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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,203 - August 15, 2023 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,203rd PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, August 15, 2023, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,203rd 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: Wafa Dinaro Sam Caramagno Glen Long Peter Ventura Ian Wilshaw Members absent: David Bongero 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 2022-02-02-03 Soave Plymouth Road Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2023- 06-02-09 submitted by Leo Soave Building Inc. requesting Special Waiver Use approval under Section 5.02 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to develop a Planned Residential Development consisting of five (5) buildings and a total of eleven (11) residential dwelling units on properties at 35755 and 35841 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Yale Avenue and Levan Road in the Northeast'/4 of Section 32. August 15, 2023 31094 Mr. Taormina: This is a request to develop a Planned Residential Development at the former Cockrum's Farm Market located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Yale and Levan. The property is just under two acres in size. It has 334 feet of frontage on Plymouth Road and a parcel depth of roughly 310 feet. The zoning, as you can see from this map, is C-2 (General Business). Planned Residential Developments are treated as a special waiver use under Section 5.02 of the Zoning Ordinance. PRDs, as they are called, are afforded considerable design flexibility, including modifications in lot sizes and yard requirements. Also, uses that are not permitted within the zoning district are allowed when it is determined that such changes will result in more efficient land use and are compatible with and in harmony with the surrounding area. Under this special provision of the zoning ordinance, Planned Residential Developments are intended to help overcome natural and other unique obstacles or constraints that pose challenges to land development under conventional design standards. Immediately to the west and to the east of this property are commercial properties, including the carwash and a combined auto repair and U-Haul business that front on Plymouth Road. Both are zoned C-2 (General Business). To the south are single-family homes that are part of the Elmira Court subdivision, which is zoned N1 (Neighborhood), and north across Plymouth Road is the Ford Transmission Plant. The proposal would involve the development of a road and 11 dwelling units. There would be a total of five buildings, including four duplex units and one triplex. Access would be provided via a 24-foot-wide road from Plymouth Road. This road is positioned, as you can see, near the center of the property, where it would extend south for a distance of about 130 feet and then intersect with a second street that runs in an east -to -west direction, forming a "T" street pattern. None of the proposed driveways for the homes would have direct access to Plymouth Road: all homes would access the proposed streets. Units 1 thru 7 would have access to the street along the south side of the development, and Units 8 thru 11 on the north side will have access from the street that extends south from Plymouth Road. The building that is in the southwest corner of the property is the only triplex and would contain Units 1, 2, and 3. The setback of Units 9 and 10 from Plymouth Road would be 30 feet. Those are the two units closest to Plymouth Road. Units 1 thru 7 along the south side of the development would all have a setback of 35 feet from the south property line. Each unit would have a one -car attached garage. The homes would be a combination of one and two stories in height. Mostly single -story ranches or ranch -style homes. They would have two bedrooms, a living and dining area, August 15, 2023 31095 as well as a kitchen, a full bath plus a half bath, and a laundry and mechanical room. Units with an upper level would contain a bonus room, which is effectively a third bedroom, and a second full bath. Each condominium would have a gross floor area of roughly 1,600 square feet. When you combine the floor areas of all 11 units, it totals 17,963 square feet. This represents a usable floor area as a percentage of the lot area of 21 % which is well below the zoning ordinance limit of 35%. The Ordinance looks at the square footage of all the units combined and limits that area to 35% of the total site. The exterior finish of the buildings would include a combination of brick and vinyl siding. The rendering shows the roofs, which, as you can see, would be peaked and consist of asphalt shingles. A landscape plan has been submitted with the application. It shows landscaping along the front, the sides, and along the rear of the property. That's something we'll discuss in greater detail this evening. To manage the storm runoff, the plan shows a bio-retention basin that would be constructed along portions of the east and south sides of the property. This feature would be planted with trees as well as a seed mix that would provide onsite treatment of stormwater. No PRDA streetscape improvements are proposed at this time, and no internal sidewalks are shown on the plan. The Master Plan designates the subject site under the category of Corridor Commercial, which allows for apartments and attached and upper -story residential units. The master deed and bylaws were submitted earlier today. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated June 30, 2023, 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 uses at this time, but would like to note the following items: 1. The subject parcels are assigned the addresses of #35755 and #35841 Plymouth Road. 2. The legal descriptions included with the submitted drawings appear to be correct and should be used in conjunction with the proposed project. Should the project move forward, the developer will need to combine the existing parcels into a single parcel with a meets and bounds description encompassing the entire site. Also, they will need to provide a copy of the existing Plymouth Road easement, or dedicate the right-of-way for Plymouth Road to the City (which will be forwarded to MOOT). 3. The existing parcels are currently serviced by public sanitary sewer, water main and storm sewer. The submitted drawings indicate extensions of the existing August 15, 2023 31096 utilities to service the proposed structures, which we do not believe will impact the existing systems negatively. 4. The proposed development will be required to meet the Wayne County Stormwater Ordinance, and per the submitted drawings stormwater detention is indicated, but we will need to do a thorough review of the plans once they are submitted for permitting. 5. The developer will need to obtain permits from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MOOT) for any work within the Plymouth Road right-of-way. 6. Per the proposed layouts, all roadways and storm sewers, including detention basins, will be privately -owned. Sanitary sewer and water main will be public, located within dedicated easements on the site. 7. No construction or soil disturbance (including dumping of materials) should occur on the site until the owner obtains the appropriate permits. (Engineering Earthwork, SESC, etc.)" The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 1, 2023, 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 with the following stipulations: Concern for rapid access to water supply for buildings 9 & 10. Difficult task for fire trucks to lay hose and advance on the new dead-end streets where 2 new hydrants are placed. Existing or new hydrants could not be identified on preliminary plan set. On official plan set please identify Plymouth Rd. hydrants at/near proposed property development. 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 August 2, 2023, 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 Paul Walters, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated August 15, 2023, 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 14, 2023, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts receivable, general or water and sewer, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 5, 2023, 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 August 15, 2023 31097 are not delinquent, therefore I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer We also have two emails. We received two emails from a resident Glenn Oppenlander, dated August 3, 2023, which reads: "To whom it may concern, We live at 35824 Elmira Street, Livonia, Michigan 48150-6503. We received a letter from the City Planning Commission regarding the Leo Soave Building Inc. request for development of five buildings and eleven residential units on 35755 and 35841. 1 will be out of town on Tuesday, August 15 and cannot attend the public hearing on this issue. I therefore would like to express my views on this development here. The first point that I want to share is that the reason we purchased our home at 35824 Elmira is for the privacy and seclusion that the forested area of 35755 and 35841 provide from the traffic and noise on Plymouth Road and the large Ford Transmission Plant. My second point is that if this forested is removed, will new foliage be planted that will maintain the privacy and seclusion we now expect? The forest blocks an unpleasant view of traffic and the Ford Manufacturing Plant, and it helps reduce the noise levels. My last concern is that any buildings erected, will be close to the wall currently between our home and the vacant lots behind us. If someone from your office could please respond to my concerns via email so that I can discuss this with the five neighbors abutted to the potential new development at 35755 and 35841. Arlene and Glenn Oppenlander35824 Elmira Street, Livonia, Michigan 48150" The second email, dated August 7, 2023, reads: "If you could please just submit my original e-mail with my final comments in this e- mail. I have spoken to some of the neighbors who received the Petition letter from the city, and It appears they are not pleased with losing the forested area. I believe if the foliage they plant hides the view like the current forest, people will be pleased. The problem with the current plan is that Deciduous trees lose their leaves for six to seven months of the yearin Michigan, and if they are small it will be years before they grow to any useful size to block the view like the current forest. If they can plant some large Coniferous Trees they would block the view all year long and it is easier to obtain a large coniferous tree from a nursery than a small deciduous sapling." Lastly, we received just late this evening an email from Doug Doyle, dated August 15, that reads:"Hi, I was planning on attending the meeting tonight, but a family emergency came up. I do have some concerns. 1. The size of homes? 2. Are they adding street lights? 3. The trees on the back of the lot. Their are some safety concerns for my family. See attached pics. 4. Will they be adding new landscaping? 5. What are the buildings for? What size? How tall? I'm hoping there will August 15, 2023 31098 be a 2nd meeting, so l can voice my concerns. Thanks, Doug Doyle, 35862 Elmira 'That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Are there any questions for our planning staff? Mr. Ventura. Mr. Ventura: I note that the stormwater detention retention basins are to the south and east of the proposed new homes. Is there any reason why they could not be located in the setback between the sidewalk on the north side of the site and the unit's ten and nine? Mr. Taormina: Well, I'm not a civil engineer so I can't answer that question. Mr. Ventura: I just meant from an ordinance perspective. Mr. Taormina: There is no reason from an ordinance perspective. The site grades are what they have to deal with. I know there's been a conversation between the project engineer and the city engineering division on this design, where the ultimate outlet should be located. I believe the basin has been strategically located in a manner that will work. If it could be moved to the northwest corner of the property or along Plymouth Road, that would certainly be an option, but I'm not sure it's even possible. Mr. Ventura: Other than engineering, there's no reason it couldn't be there? Mr. Taormina: Right. Mr. Ventura: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ventura. Any other questions for our planning staff? All right. Mr. Taormina, just a quick question, you did note that the master plan and deed was received? We don't... we didn't have a copy in our packet. Have you had an opportunity to look at it and is it pretty much typical verbiage that we would see? Mr. Taormina: It is very typical. I already noted one correction that needs to be made, which is a reference to the number of units. Usually, what we confirm is the percentage of brick used in the construction of the houses and the minimum unit sizes. Any questions that you have regarding that, I can reference the document again, that we received just today. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. All right. Thank you. Well, if there's any questions that come up, that you can help us with, then we'll look to you for guidance. Thank you. If there's no other questions for our planning staff, our petitioner is in the audience, his August 15, 2023 31099 representative. If you'd like to come forward, and introduce yourself with your name and address please, Joe Eadah, 8810 Brookline. I am here representing Leo Soave Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Eadah, and what would you like to add from the presentation you've heard so far? Mr. Eadah: I think Mark did a wonderful job. One of the issues I think we had before is they're not for rent. They are for sale. I think that was a question that came up a while ago. I think the other thing is going to be curbside pickup for garbage day. Yes, it is. Mr. Leo Soave doesn't feel that a dumpster enclosure... he doesn't like it because it brings rats and things like that, so I think those were the two issues before. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Well, let's see if there's some questions from any of our commissioners for you. If you want to stay up there. Is there any questions for our petitioner? Ms. Dinaro: Can you address what the landscaping is going to look like? A lot of the concern are the trees... can you address... Mr. Eadah: The trees in the back? I mean, we're not going to ... we'll do what we can to save as many trees as we can, and if we have to replant some we will. Of course, we have to follow the landscape ordinances within the city. Up in the front, we'll do that. Now we want to be good neighbors, we're not gonna...I actually think this is a nicer development, of course, I'm biased. This is going to be a nicer development. If they're worried about seeing the Ford plant and all that you're going to have residential behind you, instead of a commercial building or anything like that and commercial buildings, you know, bring noise of trucks deliveries early in the morning, things like that, where you won't have that with this development. Mr. Wilshaw: All right. Thank you, Ms. Dinaro. Any other questions for our petitioner? Mr. Wilshaw: All right, well, I'll give it to Mr. Ventura first. Mr. Ventura: Mr. Eadah, I apologize for maybe you've answered these questions at the study, and I wasn't there last week. So, as I visited the site, I know the uses to the east and west are very hard commercial uses, particularly to the east. As I look at your landscape plan, it looks pretty sparse to me, and I share Ms. Dinaro's concern about shielding the site from surrounding uses. August 15, 2023 31100 I mean, this is a fairly unusual location to put residential product. So, number one, I'd like to see a lot more landscaping on the east and west. As somebody made the point that most of the existing trees to the south, are deciduous. I'd like to see some evergreens, some conifers there, that will soften that view from the existing homes on the north side of Elmira, to the south and this development. I note, however, that you have bioretention. area to the south of the proposed homes. My question to you, and I guess a clarification, I noticed while going through the material that we have, that bioretention area is a foot deep. Do I understand your data here correctly? Mr. Eadah: I can barely hear you. I'm sorry. Mr. Ventura: I'm sorry. I am looking at the information that we were provided with... can you hear me now? Mr. Eadah: Yeah. Mr. Ventura: Okay. It appears that the bio retention area is only a foot deep. Is that accurate? Mr. Eadah: Yes. Mr. Ventura: Okay. What can you plant there? I see that you're going to plant something called... and I forgot the phrase, but it's not grass. It's something... some kind of a mix. Mr. Eadah: Yeah. Mr. Ventura: Can you put shrubs in there? Can you put trees in there? Mr. Eadah: I would have to ask the engineers that a lot of times we can't put shrubs in there because it will whatever... when there are retention ponds, there for water to sit there until they can slowly go into the storm sewer without flooding the area. So, as long as it doesn't hurt the flow of the water and the management of the water, yeah, we could do something like that. Mr. Ventura: What is going on with the big area of open ground that would be to the west of units 10 and 11? Mr. Eadah: You mean where the backyards were... the retention ponds are that we talked about? Mr. Ventura: No, on the west. That doesn't appear to be...I seethe word called swale. Is that retention? August 15, 2023 31101 Mr. Eadah: Yeah. Well, swale is where ... a swale is a design of the earth... Mr. Ventura: I understand what the swale is, but it doesn't... it's not a retention area. It's not bio retention basin that exists to the south and east. Mr. Eadah: Right. Mr. Ventura: Okay. Is there a reason that you didn't put the bio retention area there and in the setback between the homes and the road? Mr. Eadah: I would have to refer to civil engineering. Mr. Ventura: I guess my observation is that you're only 35 feet from the block wall to the south of these homes, and for the majority of the width of the property, it's a bioretention area that is going to limit the use of that area I imagine. I can't see that people that buy these places are going to be able to go out there and put swing sets or anything else in the bioretention area. So, if the bio retention area were moved to that open ... that large open area behind units 10 and 11, and to that 30-foot setback between the sidewalk and units nine and ten, that would make that area behind the homes, units one through seven usable for the residents. So, I'm just suggesting that this would give you some flexibility in terms of putting more landscaping in there, making that area behind the homes, the south of the homes, usable to the purchasers for more than just walking out there, and put the bioretention area kind of out of the way of anybody's home. Mr. Eadah: I noted it. I will let our civil engineering... but most people that buy condos don't even go outside, but I understand exactly what you are saying, and I did write it down and I will... Mr. Ventura: How many of these will be three bedrooms and how many will be two bedrooms? Mr. Eadah: There's going to be two of them that are three -bedroom homes, and the other ones will be two. Mr. Ventura: So, it's possible you'd have people there with children. Mr. Eadah: It's possible, yes. What we found out nowadays is single moms with one child, usually that are buying condos. And the reason for that is because a little bit ... you can't find houses anymore, and we all know what's going on with housing market and it's kind of gotten out of reach for mostly single women with one child. August 15, 2023 31102 Mr. Ventura: And I noticed a couple of renderings sitting here. Are either of these renderings this development or for the next one. Mr. Eadah: They are for the next one. Mr. Ventura: Okay, so the ones we saw on the screen are what we're... Mr. Eadah: Yeah. Mr. Ventura: All right, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Wilshaw Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. I think Mr. Caramagno is next. Mr. Caramagno: Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair, I've got a couple of questions. I noticed that you ...here's a utility pole utility line running right through the center of this property going east to west. What happens to that? Where does that get moved to? Mr. Eadah: Well, we'd have to work with DTE on bringing everything underground. So those would probably be removed, we're going to pay a lot of money for that, too. Mr. Caramagno: So, that won't go and move back to the residential property, the bioretention ponds, it'll just go underground through your property now? Mr. Eadah: It all depends on DTE and what they want and what they'll make us do. Mr. Caramagno: Mark, is there anything on the plan that shows what will happen there? Mr. Taormina: The existing survey shows an overhead line. And if you look at the plan, it does not show that same line running across the property. More than likely, that line is going to either be relocated or placed underground somewhere within an easement on the property. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, thank you for that. Mr. Taormina: Unless the line corresponds with the street and can be saved. But chances are, they're going to have to move at least one and possibly two poles which is usually the case. So, my guess is it's going to either go underground, or they're going to have to move the line entirely. August 15, 2023 31103 Mr. Caramagno: Okay, thank you for that. The second question I've got is parking. Street parking. Streets are narrow at 24 feet, and you've got two bedroom and three -bedroom buildings here. The driveways, I think you said one car garage... so, if you've got more than a car or two, then there's likely to going to be street parking, and with narrow streets like that, that would hinder deliveries and garbage collection, as you said earlier. So, is it possible to limit this plan to parking on only one side of the street at all times? If parking on the street is necessary. Mr. Eadah: If we can do it, we will do it. Yeah, Mr. Caramagno: I think you need to do that, because you've got to be able to get in and out of the UPS trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks. Hopefully a fire engine never has to show up, but I think you got to limit this parking to one side of the street at all times. Mr. Eadah: Yeah, I'm pretty sure to, in my experience in different developments that when we send these through, you know with you guys and all the different departments that that's one of the things that the fire department does look at is how are they going to maneuver their truck in there, and if it doesn't meet to their standards, they would recommend denial. Mr. Caramagno: I'm not saying to deny it for this, but I'm saying it's important to make sure you get proper access in there all the time. Mr. Eadah: Absolutely. Mr. Caramagno: Last time we met upstairs in the study session, there was talk about basements. Do these units have basements? Mr. Eadah: No. They're all on slabs. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, and that's what I wanted to know. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Mr. Taormina, I believe you had a question. Mr. Taormina: A couple of comments based on the petitioners' questions, or the commissioners' questions. With respect to the retention area, the area along the south side of the property is much shallower, like you said, it's one or possibly two feet deep. It's a very shallow swale that runs along the back of the property that will pick up any water from the site and direct it to the east side of the property, where it would then discharge into the storm system or go into the larger bioretention area and infiltrate the ground. So, I August 15, 2023 31104 don't see that as being an obstacle to planting trees along the south side of the property. I think it's possible to create a wide enough shelf along the rear of the property where either one or two rows of pine trees can be added. The plan shows several deciduous trees. Some of those trees are shown right on the edge of the swale. There's no reason we can't intermix those with pine or spruce trees. That's if the retention area cannot be relocated to the northwest corner of the site, which I think suggested as being a first option if that's even possible. But if it's not possible due to the drainage of the site, then I don't think it precludes the possibility of planting more evergreen trees along the south side of the property. Secondly, there's probably going to be a single mailbox area for all 11 homes, and it probably makes sense to place it in the open area on the north side of the street. Here, it makes sense to add a couple of parking spaces along with a small turnaround to facilitate mail and other delivery trucks, and also provide some guest parking. A combined area for a turnaround, parking spaces, and for mail delivery. I think it's all possible in that open area, which is just west of Unit 11. Mr. Wilshaw: I think that's an excellent suggestion. Is there any other questions from any of our commissioners, for our petitioner? I just wanted to ask you, Mr. Eadah, in discussing parking on street, you said in response to the question about limiting parking to one side that you said, basically, if we could do that, as I understand these are private roads. So, you can do pretty much whatever you want. If this is a private road, you could ban parking on the street altogether. You could put it on one side, you could do these other things. Is that correct? Mr. Eadah: Well, when I stated that... it's well, it's a private road, you're correct. We can do that. Yes. The short answer is yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Okay. Yeah, because on a private road, you have a lot more flexibility as to what you can and can't do in terms of limiting activity on the street versus a public roadway, which would have, you'd have to conform more to city guidance. Okay. If there's no other questions from any of the commissioners, one more time, I don't see anything. Let me just see if there's any comments from anyone in the audience then we will give you a chance to come back up afterward? Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against? Please come to either one of the podiums that's closest to you? They both work. That way we can hear you and our folks on their watch online can hear you as well. Just start with your name and address please. August 15, 2023 31105 Glenn Oppenlander, 35284 Elmira, Livonia, MI. I wrote that email, right. Didn't know if I was gonna be able to make it. My business plan changed, so I'm here. Mr. Wilshaw: We're glad you're here. Mr. Oppenlander: I am on the south side of the wall. The progress looks good and everything. The neighborhood and ... I thought they were going to show. I guess I'm the representative of all those homes there. And it's a wall if you were to come to our yards, it's just green. You can't see anything through it. We'll miss that. Progress, you know, I was wondering when the day would come. The representative... I'm sorry, I forgot the name. Joe. Joe mentioned you know, maybe leaving a couple ... a little room for the trees that are there. I'm asking please don't do that. It'll look like garbage. You know, a couple of old scraggly trees. I really think it would be best to just clear all of that... if it's going to mostly be clear, you know, what are two or three trees are going to do to block anything, and they're not pine or evergreen or anything. So, I think it would look better if you just clear it all out. And then I've got a picture of what one of the neighbors, my neighbor next to me put in their yard, and they're these large, grew somewhat quickly. evergreen trees. I even broke a piece off to bring it if anybody would recognize it. But in the photo, I took, if anybody's interested, I could show it to Joe afterwards, it looks very clean and neat. And if you leave anything there, I mean, there's this, it's all scratched, it's really rough. And if you leave, you know, like 10 feet of it, it's just gonna look terrible. And I think it would be really best to just clear that out. And these evergreens, they grow quickly, and they are a wall themselves, and it would look a lot neater, you know. They're in a row versus just brush, you know, 10 feet of brush is going to do nothing and look garbagey I think, so, I guess that's my request, if you could consider that. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, I think we got the idea. We don't want to have back and forth. Mr. Eadah: I'd be more than ... what I was saying to the Commission through the chair, we'd be more than willing to sit down with the residents and go over all that. So, we're all in concert of what they'd like. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, thank you. Mr. Oppenlander: I was gonna offer that to, you know, anyone's willing, or more than welcome to come meet at our house. We can look in the yard and get a feel for what it... August 15, 2023 31106 Mr. Wilshaw: We definitely appreciate those suggestions. Thank you. Mr. Oppenlander: I guess the only other thing is there is that road coming in. And when cars come in an evergreen might be really useful because you don't like there's two... most of our homes are all two stories, and you know, now you might have headlights coming in bedrooms and things that are kind of raised up above that wall. The homes or it goes up a little bit. So, if there's no like evergreens, I think people are in some of those homes, maybe mine, I don't know, we're gonna have headlights that night, coming into our back of our house. So, I'm just hoping the evergreens is something that... Mr. Wilshaw: I think you'll find that it actually isn't too much of an issue. It's a valid point to make. But these duplex units that they're looking at are fairly high roofed, in terms of the peak of the roof and also some of them include a bonus from upstairs. So, they are sort of like a Cape Cod, you know, the small second story. So, they'll block the light pretty well. Okay. It's not like it's real low to the ground ranch. Mr. Oppenlander: Just I was concerned coming off of Plymouth Road that road in the middle of the subdivision. I think it's literally coming in my neighbor's house. And you know, if, depending on the height, the stuff I'm Mr. Wilshaw: Sure, it's something that we'll keep an eye on as we go through the process to make sure that that doesn't intrude on your Mr. Oppenlander: Other than that progress. In the past, other things were recommended to go in that lot and it was shot down and this is the best thing I've seen yet. So anyway, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Well, thank you for your comments, both email and for coming. Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to speak for against this item? No one else coming forward. Mr. Eadah, is there anything else that you want to comment on before we make our decision? Mr. Eadah: On just what I said earlier, I'd be more than happy to give this gentleman my phone number and we could sit down and like I said, we want to be good neighbors. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, we appreciate that. Thank you. Is there any other questions or comments from anyone in the commission? If not, a motion would be an order. On a motion by Long, seconded by Dinaro, and unanimously adopted, it was August 15, 2023 31107 #08-54-2023 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2023-06-02-09 submitted by Leo Soave Building Inc. requesting Special Waiver Use approval under Section 5.02 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to develop a Planned Residential Development consisting of five (5) buildings and a total of eleven (11) residential dwelling units on properties at 35755 and 35841 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Yale Avenue and Levan Road in the Northeast /4 of Section 32, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. The Site Plan identified as sheet CS-100, dated June 26, 2023, as revised, prepared by Angle Design & Engineering, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to, except that additional off-street parking and a turnaround shall be provided, and parking on -street parking shall be limited to one side of the street only. 2. The Landscape Planting Plan, identified as sheet LP-1, and the Landscape Notes & Details, identified as sheet LP-2, dated June 26, 2023, prepared by Nagy Devlin Land Design, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to, except that additional evergreen trees shall be planted along the south side of the property at the direction of the Planning Department. 3. All disturbed lawn areas, including road rights -of -way, shall be sodded instead of hydroseeding. 4. Underground sprinklers shall be provided for all landscaped and sodded areas, and all planted materials shall be installed to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department and, after that, permanently maintained in a healthy condition. 5. The Petitioner shall work with staff on plans to install additional landscaping around the perimeter of the site and other streetscape improvements (i.e., brick piers and fencing) along Plymouth Road. 6. The Exterior Building Elevation Plan, identified as sheet A- 7, prepared by Dimensional Design L.L.C., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 7. The issues as outlined in the correspondence dated August 1, 2023, from the Fire Marshal shall be resolved to the August 15, 2023 31108 satisfaction of the Department of Public Safety, Livonia Fire and Rescue. 8. The developer and all contractors and subcontractors shall employ best management practices to prevent, reduce and mitigate the problems associated with soil erosion and airborne dirt and dust from migrating off -site, including provisions for erosion control barriers, daily street sweeping, watering, and halting earthwork activities on days when the wind conditions are likely to cause a problem. 9. Only a conforming entrance marker is approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 10. All required cash deposits, certified checks, irrevocable bank letters of credit, and surety bonds shall be deposited with the City before the issuance of engineering permits; and 11. Under Section 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, this approval is valid for one year only from the date of approval by the City Council. 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 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 #2 PETITION 2023-03-08-02 Sunset View Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2023- 07-08-06 submitted by Leo Soave Building Company, L.L.C. requesting approval of the Master Deed, Bylaws and site plan pursuant to Section 7.27 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to develop a site condominium (Sunset View) consisting of eleven (11) single-family homes on the property at 30250 Morlock Avenue located on the west side of Sunset Avenue between Fargo Avenue and Eight Mile Road in the Northwest'/4 of Section 2. August 15, 2023 31109 Mr. Taormina: This is a request to construct a site condominium that would be known as Sunset View. The site is on the west side of Sunset Avenue, which is south of Eight Mile and east of Merriman Road. The property is 2.82 acres in size. It is 132 feet deep by 923 feet in length. A little bit on the history of the site. In 2005 the property was rezoned from RUF (Rural Urban Farm) to R-3 (One Family Residential). One year later, in 2006, the city approved Sunset View condominiums consisting of 10 conforming R-3 lots. The project, which a previous owner of the property proposed, was never developed. In 2021, with the adoption of the Livonia Vision Zoning Ordinance, the R-3 district was eliminated and replaced with the N2 zoning and as a result, the minimum required lot width was reduced from 80 feet to 70 feet. Directly across Sunset Avenue, are homes zoned N2 Neighborhood. To the west is the Whispering Woods apartment complex, zoned NMI. To the south, are residential homes, also zoned N2. And directly to the north, are industrial properties, mostly zoned to M-1 (Light Manufacturing). All 11 site condominiums would front on the existing Sunset Avenue, which has a right-of-way width of 55 feet. Lots I through 10 would all measure 70 feet in width by 132 feet in depth. Lot 11, which is the northernmost unit, would measure 168 feet in width by 132 feet in depth. In comparison, the lots across the street are all over 80 feet in width, reflecting the zoning that was in place in 1996 at the time the Sunset Subdivision was platted, which was R-3. The plans show a bioretention basin that would run along the south, north, and west sides of the development. The basin would be approximately 62 feet in width at the north end of the project adjacent to Lot 11. It would be 18 feet wide on the west side along the rear of all 11 lots. And at the south end adjacent to Lot 1, the basin would be about 55 feet in width. This feature would be planted with a wetland seed mix and would provide onsite treatment of all the stormwater runoff. There is landscaping including a tree shown being planted for each lot as required by the ordinance. The plans do not show a sidewalk, although one will be required. The sidewalk is going to have to continue along the west side of the street as part of this development. The development is allowed one sign at a maximum of 20 square feet in area and five (5) feet in height. There are no drawings specific for the homes, although the petitioner has brought some renderings and can describe those in more detail this evening. We received the master deed and bylaws for the project, which indicate that the exterior of the multi- story residences will be at least 65% brick, and for the ranch -style homes, there will be a minimum of 80% brick. The minimum home sizes would be 1,300 square feet for the single -story homes August 15, 2023 31110 and 1,500 square feet for Cape Cod's and colonials. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated June 30, 2023, 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, but would like to note the following items: 1. The subject parcel is assigned the address of #30250 Morlock Avenue. Once the plans have been submitted for permits, the Engineering Department will assign addresses to the individual units. 2. The legal descriptions included with the submitted drawings both close per surveying standards, but there are multiple discrepancies between the description shown on the title page and on the "Topographic and Boundary Survey" sheet. The Owner should provide one description that matches on all sheets. 3. The existing parcel is currently serviced by public sanitary sewer, water main and storm sewer. The submitted drawings indicate extensions of the existing utilities to service the proposed units, which we do not believe will impact the existing systems negatively. 4. The proposed development will be required to meet the Wayne County Stormwater Ordinance. Per the submitted drawings, stormwater detention is indicated, but we will need to do a thorough review of the plans once they are submitted for permitting. 5. Per the proposed layouts, all storm sewers, including detention basins, will be privately- owned. Sanitary sewer and water main will be public, located within dedicated easements on the site or in the existing right-of-way. 6. The submitted drawings do not show sidewalks along the front of the proposed condominiums, which are required with all new developments. The sidewalk should be shown on the drawings unless waived by the City Council, and it should connect to the existing sidewalk at the north end of the development. 7. No construction or soil disturbance (including dumping of materials) should occur on the site until the owner obtains the appropriate permits. (Engineering Earthwork, SESC, etc.). 8. The Master Deed and Bylaws that were submitted on July 26th do not include the referenced Exhibit 'B" drawings which show proposed easements, so we are not able to review those items at this time. Since those items are vital to the placement of site utilities, it is our position that this petition should not be approved until all of the pertinent information has been submitted for review." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 1, 2023, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed August 15, 2023 31111 the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a commercial building & roadway on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal with the following stipulations: 1. A fire access road shall be provided with not less than 20 feet of unobstructed width and have a minimum of 13 feet 6 inches of vertical clearance in accordance to 18.2.3.4.1.1 and 18.2.3.4.1.2 of NFPA 1, 2015. 2. Any curves or corner of streets shall accommodate emergency vehicles with a turning radius of fifty-three feet wall to wall and an inside turning radius of twenty-nine feet six inches. 3. Standard for residential cul-de-sacs is 50' with a minimum right-of-way radius of 60' to provide for sidewalks and utilities. 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 26, 2023, which reads as follows: `7 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Paul Walters, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated August 1, 2023, 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 August 3, 2023, which reads as follows: '7 have reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts receivable, general or water and sewer, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 25, 2023, which reads as follows: '7n 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. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Is there any questions for our planning staff? I don't see any questions. Our petitioner's representative is in the audience. Please come forward again. Good evening. Joe Eadah, representing Leo Soave. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir, and anything else you'd like to add to the presentation? Mr. Eadah: The sidewalks, absolutely. We are putting them in, and there was also I think question about fencing in the back, which is going to August 15, 2023 31112 be vinyl fencing. And the one fence that's in the front there, that is...I think is the black chain link fence that's going to be removed. I think those were the questions last meeting. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Thank you for addressing those issues. Let's see if there's any other questions for you from any of our commissioners, any questions for our petitioner? Mr. Wilshaw: No questions at all. Mr. Caramagno: Joe, thanks for answering those questions, those sidewalk and the fencing questions. What's the proposed size of these houses you're going to put in there? Mr. Eadah: Probably between 1,800 to 2,000, except for the ranches, as Mark said, you know, and we're hoping to keep them in the low fours. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, you've got pictures here too. These are renderings of what they may look like. Mr. Eadah: Yes, correct. Mr. Caramagno: Will they have concrete driveways or asphalt driveways? What do they have? Mr. Eadah: No, concrete driveways. I don't believe in the ordinance that you can have asphalt driveways. So there would be concrete driveways. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions for our petitioner? If there's no other questions for our petitioner, then I'll go to our audience to see if there's any comments from anyone in our audience wishing to speak for or against this petition. Please come to either one of the podiums. That's fine. We will be here as long as you need to be. Hi, Hello, good evening. Juliette Abbott, 20226 Sunset Street, Livonia, MI. Represented here are all but two houses. We are small but mighty. So, eight out of ten houses are represented in the audience right now. So, this plan has come to you all maybe in a different rendition five times, okay, or there abouts. And each time it has been denied for a variety of reasons. And I realized a few years ago that the ordinance did change. We didn't know that when we purchased our home as did I think everyone on the street, I think I can speak for most of you. Um, August 15, 2023 31113 we bought our home because of the wooded area. That I think was for my husband and I personally 50% of the reason was the secluded nature of the property, and we had good confidence that nothing would be built there because on the other side, as you can see, there are apartments. So, we are blocked from the view of these apartments by beautiful trees that have been there for so long. If you drive down our street, they are over 100 feet tall. They're gorgeous, and should be preserved. Our green spaces are necessary. In terms of the data, I have to politely disagree with your sewage... I'm not sure what department it is but the water and sewer. As someone who lives on that street, I can say with confidence that any time it rains, the area across where they're proposing these buildings, it turns into a marsh if you walk back there it is soggy. The road in front, the dead man's curve as we call it, floods every single time that it rains heavily. So to add more houses there, to lose the green space that right now contains much of the water that falls, I think will put an undue burden on that sewer system. The road is not wide. If you park one car there, two cars cannot pass. We have this issue with trucks coming in and out for deliveries. Eleven more houses in that area when across the street, we have more space and less houses is going to be pretty congested. Currently, the snowplows do not service our streets. We collectively as a team of residents service our streets. And lastly, the butterflies. Butterflies are an endangered species. Across the street from us there is milkweed all along that property. We enjoy the butterflies every year. And that's going to be a next step if it goes there, but we are very much against any building in that area. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak. Good evening, sir. Audience member: Good evening. Hello. Did we play soccer together? Mr. Wilshaw: You do look very familiar to me. Donald Brockway. 20234 Sunset, Livonia, MI. Like my neighbor was saying we're small street. Everybody knows each other. Most of the street has small children that being on kind of a dead end everybody kind of is able to go out in the street and play and we have all that area. The woods, the kids go back there. At one point there was almost a trail for everybody to walk on. We very much did not expect anything to be ... to happen with the woods. This, like she said. The secludeness and the woods being there was a big part of buying the home in that area. Several of the other residents of this neighborhood and street have voiced an opinion of possibly moving if there's going to be new construction. I would hate to August 15, 2023 31114 see for a mass exodus from that street especially when it's not a very good time to buy homes. These trees block the apartments that are on the other side of the woods. There's nothing wrong with apartments. We just like our trees and the neighborhood and the aesthetics that we have. They cut about 15 - 20 feet into the woods when they had to remove brush for the electrical lines this past year. And now we're starting to see the apartments, as it is. With this proposed plan, we will all be able to see the tops of the apartments, the areas is going on there, and in some places on the street, we'll be able to see all the way to Merriman. It's a big buffer between the main roads, and then the apartments, if we're putting another set of houses there, it just seems like it would be too congested. You had mentioned about the fire trucks and the streets. Anytime, even the garbage trucks which are shorter than the fire trucks come down the streets, when they get to the end, they have to back up and make a two or three point turn to come back down the street. We've had several large delivery trucks that have had to come down there and they've actually backed up into the woods and broken all kinds of trees because they couldn't turn around. It is very narrow, and you know, if we do have some people that are parking on the street, we wouldn't be able to have that. On the other side, it would be too many cars back and forth. I don't know that we have any legal ramifications it's just that a good majority of us don't want the woods to go. And I don't know how far that goes with, with planning and construction or how far that is. But we just wanted to be heard. In addition, there's been some talk about the particular company that's putting in these houses as far as their track record. Maybe I shouldn't speak on that. Is that, Mr. Long, is that what you're shaking your head that? Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Long, feel free to comment if you wish. Mr. Brockway: I mean, it's just open source, it seems like there's a lot of people that are very unhappy with that particular company, and long, long times for building projects being overdue, things not being up to code or up to... but that's, you know, this could be anybody building houses there. It's not just this company. So maybe we'll leave that out. Mr. Wilshaw: Yeah, I think the key thing is, is to focus on, on the fact that houses are being proposed there, as opposed to the actual person that's going to put them in, and, what concerns do you have about residential development across the street from your house, Mr. Brockway: If they are to be put in, it's just going to be overly crowded in my belief, and then we also would want houses that are going to be August 15, 2023 31115 ...f they did put something there, we would want something that's going to be equal to the same types of property we have. So everybody keeps the same land value as we have now, nothing's going to be decreased or increased or things of that nature. We all do like the butterflies like she was saying I don't have anything additional at this time. Mr. Wilshaw: We appreciate your comments. Mr. Brockway. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on this item, please come forward. Hi, good evening. Clara Lawrence, 20222 Sunset, Livonia, MI. I'm the original owner, when the homes were built in 1997. 1 saw my home being built. I saw my neighbors move in. I saw children being born. Right now. I'm a single woman living on this street. I'm the only grandmother on the street to 10 almost 11 little children under the age of 10. 1 porch sit. I know my neighbors. I love my neighbors. I love the animals that come to our forest across the street, and two of us ... we all have forests in our backyard. Two of us do not have fences in our backyard. So the deer, the rabbits, everything comes from across the street that you're planning to destroy, and travelled through our two backyards to go to the next forest to go to the next forest and the next forest. I think you all know that animals are in big trouble because of our community developments. And just I hope and pray that this new development does not go through. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you ma'am. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak feel free to come forward. Good evening, sir. Michael Doyle, 20210 Sunset Street, Livonia, MI. I do have a small speech issue. So, I apologize if it holds this up. First of all, I am the first house, as you come on, on what she called the Dead Man's curve. If you can imagine coming down the road, there was a curve. And then there's a curve right after that. I am on that corner. She had mentioned about kids on the block. We do have 10 and I have one coming in two months. And it's my ... it's gonna be my third in the house. My second and my wife's third and just give you some backstory, when I met my wife, I owned a house in Berkeley, Michigan. I loved Berkeley, I grew up in Berkeley, I wanted to live there my entire life. Once I saw this house in this area, I wanted to move to her house, and I sold mine to move onto our block. And I'm sorry, this is kind of a emotional thing. Because I really love our block. As you can tell, we're almost all here. I just am... I've seen cars, delivery trucks, people who don't understand and who don't know our block, whip around that corner. And I work in my living room right next to the big window. So I see every August 15, 2023 31116 car come in, I'm kind of that guy who was like, hey, there's a person trying to survey out there. And I'm telling them about it. so I love this block. And actually, they've covered most of my topics, it was mostly, you know, we have a lot of young kids and adding 20 more cars onto our block, having parking on both sides. And on that road, you don't have to pull your car in at night. So if you have parking on both sides at night, now you're trying to get things going, I don't believe we have lights on our road. We don't have lights on our road. She had mentioned the animals. There are multiple families of deer living in those woods. And in our little area of say, between Eight and Seven Mile Merriman to Middle Belt, there's probably seven or eight families that I've seen. There's two or three families in that area alone. So now they're going to be going into other areas, or they're going to be eating up our gardens or doing this or that, or they're going to be coming in our yards, and they've been... things like that. They're in a happy place there. This is gonna sound kind of weird. I actually named them because I worked from, you know, right there. And it's like, Oh, hey, John. But I'm sorry, that was dumb. But yeah, I ust mainly, um, you know, one concern that I had was that when I did talk to one of our neighbors who was not here, she said, this has been tried five times, it's been failed five times. And so I would like to understand, you know, if you have time, after I talk, why this has changed with, you know, with the changes a couple of years ago, but I also want to bring up I called a couple months ago and I asked, and 1, it took a couple of times to get in touch with the right person, but they had measured it out and said it's 130 feet. And I didn't know if that was like depth or width or, or you know this or that. The person on the phone told me it would be 150 feet would be required. And so it would have to be rezoned. So, I felt better, because he told me I would get a letter about that. When I called three weeks ago to find out when this was going to be on the agenda. They said if it has to be rezoned that, not only us but people on the other blocks would be told and that they could also come and we didn't get anything. So I'm assuming that has to do with the thing that happened a couple of years ago, which we didn't get anything on. I know that there's probably five or six people on the other dead end next to us who are fully against it because they will be impacted. And there's people even over on Fargo. She didn't have time to write in and she's hurt right now and she couldn't come in. But she's even worried about the traffic on Fargo as well coming in. I am not against growth of the city. I love this city. I've been here now for six years, and I have no problem with growth. But when I look at the whole idea of the reason why I wanted to move to this city and my and mind you this is my own personal thing. Taking down those woods and putting up homes and you know, just adding in August 15, 2023 31117 more cars, more congestion, more chances for one of our 1011 kids to be hit. You know, that does make me worry. And the last thing that I will say ... I didn't make a lot of notes here. But the last thing that I'll say is I just hope that you do take our words to heart and understand where we're coming from where we came as a you know, a small army, if you will. And I hope that if this does pass and you know, we don't have a chance to say no, that the developer would work with us to try and eliminate most of our concerns. Mr. Wilshaw: Well, thank you, Mr. Doyle, for coming up and speaking. You did a great job. Thank you so much. And what I can say is I'm not going to get into a back and forth as to you know why this petition is here before us today, other than to say that this property is owned by an individual. They have a right to develop, or to propose development on that property. So that's why they're coming to us now. They've done that in the past, perhaps it's been different owners. I'm not sure the exact background scenario, but at any point, anybody that owns property is always willing and capable of coming to us to ask. It's our job to look at that and say, is it appropriate, you know, is this the best development for that property, is that the best use of the property, we evaluate all those factors, what residents in the area have to say, and so on and, and try to make the best decision we can. And our decision is a recommended decision, which will go on to city council with that recommendation. So ultimately, they will make the final decision. But just to give you at least a little bit of that background, and explain some of those things and you are correct that the zoning change that occurred a couple of years ago, which occurred throughout the city, all areas, and all zoning and were pretty much affected by that. It did change some of the dimensions and so on, and is probably facilitating why this is looking a little bit different than it may have before. Mr. Doyle: Okay, so and then also, I'm sorry, last thing I promise. She talked about how we all kind of pitched in to do the road. I've lived here for six years; I've seen a plow once and that was after we had taken care of the road. I'm that first house as you come in, and I can tell you right now there is water buildup there all the time. So, if that forest isn't able to absorb all of that, then I would have even more worries about that. So, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: We appreciate that comment. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak for or against, feel free to come forward? Good evening, sir. August 15, 2023 31118 Ryan Molnar, 20218 Sunset, Livonia, MI. A lot of my notes have already been brought up, one of which you are speaking upon the rezoning and how it's conveniently gotten smaller. And with the proposal, counting the units, that would allow for one more house to be developed on the opposite side of our black. Also, it was mentioned that sidewalk would have to be placed as well. Limiting even more space for anybody that moves in. So anybody that moves in, is already given very limited space. It's been brought up that we have 10 children that have free range of this wonderful part of Livonia that we all chose for the same reasons. We would all be directly impacted, some of which are considering moving, which would impact me, which would impact us, because we are more than a community. You know, these are my neighbors, we look out for each other, our children play together. I'm not opposed to new families joining our block, but I do have safety concerns. Our street is not very wide as it's already been brought up. If we have more homes, you could assume that they're gonna want to park in the road as well, which would only allow one lane of traffic and if we have trucks, a fire truck, an ambulance that needs to get down there quickly. I wouldn't want those emergency vehicles to have to weave in and out of parked traffic. Another concern of mine is our elderly neighbor, who we consider our neighborhood grandmother. How long is this construction going to be for eleven homes, one lane of traffic. I just recently lost my grandmother. And I wouldn't want anybody else to be put in the situation. My grandmother was going through the same thing. She was going to have construction down the road and that was the big concern of ours. What if an emergency vehicle needed to make it to Grandma's, they wouldn't be able to do it. She would have to go pick up her mail somewhere different for months. We're not going to do that. We're standing up. We are voicing our opinions but it's mainly concern of safety for me. I am the neighbor that made that nature trail In the woods for our children. Called it the dyno trail. It's already been impacted by DTE removing about 30 feet of the woods, which really blocked the sound barrier, the light barrier between our block and the apartment buildings. Once those trees were removed, you knew those apartments were there. And when we first moved there, I promise you, I didn't even know apartments were there until a year after we moved in, you know, that following winter, when the leaves fell. brought out the nature, the beauty for us to make even more of an impact on the nature. I think, rezoning and making things smaller, makes it convenient for bigger business to come in and make some money. I guess that's what this world is all about is making money. But we're family men here. It's not about making money. It's about family and keeping people safe. So my main concern is the safety with the development of that's and the August 15, 2023 31119 time period that it's going to take for that and the impact that they'll have on my children's upbringing. I don't see them playing in the front yard when there's bulldozers. You know, that's just the safety concern. Also the one neighbor that doesn't have a fence, I let my chickens run free. Chickens, me and my children. So I I ust wanted to thank you for your time. Greatly appreciate it. Please take our thoughts and consideration. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak feel free to come forward? Good evening, sir. Randall Smith, 20222 Sunset, Livonia, MI. I don't care about the woods. I know someone owns it, it's private property. I've represented plenty of people who've done developments, but I wouldn't represent someone who was doing this development. I would the previous one. It was very nice use of space to get the proper zoning for an abandoned industrial space or commercial space and put in housing, that's a great use of land. And it's a great duty for the city to provide. This is not. That road is soft asphalt, and, like Ryan said, if you have construction on that street up and down there for at least a good year, probably two for 11 houses, you're gonna destroy the street. It is not a conforming street that they will build in the Livonia width wise. You cannot park two cars and get through. Maybe on a bicycle or walk. And I don't know if that's been even looked at by the city engineers or planning. But I can't imagine... the curbs will get destroyed and it was a shoddy construction in the first place in 1996. It wasn't... not a lot of things were up to snuff. With not just with the houses, but with the roads and the sidewalks. But I think it's a terrible use and a terrible approval of this project, considering that road and who lives on it and the nature of the road. And if anyone has been down that road, you could probably have a good sized pickup truck or a moving truck that would destroy that the surface on the tarmac. So that's my concern. The woods are great. And it is kind of putting a square peg in a round hole at this point to chop that off. And there's probably 500 apartments there. There are halogen lights, there's buzzing, there's all kinds of noise. And to just cut that land out in the middle of that square mile there... is a very wooded area. And like Clara said, the deer go through there the turkeys go through there. That's just really, I think that's a poor use of management abilities for the city to allow someone to stick houses in there just because there's land. That's all I have to say. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Smith. I appreciate your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak for or against, feel free to come forward and Good evening. Hello, ma'am. August 15, 2023 31120 Gwen Schenkelberger, 20238 Sunset, Livonia, MI. I've worked for the second largest developer in the United States. So believe me when I say I am pro -development, but when I talked to my coworkers, they agreed with me that this was not a good idea. And they were on my side and I said exactly what I said if I was in these shoes. I would not be allowing development here. For one, I know that the children have been brought up...I personally have a special needs child. She doesn't know the meaning of stop when we try to tell her not to run into the street adding more chaos, cars. It's I ust going to make things so much harder for even the typical child and like other people have said, that curve... I've had my car personally stop there and not be able to move and Mike luckily was outside that day and was able to help me push my car so I can imagine all the large trucks, the other cars that are going to congest, this little area. Tthe other thing is just the noise is loud enough, I work from home. And the work that's being done on Eight Mile is already very loud. There's a lot of like auto construction kind of work that goes on there. And just to add more people, more sounds during our work day, it's very difficult. I know several of us do work from home all the time. So that's just a huge inconvenience for all of us that are trying to be productive during our day. That's all. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Well, thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak for or against this item? Good evening, ma'am. Diane Hill, 20242 Sunset Street, Livonia, MI. I've lived there since 1996. My husband and I were one of the original owners, We bought the last house available and that is one of the reasons why we bought there because of the property. We never had kids, but I have seen three generations of kids just like these people within the area, they've come and gone. for other reasons, bigger houses, whatever. My main concern is, while I have a couple concerns, the trees, and the privacy and the noise from the apartments. We're going to see dumpsters on the back. We don't know what's going to come from them dumpsters, it could be rats, we don't know. And I live in the lot, where you see a car. And I ... my trees are all falling down because of the weather. And I have to see all these construction vehicles first of all, which is ridiculous. And now I got to look at apartments through more houses. It is a safety concern for all the kids. I do agree with all these people here and I just think there isn't enough room to do all of the planning and then the other thing I and I just heard tonight, the size of the houses, we are all have 1,500-1,600 square foot houses, pretty much 1,600. Now you bring in these 1,800 square foot houses, 2,000 square foot houses, who's going to want to buy our house when we go to sell it, because they want the bigger houses. They August 15, 2023 31121 aren't going to when our little houses have been there for 20 years. So I don't really want those houses developed for all of the reasons that I've stated. And pretty much what everybody else has said. So I think to see all this go on.. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. All right. Anyone else wishing to speak for or against this item? Have one more gentleman, Good evening, sir. Paul Abbott, 20226 Sunset, Livonia, MI. Okay, just give me a second. Mr. Wilshaw: Take your time. Mr. Abbott: I am in support of everything. Can you read this? I don't know why I'm having an issue with this. Do I need to say this or can she read what I'm saying... she support like the congestion would be ridiculous having trucks coming in all the time. In winter, when the leaves fall off the trees, the lights from the apartments like they shine in to our house. So it's a problem but when in the summer in the spring, it's not an issue. So, the delivery trucks as well I have to I have to say they can be a problem as well. Often they use our driveway to turn around they don't again because at the end, it's a very tight turn. So oftentimes the trucks will use my driveway to turn around which I'm not opposed to but I didn't know about the asphalt. Like I didn't know that was an issue. Fargo by the way is a bus route. So anyway, there's a bus that goes down Fargo anyway. I don't know how much that would impact trucks delivering supplies and whatnot but also Fargo never gets plowed at all. And how that's a bus route and never gets plowed, I don't know. Also these houses that are proposed, their backyards would be the apartments. So in terms of size, I wouldn't want to live in something like that. I understand that there would be nice houses and good size but have apartments as your backyard that I would be opposed to that. And also my wife and I... Mr. Wilshaw: Just take a deep breath, it's fine Mr. Abbott: We love living here. That's all I have. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Abbott. We appreciate your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak for or against this? I think we've covered everybody from the residents, so thank you for speaking. Mr. Eadah, would you like to address anything that was discussed? Again, we don't we don't want to create a back and forth debate. But if there's anything that was addressed, or anything that was raised that you would like to address feel free to us. August 15, 2023 31122 Mr. Eadah: I mean, we are very sensitive to the traffic. They are right, there will be some congestion. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to anybody. But that's during business hours. I mean, we're not going to have guys there at night when the kids come home from school or anything like that. And if they are, if they hire somebody to plow the snow, we'll be more than happy to chip in on that the plow the snow to.1 can't speak for any new residents that go in there. Mr. Wilshaw: Right. Okay. Is there any questions from any of the commissioners? Mr. Ventura. Mr. Ventura: Mr. Eadah, are there going to be dumpsters there or are you going to do curbside trash pickup? Mr. Eadah: I believe that's curbside trash pickup over there. Mr. Ventura: It would be curbside Mr. Eadah: Yeah, we're not gonna be putting dumpsters at a residential site. Now, during construction we will have the large dumpsters. They will be on the site. Mr. Ventura: Yeah. But on an ongoing basis, there will be no dumpsters. When do you anticipate, if this is approved, to start construction? Mr. Eadah: Now by the time we get to City Council and everything, probably either late fall or early spring. Mr. Ventura: And how long would you anticipate it would go on? Mr. Eadah: If I was to answer that question, I'd be a liar too because it just depends. It depends on the market. Mr. Ventura: Your best guess. Mr. Eadah: It depends on the market. One resident said two years. I'm gonna go with that. I would say at tops would be two years. Mr. Ventura: Okay, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Any other questions for our petitioner? Please stay up there for we may have some additional questions. Mr. Caramagno: All right. Yeah, I've got a couple.. Okay. Joe. That's a private road. So, how do you split the ownership of a private road for access to your condos? August 15, 2023 31123 Mr. Eadah: I did not know it was a private road. Mr. Caramagno: Is that a private road, Mark? The city doesn't maintain it? Mr. Taormina: This is the first time I've heard that it doesn't get plowed. That's a little surprising to me. That's a question for DPW why they wouldn't plow that road? I was not aware of that. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, so that is a city street. Mr. Taormina: Public road, yes. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. I was Mr. Taormina: It should be a city -maintained street. Yeah. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. So there's no issue... Mr. Taormina: That's part of a platted subdivision. So, it's absolutely a public road. Mr. Caramagno: Sorry for being confused there. If there's any damage to the road as a result of this potential subdivision or 11 houses going in there, who maintains the road? If there's damage done with heavy equipment coming down, there has to be... Mr. Taormina: Typically, maintenance bonds are posted that would ensure that the road would be properly maintained through construction, and if any damage, the bonds would be forfeited to cover the cost of repairs, or the developer would have to make the corrections before receiving the money back. Mr. Caramagno: So, I would assume it's reviewed before and after. Mr. Taormina: Yes, that's all handled through our engineering division. That's correct. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. As far as the large trees go in the back, I heard some of the folks mention the large trees shield the apartments, and the utility company came and took some trees down, which I believe is closer to the apartment side of that property, is that right? So what's down is down? And Joe, is there any chance that you can leave some big trees on the back of that property? Or is that not really feasible? August 15, 2023 31124 Mr. Eadah: We want to leave as much trees as possible, but part of the plan I think the city wants us to do this too, is to put a vinyl fence in the back. So, we would have to tear down any of those trees that we'd have to put a vinyl fence in the back. The tear down of those trees was DTE not ours, because there's probably wire there. And that's why they did it. So, we didn't go there and tear the trees down. Mr. Caramagno: So, in your plans for development, have you looked and seen if there's large trees that can stay as a result of developing this property, or they are they just mostly got to come down to allow for access? Mr. Eadah: Only if they're good, if they're nice trees, we want them to stay because it makes it nicer for us to as a developer for sale. Because we don't want to build 11 houses and just sit on them. We want to sell them, and one of the things we do look at is what trees we could keep. And most of these, as Mark probably will tell you there's also tree ordinances so you can just rip down whatever you want, anytime you want. Mr. Caramagno: It's beneficial for you to leave as many as you can, it is less expensive to have to not have to take them down. And it would be more satisfactory probably to the residents, if you could keep some large trees in there. Mr. Eadah: Absolutely. Mr. Caramagno: That's all I got. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions or comments? Mr. Long. Mr. Long: On the street. I guess my one largest concern with this is the intention to put 11 houses, but on the other side there, you only have I think it's 10, and so you're going to have kind of squeezed in and the driveways aren't going to line up, and you know, it's been pointed out that it's a real narrow street. So I'm sure there are many reasons forthe desire to put 11 sites in there. But what's consideration given to one putting 10 in. Mr. Eadah: I would have to talk to Mr. Soave. I couldn't answer that for you. As it sits right now, it is what the... the 11 is meeting and or exceeding all requirements to the zoning. August 15, 2023 31125 Mr. Long: Yes, it is. I understand that just, you know, that my concern about that is... I do see the safety concerns of that and some of the problems that it could present. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Any other questions or comments? Mr. Ventura: My question is for Mr. Taormina. I wonder, I'm under the impression that this plan conforms in every way with the current zoning ordinance. Mr. Taormina: In terms of the lot dimensions and everything else, that is correct. Mr. Ventura: There's been some concern expressed about the width of the road does it. ..ls it unusual to have a road this width in the city? Mr. Taormina: Rights -of -way widths vary. A standard residential street is usually 60 feet wide, the right-of-way, that is. The right-of-way usually includes a sidewalk on either side. The road itself, from curb to curb, is typically around 35 feet in width. However, road cross - sections can vary. In older subdivisions, the roads can be anywhere from 25 to 28, 29, or 30 feet wide, curb -to -curb. Sunset Avenue is somewhere around 28 to 30 feet wide. The 55-foot right-of-way is not uncommon. We have many streets where the right-of-way is only 50 feet. But typically, the standard right-of- way for a residential street is 60 feet. Mr. Ventura: Okay, and finally, there's expressed concern about drainage, and my understanding is that the petitioner is providing drainage areas on site so that any runoff is contained on the site,.as opposed to migrating over to the condos, over to the apartments or to the homes across the street. Mr. Taormina: That is correct. That's something that the Engineering Department will review to make sure that that is the case when the final design is approved. Mr. Ventura: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Sure Any other questions from any other commissioners? I don't see any other questions? Mr. Eadah, is there anything else that you'd like to add before we make our decision? Mr. Eadah: No, I'm good. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Mr. Caramagno? August 15, 2023 31126 Mr. Caramagno: The lot furthest to the north is quite large, considerably larger than the other lots. Has there been any consideration to maybe putting a little... making that lot smaller and putting a playground area overthere? Mr. Eadah: We haven't discussed that. Mr. Caramagno: Would there be space for it? Mr. Eadah: I don't know, until I sit down with our engineers to find out. Mr. Caramagno: Mark, how big is that last lot? Mr. Taormina: I think we noted in the presentation. It was... Mr. Caramagno: 168. Mr. Taormina: Yes, that's correct. Mr. Caramagno Has Soave Building done something like that in other areas, put a little playground area for the children to play? Mr. Eadah: I can't answer that question because I just started representing Mr. Soave. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. Thank you, Joe. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina wasn't a playground type facility part of the Washington... Washington Woods or something down by Hicks and Ann Arbor Road? Mr. Taormina: Correct. In that case, a portion of the land was dedicated to the city for a playground. That's the park right at the corner. That became a public park. In this particular case, I don't think Parks and Recreation would have any interest in maintaining such a small area, with any type of structure. That would have to be something that would have to go before the Parks Commission. If there's interest in adding a small park, I would suggest that it be the responsibility of the condominium association for both ownership and maintenance. Mr. Wilshaw: All right, it's a privately owned Park. Okay. It's just a thought... it is one of the only times I can think of something like that being done. But yeah, that's just... Mr. Caramagno: Just a question. August 15, 2023 31127 Mr. Wilshaw: Yeah, it's a good question. Mr. Taormina: Right now, I believe the legal description for Unit 11 includes the portion of the area for bio-retention. But I'm not certain, and that doesn't have to be the case. It would be more appropriate if it was part of a common area element. But if that area is where the bio- retention has to go, then it would be limited for any type of playground area. Without knowing the final design of the basin, , whether or not it would be usable for any type of active play area would have to be investigated further. Mr. Wilshaw: All right. I will just make a couple of notes as some of our audience may not realize I am limited in what I can comment on or discuss because as chairman, I can't be doing anything that sways any decision making. But I did want to make a couple notes that, as I read through the minutes of the original development of Sunset View, which is your property, which I remember happening back in the early 2000s. I've been around doing this for a while. Originally, it was proposed to be 11 Lots and then was lessened down to 10. Lots. You do also have water retention that was required as part of that development, and it's done as an underground development. There's no above ground water retention facility. It's all placed underground because of the limited size of your site. So just a couple notes there of differences between that petition and this one. I just wanted to throw that out there. Is there any other questions or comments from any of the commissioners? Mr. Long. Mr. Long: Mark, it came up a handful of times that this has been presented to us or presented to the Planning Commission or some kind of city body about five times. I don't recall seeing this before. Do you know the history of other attempts to develop this parcel? Mr. Taormina: There have been multiple attempts to rezone the property. But the successful rezoning occurred in 2005. As I noted in the opening remarks, a 10-unit site condominium project was approved for this site in 2006. Mr. Long: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Taormina But prior to that, there were other attempts to rezone the property that were unsuccessful. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Any other questions comments? If not, then a motion would be an order. On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Caramagno, and adopted, it was August 15, 2023 31128 #08-55-2023 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to City Council that Petition 2023-07-08-06 submitted by Leo Soave Building Company, L.L.C. requesting approval of the Master Deed, Bylaws and site plan pursuant to Section 7.27 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to develop a site condominium (Sunset View) consisting of eleven (11) single-family homes on the property at 30250 Morlock Avenue located on the west side of Sunset Avenue between Fargo Avenue and Eight Mile Road in the Northwest'/4 of Section 2, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. The Site Plan identified as Sheet CS-100, dated August 1, 2023, as revised, prepared by Angle Design & Engineering, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 2. The Landscape Planting Plan, identified as Sheet LP-1, and the Landscape Notes & Details, identified as Sheet LP-2, dated July 20, 2023, prepared by Nagy Devlin Land Design, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 3. All disturbed lawn areas, including road rights -of -way, shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding. 4. 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. 5. A sidewalk shall be installed throughout the development to the satisfaction of the Engineering Department. 6. The condominium Master Deed and Bylaws comply with the requirements of the Subdivision Control Ordinance, Title 16, Chapter 16.04-16.40 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, and Section 7.27 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended. 7. The petitioner shall include language in the Master Deed and Bylaws that requires the condominium association to reimburse the City of Livonia for any maintenance or repair costs incurred for the stormwater detention/retention and outlet facilities and gives the City the right to impose liens in the event the charges are not paid within thirty (30) days. 8. This site shall meet either the City of Livonia or the Wayne County Storm Water Management Ordinance, whichever August 15, 2023 31129 applies, and the developer shall secure a soil erosion and sedimentation control permit before commencing any grading activities on the site. 9. The developer and all contractors and subcontractors shall employ best management practices to prevent, reduce and mitigate the problems associated with soil erosion and airborne dirt and dust from migrating off -site, including provisions for erosion control barriers, daily street sweeping, watering, and halting earthwork activities on days when the wind conditions are likely to cause a problem. 10. Only a conforming entrance marker is approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 11. All required cash deposits, certified checks, irrevocable bank letters of credit, and/or surety bonds shall be deposited with the City prior to the issuance of engineering permits; and 12. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, this approval is valid for a period of one year only from the date of approval by the City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. 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. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Dinaro, Ventura, Caramagno NAYS: Long, Wilshaw ABSENT: Bongero ABSTAIN: None ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,202nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,202"d Public Hearing and Regular Meeting held on July 25, 2023. August 15, 2023 31130 On a motion by Dinaro, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-56-2023 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,202"d Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on July 25, 2023, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Dinaro, Long, Ventura, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: Bongero 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 1,203'd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on August 15, 2023, was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION l Sam C ramagno, Secretary ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman