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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,190 - August 9, 2022 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,190th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, August 9, 2022, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,190th 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 Carol Smiley Peter Ventura Ian Wilshaw Members absent: None 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 2022-07-02-15 Phamily Pharmacy Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2022- 07-02-15 submitted by Phamily Pharmacy requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 3.11, 5.01 and 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, in connection with a proposal to add a drive -up window to the east end of the retail shopping center at 29195 thru 29215 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Garden Avenue and Middlebelt Road in the Northwest'/4 of Section 36. August 9, 2022 30630 Mr. Taormina: Thank you Mr. Chairman. This is a request to add a drive -up window to the east end of the retail shopping center known as Plymouth Shoppes. Plymouth Shoppes is on the south side of Plymouth Road, just east of the Middle Belt. The property measures roughly .90 acre, including 160 feet of frontage on Plymouth Road and has a parcel depth of 240 feet. The zoning is C-2 (General Business), as are the surrounding properties. The shopping center measures roughly 14,160 square feet in floor area and is divided into five units. Tenants include C & C Nails, Mattress Wholesale, Advance America Cash Advance, and a vacant space. Last year, Plymouth Shoppes received waiver -use approval to remodel the exterior fagade. Commissioners may have noticed that work recently commenced on that project and should be completed by the end of the year. The pharmacy would occupy a 20-foot-wide unit located at the east end of the plaza. The overall unit size is roughly 2,000 square feet. Plymouth Shoppes has a zero setback along the west side of the property. It's this side that borders a shared access drive located on the adjacent commercial property. This drive is subject to an easement agreement that allows both ingress and egress for the businesses at Plymouth Shoppes. Biggby coffee, which occupies the end unit of the adjacent retail center, currently uses this shared access drive in connection with a drive -up window operation that was approved in 2020. On the east side of the property where the Phamily Pharmacy drive up is proposed, the building has a setback of approximately 20 feet from the lot line. This area is paved and would be restricted to one way traffic traveling from the rear of the property to the front. Vehicles can exit to Plymouth Road via an approach that is located in the northeast corner of the property. The drive -up would be located on the side of the building. Vehicles would enter the rear of the property traveling in a northerly direction, use the drive -up window and then exit onto Plymouth Road. Parking is available both in the front and the rear of the building. Along the front, parking is angled and accessible via a one-way drive that travels in a west to east direction. There are roughly 20 parking spaces available, including one barrier free space. Parking behind the building is not well defined. This area is about 12,800 square feet, which is adequate for about 40 standard parking spaces. Customers would access the pharmacy drive -up window via the rear parking lot, as I mentioned earlier. The approximate travel distance around the building is about 350 feet. The prescription order/pickup window is shown at approximately the midpoint along the east side of the building, which is roughly 100 feet in length. Given the expected relatively low volume of traffic that would use the drive -up window, we feel that stacking in the lane closest to the building would be adequate. Service lanes for drive - up windows are required to be at least 10 feet wide. The proposed drive -up lane shown on the plans would meet this requirement. Drive -up establishments are also required to provide a bypass lane. The plans show that the width of the service drive is wide enough to provide for a bypass lane. At its narrowest point, this August 9, 2022 30631 drive aisle, as was mentioned, is 20 feet in width which is sufficient for two (2) lanes of traffic. The plans indicate the aisle would be restricted to one way traffic. 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 July 13, 2022, 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 project at this time. The parcel is assigned the range of addresses of #29195 thru #29215 Plymouth Road, with the address of #29195 Plymouth Road being assigned to the overall parcel. The existing building is currently serviced by water main, storm and sanitary sewer. The drawings do not indicate any alterations to the existing services, so we do not anticipate any issues with the proposed project. One item we are concerned with is the traffic flow around the building as the flow arrows do not seem to be correct. It would be nice to see the proposed traffic flows and how conflicts between inbound and outbound traffic will be handled. It should be noted that should the owner need to modify any of the existing utilities, or do any work within the Plymouth Road right-of-way, drawings will need to be submitted to this Department, as well as to the Michigan Department of Transportation to determine if permits will be required "The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated July 251 2022, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal. Concern with access widths for emergency vehicles but meets code. Area is general is constrictive due to parking lot arrangement. A further detailed plan review will take place when this division receives an official plan set" The letter is signed by Brian Kukla, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated July 11, 2022, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposals," The letter is signed by Scott Sczepanski, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated July 21, 2022, which reads as follows: " Pursuant to your request, the above referenced Petition has been reviewed. 1. The parking lot shall be repaired and restriped as necessary. Parking spaces shall be 10' wide and 20' deep and double striped. 2. The exterior of the building has electrical conduit in disrepair. This safety hazard needs to be addressed. 3. There is a 30-yard, roll -off August 9, 2022 30632 dumpster located in the rear parking lot. If additional dumpsters are required, then a plan to place them in a permanent position along with an approved enclosure would need to be provided. 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 July 19, 2022, which reads as follows: "I 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 (due 8/10/22): ($108.18, $220,54, $96,60, $102.39 and $851.61) Total Due City of Livonia $1,379.32" The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 11, 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 I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The next two are letters written from nearby businesses. The first one is dated August 8, 2022, and it reads: " I would like to raise my concerns of allowing the addition of a drive-thru to the building directly East of the Livonia Crossroads building. During our own application process for a drive-thru, there were obstacles brought up by the Planning Commission and the City Council in regards to the alley that separates this building and the Livonia Crossroads building. A major concern was the use of a bypass lane for our drive-thru. With Phamily Pharmacy operating a drive-thru lane, I can think of 3 potential traffic situations. 1. The same alley would serve as their entry point creating a potential traffic situation with cars pointed directly at each other if another car was utilizing the BIGGBY COFFEE bypass lane. 2. Phamily Pharmacy cars can stack up into the BIGGBY COFFEE drive-thru lane, which would cause a disruption. 3. Phamily Pharmacy cars entering from Middlebelt Rd would use the Livonia Crossroads South alley, which would also disrupt the BIGGBY COFFEE drive-thru lane. That letter was signed by Ed Buison, a resident and a Biggby Coffee owner. Lastly, we have a letter from Mike Houbba of Taylor Investment, L.L.C., it is dated August 8, 2022, and it reads: "I appreciate your service and the opportunity to voice my concerns about the proposed drive-thru. I was here a couple of years ago when asking for approval for our Biggby Coffee drive- thru. However, we underwent extreme repairs and improvements to our property to achieve this approval. Some of the repairs involved the expensive removal of Gas meters and the installation of new bollards which was a requirement by the commission. The alley is owned by Taylor Investment Flint, LLC, and would like to make certain that Plymouth Shoppes, LLC's use August 9, 2022 30633 of this East alley underan easement agreement is foringress and egress ONLY. Any cars standing or stacking are prohibited and wilt be towed if violating this rule. Also, any type of loading or parking is prohibited and will become in breach of our agreement. I wish to install signs to prevent such occurrences and hope you will make this mandatory if this is approved. For everyone's safety, I want to make certain that they do not promote the use of our Middlebelt entrance in order for customers to get to their drive-thru as this will not only be dangerous for our Biggby Coffee customers but delivery drivers and others as well. Note, when we applied for the Biggby Drive-Thru, a big concern was the width of our south alley. It is not sufficient in allowing two vehicles side by side without it being a hazard. It is clearly labeled as ONE-WAY. The use of our Middlebelt entrance is limited to our Livonia Crossroads customers and vendors only. All others are prohibited from using our entrance to cut through to another business and parking is also limited to only our customers and vendors. The Plymouth Shoppes alley and rear parking are in terrible condition and wish you enforce improved conditions such as a new asphalt or concrete parking lot and better lighting. " The letter is signed by Mike Houbba of Taylor Investments, L.L.C. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? There's no questions. Our petitioner I believe is in the audience. If you'd like to come forward to our podium, either one, and we will ask that you start with your name and address for our record. Amer Selah, 29195 Plymouth Road, Livonia, MI, I'm going to be the owner and operator of Phamily Pharmacy. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. And is there anything else that you would like to present to us that hasn't already been discussed? Mr. Selah: In regard to traffic flow and everything, the majority of the traffic flow would be from the Plymouth area or from Plymouth drive going up? And like you guys said, it was a low traffic, it's going to be a low traffic, low density drive-thru. There isn't going to be that many people going through the drive thru. So, I just want you to take that into consideration when making the decision. Or, Wilshaw: Okay, thank you, Mr. Selah. Are there any questions from any of our commissioners for our petitioner? Mr. Ventura. Or. Ventura: In our study session, you told us that you had been told by the property owner, and it is your understanding that the plaza was August 9, 2022 30634 going to be renovated and all paving around there was going to be redone. Mr. Selah: So, the owner to me that the plaza was going to be renovated. Refaced completely, and then down the line, patches and work to the floor into the ground concrete will be done, and then eventually down the line, reface everything. Mr. Ventura: And at the study session, you told us that you already signed a lease? Mr. Selah: Yes. Mr. Ventura: Did he put those provisions in the lease? Did he commit those... make those commitments to you in the lease? hVf�.Ya&IiTl��i4a Mr. Ventura: So, you have no way to enforce that? Mr. Selah: No, it's just spoken. Mr. Ventura: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Any other questions for our petitioner? Mr. Bongero. Mr. Bongero: What's the plan down the road for the dumpster enclosure? Obviously, that 30-yard dumpster can't stay there. It was a concern of the Building Department too. So, is there plans for having a permanent dumpster behind an enclosure there? Ryan Kattoo, I'm the property manager of the property. The dumpster, the 30-yard dumpster by our tenant, is a temporary dumpster, which should already be removed. I contacted him and told him that it had to be moved immediately. It wasn't anything to be on a permanent basis. Mr. Bongero: What do you do for garbage removal? Or. Kattoo: That center has, besides that Mattress Firm, that center has extremely little garbage, and there's only like one can. It literally services a small four yarder that serves the entire center. I think that Mark Taormina kind of remembered that in regard to our facade renovation, which is on its way now, there were possible plans within a year or two to place a dumpster enclosure in the back of the center. August 91 2022 30635 Mr, Bongero: And then what's the plan for the rear resurface? Mr. Katto0: At this point, the plan for the rear of their center would be to maintain it as best we can with weed control and patching and asphalting where we need to. There is no plans to completely re do the entire parking lot. That would be quite, quite extensive. But obviously, we didn't have a real need, where we have now to make it more presentable, you know, and so our job would be to try to make it presentable as best we can. Whether it be some striping, you know, weeding, patching, and whatever else needs to be done, and keeping it clean. Mr. Bongero: Okay, thanks. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Any questions? Ms. Smiley. Ms. Smiley: Yes. Good evening. You said authorized to put something regarding the parking? Mr. Kattoo: I am the manager/owner. Ms. Smiley: Thank you. you're the manager. Are you in writing for this gentleman Mr. Wilshaw: All right. Thank you, Ms. Smiley. Any questions for our petitioner or the building representative? Mr. Ventura. Mr. Ventura: You received approval from the Council last year to redo your center and was before the Planning Commission and went to Council, you've got approval, and you haven't begun yet. Can you tell us when you will begin and when you anticipate being done? Mr. Kattoo: Sure. Mark Taormina might have.. mentioned earlier that the project has started on Monday. If you go there, now, you'll see a full scaffold system in front of the entire center and they have started demoing the old masonry brick. You know, if I was to go to what my contractor says when it's going to be done? You know, 30 days, two weeks, right? But I would estimate 60 days, 60 to 90 days. Mr. Ventura: And have you given any thought to the signage that seems to be a concern? Everyone's concerned. We talked about it at study session. And we have a couple of letters and how are you... How do you anticipate you're going to direct traffic on the site so that customers for the drive thru, for the pharmacy drive thru, don't August 9, 2022 30636 obstruct the drive through... the shared drive you share with Biggby and so forth? Mr. Kattoo: In reality, if you look at the site, for him to start obstructing the Biggby drive thru, I would think we'd have to have about 20 cars stacked. I mean, it's a pretty large, it's a pretty large... Mr. Ventura: Yes, I agree with you, you're not going to stack that much. So, how are you going to direct traffic on the site to know where to go to get to the drive thru? If you go next door to Crossroads, you'll look in the parking lot and you'll see signs in the parking lot directing people to the Biggby drive thru, that's how they find it. How are you going to accomplish that? Mr. Selah: Yeah, so I was planning on putting in a fixture or a little sign right along Plymouth drive the same way that the Biggby has it on Middle Belt Drive, going in notifying that it is a drive through going through it that up that way, and then a sign along the west side of the wall of the building, directing that on the corner, upper corner, and then one against the south wall, like a protruding sign. Drive through only and then there's a little patch of grass, that's part of our property and I want to put another sign on the end of it showing going this way. Mr. Ventura: Okay. Mark, are those signs part of this package? Mr. Taormina: I don't believe we have any information or details relative to the directional signage. If I may Mr. Chair, to the Petitioner, could you repeat where you intend to install those? I think I heard you say you're going to put one near Plymouth Road. Mr. Selah: One on Plymouth Road, and then another one ...backup. Yep, right at that corner to the right. Down Yep, right at that corner, and then one all the way to the left. It's like a protruding sign on the top of the building the same way that the Biggby has it. Mr. Kattoo: Like a bracket attached to the building to guide down. Not too much of a labyrinth. I mean, it'd be pretty easy to kind of see how to get around the building. Mr. Ventura: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina, do you have any other thoughts? Mr. Taormina: No. Two of the three signs that were mentioned, I don't believe would be subject to any sign regulations. However, the one near Plymouth Road might be. We'll have to take a closer look at that. August 9, 2022 30637 If its small enough, it would probably be allowed as directional signage, within the limitation prescribed in the Ordinance. I believe the allowance is two (2) square feet. The signs in the back, since they would not be visible to the public right of way, would most likely be allowed; thus, he could do what's necessary in order to properly direct traffic to the drive up at the rear of the building. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Any other questions for our petitioner or the representative? Mr. Caramagno Mr. Caramagno: I wasn't able to be at the study session. So, currently you have the ability to enter the back of your lot from both east and west side of the building? Mr. Kattoo: Correct. Mr. Caramagno: And do you have the ability to enter the back of your property in the alley off of Middle Belt as well? Mr. Kattoo: The buildings connect in the back. So, if you were to say that someone can drive up to the Middle Belt side, I don't know if that's a two way or a one way, Mark. Is that two ways on that side or one way? Mr. Taormina: I believe the drive aisle that runs along the south side of the Livonia Crossroads Plaza is now restricted to one way traffic, at least that's the intent. What Mr. Houba was referring to when he talked about the inability of Phamily Pharmacy customers using the alleyway behind Livonia Crossroads is that part of the site is not included in the easement agreement. The easement exists between the two (2) properties, allowing drivers to access Plymouth Shoppes from Livonia Crossroads only along the side of the property. It does not include the rear drive of the Livonia Crossroads property — at least not from a legal standpoint. From a practical standpoint, however, cars have the ability to navigate between the two (2) properties along the back since they're connected, as Mr. Kattoo said. There is no grade separation, so the area is relatively passable. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, thank you, and then the property to the east of your property through the parking lot, was that not open at one time where you could get through from the neighboring property, as well? Or. Kattoo: I would assume so. I mean, as long as I remember, there's always been gigantic blocks there blocking us between the property next August 9, 2022 30638 door and its always ... we haven't placed those there. So, we assume it might have been placed by the owner next door. Mr. Caramagno: So, really, you're going to have one way in and one way out and a very restricted lane going in. With a coffee shop coming out, which is a bit of a concern... let me ask you this, deliveries for this property, truck deliveries for... you've got a mattress store, cash store, you're going to have a pharmacy, how are deliveries handled for these businesses? Mr. Kattoo: The only store that has any kind of larger deliveries would be the mattress store. I've got a nail salon, which is not going to have any major deliveries. This pharmacy is not going to have any large deliveries. How are they handled? You know, I've haven't really been there when they're making their deliveries. I would assume that they make the delivery through the back or even in through the front, but I have...I can't tell you exactly how it's been done. Mr. Caramagno: I would think that that's probably a legitimate issue. If you're delivering mattresses to the mattress store in the front parking lot, you tie that whole deal up with one delivery truck. Mr. Kattoo: I've owned this property for 15 years and never had an issue. Mr. Caramagno: Has it always been full of tenants? Mr. Kattoo: It's always been 90%full, yeah, we only have one vacancy, which recently... that vacancy has only been the last five years. So, it never had anybody, you know, our tenants are very mindful of being good neighbors. Mr. Caramagno: And so, let's go back to the garbage truck and the four yard can you said you had. So, the garbage truck would have to enter next to the Biggby parking as well or make his way through behind the neighboring strip mall to the west. Mr. Kattoo: Yeah, I mean, you know, quite frankly, to be honest, the neighbor next door needs our parking and needs our lot to service their cans. So, you know, if we didn't give them access, they would not be able to service their cans. Mr. Caramagno: I remember the closure. There was a, there was a ... we changed the way the enclosure was for purposes of traffic. I think you're right there. Mr. Kattoo: Yeah. I am 100% confident in that one. August 9, 2022 30639 Mr. Taormina: Just so everyone fully understands, the dumpsters are located roughly in this location on the Livonia Crossroads property. The only way to service those dumpsters is for a garbage truck to enter forward, across the Plymouth Shoppes property. I have a question for the Petitioner. Even though the new drive -up aisle will be marked as one-way, do you really intend to prohibit vehicles from entering the back of the store along this westerly driveway? I mean, are you going to post "No Entry" or "One -Way Only" signs to enforce this? How would you regulate that, or do you intend to keep that somewhat loose in terms of allowing two (2)-way traffic, similar to the driveway on the opposite side where the Biggby coffee drive -up window is located and where vehicles can still navigate south, but on the lefthand side of the aisle? I expect the same would occur on this side whenever the drive is clear. I think it's safe to say vehicles would still come to the back. Mr. Kattoo: Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, quite frankly, technically, through that easement agreement on the neighbor of which I'm surprised he made a complaint. He cannot deny access in and out. So here he is saying that he's worried about access out only were in the easement agreement. He's not allowed to restrict that. So, it's kind of funny that he brought that up. Mr. Caramagno: I would certainly agree with you, Mark. I think that east side has to remain both ways in and out. I think it is just too tight if you restrict it to outbound as well. I don't know you patrol, like you said, but I think it needs to remain both in and out. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Long? Mr. Long: You said at the study session that you were at the start anyway, you're going to be the sole employee there, and while I agree that stacking is probably not going to be a concern, if you are the sole employee there, and you've got three people in the store and the cars start to back up, I mean, what's your plan for handling that? Jr Selah: I mean, my plan is like in that moment would be first focus on drive thru. I mean, it won't be that heavily traveled, but my first focus would be drive thru just so there won't be stacking. Or. Long: Okay. Jr. I mean, I agree that, you know, we'll have to see 15 to 20 cars in order to really have a problem. Selah: I hope it gets pretty busy. Mr. Long: Yeah, no, I do too. I mean, you know... August 9, 2022 30640 Mr. Selah: Then when I do end up getting busier, I will be getting technicians, but at the very start it's just gonna be me, then technicians will be coming along. Mr. Long: I mean, that'd be good. I mean, I have concerns over this, just like I had concerns over the Biggby one, but ultimately, you know, we passed it, and I mean, it's trying to retrofit today's needs into these older buildings, right? I mean, that's the challenge. There are things I don't like about this, but you know, I think I can support it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Any other questions or comments? Ms. Smiley. Ms. Smiley: One question for Mark. The condition of the parking lot, was that in the thing that was approved, that just got started a couple weeks ago? Mr. Taormina: The resolution that was adopted by Council did address the maintenance of the rear parking lot. Yes. That was part of the Council resolution. Ms. Smiley: I imagine it was. I just wanted to confirm. Okay, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Great, thank you. Any other questions or comments from any of our commissioners? Mr. Caramagno: Mr. Chair, I had another. The last time I drove behind the building, there were..1 it was a mattress store, obviously. There were mattresses leaned against the building and on the ground. What is the long-term plan for keeping up with that? Because it is it's rather unsightly. Mr. Kattoo: Yeah. Obviously, with our new tenant who's has, you know, a big interest in customers coming back there, it would be policed a lot more. You know, sometimes out of sight out of mind. It's not, you know... no one complains about it...it is overseen but I will definitely have to address him that this cannot continue, and it would be policed very hard to keep the area clean. Mr. Caramagno: Is there really a good reason why you just allow the tenant to throw mattresses? Mr. Kattoo: No, I don't allow the tenant just to throw the mattress out there. Sometimes they tend to do things without your permission, and you gotta go back there and tell them, hey, keep this out of August 9, 2022 30641 here, and he does, and sometimes they do it again...I just, I don't allow that to happen. Mr. Caramagno: I'd certainly like to see you tighten that up quite a bit. It's real unsightly, when you go back there, sometimes it just... Mr. Kattoo: Now we have a different scenario where we have a tenant that needs to utilize the back. So, that's got to be always kept up and maintained. Now, we understand that. Mr. Caramagno: I hear that but I don't necessarily agree with that. Just because you've got another tenant means all of a sudden mattresses are gonna start being picked up? I mean, that's something that should have been taken care of a long time ago, but as long as you're gonna be on that. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions or comments from anyone? Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against this petition? Don't see anybody jumping out of their chair? Mr. Kattoo, Mr. Selah, anything else either of you would like to add before we make our decision. Mr. Kattoo: No, we just really appreciate your time, and I look forward to having this nice young man start his first business here on his own. Mr. Wilshaw: Alright, sounds good. Thank you. With that, if there's no other questions or comments for anybody, I will close the public hearing. And the motion is in order. On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-43-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on August 9, 2022, on Petition 2022-07-02-15 submitted by Phamily Pharmacy requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 3.11, 5.01 and 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, in connection with a proposal to add a drive -up window to the east end of the retail shopping center at 29195 thru 29215 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Garden Avenue and Middlebelt Road in the Northwest '/4 of Section 36, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2022-07-02-15 be approved subject to the following conditions: August 91 2022 30642 1. That the Site Plan identified as Drawing No. SP-01, dated June 6, 2022, prepared by Angle Design & Construction, L.L.C., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 2. That the Elevation Plan identified as Drawing dated June 6, 2022, prepared by Angle Design & Construction, L.L.C., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 3. That all fagade improvements approved pursuant to Council Resolution #131-21 in connection with Petition 2021-02-08- 02 shall be completed. 4. That commensurate with the completion of the drive -up window for the Phamily Pharmacy, the owner shall make all necessary interim repairs to the parking lot as determined by the Inspection Department, and within two (2) years from the date of approval of this petition by City Council, the site's rear parking lot shall be repaired, resealed, and restriped as necessary to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department and the site's trash dumpster(s) shall be enclosed pursuant to Council Resolution #131-21. 5. That the use of the drive -up window is for Phamily Pharmacy use only, and any new user or use of the drive - up window shall first receive the approval of City Council. 6. 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 7. That the Phamily Pharmacy drive -up directional signs shall be submitted to the Planning and Inspection Departments for approval prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. 8. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance as amended, 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, as amended. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? August 9, 2022 30643 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 2022-07-02-10 LAG Development Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2022- 07-02-16 submitted by LAG Development requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 3.11, 6.05 and 6.06 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, in connection with a proposal to redevelop the Lafontaine Hyundai of Livonia dealership, including constructing an addition, modifying both the interior and exterior of the building and altering the site's parking and landscaping, at 34715 and 34801 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Stark and Wayne Roads in the Northwest'/4 of Section 33. Mr. Taormina: This is a request to expand and remodel the Hyundai dealership located at the southwest corner of Plymouth Road in Laurel Avenue. The subject site consists of two parcels with a total combined land area of 2.6 acres. The site has 348 feet of frontage on Plymouth Road and roughly 328 feet of frontage on Laurel. Included as part of the overall project is the former Doughboy donut site that was recently acquired by LAG Livonia L.L.C. and rezoned to C-2, General Business. The existing L-shaped dealership building is located on the east half of the site. This building contains a gross floor area of roughly 14,687 square feet. The expansion would be to the northwest corner of the building, and totals roughly 6,728 square feet, bringing the total floor area to about 21,415 feet upon completion. Of this, the service department would occupy roughly 55% of the total floor space, or approximately 11,932 square feet. Thus, a significant reason for the expansion is to accommodate a larger service area. The remaining areas of the floor space would be divided between the dealership's various other uses and operations. This includes the showroom and sales, parts, administration, and other customer amenities, such as the lounge areas. The new service department would contain 15 work bays. There would be three overhead doors located on the building's north side, which would provide drive-in access into the service area. There would also be two additional overhead doors located on the west side of the building. Significant changes would also take place to the site's circulation and parking pattern. Incorporating the former donut property will allow for full access around the building. The site's four access points would remain. This includes three driveways on Plymouth Road, two of which are on the former donut property, August 9, 2022 30644 and the fourth driveway is located on Laurel Avenue, about 230 feet south of Plymouth Road. Instead of eliminating this drive approach, as was discussed at the study meeting, the latest plans show restricted access from Laurel Avenue via a private gate. The two westerly driveways on the former donut property would provide ingress and egress from Plymouth Road to the two main drive aisles that would run the full length of the property. These drive aisles would provide for two-way access. Access would wrap around to the east side of the building and would allow for continued circulation around the front or the north side of the building, as well. The new plans show 11 vehicle stacking spaces at the service entrance This includes seven spaces that would be outside of the service reception area, and then an additional four spaces inside the reception area. In terms of parking, what's required is based on the number of service bays, the number of employees and the amount of showroom floor area. When you add all these together, a total of 72 parking spaces are required. The plans show 128 parking spaces, which would leave 56 spaces available for vehicle display purposes. A special requirement under Section 6.05 that applies to the parking of display vehicles is that there be at least 20 feet between the parking of these cars in the public right-of-way. The plans show that all the parking spaces along Plymouth Road would meet this requirement and would be at least 20 feet back from the right-of- way. On the exterior of the building, the plans show aluminum composite panels, E.I.F.S., as well as concrete masonry units. E.I.F.S. is shown extensively on the building, including the front and side elevations, but as requested, burnished block was added to the lower parts of the building where the previous plans showed E.I.F.S. If you look carefully at the revised plans, the aluminum composite panels are shown in the dark brown color along the top of the building. The E.I.F.S, material is this lighter color that is below the aluminum panels. And the base material has been modified to a burnished block which extends roughly four feet up from the grade and it's no longer E.I.F.S. Along the back of the building where there's already masonry, in order to keep the pattern consistent, the block material would be painted dark brown to match the burnished block along the lower four feet of the building. Back to the landscaping plan. Frontage along Plymouth Road requires seven full size trees, three ornamental trees and 51 shrubs. Along Laurel, required are eight full size trees, three ornamentals and 66 shrubs. The submitted landscape plan plantings added along both street frontages in order to comply with these requirements. In the case of Laurel Avenue, the trees and shrubs would be planted in the public right- of-way due to the fact that there is not enough green space the building and the property line. Thus, to accomplish the August 9, 2022 30645 landscaping, the plantings would be located between the property line and the edge of the road which is within the public right-of- way. On the south side, there would be new Arborvitaes planted in the areas where there are gaps presently. On the west side of the property, additional trees would be added in order to meet the zoning ordinance requirements. We have more information on site lighting in the form of a photometric plan and details relative to the design of the light poles. The poles would be limited to a height of 20 feet and appear to meet all of the requirements of the ordinance relative to shielding and illumination levels. Lastly, we have a single dumpster enclosure that is shown in the southwest corner of the parking lot. 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 July 13, 2022, which reads as follows: `7n accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed project at this time. The subject parcels are assigned the addresses of #34715 and #34801 Plymouth Road. Should the project be approved, we would like to request that the owner combine the two existing parcels. Please contact the Assessing Department to begin the combination process once plan approval has been obtained. The existing buildings are serviced by public water main, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. The submitted drawings do not show information regarding the removal of existing, or placement of new service leads, so we cannot comment on impacts to the existing systems at this time. Prior to demolition the developer will need to disconnect existing leads to the structure on the westerly parcel, which will require operations in the right-of-way to reach the mains. It should be noted that the developer will need to meet current Engineering requirements for the proposed project, including storm water detention per the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance for any areas of newly placed pavemenUstructures. Also, the developer will be required to obtain a permit from this office as well as the Michigan Department of Transportation for any work occurring within the Plymouth Road right-of-way. This Department will be able to make a formal review of the proposed improvements, when detailed Engineering plans are submitted for permitting." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated July 22, 2022, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a commercial building on property located at the above August 9, 2022 30646 referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal. Chapter 18 shall be followed for required Fire Hydrant and Water Supply NFPA 1, 2015. A further detailed plan review will take place when this division receives an official plan set." The letter is signed by Brian Kukla, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated July 13, 2022, which reads as follows: W have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. l 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 July 21, 2022, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to yourrequest, 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 July 19, 2022, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. The following amounts are due to the City of Livonia: Unpaid current false alarm charges (due upon receipt): $200.00 Unpaid water and sewer charges (due 8/10/22): $538.86 ($453.00 and $85.86) Total Due City of Livonia $738.86" The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 12, 2022, which reads as follows: `In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. At this time, there are no outstanding amounts receivable for taxes. Therefore, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. The last letter is from the Assessing Department, dated July 14,2022, and it reads: "LAG Development requesting approval of plans for the redevelopment of the Lafontaine Hyundai of Livonia dealership. Construction includes an addition and altering of the site's parking at 34715 and 34801 Plymouth Road. These are separate parcels, 34715 parcel 130-01-0005-004 and 34801 Plymouth, parcel 130-01- 0007-001. Based on the site plan documents it appears these parcels should be combined. Please direct any questions to the Assessor's Office or Livonia.gov for the lot combination process. Also, just an observation the Site Plans indicate the City of Livonia being in "Oakland County". The letter is signed by Kathie Siterlet, Residential Appraiser. Next, we have a letter from a resident, James Dupie, 11196 Laurel Street, Livonia, MI, that dated February 21, 2022, and it reads: `9 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 August 9, 2022 30647 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. l 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 hauler drove south from the dealership. Thanks for your consideration." That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Ms. Smiley. Ms. Smiley: Yeah, why a gate at Laurel? A gate doesn't say no admission to the property, it says sometimes. Off Laurel., Or. Taormina: I am going to "punt" that question back to the Petitioner. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Or, Wilshaw: Fair enough. I think we will ask them what the thought process is there. Any other questions for our planning director? If not, we have our petitioner in the audience. They are welcome to come forward at this time. Good evening, ma'am. Elizabeth Marquese, LAG Development, 9990 Highland Toad, Howell, Michigan Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Good evening. Is there anything else that you'd like to tell us about your petition? Ms. Marquese:To answer the question about the gate, it was discussed at the study meeting that we would close the entrance on Laurel. We talked about that with our site engineer and as well as some of our other consultants. They recommended putting the permanent gate up with a lockbox on it. The knock box that only the police department has access to, just because that will be the primary entrance for the service department from a fire department standpoint. They can get back around the building instead of having to come in off Plymouth Road. They can go from Laurel as well as Plymouth. We also want to put a large sign on there. Two large signs redirecting those third -party car haulers that we've been August 9, 2022 30648 faced with since the pandemic, we no longer have the Teamsters and the union haulers bringing in the big car haulers. We have the small mom and pops that are coming in. We'd rather have a sign there that redirects them down the street to where our lot is for unloading. We do also believe that having the two additional drive access on Plymouth Road where the donut shop used to be, would also allow for car haulers and people bringing tow trucks in, as well as picking up cars in and out of the site without having to access Laurel. But we just felt comfortable with that gate there for emergency access only. It would not be our cue be the fire department's knock box like they have on now the buildings. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Ms. Smiley, does that satisfy? Ms. Smiley: So, to clarify that, our city engineer said that fire department wanted that access? Ms. Marquese: No, it's not your engineer, no. It would be our consultant. It was private to us that recommended a gate. Ms. Smiley: Did you hear from our fire department saying they wanted to access that way? Ms. Marquese: No, we did not. But we have on all commercial properties, we have a knock box, which is I guess kind of like a Kleenex version. Its an emergency box on the building, to get a key to the actual building that the fire departments have. We would have one on the gate as well. Ms. Smiley: I'm unfamiliar with that. Is that common practice? Mr. Taormina: It's common to see knox boxes for gated communities or private propertiesI including both commercial and industrial that require restricted access for security reasons. So yes, it is a common practice. Mr. Wilshaw: It's basically a key box that the fire department has access to. As. Smiley: I am familiar with them; I just didn't know why it had to be on Laurel. Mr. Taormina: The Fire Department reviewed these plans at a time when the driveway was still shown as being open. So, they have not yet weighed -in on the plan to have the driveway closed -off, either permanently using landscaping or remain available via a knox box. So, we don't have their input relative to whether it's ok to be closed permanently. August 9, 2022 30649 Ms. Smiley: Okay, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: All right. Thank you. Any other questions for our petitioner? Mr. Long: I just want to make sure I heard you correctly. Did you say that you would not have a key to that gate at all? Is that correct? Ms. Marquese:That's correct. Mr. Long: I guess I don't necessarily see the wisdom of that. I don't... ) wouldn't want you leaving it open or using it regularly, but it just would seem like you might need to open... Ms. Marquese: If it's permanently closed, we still wouldn't have access to it. So, if we saw cut and put curbing and planting in, it will be essentially to us and our use just like putting a gate there without having access to it. Mr. Long: No, I understand that, and I mean, I agree with that, but I guess if you make the decision to leave the gate there, I just think that you may want to have some kind of access to it. You know, I wouldn't want to see 20 keys for it, but you know, you might want one. If a car hauler, I mean, despite all your best efforts for the last 20 years, you can't keep them off Laurel all the time, and so, if you had somebody there, maybe you can direct them through there instead of having them go south down Laurel Street. It's just my opinion or my comment, and I'm not sure that that's the best way to handle that, but that's all that it is. It's just a comment. Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Gary Laundroche, 9990 E. Highland Road, Howell, MI. Good evening, Mr. Chairman. I would just like to interject. I guess what our thought was that we thought the fire department would prefer to have access if they tried to come up next to the building on Laurel, it's a single driveway there with the vehicles parked in there. It just seemed like a means of additional access for them in case they needed to get in there. We wouldn't have no use of that driveway because we don't have a key. Typically, in any community, the building owners don't have keys for the knox boxes. It's only the authorities that have that key. That would be a permanently locked gate that they could access only. So, we would still have no use of that drive, and to Elizabeth's point, she thought, well if we had a gate there, and we can even add a couple of signs to it to try to discourage it even further. We don't have an objection to putting the driveway or closing the driveway. You know, if that's really what August 9, 2022 30650 you guys prefer, we thought that the fire department would appreciate having a another means of egress in the back of the site, that's the only reason that we included it. Mr. Wilshaw: I think I understand where you guys are coming from. You're trying to ausage our concerns or satisfy us that this isn't going to be a gate that's going to be swinging open all the time and having cars being delivered through there. I understand that, but you're also still giving us the option of fully closing that or making it a gate. That's really our choice, but you're giving us an alternative that may, you may think that we find more acceptable. I don't know. So, we'll see how things go, and which way we want to go on this. Is there any questions about anything other than the gate from anybody? I think we've talked that one through. Mr. Long: I appreciate all the work that you put in. I've seen all the little changes that we talked about at the study meeting, you know, the rounded elimination of the two parking spaces and the rounding of the island there, and, you know, I mean, I like this project. I think we may have some people in the audience who want to speak to it. I think the petitioner did a good job addressing our concerns. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long, for those comments. Any other questions or comments from any of our commissioners? Let's see if there's anyone else in the audience who wishes to speak on this item. Feel free to come forward. And again, we'll just ask that you start with your name and address sowe know who we're talking to this evening. Jim Dupie, 11196 Laurel Street, Livonia, MI. Hi Mark. You read the first letter I sent. I sent you all an email. I'm assuming you had it with the pictures. Okay, I only attached so many because I didn't have much room. The only opinion I have on whether it's a gate, I actually liked the idea of having it closed off. The only reason the gate concerns me is intentions are great at the beginning. There's a gate on the east side of Laurel that haulers come and drop off and pick up from there too. So, it's not just the west side. This happens to be in my so many years there, this is the third owner of that dealership, and we've kind of gone around and around with the city many times on this. This is not just a Monday through Friday thing, folks. This is Saturdays, Sundays, Easter. I don't care what day it is, any time of the day or night. They don't care when they're dropping these cars off. It makes no difference to them. They're on the clock. So, it's not just... if it were just once in a while, that would be fine. The only reason I sent you those pictures after the last meeting was because one of the representatives said there wasn't a truck there today. I was a little upset. They're there every day. I'm still working. So, I August 9, 2022 30651 can't sit out there and take pictures of every truck, but they're all sizes, all shapes, all different configurations. In my comment about the signs, which I know they've made an attempt, it's tough to get it to work because every hauler, everyone has one of these, some have two of them. They get dispatched from all over. There's no reason they can't get a text which are free. Please don't go to the street call this number for directions. Until such time as a decision is made about the gate or closing it off. There has to be a remedy to this. This has been going on way too long. I'm just asking for your help. Otherwise, the new group LAG is ... they're very... they watch things. It's very clean. I like what they've done already so far. So, I'm not against them making money and being there. It's great. I just need their help. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Dupie. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else in the audience wishing to speak for or against this petition? One more gentleman coming forward. Good evening, sir. James Arnold 11205. Laurel, Livonia, MI. I'm on the north side of the commercial wall. And I'd like to talk about maybe the eight feet of the commercial wall. There's 328 feet. I pay taxes on 288 feet of that. Basically, they've made other areas beautiful, but the eight feet that's on a commercial wall is not looking so good. It needs some help. It needs some attention. They have caps that are coming up that I've presented to them that there's a problem with. The cap is coming off the wall basically at like 180 feet. There's 150 feet that could use power washing. There's a big pile of brush. There are tree logs like right next to the commercial wall. There's a pile of mulch. There are weeds that are over six feet tall, that are taller than me, weeds. Now they've made other areas beautiful, but they've just forgotten about the commercial wall. There's a pile of blocks with woodchuck holes all around it. Tree stumps. They just put two nice dumpsters in but they're just full of debris all around them garbage around them. So, I ask if we could clean that area up, I don't oppose making things nicer, you know, it's all going to be nicer, but you know, let's clean our room, you know, and pick our closet up. Thank you for your time. Mr. Wilshaw: Understood. Thank you, Mr. Arnold. Thank you, anyone else in our audience wishing to speak for or against this item? If not, I don't see anyone else. We will always go back to our petitioner and give them an opportunity to make any final comments. Mr. Wilshaw: Welcome back. Ms. Marquese: He said the north wall, I wanted to address it. We are in the process of going through and doing upgrades on all of our landscaping and August 9, 2022 30652 our weeds. We've started at Volkswagen; were heading towards Mazda. I'd be really curious as to where the eight feet is. So, if we can get together afterwards and address on the wall. Also, I believe Matt Szabla, who is the general manager is going to be here to address that, and I'll meet with the gentleman on that. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. We'll have you work separately with him. I appreciate that. As. Marquese:Again, we have no problem with the gate or with closing off the right-of-way. Okay, we just wanted to offer something up for the police and the fire. Mr. Wilshaw: And if there are areas of the wall that are in need of repair, are you willing to make those improvements or repairs? Ms. Marquese:Yes, absolutely. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. All right. So, that's something that we can consider as we move forward. So, anything else that you would like to end with before we make our decision? Ms. Marquese: No, I think we stated it all. We try to accommodate all of the neighbors, we do want to be a good neighbor, we put lights up that our motion sensors, we try to keep it clean. You met our new sales manager last time at the study meeting, Calvin. He's on his honeymoon. So, he wouldn't be here, but he is very, very adamant about trying to improve the site. Mr. Wilshaw: Great, and we do appreciate as Mr. Long stated. We gave you sort of a laundry list of improvements or things that we thought, you know, could be made a little bit better than the plan. And we see that you've checked all those boxes. So, we do appreciate you working with us on those requests as well. In terms of building materials, things like that. Thank you. Is there any other questions or comments from any of our commissioners? Mr. Bongero. Mr. Bongero: In lieu of Mr. Dupie's concern, like, do you send out texts and instructions so that nobody goes down Laurel? I think that's the biggest concern area. That's a great thing that you're doing... no one against that... they're in full support, it is just that, how do you stop these guys from going down there? When I drove by there tonight, the sign that's up there is not real visible. Like I kind of went past and didn't really notice it. So, you know, if the text don't work, there's got to be something that... can we do a bigger sign? I don't know. You know I mean? Something. Another measure to take that hassle, you know, that worry from them, because what else can we do? August 9, 2022 30653 Mr. Laundroche: Yeah, Mr. Dupie, we, and again, I apologize. I understand that this has been an ongoing annoyance for you. It has been a struggle trying to get these guys reeled in. The problem is, when we order cars from the OEM, they go to their dispatch, and they're the ones who allocate what vehicle comes or ... we don't. We don't like call somebody and say Hey, bring us the cars. We don't have the drivers' numbers. We can't just text them. We do have a standing rule with the manufacturers where we get it from that our cars are to be delivered down the road at the address designated. These guys Google Map it on the road and they see where Hyundai is, and they pull into the lot, right or whatever. We have to do a better job policing that. We understand that. it's something that we're trying to ingrain. It's part of a new system that needs to be incorporated to all of our functions. The guys are typically out chasing customers looking to sell cars, right? So, we've tried to ingrain this in our managers. That has to be something that's addressed and policed by us, and we need to do a better job of that. I realize that we have had a challenge with, as Elizabeth mentioned, the manufacturers aren't really using the union Teamster car haulers and the regular guys that we used to get who know a site typically will have two orthree regular drivers who come in and know the routine once they learn it. Because of the vehicle shortages and the chip shortages, they're not shipping full truckloads of cars, they're using a bunch of these independent contractors who are really just a vehicle for hire. They go to any dealership, any brand, anybody who ha cars to haul, and so what happens is, we'll get new people in there, we'll get guys that don't follow our protocols. We've talked to Calvin, who's our new manager who just started at that store, and again, it's our responsibility to convey this to all management and to make sure it gets passed on because we do change hands and do get different managers in there. Matt Szabla is also manager at our Dearborn complex. So, he's not on site all the time. Calvin, manages the store, he needs to be there. And he's completely aware, you know, more so now than ever of the importance of him having to police that. Hhave a designated guy to watch for it, do something. If, if we catch a car hauler out there, they need to go in there and stop them, to get out of there and go down the road where it belongs, Mr. Bongero: Is there a time like so you're expecting deliveries at a time, right? They're saying they're gonna come there at nine o'clock in the morning? Or. Laundroche: They give us give us a window. August 9, 2022 30654 Mr. Bongero: So, then maybe a spotter, you know, and its gotta be watching for these guys, and they're running out there. Whoa, Mr. Laundroche: That's what we talked about. Having him have a porter who is responsible to keep your eye on the road. It's just a sacrifice we have to make, right, to do this. We understand Mr. Dupie's concern 100%. We are taking measures to try to correct that. Minimize it. To get them to go down the street. To Elizabeth's point, we're not encouraging car haulers to come in off of the driveways through the old donut shop, but I would almost think that would be where they would try to go when even if they're not supposed to, as opposed to Laurel. So, that could actually help this to some degree. We don't want the congestion, and any concern with traffic or right away. So, we'll continue to police that, and we'll work a little harder on that. And again, we'll ingrain that into our corporate culture. It's what these guys have to do with all the stores there. We have major renovations coming up on the other two dealerships as well that you haven't seen in front of you yet. But all the manufacturers are mandating these. And again, I apologize and Mr. Arnold, to you as well, we have, you know, we've taken on quite a task when we purchased these stores. They were completely rundown and neglected. They hadn't gotten any attention. All the systems were failing in there. The lots were in shambles. It's been a pretty big undertaking to get it where it is currently. And then we're doing these major renovations to the stores as well. So, we're really... our objective here is to create a very well received showplace that's, that's going to be up to the standards of this community. What it should be, and that includes the back wall. We'll fix that cap at 180 feet, and power wash it and get rid of the weeds. That's part of this. We're doing landscaping as part of this plan on that south side as well. So, like I said, no excuses. We've not done a good enough job at policing those car haulers, but it is something that we're ingraining into our management. Mr. Bongero: I appreciate you taking ownership of that, but you guys have done a great job and you're showing them that you're workable. And its not something you're gonna ignore. So, it's not only going forward is going to improve. Mr. Laundroche: We know we have improvements still to make. Mr. Bongero: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you Mr. Bongero. Any other questions or comments before we make our decision? I don't see anything else. So, with that, I'll close the public hearing and a motion would be an order. August 9, 2022 30655 On a motion by Long, seconded by Bongero, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-44-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on August 9, 2022, on Petition 2022-07-02-16 submitted by LAG Development requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 3.11, 6.05 and 6.06 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, in connection with a proposal to redevelop the Lafontaine Hyundai of Livonia dealership, including constructing an addition, modifying both the interior and exterior of the building and altering the site's parking and landscaping, at 34715 and 34801 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Stark and Wayne Roads in the Northwest %of Section 33, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2022-07-02-16 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Dimensional Site Plan identified as Sheet No. C3, dated August 5, 2022, as revised, prepared by NF Engineers, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 2. That no vehicles for sale or lease shall be displayed closer than twenty feet (20') to the public right-of-way. 3. That all parking spaces shall be doubled striped at ten feet (10') wide by twenty feet (20') in length. 4. That the display of any vehicles on car lifts is strictly prohibited. 5. That the Landscape Plan identified as Sheet No. L2, dated August 51 20221 as revised, prepared by NF Engineers, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 6. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding. 7. That underground sprinklers are to be provided for all landscaped and sodded areas and all planted materials shall be installed to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department and thereafter permanently maintained in a healthy condition. 8. That the Elevations Plan identified as A2.1, dated July 287 2022, as revised, prepared by Studio Detroit Architects, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. August 9, 2022 30656 9. That all rooftop 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. 10. That the three walls of the trash dumpster areas) shall be constructed out of building materials that shall complement that of the building. The enclosure gates shall be of solid panel steel construction or durable, long- lasting solid panel fiberglass. 11. That all new pole -mounted light fixtures shall not exceed a height of twenty feet (20') and shall be aimed and shielded to minimize stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into adjacent roadways. 12. That only conforming wall signage is approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 13. That no LED light band or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows. 14. 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. 15. 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 16. That for the access drive on Laurel Avenue, the Planning and Inspection Departments will consult with the Public Safety Departments regarding the use of either a gate with a knox box or complete closure of the driveway using landscaping, and if a gate with a knox box is preferred, access shall be restricted to the Livonia Police and Fire Departments only, and a sign shall be placed on the gate indicating "Emergency Access Only." 17. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance as amended, this approval is valid for a period of one year only from the date of approval by City Council, August 91 2022 30657 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, 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 PETITION 2022-07-02-17 Phoenix Theatre Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2022- 07-02-17 submitted by Insight Management Consulting, L.L.C., requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.22 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to utilize a Class C liquor license (sale of beer, wine and spirits for consumption on the premises) in connection with the operation of the existing movie theater (Phoenix Theatres) at 17310 Laurel Park Drive North, located within the Laurel Park Place shopping center on the northwest corner of Six Mile and Newburgh Roads in the Southeast'/ of Section 7. Mr. Taormina: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a request by Phoenix Theatres at Laurel Park Place to utilize a Class-C liquor license. The zoning of the property is C-2, General Business. The theaters have operated at Laurel Park since around 1988. Over that timeframe, there has never been a request to add an on -premises liquor license in connection with the theaters. Phoenix is now seeking a Class-C license in order to, as they indicate, stay competitive in the marketplace. The Petitioner believes that the serving of alcohol is an amenity that customers now expect. The hours of operation are generally from 9am to 11:30pm. Alcoholic beverages would be served in their original packaging and purchased at the concession stand. On -premise liquor licenses, like the one proposed at Phoenix Theatres, are treated as a waiver use in the C-2 zoning district. They are regulated under Section 6.22 of the Zoning Ordinance. One of the special requirements is that any new licensed establishments not be located closer than 1,000 feet from any existing on -premises licensed establishments. In this case, there are five (5) existing on -premises license establishments within that distance. They include Grand Tavern and Bar Louie, both of which operate Class-C licenses within the Mall, and then the Livonia Marriott, August 9, 2022 30658 the Courtyard by Marriott, and the Holiday Inn, all of which operate B-Hotel licenses. All five (5) of these establishments are within 1,000 feet of the of the Phoenix theaters, and as such, will require that this requirement to be waived by City Council, which they have the authority to do by separate resolution. There is another requirement, and that is that on -premises licenses not be located within 400 feet from a church or school building. There are no churches or school buildings that exist within 400 feet. So, the proposal does comply with that requirement. 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 July 21, 2022, 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 subject parcel is assigned a range of addresses from #17310 to #18352 Laurel Park Drive North, with the address of #17370 Laurel Park Drive North being assigned to the overall parcel. The existing parcel is currently served by public water main, sanitary sewer and storm sewer, and no alterations to the existing services are planned, so we do not believe there will be any impacts to the existing systems." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated July 22, 2022, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal for Class C Liquor License. A further detailed plan review will take place when this division receives an official plan set." The letter is signed by Brian Kukla, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated July 29, 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 Division of Police, dated July 22, 2022, which reads as follows: "We have reviewed the plans submitted by Insight Management Consulting, L.L.C., requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.22 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to utilize a Class C liquor license (sale of beer, wine and spirit s for consumption on the premises) in connection with the operation of the existing movie theater (Phoenix Theatres) at 17310 Laurel Park Drive Nort h, located within the Laurel Park Place shopping center on the northwest corner of Six Mile and Newburgh Roads in the Southeast quarter of Section 7. The proposed site is within August 9, 2022 30659 one thousand (1,000) feet of Grand Tavern at 37714 Six Mile & Bar Louie at 37716 Six Mile, which both hold Class C liquor licenses for beer, wine & spirit consumption on premises. Additionally, the proposed site is within one thousand (1, 000) feet of Livonia Marriott at 17100 N. Laurel Park Drive & Courtyard by Marriott at 17200 N. Laure I Drive, which both hold B-Hotel liquor licenses for beer, wine & spirit for consumption on premises. After reviewing the plans with the Chief of Police, we have no objections to the waiver being granted, contingent that the petitioner complies with. All State Laws City Ordinances, Stipulations and conditions set by the Livonia Police Department, Liquor Investigation Unit, as approved by the Chief of Police Stipulations, and conditions set by the Traffic Bureau of the Livonia Police Department" The letter is signed by Jeffrey Ronayne, Special Services Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated August 8, 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 July 21, 2022, which reads as follows: "I 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 (due 8/10/22): $1,424.02 Total Due City of Livonia $1,424.02" The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 25, 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 I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. Lastly, we have an email correspondence from Lisa Kostrzewski, it is dated July 21, 2022, and it reads: "Hello, I wanted to let you know that I think this will be a great addition to provide Phoenix Theatre with a liquor license as more and more movie theatres are allowing alcohol consumption and this will help drive more business to this theatre and will help increase foot traffic to the mall and of course, the Detroit Marriott Livonia, where I am the Director of Sales. The Phoenix Theatre has competitive pricing and this will allow for more people to come and enjoy all the offerings at the Theatre". That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? All right let's go to our Petitioner who's in the audience. Feel free to come to either podium. Thank you for being here as well. Good evening. August 9, 2022 30660 Cory Jacobson, 32423 Grand River Ave., Farmington, MI. We've been in Livonia now since 2009. Enjoying a pretty brisk business at the theater, and I think that Lisa was kind of unexpected, you know, kind of really sums it up in the sense that we are someone that wants to offer amenities for customers. Right now, you look at all the other major motion picture theaters in the market, and everyone is selling liquor, except us. I don't know how many customers we lose because of that, but I think it's a nice amenity to have. Also, we are a Michigan based company, based out of Farmington, and we have a theater in Wayne, we have a theater in Monroe, and we just opened a theater in Grand Rapids. Our Wayne theater and also our theater in Grand Rapids has alcohol, and we really want to add Livonia, as well as Monroe to that going forward. So, we also sell alcohol in Massachusetts and sell alcohol in Dubuque, Iowa. We haven't had any issues with our customers selling this for actually the last three years. So, that kind of convinced me that this was a good idea to introduce this throughout our businesses. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, excellent. Thank you. Mr. Jacobson. Is there any questions for our petitioner? Ms. Smiley? Ms. Smiley: Sure. Good evening. What's your plan for checking the ID's and storage of liquor in a safe place? Mr. Jacobson: This is Devin Cameron, and he is our supply chain analyst and also procures a lot of things for us, but is really familiar with where these guys want to store this year in Livonia. As far as checking ID's, we check all ID's of anybody who wants to purchase liquor in any of our businesses. And again, you know, having done this now for three years, three plus years. And for, you know, 10s of 1000s of... hundreds of 1000s of customers, we haven't had any issues. Dubuque was actually our first theater to have alcohol, then we did it in Massachusetts, and then we started to stick our toe in the water here in Michigan and it's really been something. That if anyone had any fears about this, I was one of them, and it's certainly proven that it hasn't been a problem for us, particularly if you're checking IN and unlike really like a bar where someone can sit there for a long period of time and say they would like to have another you know. Right now, people are buying their beer or wine particularly and they walk into the auditorium and watch their film and you just don't see them again. So, there's very, very few repeat customers for alcohol in a movie theater. So, I think that's one really nice reason why this is a nice amenity, but we don't really see any real issues of what we would typically have in another type of an establishment that sells alcohol, but... August 9, 2022 30661 Devin Cameron 714 East 30 Mile Road, Royal Oak, MI. As far as addressing your specific questions, I know it's a little bit difficult to see because it's a huge building, but the red area is the service area, that's our concession stand. This blue area is a locked closet, permanently locked, which is where we will be storing all the alcohol. Just like we do at all of our other theaters, everyone's serving alcohol must be certified according to the MLCC. We always have somebody behind the concession stand at all times that's designated to bring the alcohol over and give to the person. So that's how we operate. Ms. Smiley: Just curious if you're going to serve alcohol from nine o'clock in the morning on. Mr. Cameron: We serve all of our concessions all day, every day. You don't really get anybody purchasing stuff, like at the time, but there's always somebody there and the whole menu is available all day. Ms. Smiley: I didn't expect a lot of problem drinkers at the Phoenix but thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Any other questions for petitioner? No other questions for our petitioner. Is there anyone in our audience wishing to speak for against this. We have a gentleman that would like to come forward and speak so I'll give him an opportunity. Come up to one of our podiums. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for being here, sir. John Kleigsch, 37756 North Laurel Park Drive, Livonia, MI. I'm about a half a mile from where the proposed well from where their theaters are okay. I still go to work five days a week. So, I think I got most of my head together, but the fact the matter is I have a hearing loss. So sometimes I don't understand some of the things going on. Now. The gentleman here told us about how many liquor licenses there were in the area. I wish that would have been on the proposal. Okay, it wasn't. I think our neighbors, the residents should know how many there is within about a mile there. Okay, my feeling I'm sorry. If you want a drink you should go home and drink. Okay. Don't drink and drive is my big, big thing. Okay. I would like this to be rescheduled with the city giving the residents more information, particularly like in the liquor license that are within a mile there. Okay. It's... the residents need more information. Okay. I understand there's more revenue for the city if the liquor licenses is given. Okay. But I understand, does it make the city any better? That's a real question. Okay. So, I don't know. Now August 9, 2022 30662 my question was answered again, by the people. They're going to serve liquor from nine o'clock in the morning, all day long. So, is just another bar. If the liquor was going to be only done at the time the movie was showing, that's fine. In my opinion, okay. You know, how are people going to get home from thing they're going to drink and drive? Okay, I had a buddy of mine. Well, he still is a buddy of mine is 93 years old. He was an attorney. He bought and sold or was an attorney for buying and selling restaurants and liquor license, okay. And one of the days he was in, in the judge's office, and he says he can't believe it. He says, you know, I had a person here, and he was in jail. So, I know he was sober. And the guy said, you know, Your Honor, I was too drunk to. Walk, I had a drive. You know? He says I could have hurt myself. What about hurting all the rest of the people? That's baloney. Now, I would like it postponed, more information given out and then have another meeting. Okay, I know that's taking up all your time, but I really feel it once I heard that it was gonna be open from nine o'clock in the morning. I almost flipped out on that one. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your concerns. Mr. Kleigsch, thank you for coming. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to speak for or against this? If not, we'll give our petitioner an opportunity to come forward again and give any parting comments if they wish. Mr. Jacobson: I guess to really address the nine o'clock in the morning issue, we do, so you know, have movies that starting at gam. So, we aren't just opening this to be a bar. Devin suggested that all of our concession items are sold, you know, from the minute we're open to the minute that we close. I don't want to really have a situation where we have, well, this part of the menu is good and this part of the menu is bad. And you know, just having the experience inside these theaters, for as long as we have selling alcoholic beverages, again, if I could cite a problem, I would, and I can't. It's just not a situation, like a bar where people again are sitting in for long periods of time in one spot where they can just sit back and call the bartender over and order another drink. I mean, this is something where someone buys beer, or they buy a glass of wine, and they walk down the hall in the auditorium, and they're gonna start enjoying their film. And, you know, we just don't see them again, either for concession refills for soda pop or for alcohol. So, I think that's something to keep in mind when considering this situation. So, I hope that helps. Or. Wilshaw: Mr. Mr. Jacobson, I think we discussed this a little bit at our study meeting, but the format of how alcohol is served is typically just a August 9, 2022 30663 canned beer or Seltzer, or something along those lines. Its not, you're not having a bartender actually mixing drinks. Mr. Jacobson: That's correct. And I think that sort of differentiates us from some of our competitors, you know, who do you know, have bartenders, and that is not something that we wish to do. I think, again, this is just an amenity that we want to offer people, you know, one of the nice things is that they do a really nice display with all the bottles of wine. And you know, people just want, you know, a pour of wine. And that's really what we're trying to get at and, you know, have some craft beers and things. This is again, not a situation where we're seeing people and incidentally, our prices are too high for someone to get too drunk. So that that is also a consideration in any movie theater. Mr. Wilshaw: Sure. Okay. Yeah, because that's definitely where a lot of your revenue comes from. Is there any other questions or comments for our petitioner while they're up here? If not, I think you've answered all our questions. Thank you for being here. Mr. Wilshaw: I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Bongero, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-45-2022 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on August 9, 2022, on Petition 2022-07-02-17 submitted by Insight Management Consulting, L.L.C., requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 6.22 of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to utilize a Class C liquor license (sale of beer, wine and spirits for consumption on the premises) in connection with the operation of the existing movie theater (Phoenix Theatres) at 17310 Laurel Park Drive North, located within the Laurel Park Place shopping center on the northwest corner of Six Mile and Newburgh Roads in the Southeast ''/< of Section 7, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2022-07-02- 17 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. City Council waiving the 1,000-foot separation requirement between this location and the other existing on -premises licensed establishments pursuant to Section 6.22(2)A), and 2. That a Class C liquor license at this location is strictly limited to the operation of a movie theater with the provision that the waiver may be extended to a new user only upon approval of City Council. August 9, 2022 30664 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, 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 #5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 414t" Special Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 414th Special Meeting held on July 12, 2022, On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Ventura ,and unanimously adopted, it was #08-46-2022 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the 414th Special Meeting held by the Planning Commission on July 12, 2022, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Bongero, Long, Smiley, Ventura, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. ITEM #5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,189th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,189thPublic Hearing and Regular Meeting held on July 19, 2022. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Bongero ,and unanimously adopted, it was #08-47-2022 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,189th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on July 19, 2022, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: August 9, 2022 30665 AYES: Bongero, Long, Smiley, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Ventura Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, I Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on August 9, 2022, was adjourned at 8:37 p.m. ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman CITY PL{YAiNING COMMISSION Secretary