HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,164 - January 26, 2021 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,164th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, January 26, 2021, the City Planning Commission of the City of
Livonia held its 1,164th 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, Stephanie Reece,
Program Supervisor, and Debra Walter, Clerk -Typist 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 2020-12-01-07 Tiseo Architects
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2020-
12-01-07 submitted by Tiseo Architects, Inc. pursuant to Section
23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended,
requesting to rezone portions of the shopping center property at
19043 thru 19053 Middlebelt Road and 29475 thru 29493 Seven
Mile Road, located on the west side of Middlebelt Road between
Clarita Avenue and Seven Mile Road in the Northeast'% of Section
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11, from C-1, Local Business & P, Parking to C-2, General
Business.
Mr. Taormina: This is a request to rezone a property that is located on the west
side of Middlebelt Road between Clarita and Seven Mile Road.
The property is on the southwest corner of Seven Mile and
Middlebelt roads. The request is to rezone portions of the
property that are currently zoned P (Parking) and C-1 (Local
Business) to C-2 (General Business). The site, as you can see
from the zoning map, is currently divided into three zoning
classifications. The north half of the shopping center, where the
building is located is currently zoned C-2 (General Business).
The south half of the building, as well as the narrow strip that runs
along the south end of the property, is currently zoned C-1 (Local
Business). Most of the existing parking lot is zoned P (Parking).
The proposed changes would place the entire site under the C-2
classification. The site of the shopping center is 5.36 acres. To
familiarize everyone with this map, the site includes all of this
building as well as the area petitioned for rezoning that is shown
highlighted in yellow. There is a gas station at the corner of
Middlebelt and Seven Mile Roads. A Wendy's restaurant is to the
south and a Boston Market restaurant is positioned near the
center of the frontage. However, the Wendy's, the Boston Market
and the gas station are not a part of this site. The building itself
is about 56,700 square feet. Most of the available parking, as
you can see, is located between the building and Middlebelt
Road. The main tenants include Pet Supplies Plus, and Planet
Fitness. Most recently, a bank ATM kiosk was constructed at the
south end of the property. The purpose of the rezoning is to
facilitate the development of a new outlot building that would have
drive -up or drive-thru facilities. The Wendy's is located to the
south just off the plan. The outlot building that I just referenced
is shown right here on the site. The new building would be
located between the Boston Market and the Wendy's. Changing
the zoning to C-2 is a necessary first step since the P (Parking)
classification currently does not allow buildings or structures.
Drive -up operations require waiver -use approval. So, regardless
of what happens this evening on the rezoning petition, this would
have to come back for further review for the restaurant, impacts
on parking, traffic, etc. The new building would occupy an area
that measures about 104 feet by 145 feet. The center currently
contains about 302 parking spaces. With the addition of the
2,000 square foot building, the required parking would increase
to 313 spaces. Currently there are about 307 spaces available
for a slight surplus. But with the construction of the building and
the additional parking that is required and with the displacement
of approximately 50 parking spaces, number of available parking
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29850
spaces would drop to 272. This would result in a deficiency of 42
parking spaces. The future land use plan shows the area as part
of a mixed -development center that includes all of the four
corners of Seven Mile and Middlebelt. 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 December
23, 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 property associated with the project is
assigned the address ranges of #19043 thru #19053 Middlebelt
Road and #29475 thru #29493 Seven Mile Road, with the
address of #19043 Middlebelt Road being assigned to the overall
parcel. The legal descriptions included on the plans submitted by
the owner appears to correctly describe the property, but it shows
the parcel as being divided into three pieces which is not correct.
Although the descriptions provided can be used to describe the
parcel, the owner should provide a description for the parcel
which describes it as a single combined parcel. There are no
descriptions provided for the current or proposed zoning areas.
The proposed development is currently serviced by public water
main, storm and sanitary sewers, and the submitted drawings do
not indicate any changes to the existing services. Should the
owner wish to construct the outlot building" as shown on the
drawings, they should contact this office to discuss new service
connections and storm water requirements. The sanitary sewer
located on the parcel is privately -owned, and any new
connections may require additional easements and upgrades to
the system to accept it as publicly -owned. Also, any proposed
construction will be required to meet the Wayne County
Stormwater Ordinance, including detention requirements." The
letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City
Engineer.The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated
December 15, 2020, which reads as follows: V have reviewed
the addresses connected with the above noted petition. There
are no past due amounts receivable, however, their water bills
of $8.50 and $68.34 are currently due on January 111 2021, 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 December 15, 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. At this time there are taxes due, but they
are not delinquent, therefore I have no objections to the
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proposal. "The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The
next item is an email from Karolynn, a resident, dated January
23, 2021, it reads: "Good Afternoon: What is the process for
getting a comment to the Planning Commission? It is in regards
to Tuesday night's meeting. Can my email be forwarded to all the
commissioners for consideration ahead of time? Comment: I
have a comment regarding the rezoning at 7 & Middlebelt, which
I believe will be discussed Tuesday. I got an email about it. Is the
rezoning in alignment with the Master Plan? I believe that Book 2
and Book 4 of the Master Plan are the most relevant to this
rezoning. The Former Livonia Mall is a Special Planning Area.
The adopted plan's vision for the site is a mixed -use development
(see pages 33-36 of Book 2); implementation of this plan requires
the development of a new, form -based zoning district. I do not
see a Mixed Development District (or something like it) in the
current Livonia zoning code as an option, though I might have
missed it. C-1 and C-2 don't allow for the vibrant vision that has
been adopted for this area. I am looking mainly at pages 33-36 in
LV21 Book 2 and pages 17-18 in LV21 Book 4. Implementation
Questions for the Commission: Has the city begun creating a
new zoning district for the Special Planning Areas? If not, is it in
the budget for 2021 or on the agenda this year? Is this current
rezoning in alignment with the master plan? Does it legally allow
for housing & commercial, mixed -use, pedestrian -friendly
development? (Book 2, Page 36, Page 1) Will the rezoning legally
allow for greater walkability and connectivity with the adjacent
neighborhoods? (Book 2, Page 36, Point 3). If not, should the
city rezone in such a way that is not heading towards the
implementation of the Future Land Use Plan? "The Zoning
Ordinance is the primary regulatory tool for the City to implement
the land use mapping element of the LIVONIA VISION 21
Plan." Livonia Vision 21, Book 4, p.17 -Karolynn (Livonia
Resident) Would love to speak at the meeting OR send in
information ahead of time, to consider. If my email above can be
read publicly, that would be great. Please advise regarding
the proper procedure. Thanks!" The next item is a letter from
Gabe Schuchman of ALRIG USA, dated January 7, 2021, it
reads: "This letter is to provide support for the property owner,
Ford Road Ventures LLC, in their petition submitted by Tiseo
Architects requesting to rezone portions of their shopping center
at 19043 thru 19053 Middlebelt Road and 29475 thru 29493
Middlebelt Road, public hearing taking place on Tuesday,
January 26, 2021 at 7:00 pm. As the neighboring property owner
of the Smoothie King center, I feel that the rezoning will be
advantageous to the intersection and area and any new
businesses that will be brought to the City of Livonia as a result
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of this rezoning will benefit the community." That is the extent of
the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? If not, if our
petitioner is in the audience, please click the raise hand and we
can make sure you are recognized. Also, if you are a phone-in
user, click *9 for raise hand. We have Mr. Tiseo and Mr. Denha.
We will give you an opportunity to introduce yourselves. We will
start with you Mr. Tiseo.
Ben Tiseo, 19815 Farmington, Livonia, MI. Good evening. Thank you again. As
you know, we are here to seek a rezoning for the property so it is
conforming with all of the adjoining properties. Right now, just
about all of the properties that abut this are zoned as C-2. As
well as the Sears plot across the street and even other properties
across Middlebelt Road. I know there has been some discussion
from the city about dropping the P zoning from its ordinance. I
don't know how far that has gotten as far as a discussion, but I
just want to bring that to your attention. Again, we are here for
just a rezoning and I know there are going to be some site plan
issues that will need to be addressed, but you can rest assured
that we will address them if we go through this and it is approved.
We will be back addressing a lot of the site plan approval issues
that I am sure some of you have been thinking about, such as
landscaping and how do we maneuver the site for the drive -up
window on the end cap. Again, I am here if you have any
questions, and we would appreciate any comments.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Tiseo. That is a good segway to remind everyone
in our audience that we are looking at a rezoning for this property
tonight. The questions before us for this evening is, is this an
appropriate change of zoning for this site. There is not going to
be a tremendous amount of discussion about the site plan and
the details of the site, because that would come before us in
another section after the zoning is approved or rejected. Also,
Mr. Denha is with us. Good evening. Are there any comments
you would like to make?
Kevin Denha, 700 N. Old Woodward, Ste. 300, Birmingham, MI, 48009. Thank
you. I will keep it brief. This rezoning petition is really helpful for
the long-term viability of this property since I bought this property
in 2014 or 2015 and just remodeled it. I ask the commission to
take that into consideration as we tried really hard to lease the
space in the present state, so this petition to rezone would really
help fill that center up and create some more activity in the center
in a nice harmonious way as we get through this petition, and thus
leading to the site plan, etc. I will look to you guys for help with
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this and we are here to answer any questions and go from there.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Wllshaw: Thank you, Mr. Denha. I will go to the commission to see if
anyone has any questions for our petitioner and their
representatives.
Ms. Smiley: Have you thought of any mixed
-use, if that is what the future land
use is set for this property? Any mixed -uses in there or tried to
find something like that?
Mr. Denha: At this time, we have not. Our efforts have been channeled
towards getting the holes filled, for a lack of a better word, but I
think as I have mentioned at previous meeting, but irrespective of
that, it really hasn't gone far because the end cap of this center is
probably the deepest part of the center, so it presents a little bit
of a challenge. Thus, we are going for the drive-thru in the
petition that we have in front, but no we have not looked at a
mixed -use right now.
Ms. Smiley: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. Any other questions for our petitioner?
Mr. Ventura: Mr. Denha, can you remind us why you think that building another
building, another out lot building on the Middlebelt frontage, is not
going to create a hardship when you go to try and lease the
building that will be hidden behind it in the shopping center itself?
Mr. Denha: I think we talked about this briefly last week and what I will say to
that is the building is positioned in front of the tenant mostly the
current wig tenant and partially to the inline space directly to the
south of the wig. The current signage that I have on building, the
traffic that the out lot will bring, the current two pylon signs that I
have for any tenant that is mildly blocked will definitely outweigh
the benefits of having the out lot as opposed t having some minor
blockages there. My big box tenants will not be impacted by this
at all and they will be in good shape.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Any other questions for our petitioner
from the commission? If not, I will go to the audience. Mr.
Taormina?
Mr. Taormina: Actually, go to the audience first. I was going to answer some of
the questions that were posed in the correspondence from
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Karolynn. I misspoke when I said it was from Janet Douglas. She
works for the Clerk's office. That email was from a Karolynn F. I
will wait until after audience communication. Maybe she or a
representative is here to ask those, but I would like to respond to
some of those questions.
Mr. Wilshaw: I appreciate that, Mr. Taormina. She did ask some good
questions. It would be good to have those responses on the
record. We will go to the audience. Is there anybody in the
audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? You can
click raise hand. We do have one person so far. We are going
to acknowledge Mrs. Faulkner... Mr. or Mrs. Faulkner.
Karolynn Faulkner, this is the same person from the email. I know that this
rezoning is kind of bringing everything in line with mostly there,
which is C-2. I guess my question is, you know as I said, are we
going to create a new code so that developers could do more
mixed -use if they wanted to. I used to like in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and we had a shopping area kind of not too different
from this area, and the whole area was redone to where we had
cafes, sidewalks, parks... it just looked completely different ya
know. Obviously, that is a ,large project. That is kind of what I
was seeing in the Livonia Vision Plan, but I don't think our
currently zoning code would even allow that if a developer came
in and wanted to do that. My question isn't really for the
developers as much as for the plans of developing maybe a new
zoning district for the special planning areas.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes. You are going to hear from Mr. Taormina who will address
that a little bit in more detail. I will steal a little bit of his thunder
in saying that we just got that Vision 21 Master Plan adopted
here ... we spent a lot of time working on it these past couple years
and we are currently working on reviewing and revising our
zoning ordinance to align with that. You will see in the not -so -
distant future some of those zoning types that will allow for this
plan to be able to flourish in its full potential. It is still a work in
progress. That is a just a quick answer to that question, but we
do appreciate that. Is there anyone else in our audience wishing
to speak for or against this petition? If so, please click the raise
hand. We do have one phone-in user. You can dial *9 to raise
your hand if you would like to speak as well. I don't see anyone
else in our audience raising their hand, so Mr. Taormina I believe
it is your turn.
Mr. Taormina: Thank you. Karolynn, in response to your question, as the
Chairman mentioned, the Planning Commission is in the very
early stages of reviewing a new zoning ordinance. This is an
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ordinance that would completely replace what we currently have,
with the intention of being in line with the Master Plan, Livonia
Vision 21. The zoning ordinance is actually Phase Two of this
process. It is a considerable effort. It is probably several months
before there will be any action on the new zoning ordinance. It
does embody a form -based element, which would be available to
this property, and any other properties in the area and throughout
the city. Your question regarding whether this rezoning is in line
with the Master Plan... it is not inconsistent with the Master Plan.
The reason for that is that the C-2 zoning can be developed using
a special waiver process called a planned development. There
is nothing that prevents this developer from taking advantage of
our planned unit development district guidelines that presently
exist in the ordinance and the ability to develop this as a mixed -
use development. It is not what is currently before us right now.
This is a zoning to C-2, but again, if circumstances should change
and they wanted to introduce a mixed -use element to this project,
the C-2 zoning district itself would not prohibit that. It would be a
little bit different mechanism to go through that process. We are
going to make it, I believe, much easier once the new ordinance
is adopted. Hopefully that answers your question.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. I will give our resident an opportunity
to respond if she has any other questions.
As. Faulkner: Oh no. That's great. I am happy to hear that the new code is at
least in the works, even if it is early stages.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes. A lot of work goes into making a change. In fact, our zoning
ordinance hasn't ever gone through such a comprehensive
review as we are going through right now. It is going to be quite
a major change. I think it will set us up for the future.
As. Faulkner: That's exciting. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, we appreciate you coming tonight. Is there anyone
else in the audience wishing to speak for or against this item? If
so, please click the raise hand. I don't see anyone else. Mr.
Tiseo, is there anything else you would like to add before we
make our decision?
Mr. Tiseo: No, I am fine with what I have heard tonight. We hope we get
your support so we can move forward with this exciting project.
Thank you.
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Mr. Wilshaw: Alright, thank you, Mr. Tiseo. If there are no further questions
from the petitioner or the commission regarding the site, then I
can close the public hearing and a motion would be in order.
On a motion by McCue, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#01-01-2021 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on January 26, 2021, on
Petition 2020-12-01-07 submitted by Tiseo Architects, Inc.
pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance
#543, as amended, requesting to rezone portions of the shopping
center property at 19043 thru 19053 Middlebelt Road and 29475
thru 29493 Seven Mile Road, located on the west side of
Middlebelt Road between Clarita Avenue and Seven Mile Road
in the Northeast'/ of Section 11, from C-1, Local Business & P,
Parking to C-2, General Business, the Planning Commission
does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2020-
12-01-07 be approved for the following reasons:
1. That a change of zoning to C-2, General Business is
compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding land uses and
zoning districts in the area.
2. That the proposed change of zoning would provide
opportunities for a greater variety of uses to serve the area as
well as the City as a whole.
3. That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the
developing character of the surrounding neighborhood.
4. That the proposed change of zoning represents a reasonable
and logical zoning plan for the subject property which adheres to
the principles of sound land use planning, and
5. That the proposed change of zoning is supported by the
recently adopted Future Land Use Map for Livonia Vision 21
shows the subject area of the rezoning as Mixed Development
Center.
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 onto City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM 02 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
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1,1045 Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of
the Minutes of the 1,1631d Public Hearings and Regular Meeting
held on December 15, 2020.
On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#01-02-2020 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,163 d Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on December
15, 2020, are hereby approved.
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Long, McCue, Smiley, Ventura, Bongero,
Caramagno, Wilshaw
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,164th Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on January 26, 2021, was adjourned at 7:32
p.m.
CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
Sam Caramagno, Sec etary
ATTEST:
Ian Wilsha , airman