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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,184 - February 22, 2022 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,184th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,184th Public Hearing and Regular Meetings in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Members present: David Bongero Sam Caramagno Glen Long Betsy McCue Carol Smiley Ian Wilshaw Members absent: Peter Ventura Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, 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 2022-01-02-01 LAG Development Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2022- 01-02-01 submitted by LAG Development requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.05 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance to demolish the existing commercial building and use the property for the storage and display of vehicles in connection with an automobile dealership (Lafontaine Hyundai of Livonia) at 34801 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Stark and Wayne Roads in the Northwest '/ of Section 33. February 22, 2022 30417 Mr. Taormina: This project would convert the former Dough Boy Doughnut property on Plymouth Road to a vehicle display lot. Located at the southwest corner of Plymouth and Laurel Roads, the subject property is now under the ownership of LaFontaine Hyundai of Livonia. The site is a little over a half -acre with 173 feet of frontage on Plymouth Road and approximately 147 feet on Laurel. This site was originally developed as a gas station and then converted to a doughnut shop sometime around 1975. The existing building, which is about 2,150 square feet in size, would be removed. As you can see from the zoning map, the current zoning is C-1 (Local Business). A petition currently under review would change the zoning to C-2 (General Business). City Council gave first reading to the zoning change on October 18, 2021. Per Section 6.05 of the zoning ordinance, C-2 zoning allows for automobile sales as a waiver -use, subject to review and approval by both the Planning Commission and City Council. Under that same section, there are a number of special requirements that apply to new and used car lots. First, the site must be at least a half -acre in size and have 100-feet of frontage on a major thoroughfare. In addition, no vehicles can be parked within 20- feet from the front lot line. Another requirement is that all exterior lighting must be shielded and reflected so as not to create a nuisance. Also, the number of vehicles to be displayed or stored is determined by the city. And lastly, there can be no outside storage of disabled, damaged, or unlicensed vehicles. As mentioned previously, this parcel is over a half -acre in size and contains over 100-feet of frontage on Plymouth Road, which is a major thoroughfare. The site would be combined with the adjacent dealership property, which by itself is approximately 2.2 acres and includes another 175 feet of frontage on Plymouth Road. So, the site easily exceeds the minimum size and frontage requirements of the zoning ordinance. The site plan shows that with the building gone, the restriped parking lot would have the capacity to accommodate up to 40 vehicles. The subject property currently has access to Plymouth Road via two driveway approaches. The existing dealership also has two other driveways: one on Plymouth Road and the other on Laurel Road. The two properties would be connected by means of a new driveway opening that would be created in the southeast corner of the property. I am going to go back to the main aerial so you can see where this property lies in relationship to the other main dealership. The Hyundai dealership is located here. It is this L- shaped parcel. You can also see the building of the former Dough Boy Doughnut property located here, highlighted in yellow. This building, as mentioned, would be removed. The site plan that we are looking is for this parcel here. There was February 22, 2022 30418 discussion at the study meeting about the possibility of eliminating one of the three Plymouth Road approaches and converting the area to landscaping. With respect to the vehicle display lot, there are three parking spaces shown on the plan that encroach into the minimum required 20-foot setback from the Plymouth Road right-of-way, and which will require City Council approval to modify this special provision. Additional green areas would be added along Plymouth Road to accommodate the landscaping that is required pursuant to Article X of the zoning ordinance. Required are three full-size trees, two ornamental trees, and 21 shrubs. Landscaping would also be added to the southwest corner of the site. In addition, the plan includes PRDA streetscape improvements in the form of brick pillars and ornamental fencing. Overall, the submitted landscape plan complies with Article X. Lastly, with respect to site lighting, a photometric plan has been provided. It shows six pole -mounted fixtures. As required, all six (6) would be full cut-off fixtures and would have maximum height of 20-feet. The illumination levels vary from a high of approximately 8.5-foot candles, which is at the center of the property, to about 2 foot candles on the edges. While this is greater than what the ordinance recommends, since the lighting will not directly affect any residential areas, City Council can approve the higher -than -average illumination levels. 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 January 21, 20221 which reads as follows: it 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 proposed project parcel is assigned the address of #34801 Plymouth Road. The existing building is currently serviced by public water main and sanitary sewer, as well as private storm sewer. Since the owner is planning to demolish the existing building and not replace it with a structure, there should not be any impacts to the existing facilities. The owner will need to obtain demolition permits from this Department, should the petition be approved. It should be noted that the developer may be required to obtain a permit from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MOOT), should any work occur within the Plymouth Road right-of-way." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated January 26, 2022, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a automobile display February 22, 2022 30419 area 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 January 20, 2022, 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 February 4, 2022, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. This Department has no objections to this Petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of Inspection. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated January 26, 2022, which reads as follows: "/ have reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. The following amounts are due to the City of Livonia: Unpaid water and sewer charges: (currently due on 2110122) Total Due City of Livonia $ 179.93". The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. Those charges have been taken care of. The next lAter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated February 7, 2022, 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 l have no objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. Lastly, we have an email correspondence that we received today, February 22, 2022, from James Dupuie, it reads: "Livonia Planning Commission, I wish to offer the following input regarding this request by LAG. I do not oppose the demolition of this building or the use for storage and display. However, as 28+ year resident of Laurel Street, I have attended several meetings related to our neighboring businesses. There is an existing CR 182-03 adopted by the Livonia City Council on April 23, 2003, with conditions that read in part: 2. "For safety purposes, the parking or standing of delivery trucks and car haulers on Laurel Avenue is strictly prohibited. All vehicle loading and unloading at this dealership shall be accomplished on the premises only, and not within 'any public rights -of -way, as shown on the "Truck Hauler Unload Area" plan marked Sheet 1a of 4, dated March 13, 2003." We would appreciate that consideration be given to designate an area in this parcel for loading and unloading car haulers and tow trucks. I met with Mr. Matt Szabla in September of 2021 to discuss my concerns. He related that they have an offsite location for this practice but, I believe it is often ignored by hauling and towing companies. Car haulers continue to use Laurel for loading/unloading vehicles. Most often they drive south on Laurel Street when finished offloading. This continues to be the practice and as recent as yesterday (Feb 21, 2022), a car February 22, 2022 30420 hauler drove south from the dealership. Thanks for your consideration. James Dupuie, 11196 Laurel Street, Livonia, MI 48150." That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? I don't see any questions for our planning staff. Our petitioner is here in the audience. If you would like to come to one of the podiums you can introduce yourself. Tell us about your project. Taylor Lin, LAG Development, 4000 West Highland Road, Highland, MI. Good evening. I am here this evening with Matt Szabla. He is the General Sales Manager for both our Dearborn and Livonia complexes. As you guys have already gone over, we are here to present our project located at 34801 Plymouth Road, formerly known as the Doughboy Doughnut Shop. Our intention with this parcel is to beautify it by demolishing the building, adding some more landscaping, and then turning this eye sore into a parking lot displaying beautiful new vehicles. Mr. Wilshaw: Great. Thank you. Do we have any questions? Thank you for your presentation by the way. Ms. Lin: No problem. Mr. Wilshaw: Do we have any questions for Ms. Lin? Ms. Smiley: Just a quick one. Have you worked with the Plymouth Road Development Authority? Ms. Lin: Yes. Ms. Smiley: Okay, you have. So, you have a plan that is worked out with them? Ms. Lin: Yes. Ms. Smiley: Great. Thank you. Or, Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. Any other questions? Ms. McCue: I do think that it is a valid point or question about the car haulers going up and down the road. Have you addressed that at all? Ms. Lin: Actually, I am going to bring Matt up. This would be his territory. Matt Szabla, 34801 Plymouth Road, Livonia, MI, 48150. All instructions for all OEM's and all semi -trucks to drop off either Hyundai's, Mazda's, February 22, 2022 30421 or Volkswagen are communicated with their car haulers to drop off at our lot that is about a half -mile down the street. I am not aware of any semi's dropping off cars, nor have I seen any. If they do and I am on the property, I make sure we get them down there and that they aren't dropping them there and they drop them down the street where all of the new cars are received, and our porters take them. They go down there with the keys and grab them and take them to our current location and then PDI them. Now, if there are any service cars or anything like that being unloaded or on loan, we do the same thing. I have instructed all of the managers to do the same thing with any car haulers that are there. We are continuously working on it. I am not saying that it is perfect, but I think we are a lot better than it was before and we will continue to make sure we address it moving forward. All that communication was done with all of the manufacturers six to eight months ago when we took over the property and I made it crystal clear there is to be no semi's unloading brand new cars on Laurel Street. Ms. McCue: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. McCue. Anything else, Ms. McCue? Ms. McCue: Mr. Taormina, is there anything we can do about that or maybe add to discussion? I do get it. I really do understand. It might sound kind of petty, but like right here, we were talking about potholes when we walked in today and just the conditions of our streets anyway are not always the best or always the most passable or wide enough for parking, so... Mr. Szabla: Ideal with a lot of similarities of how close it is to the main road at the Dearborn complex and the confines of how much we work with the residents and how close the residents are. I am very compassionate with that, as well as the City Council and Planning Commission of Dearborn. I have very similar conversations. We can go a step further and if there is anybody parking or speeding or any of our employees parking there, we can do internal ticketing that we have done in Dearborn and have some conversations like that. The problem lies typically with the independents that are picking up one car or dropping off one car that is either used or they are transporting it or some wholesale piece and we are continuously working on that. Now, if we have more room, I think they would be able to pull in if they are dropping off one car or picking one car up or a tow truck or something if we had some more room and access points there with this new parcel. I think we can accommodate them a little bit better as well, and our neighbors. February 22, 2022 30422 Ms, McCue: Thank you. Mr. Wllshaw: All set, Ms. McCue? Ms. McCue: I think so, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Good questions. Ms. Smiley? Ms. Smiley: Are we closing one of those entrances or exits on Plymouth Road? Mr. Szabla: So, we have talked about that. We are not particularly opposed to it. We kind of want to lay out the plans and all that stuff too. You know that still leaves us two. I am not opposed to it. I don't think LAG Development is oppose to it, but when we move forward with the plan, I think we can kind of get into more details of mapping out everything. I am not opposed to it. Ms: Smiley: Okay, then back to Ms. McCue's question. Are you aware of the one on February 21, 2022? Mr. Szabla: I am not aware of the one on February 21, 2022. Ms. Smiley: That gentleman mentioned...) am hoping that if this clears out, they would be more inclined to go in there. Mr. Szabla: I totally agree. Ms. Smiley: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. Mr. Long? Mr. Long: I don't have a question, but a comment. I know we have talked about eliminating one of those curb cuts and considering it, but given this information about the trucks going through, in order to maximize the ability for people getting in and out we may want to reconsider. Mr. Szabla: That is the other thing too. If we want to map out them coming in...the smaller trucks. I am talking about a single or double car hauler, because I know no semis are dropping off. If there is a semi, I am always on top of it right away or someone on my team is. We aren't parking giant semis on Laurel Street. I know that for a fact. I have seen one or two that are small car haulers that load ... they are pulled by a pickup truck; they load one or two or they drop off real quick. Yes, the large car haulers aren't there. February 22, 2022 30423 They drop them off down the street. If we have more entrances and exits, they can swing in and swing out and drop-off or pick- up any vehicles. That is a good point. Mr. Long: This is something that I was, at the study session, in favor of, but I am kind of reconsidering it now. I am interested in, as this progresses and I don't need an answer today, obviously, but as this progresses down the road, I will be interested in what you come up with. Thank you. Mr. Szabla: We want to be good neighbors. We truly do. We want to be good stewards of the community. We want to comply with anything that the city needs as far as greenery and foliage, and we have improved a lot of landscaping. We put in ... they requested those original pine trees that go along the Burger King that there were 12 or 13 pine trees that were supposed to be there in the original plans of the site ... we put those in right away. We spent a bunch of money right in the fall there. We cleaned up all the leaves. Did all the landscaping and we are going to continue to improve the properties. Mr. Wilshaw: Great news. Any other questions for our petitioner? No questions from anyone else. Thank you, sir. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? Feel free to come forward, sir. Please start with your name and address. Brad Arnold, 11205 Laurel, Livonia, MI 48150. In July I will be a 30-year resident there. I am right to the south of the dealership. Could you put that one up? Right there. That one. My question is, and I don't think it has been explained or not, but I don't have a problem tearing it down. That is a good improvement. Are they opening up the yard though? That is what I am asking. Are they opening that yard and is it going to be all the way open to the commercial wall? We have had cars roll out of there in 30 years. Kids and people jump over the commercial wall from the Burger King area. That was my concern. I was wondering if it is enclosed on the yard or will it be open and if it is open will they work on the cosmetics of where the back was ... where that yellow line is, is a wall fence right now with trees. It is overgrown. They have done a lot of good things, like he said. They put the trees in and picked it up. Made it a whole lot nicer than it has been in the last ten years. Or, Wilshaw: I think, to answer your question and Mr. Taormina can help by pointing out as well, the intent is to make this part of the entire site to make it look as much as one large parking area and there February 22, 2022 30424 would be an opening... Mr. Taormina is pointing to it with his mouse. That would be ... there would be an opening... Mr. Arnold: Are you guys opening all that up and not leaving it a closed yard? Mr. Wilshaw: Correct. It would be opened up so that it would be all one so you can flow through the property. Mr. Arnold: My thing is that it become safe, ya know. That you, basically, opening it up to the back of my house from... is what you are doing. My house is right here. The first house. Then it would open all of that up. Basically, they have got gates here and fenced in everywhere all the way around. Mr. Wilshaw: I see what you are saying. Mr. Arnold: So, I am asking for cosmetic that it is nice and that it is safe. I hate to see them open it up and have all kinds of different kind of folks coming in. Mr. Wilshaw: Right. Definitely. I understand. Mr. Arnold: That is my concern. Mr. Wilshaw: I think Mr. Bongero has a question for you. Mr. Bongero: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Are you...l don't think they are taking that back wall down next to his house. Mr. Wilshaw: Correct. Mr. Bongero: They aren't going to open that. It is up further on the left behind where the Doughboy building ... they are going to open that little section up so they can get through to the big lot. They aren't going to come back by your house and take the wall down. Mr. Arnold: No, I am not saying by my house. I am saying right on the edge of that property is trees and a fence and that is what I am asking. Are they going to clear that open and open all that up? Mr. Bongero: That we would have to ask the petitioner. I know there was talk at the study session opening it up so they could get through to the big lot. I don't know if they would take it down all of that. Mr. Szabla: Right now, that building ... our current Hyundai building is between the square of the yellow and the service...yeah, right there. That is all open right there. Between... there is no fence dividing our February 22, 2022 30425 lot right there where he is going in there...so, that is all open. There is, obviously, fencing along the border of the Burger King with trees as well. Right there. That fence has been repaired. Now there is a like half fence in the front there, but there is no fencing... so, someone can walk all the way through already. It isn't totally enclosed right now. Mr. Arnold: Okay, so what I am asking is, are you taking that out and clearing all that part out by the building.so you have an open area. Will that be open? That is what I am curious about. Mr. Wilshaw: Sir, you will need to talk to us through the microphone so that everybody can hear you on TV as well. Mr. Arnold: I was asking about the...we can tear a building down, but if you are going to improve it and I was asking if they were tearing that down and that is going to be part of tearing the building down and opening all that up and creating a open area there? Mr. Wilshaw: I am not...all we know is what they are proposing. They can come back up and detail this a little bit more if they wish, but once the building is torn down there is going to be an opening in the fence that is currently between the doughnut property and their dealership parking lot to allow for cars to flow for pedestrians... well, not for pedestrians, but customers to flow through and shop for cars. There is not going to be any changes to any of the fencing that happens on the western edge of the property along Burger King or there or along the southern property that abuts you. That wall will be there. Nothing will change there as far we are aware. There will be some additional landscaping. There is going to be quite a bit of landscaping that they are adding to this site to add some greenery as well. Make it look nice and they want it to be a nice -looking showroom, if you will, parking lot for their new vehicles. I am sure they aren't going to have debris or anything unsightly there. Mr. Arnold: I still haven't heard if that is opening. Is that all opening? Mr. Taormina: May I answer his question? Mr. Wilshaw: Sure. Mr. Taormina, Mr. Taormina: This area is not going to be fully opened. Only a driveway connection between the two properties where the building currently sits. This area will remain as it is. If what you are asking is will all the landscaping be removed and the area opened up to February 22, 2022 30426 parking, the answer is no. There is some landscaping and I believe some fencing ... a gate right here. Is that correct? Ms.Lin: Yes. Mr. Taormina: There is going to be additional landscaping provided in the southwest corner that will pretty much close off the opportunity for another connection between the two properties. The only opening is going to be located here as I indicated. Now, going back to the area by your property, nothing is shown on the plan that would impact or change the buffer that currently exists between your house and the common property line that you share with them. Mr. Arnold: You have answered my question. Thank you. Mr. Taormina: That is accurate, correct? Okay. Mr. Wilshaw: We got you settled now? Mr. Arnold: Yeah, I'm settled. I just want to make sure we have some safety, and we got a little bit of cosmetics, so we look good. You can put lipstick on a pig, but she is still a pig. Mr. Wilshaw: Exactly. One thing we did talk to the petitioner about at our study meeting is lighting and security. They are going to make sure to have adequate lighting that can apparently change in intensity if there is motion on the property so that way, they can provide for security for that site at night too. Mr. Taormina: It is likely that LAG will be back before this Commission sometime later this year with plans to make additional changes to the dealership building. Allowing for an opening between the two properties, as shown, should be an improvement. It will provide the opportunity for vehicles to enter and exit to Plymouth Road from the back lot where currently these cars have to use Laurel. I think it will improve the situation for the neighbors to the south. Mr. Wilshaw: Definitely. It would draw traffic directly to Plymouth Road instead of Laurel. Or, Taormina: Correct, Jr. Arnold: Thank you. Or. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. There is no one else in the audience. I don't think there is anyone else wishing to speak. We always like to give the February 22, 2022 30427 petitioner the last word before we make our decision. Is there anything else that you would like to add? Ms. Lin: I just wanted to address the gentleman's concern about security and go a little bit more in depth with our lighting system. Mr. Wilshaw: Please do. Ms. Lin: You covered it pretty much. We are able to adjust the lighting intensity. Usually in the evening we tone it down and we do have lighting controls and motion sensors. In the evening we turn them down or completely off and when someone goes into the lot the lights go on and grow in intensity. Then the police are aware that someone is there that is not supposed to be there. The police actually like it because it helps them monitor the dealerships and the surrounding area. That would be our security for that lot. Mr. Wilshaw: Excellent. We appreciate you explaining that. If there is any other questions from any of our commissioners for our petitioner...I don't think there is. I close the public hearing and a motion would be in order. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Bongero, and unanimously adopted, it was #02-14-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on February 22, 2022, Petition 2022-01-02-01 submitted by LAG Development requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.05 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance to demolish the existing commercial building and use the property for the storage and display of vehicles in connection with an automobile dealership (Lafontaine Hyundai of Livonia) at 34801 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Stark and Wayne Roads in the Northwest 'Y4 of Section 33, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2022-01-02- 01 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan identified as 2 of 3, dated January 26, 2022, as revised, prepared by Mannik Smith Group, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 2. That the number of vehicles to be stored and displayed on this site shall be limited to a total of forty (40) vehicles, and unless waived by a two-thirds majority of City Council, no vehicles for sale shall be displayed closer than twenty feet (20') from the front lot line. February 22, 2022 30428 3. That the parking lot shall be repaired, resealed, and restriped as necessary to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department. Parking spaces shall be doubled striped at ten feet (10') wide by twenty feet (20') in length. 4. 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. 5. That the display of any vehicles on car lifts is strictly prohibited. 6. That the Landscape Plan identified as 3 of 3, dated January 261 2022, as revised, prepared by Mannik Smith Group, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 7. That all disturbed lawn areas, including road rights -of -way, shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding. 8. That the Petitioner shall work with the Planning Department and the Plymouth Road Development Authority (PRDA) on plans to install additional landscaping and other streetscape improvements (i.e., brick piers and ornamental fencing) along Plymouth Road. 9. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feet (20') in height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into adjacent roadways, and 10. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, this approval is valid for a period of one 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 13.13 of Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance. 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. February 22, 2022 30429 ITEM #2 PETITION 2022-01-06-01 Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ord Amendment Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2022- 01-06-01 submitted by the City of Livonia Planning Commission on its own motion pursuant to Section 13.15 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, and in accordance with Public Act 110 of 2006 (Michigan Zoning Enabling Act), as amended, to consider multiple revisions to the LIVONIA VISION 21 Zoning Ordinance in order to correct certain defects, add and delete provisions, and provide clarification to others. Mr. Taormina: This item involves changes to the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance. As you know, the new zoning ordinance was adopted last August. After six months of applying the new regulations, staff has discovered several items that were somehow overlooked and missing, and which should be added back. Additionally, we feel that this presents a great opportunity to make other desired improvements to the ordinance. The requested changes affect 35 different sections of the code. A few are more significant than others, which I will go over briefly. They include: 1) Expanding the opportunity to use the Planned Development option within the City's residential districts. 2) Changing ambulance services, local and suburban passenger, bus, taxi, and trucking transportation terminals, from a permitted use to a waiver -use in the industrial districts. 3) Adding back the provisions for industrial parks that previously existed in Ordinance 543. This is something that came up recently with a couple of site plans in Rosati Park and is important that we get the old regulations reinstated into the new zoning ordinance. 4) Increasing the allowable floor area ratio in the NM2 multi -family district from 30% to 35%. 5) Adding back provisions for restricting the storage of materials and equipment in the front, side, and rear yards within the city's commercial districts. This is something that was inadvertently omitted from the new zoning ordinance, and we found a place to put that back into the code. 6) Eliminating accessory dwelling units as a permitted used in one -family residential districts. I showed you this last week. This language exists in two different spots within the ordinance. Both of those sections would be eliminated. One is part of Article XI and the other is in Article XII. 7) Eliminating the zones that require minimum house sizes since these are all obsolete. When we adopted the new zoning map, we removed any reference to Zones A, B, and C, which for a long time were part of the various district designations, but no longer exist. 8) Including retail sales in our C-4, High Rise Commercial zoning district. Why that was February 22, 2022 30430 left out, I don't know. The fact that it is a commercial zoning district, it should allow for limited retail sales. 9) Adding back a provision that will allow limited projections of chimneys, eaves, and other architectural features into the required yard setbacks on residential properties. This is another item we discussed where it is not uncommon to have minor projections for features on houses such as chimneys, eaves, and those types of things. Currently, the ordinance has separate rules as applied to porches and decks, but other minor architectural features were unaccounted for in the new zoning ordinance. We want to add that language back. 10) Adding back the allowance for reduced parking stall dimensions in the case of office developments. Where we typically require 10 x 20 spaces, often times in office complexes where employees park for a long period of time, we really don't see the need for the ten -foot -wide spaces. Nine feet seems to be appropriate in most circumstances. It saves land and since it is not used for customer parking there is less risk of vehicles being damaged. 11) Making sure that screen walls are the preferred means by which to buffer non-residential developments from residential properties. Mr. Long had asked, as we were going through the restrictions, that it should be the preference over the landscape buffering. If you refer to Article X Section 10.03, you will see how we have modified that language to address that concern. 12) Allowing for separation agreements between property owners who desire certain buffering standards and are willing to avoid going through the variance process. There are times when the owner of a commercial property is required to put up a wall, but the adjacent residential property owner might have an existing fence that they prefer to keep. As long as the two parties agree, the ordinance would allow for up to five-year agreements. Over the years, we have done a number of these. They work well. Again, that was left out of the new code book, and we feel it is an important item to put back in. 13) Increasing the allowable area for monument signs in the C-1, Local Business zoning district from 20 square feet to 30 square feet. Why we reduced it in the first place I don't know. It seems logical that for multi -building complexes that the amount of sign area would be at least equal to if it were a single commercial building. 14) Adding back a provision that requires site plan review in the case of certain commercial and other non- residential developments, as well as site condominium and condominium projects. Again, this is language that was inadvertently omitted that we are putting back. 15) Eliminating the application fee for site plan reviews since this was moved to the Code of Ordinances. 16) Lastly, removing the requirement for the City Clerk to provide inserts in the case of rezoning notification signs. It is our opinion that these changes will result February 22, 2022 30431 in a better overall zoning ordinance and one that helps achieve the overall goals and objectives of the Master Plan. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. There is no further correspondence from any other departments for this item, is there? Mr. Taormina: There is not. That is correct. The report for the prepared resolution should be located at the end of the staff report. Mr. Wilshaw: I do see it in our packet. Thank you. Just for the audience's benefit, who may be reading this or seeing it online or whatever, we did at our study meeting go through an exhaustive review of each of these changes at our study meeting and really appreciate that detail. We have had an opportunity now for the past week between the study meeting and now to further review these changes. Is there any questions from the commissioners for our planning staff? Ms. Smiley: Not a question. More of a comment. This must have taken a great deal of effort and experience to make these changes and I appreciate them being done. Thank you. Mr. Taormina: It was interesting because between the Planning, Inspection and Law Departments, in the real -world application of the new ordinance, we began discovering several defects and omissions. There was constant correspondence back and forth between the departments. Where is this? Why is it missing? And what should we do to fix it? So, over the course of the last six months, we have been logging all of these item which aided signficantly in drafting the changes. Ms. Smiley: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. That is a great point. This zoning ordinance is over 200 pages. It was almost a clean sheet rewrite from scratch over a period of many many months reviewed by many departments. At some point, when you are looking at all these words you end up getting cross-eyed or you get sort of tunnel vision. It is not easy to see everything clearly, so it is good that this process is happening to constantly review and modify. That is the intent of this new zoning ordinance to be flexible and I think this is a great example of that. Any other comments or questions from anybody? This is a public hearing. There is no one else in the audience to speak to this, so I will not look for anybody to come forward. If there is no other comments or February 22, 2022 30432 questions from anyone, I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Long, seconded by Caramagno, and unanimously adopted, it was #02-15-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on February 22, 2022, on Petition 2022-01-06-01 submitted by the City of Livonia Planning Commission on its own motion pursuant to Section 13.15 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, and in accordance with Public Act 110 of 2006 (Michigan Zoning Enabling Act), as amended, to consider multiple revisions to the LIVONIA VISION 21 Zoning Ordinance in order to correct certain defects, add and delete provisions, and provide clarification to others, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2022-01-06-01 be approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed language amendments are needed to correct certain errors and omissions that were overlooked with the adoption of the original Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance. 2. That the proposed amendments add and delete certain provisions in a way that will serve to improve the effectiveness of the City's land use regulations. 3. That the proposed amendments will serve to further the implementation of the goals and objectives of the Livonia Vision 21 Master Plan and are in the best interests of the community as a whole. 4. That the proposed amendments to are in full compliance with the requirements of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance and the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, P.A. 110 of 2006, 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 #3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,183rd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Or. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,183dPublic Hearing and Regular Meeting held on February 8, 2022. February 22, 2022 30433 On a motion by Long, seconded by McCue , and unanimously adopted, it was #02-16=2022 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,183Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on February 8, 2022, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Bongero, Long, McCue, Smiley, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: Ventura 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 1,184th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on February 22, 2022,as adjourned at 7:46 p.m. 7 7 CITY PL/XNNING COMMISSION Sam ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman Secretary