or any type of interior space open to the public. The overall structure is just over 1,100 square feet in size. It would have a height of 21 Y2 feet. The north, east, and west exterior elevations would contain brick veneer. The front panels of the memorial vaults would be polished granite panels. The south or rear elevation would be constructed of poured concrete. As you can tell, the structure would contain a flat roof. That is a generalization of the petition. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 21 2020, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed waiver use at this time. The existing parcel is assigned the address of #17800 Middlebelt Road. The existing parcel is currently serviced by public water main, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. The information submitted does not show proposed alterations for the utility services, so it does not appear that there will be any impacts to the existing systems. It should be noted that if any work is to be completed in the Middlebelt Road right- of-way, the owner will need to obtain permits from Wayne County. " The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City September 23, 2020 29754 Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated September 3, 2020, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a mausoleum in the cemetery on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Greg Thomas, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated August 27, 2020, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Scott Sczepanski, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 17, 2020, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. This Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of Inspection. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated September 16, 2020, which reads as follows: " I have reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. There are no past due amounts receivable, however, their water bill of $85.29 is currently due on October 9, 2020. 1 have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated August 26, 2020, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the name and addresses connected with the above noted petition. (On our records this is listed at 17800 Middlebelt Road / Midwest Memorial Group LLC). At this time there are no taxes due as the property is showing as exempt, therefore I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. Lastly is an email dated September 16, 2020 from a resident, Marisa Dore that reads as follows: "I am seriously apposed to the petition to construct a mausoleum in the area mapped out and proposed. My objection is due to the very high water table in that part of the cemetery and surrounding area. Not only do I strongly believe that it should be placed elsewhere on their property, I do not think any more grave sites should be used in that area. During the damp part of the year, water gathers on that side of the property. Many grave site are flooded and are underwater for days, weeks and even months at a time. So adding more "land fill" or building will only increase the drainage problem that is already in existence. There is almost a river that forms along the fence line that has standing water for quite some time, this is not good for the grave site and also becomes a breeding opportunity for insects. If you walk the ground you can seethe grave markers sinking and or no longer even due to the damp soft ground. I am unable to attend the meeting but hope you will take these September 23, 2020 29755 concerns and issues seriously while making your decision." That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Mr. Wilshaw: If not, we have Mr. Petrocy in the audience. We have Mr. O'Connor in the audience who I believe is also with the petitioner. Is there anyone else in the audience that is involved with the petitioner, Mr. Petrocy? Matthew Petrocy, Director of Operation for Midwest Memorial Group representing Mount Hope Cemetery, Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anything you would like to add from what you have heard this evening? Mr. Petrocy: I think Mitch would be able to speak to the water collection in that area in regard to the water mitigation when we place this building. This building doesn't have a really huge footprint sitting next to the mausoleum that is there now. I believe Mr. Taormina gave a pretty good explanation. There is no walk-in on this building . It is a garden mausoleum, which is a walk around. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, great. Mr. O'Connor is with us as well. He is free to introduce himself and speak to the water issue that was raised. Mitch O'Connor, Chippewa Consulting, 53200 Van Dyke, Ste 200, Shelby Township, MI, we did do a topographic survey of the area adjacent to the project and where the project is located. We are proposing drainage swales to direct the rainwater away from the site. We have been out there probably four or five times and have not witnessed water problems that were described. Which is not to say that they do not exist, we just did not witness it. In the plan we prepared, it does direct rainwater away from the site and the current drainage doesn't. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. O'Connor, assuming that there is the potential for the issue of the high-water table in that area, what are you doing from an engineering standpoint to ensure that the building is on sound footing? Or. O'Connor: The footing design was done by Matthew ... a company out of Pittsburgh and the name escapes me. We did get soil bore report, located the water table and the types of soils and the foundation was designed accordingly. There is no basement, so ... once the foundations are sent back and we build up from there, it will be a stable site. September 23, 2020 29756 Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Is there anything else that you gentleman would like to add before we go to questions? If there is nothing else, is there anyone on the Commission that has any questions regarding the petition? Mr. Caramagno: How many additional crypts will this add to the property and how many are there now? Mr. Petrocy: That is a great question. I wouldn't be able to speak to how many there are now. How many are available right now is none. The building that we are proposing to build there... Mitch could probably tell us, but I want to say it is just over 300 along with some niches. Mr. Caramagno: So, this building will give you 300 plus availability...you said there is no availability on the property now? Mr. Petrocy: No, we have roughly maybe 10 available crypts, but they are tandem and the families that we are finding are more interested in buying the singles. We have already converted some of our tandems... instead of selling them as tandems, which would be two crypts... converting and dropping the price and then selling them as singles to facilitate for families that need them. The building that we are proposing to build there has already pre -sale crypts. There are families that have already purchased in that building. Mr. Caramagno: So, the demand is there. Okay. That is what I wanted to know. Thank you. Mr. Petrocy: Yes, sir. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions for our petitioner? Mr. Bongero: Just a quick question for my own curiosity. The design of this building is quite a bit different than the existing. Is there a reason you are going to this design vs. the one that is there and kind of has a more residential feel to it? Mr. Petrocy: Most of our cemeteries have an indoor chapel which is utilized for weather. In the middle of winter families can gather in there and then we perform the service, whether they own in there or not. So, it is always good to have a shelter in the cemetery for having those services. This type of building... out ultimate... like our master plan is along side of that, probably another one like this if September 23, 2020 29757 the need finds itself. We typically... we already have two walk-in maso's there at Mt. Hope and that is probably, at this point, the amount that we need. Mr. Bongero: Thank you. Mr. Petrocy: There are services there that are performed during the day. Typically, we will have ... we time them and they are scheduled so we will have one in that mausoleum and then in the Garden of Light and you can do one every hour in that way. Mr. Bongero: That makes sense. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Any other questions for our petitioner? If not, there is one person in our audience with their hand up named Neal. We will give him an opportunity to speak this evening. Good evening. Neal Zalenko, 260 E. Brown Ste 340, Birmingham, MI 48009. Thank you for hearing me. I am speaking on behalf of the Adat Shalom Memorial Park, which is exactly adjacent to this property. To the east of the property. We share a common fence. We did email in a notice of objection, but perhaps it didn't get in the agenda. So, I am going to read the notice of objection if you don't mind. Perhaps you could show slide number two while I am reading this. The second slide which was the aerial view. Mr. Wilshaw: The aerial photograph. We can do that. One moment. Neal: That is perfect, okay. Adat Shalom Memorial Park. I am reading the letter that we filed... is in receipt of the notice of public hearing requesting a variance for Mt. Hope Memorial Park to construct an additional mausoleum at 17840 Middlebelt Road. We have the property immediately east and adjacent to the proposed addition and have a clear and direct view of the site. Currently the proposed site is overgrown, piled with dirt and generally unsightly. You can look to the right at that big pile of dirt there and it is next to ours which is a very well -kept cemetery. Based on the condition of this site, we object to allowing any additional activity on this property without any provision for planting shrubs or trees on the east side of the site to block our view. If they want to do something, they really should clean up this pile of dirt, right to the right in the picture. Even at that, they could perhaps plant some privacy shrubs or trees and then that would satisfy that, but for right now if you were to see the site, the difference in quality of our site and this, is significant. That is our objection to any kind September 23, 2020 29758 of construction going on there when the site in its present condition is just filled with dirt and mud in season. Mr. Wilshaw: an you, Neal. Mr. Zalenko: We did send an email in to Planning@cilivon iiamius. Mr. Wilshaw: We will try to get that entered into our packet and into our record to go into City Council. Thank you for reading that this evening and that will become part of our permanent minutes that you stated that. Thank you. Mr. Zalenko: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody else in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? Seeing no one else raising their hand. I will go back to the petitioner to make any comments before we close the public hearing. You did hear some comments from your neighboring property about the sightliness of this are. Can you address what is going on with that? Mr. Petrocy: Yes. I would like to state that first off, we are fairly new owners of Mt. Hope Park, within the last 5 years. We do have plans to remove the spoils, as they are called, which is the excess dirt after you do an internment which they were storing up on that hill back there. We do have planned to do that this Spring, however, getting the necessary construction hiring ... we typically hire it out and those individuals that are grabbing that dirt are utilizing it in the City of Detroit as they demolish the homes and back fill the basements. I am sure everyone is familiar with that project. They typically come to us and grab the spoils from us. We are in contact. This is a project that we are looking to undertake which is getting rid of the spoils that are in that area. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Any other comments or questions before we close our public hearing, Mr. Petrocy? Or. Petrocy: No, I don't think so. Or. Wilshaw: You're all set, okay. We will check with the Commission to see if anyone else on the Commission has any questions or comments before we close the public hearing. Ms. Smiley: Have you thought of doing any landscaping where you abut your neighbor there? Or are you just thinking about removing that dirt? September 23, 2020 29759 Mr. Petrocy: Sorry, that was pretty broken up for whatever reason. I think what I heard was are we thinking about doing any further landscaping on which would be the east side fence facing the neighbor there. Is that the question? Mr. Wilshaw: yes. Mr. Petrocy: That would be something I could look into. I haven't looked into that. Like I said, one of our main objectives is as we were cleaning up was getting those spoils out of that area. They have been built up, which looks like over many many many years, so it is not an impossible task. It is definitely something we have been looking into. Just trying to get, like I said, contractors involved to get in there and load it up and get it out of there. Ms. Smiley: I think it would help if you go on to Council if you had some kind of idea of what you might be interested in doing in that part. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. We can always add a condition to any approving resolution that that would be a call back item or that they would with the planning staff on additional landscaping. Any other questions or comments from the commissioners? Mr. Ventura: Going along with Ms. Smiley's question, Mr. Petrocy, when do you think you would have the spoils removed from there? Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Petrocy, Mr. Ventura is asking when do you think your timing for removal of the spoils? Mr. Petrocy: We have been in contact with two dirt haulers, through my regional director, and we are just waiting for them to contact us back. They are not moving dirt right now. We have got 13 cemeteries in the metro area and nine of those cemeteries... they haul dirt out for us. They took a small load in...I want to say it was three or four weeks ago out of our Roseland Park location in Berkley and this was a target on their list for this season as a project. We have been on a stall trying to get it done. Jr. Wilshaw: So, it doesn't sound like you have a firm... Or, Petrocy: I will definitely follow-up with them and find out when their start time is on it, but it is due to be a project that is completed this season before winter. Jr. Wilshaw: Does that answer your question Mr. Ventura? September 23, 2020 29760 Mr. Ventura: It does. Thank you, Mr. Petrocy. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Any other questions or comments from any of the commissioners? Mr. Bongero: We had the study meeting and I recall that when thought you were going to start the project? Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Petrocy, the question is when are you planning on starting this project? Mr. Petrocy: I am sorry. That whole thing was a stall and I couldn't hear anything. I apologize for that. I think it is my phone, but it was very hesitant. Mr. Wilshaw: The question is when do you plan on starting this project if it moves forward? Mr. Petrocy: The building project? We are planning on breaking ground in the Spring. We would like to break ground ASAP. My contractors are ready to move. Mr. Bongero: The only reason I am asking is because if you are starting sooner, I could see all of that dirt... maybe you could use some of it around the site but get rid of all of the excess. Driving through there, it is unsightly. I am in agreement with Mr. Zalenko. We should probably put something in there that it has to get removed quicker than Spring. It does look pretty bad in there. That is all I have. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Mr. Petrocy: Yeah, I don't think that is... Mr. Wilshaw: Go ahead, Mr. Petrocy...Any other questions from the Commission? I don't hear any other questions or comments. If there is nothing else, I will close the public hearing and a motion would be in order. Anyone with a motion? On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Bongero, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-47-2020 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 22, 2020, on Petition 2020-08-02-07 submitted by Matthew Petrocy, on behalf of Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery, requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.03(e) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct a mausoleum in the cemetery at 17840 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of September 23, 2020 29761 Middlebelt Road between Six Mile Road and Pickford Avenue in the Southwest'/4 of Section 12, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2020-09-01- 07 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the location of the mausoleum shall be in accordance with both the Cemetery Plan & Vicinity Map, dated July 15, 2020, as revised, prepared by Matthews Gibraltar Mausoleum & Construction Company and the Site Plan dated May 13, 2020, as revised, prepared by Chippewa Consulting. 2. That the Elevations Plan dated July 15, 2020, as revised, prepared by Matthews Gibraltar Mausoleum & Construction Company, is hereby approved, and shall be adhered to. 3. That all rooftop mounted mechanical equipment shall be concealed from public view on all sides by screening that shall be of a compatible character, material, and color to other exterior materials on the building. 4. That the specific plans referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time the building permits are applied for, and 5. That prior to the City Council meeting, the Petitioner shall submit a restoration plan and schedule for the southeast corner of the property that involves removing the mound(s) of spoils and revegetating the area and also includes specific timelines for completing the work. 6. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance 4f543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a period of one (1) year only from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. 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. Wilshaw:: Is there any discussion on the motion? Mr. Taormina: I am going to refer that discussion to the applicant. This is on a fast track to get to Council, so they will review this in two weeks. That would mean that he would have to provide some type of September 23, 2020 29762 conceptual landscape plan prior to that Council hearing. Then as far as removing the dirt and cleaning up the area... removing the dirt, I don't know how many yards are being pulled out of there and if they have a source to accept the fill. That could take some time. I will let the petitioner respond to those time concerns. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Petrocy, do you want to let us know? Mr. Petrocy: Just for clarification, I am pretty sure that... can you hear me? Mr. Wilshaw: We can hear you. Mr. Petrocy: Just for clarification, if I get the dirt removed and I start that process pretty quickly what is it that I am needing a landscape plan to disguise? Is the landscape to disguise the dirt that I am removing, or the landscape is to disguise the building...I am confused. Ms. Smiley: Hopefully the dirt will be removed, but some landscaping to your neighbor to the east. Mr. Taormina: Mr. Chairman, if I may make a suggestion? Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina. Mr. Taormina: Maybe just a conceptual restoration plan is all that is needed. If the plan that is presented to Council provides for the removal of the dirt and other restoration measures, whether its plantings, seeding the area or hydroseeding, then that might suffice. I am not sure why we would need additional bushes or trees along that fence line if the dirt is going to be removed and the area restored back to some type of permanent ground cover. It seems to me that the space then provides additional area for future use. It is probably an area that would get used at some point, right? So, there is a motivation for cleaning that area up it would seem to me. Mr. Petrocy: Yeah, for sure. We would remove the dirt and then reseed we top dress it with topsoil. We seed it and then we throw straw down which holds the moisture in the ground and gets the seed activated. We don't have much luck hydroseeding. It doesn't produce a real nice turf, but that is how we repair the ground is with the grass seed, then topsoil and straw. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, Mr. Petrocy, Ms. Smiley, does that sound acceptable to kind of combine this into one removal of the dirt and restoration of the area? September 23, 2020 29763 Mr. Taormina: Then, along with that a timeline for completion. S. Smiley: That would be fine. Mr. Taormina: Then have Council review that plan in response to the neighbor's concerns. I think that is fair all the way around. He would then have an opportunity to address Council. I will just point out that for everyone's benefit this would appear before City Council... it is hopeful that it would be October 5, 2020, with the approval of a seven-day waiver this evening. Mr. Wilshaw: You are okay with what you have heard so far Ms. Smiley? Ms. Smiley: Fine, thank you. On a motion by Long, seconded by McCue, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-48-2020 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby determine to waive the provisions of Section 10 of Article VI of the Planning Commission Rules of Procedure, regarding the effective date of a resolution after the seven-day period from the date of adoption by the Planning Commission, in connection with Petition 2020-08-02-07 submitted by Matthew Petrocy, on behalf of Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens Cemetery, requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.03(e) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct a mausoleum in the cemetery at 17840 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road between Six Mile Road and Pickford Avenue in the Southwest'/4 of Section 12, Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #3 PETITION 2020-08-02-06 Biggby Coffee Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2020- 07-02-06 submitted by Ed Buison requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(c)(4) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a limited service restaurant with drive -up window facilities (Biggby Coffee) within the Livonia Crossroads retail center at 11502 Middlebelt Road, located on the southeast corner of Middlebelt and Plymouth Roads in the Northwest'/4 of Section 36. September 23, 2020 29764 On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-49-2020 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public nearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on October 22, 2019, on Petition 2020-07-02-06 submitted by Ed Buison requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(c)(4) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a limited service restaurant with drive -up window facilities (Biggby Coffee) within the Livonia Crossroads retail center at 11502 Middlebelt Road, located on the southeast corner of Middlebelt and Plymouth Roads in the Northwest '% of Section 36, the Planning Commission does hereby remove the item from the table. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina, do we have any updates on this petition? Mr. Taormina: We do. Before you is the revised site plan that shows several changes. The egress doors that are adjacent to the drive thru would either be removed, relocated, or replaced with doors that have windows to improve the safety conditions for persons that are entering or exiting the building. All the bollards are going to be repositioned to be no more than a foot away from the wall of the building. This minimizes interference and provides additional clearance for the drive thru and the by-pass lanes. The utility meters are all being moved to a location inside the building, and the dumpster enclosure will continue to face east, but in a more compact arrangement as close to the building as is practical. Also, a sign and pavement marking would be added, to discourage drive thru patrons from blocking access to the dumpster, which would only be emptied when the other stores are closed for business. The other additional changes are the reconfigurations to the parking lot, he addition of several landscape islands, and directional signs to help guide the drive thru customers to the rear of the building. Also, included is a fully detailed landscape plan. That provides all the details relevant to landscaping within several of the added islands. The directional signs, I think there are three of them, and they are shown in the parking lot. One at this location and two located on this island. One facing north and one facing west. There is no new correspondence relative to the site. I am happy to answer any questions you may have at this time. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Mr. Caramagno: Mark, the alley...) know you said that the parking lot repairs are being considered. What about the alley? Especially where all September 23, 2020 29765 the cement is broken up on the east side. It will be gravel before long. What is the plan there? Mr. Taormina: 1 don't know if that is addressed specifically on the plan. So, why don't we allow the owner of the shopping center to address what the plan would be for that area. Mr. Caramagno: Thank you, Mark. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we will get to that question in one second. Any other questions for the planning staff? Mr. Ventura: Mr. Taormina, I noticed in the notes that you talk about the new planting areas being curbed. I don't see that there will be irrigation provided for the new planting. Is that something that was omitted or is that something that should be addressed with Mr. Houbba? Mr. Taormina: That too is something that should be addressed by the owner. In the meantime, I will look... usually, it is provided in the general notes, but I did not get a chance to go through it in that level of detail. Again, we can ask the petitioner. Mr. Wilshaw: Great. Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Any other questions for the planning staff? If not, we have some folks in our audience for the petitioner. We have Mr. Buison. Good evening, sir. Ed Buison, 9289 Liberty Ct., Livonia, MI. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for being here again this evening. We also have Mr. Houbba here with us. I am going to give him a chance to speak if he would like to at an appropriate time. Good evening, Mr. Houbba. Mike Houbba, 9018 Telegraph Rd., Taylor, MI, 48180. Mr. Wilshaw: Great. That way we can attribute your comments to you appropriately. There is one additional person in the audience with their hand up. We are going to give them an opportunity to introduce themselves. They have the same last name of Houbba. AHoubba. Mr. Houbba: My brother is watching, but he did not inform me he was going to speak. Maybe he pressed it by accident. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, well we will give him a chance to speak if he wishes to at some point when we get to the rest of our audience members. September 23, 2020 29766 Now that we have the petitioners introduced, we will start with you Mr. Buison. Is there anything additional that you would like to add to what has been discussed by our planning staff so far? Mr. Buison: No, not so far. I think Mr. Taormina did a good job, as always. I know that the two questions, Mike can address those about the pavement on the east alley and the irrigation for landscaping. Mr. Houbba: Okay, let me address the gation. Originally, the concrete curbed islands were going to be basically Hosta's and Boxwood's. My landscaper would water them periodically. Those don't need too much irrigation, however, since you asked for more landscaping, I don't think Brian noted anything for irrigation. Mr. Taormina: Irrigation is noted. I know it is difficult to pick up here, but if you look at number 4... Scott and Stephanie just alerted me to this, which I did not see. Mr. Houbba: We were still debating how to go about the irrigation system since breaking up the parking lot is not... it is something that we were trying to avoid. Regardless, we are willing to make it work. I will give it some thought. Ultimately, it if is necessary we will accommodate the irrigation process. In the last meeting we did mention that we would be resurfacing both alleys. We know the condition is poor in the alleys. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, so your plan is to resurface the alleyway to ensure that it doesn't continue to break up and it can be restored to a drivable condition. Mr. Houbba: Absolutely. Our whole intention with this drive-thru is to have a more aesthetically pleasing back of the building, if you will. Hopefully, one day the building next to us will follow suit as far as a soft remodel, if not a full remodel Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, great. This is typically an area of buildings that tend to get a little bit neglected in terms of maintenance because it is not often seen by people, but because we are trying to accommodate this petitioner in having traffic drive thru that area, it is important that it be aesthetically pleasing and also safe. If there is no other comments from our petitioners, are there any other questions from the Planning Commission for our petitioner? Mr. Caramagno: I would like to expand upon that east alley. The south alley is asphalt, and while that is not terrible, it is that east alley that is broken up concrete and it is easy to say that we are going to fix September 23, 2020 29767 that. How do you intend to fix that broken concrete? It is quite a project there. It is more than just an over layment of asphalt to make that correct. It is just in rough shape. Right there in the picture. What is the plan? Mr. Houbba: That portion where the dumpster sits is going to be a new concrete pad. The rest of it, I will have to consult with my ... who we use for asphalt is S & J Asphalt Company. They have done several of our plazas. They do great work. He wouldn't cut corners, so I assure you I will have him come out and estimate and he will know exactly what to do. Mr. Caramagno: You are probably looking at about a 40-foot stretch that is just in really bad shape. If you want to do what you are asking for, what we are looking for is an improved aesthetic deal for a drive thru in an alley. I think that really needs to be part of the program. Mr. Houbba; Absolutely. I intend to. I didn't realize how choppy it was, as far as cement and asphalt. I thought it was mostly asphalt. In this case, he might just dig out the portion of cement that is not part of the dumpster pad and repave the asphalt there. Or. Caramagno: That would seem to make sense if that is indeed the plan. Mark, can you back up a picture or two? Right there. Is there any plan to trim any of those trees that are hanging over the alley there? It almost hits your vehicle as you drive through. I know that tree probably doesn't exist on your property, but if you look at those branches there, they will hit your car as you drive thru. Or. Houbba: If they are overhanging on our property, we will trim them. We just did so at two of our shopping centers just recently. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. The only other thing that I have is that I went by the deli this morning at 11320 Middlebelt, which is just behind this picture. I couldn't help but notice they were having a delivering at 10:00 a.m. this morning. Their delivery truck was blocking the entire driveway here to deliver whatever they were delivering to the deli next door. I would imagine that would not be good for business for you. Mr. Houbba: That would not be allowed. Mr. Caramagno: Is that your call or is that his call on what is allowed? When you look at the building to the south, right there Mark. You look at that building, and the delivery truck was parked about where that white car is. Right there and blocking the whole entire driveway. I don't know how long he was there. I don't envision...I don't think September 23, 2020 29768 he was there too long, but he was definitely parked right there and there was no getting through that alley with that truck there. Mr. Houbba: Yes. This is our property. There is...l know we have an easement agreement with the property to the east of use for cross access, but they are not supposed to come in and park on our property. It is simply for cross entrance. Mr. Caramagno: That is a conversation that you are going to want to have because something has to change there. Them parking there is no good for you. Or. Houbba: Since the vacancy there of 7,500 square feet at the south of the building there, it has been vacant for quite some time. They probably just figure we can park here, it doesn't hurt anybody, maybe. I don't know. Or. Caramagno: That is an FYI for you. Thank you Or. Houbba: Thank you. I appreciate it. Or, Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other question from any of the Planning Commission for our petitioners? If there are no other questions, Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody else that wishes to speak for or against this item? Even though this is an item that has been discussed at length, we will give an opportunity. I don't see anyone asking to speak. Mr. Buison, and Mr. Houbba, is there anything else you would like to say before we make a decision on this item. Mr. Houbba: Ed, if you would like to say something first. Mr. Buison: Nothing further. I think that everything that was explained, hopefully met the concerns we have discussed over the past few weeks. Hopefully our plan is sufficient, so we operate a drive thru safely and hopefully elevate this corner of the Middlebelt and Plymouth intersection to match the rest of the area. Thank you for everyone working with us. Thank you for your time. Or. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Buison. Mr, Houbba? Mr. Houbba: I do want to thank all of you. I took all of your comments and all of your feedback and as you can see, we put it down on paper. Hopefully we have answered most of your concerns. We are going to extreme lengths for Ed. I know it may seem like just a coffee shop, but after meeting Ed ... he is a great person. Also, September 23, 2020 29769 we ... this unit has been vacant for quite some time and finally we have a chance to lease it but only if a drive thru gets attained. Especially in these times and how important it is. We are ... with the landscape design and the concrete curbing, we are going to extreme lengths for leasing a smaller unit like this. This will help us to do what we need to do to beautify the plaza and hopefully this will be a long-term investment. Mr. Wilshaw: Great. Thank you, Mr. Houbba. With that, I will look to my fellow commissioners for a motion. On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-50-2020 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on September 22, 2020, on Petition 2020-07-02-06 submitted by Ed Buison requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(c)(4) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a limited service restaurant with drive -up window facilities (Biggby Coffee) within the Livonia Crossroads retail center at 11502 Middlebelt Road, located on the southeast corner of Middlebelt and Plymouth Roads in the Northwest'/4 of Section 36, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2020-09-01-07 be approved for the following reasons or subject to the following conditions: 1. That the maximum customer seating count for this restaurant shall not exceed a total of thirty (30) interior seats. 2. That the Site Plan dated September 11, 2020, prepared by Taylor Investment L.L.C. is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 3. Before the issuance of a Certificate of Occupation, the shopping center's parking lot shall be repaired, resealed, and restriped in accordance with the above approved site plan. All parking spaces, except the required handicapped spaces, shall be doubled striped at ten feet (10') wide by twenty feet (20') in length. 4. That the Landscape Planting Plan identified as LP-1, dated September 17, 2020, prepared by Nagy Devlin Land Design is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 5. That only conforming signage is approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. September 23, 2020 29770 6. That unless approved by the proper local authority, any type of exterior advertising, such as promotional flags, streamers or sponsor vehicles designed to attract the attention of passing motorists, shall be prohibited. 7. That no LED lightband or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows. 8. That the specific plans referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time of application for building permits; and 9. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a period of one (1) year only from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. 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. ITEM #6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,159t" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,159t" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on September 1, 2020. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by McCue ,and unanimously adopted, it was #09-51-2020 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,159t" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on September 10 2020, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Long, McCue, Wilshaw Smiley, Ventura, Caramagno September 23, 2020 29771 Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,160th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on September 22, 2020, was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Sam Caramagno, Secret ry ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman