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Home My WebLink About1,174 - August 17, 2021 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,174th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, August 17, 2021, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,174th Public Hearing and Regular Meeting in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Members present: David Bongero Sam Caramagno Glen Long Betsy McCue Carol Smiley 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 2021-07-01-06 LAG Development Or. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2021- 07-01-06 submitted by LAG Development pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, requesting to rezone the property at 34801 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Stark and Wayne Roads in the Northwest % of Section 33, from C-1, Local Business to C-2, General Business. August 17, 2021 30105 Mr. Taormina: This a request to rezone property from C-1 (Local Business) to C-2 (General Business). The property is on the south side of Plymouth Road between Wayne Road and Laurel Ave. The size of the property is roughly 0.6 acre. It includes 173 feet of frontage on Plymouth Road with a depth of 147 feet. This is the former Dough Boy Doughnut shop. The existing building on this property measures approximately 2,150 square feet. It was originally built as a gas station and later converted to a doughnut shop in 1975. As you can see from the zoning map, the site is surrounded by commercial land uses. To the east and to the south is the LaFontaine Hyundai of Livonia Auto Dealership. It was formerly Ralph Thayer. To the west is the Burger King and Dunkin' Donuts. The site was recently acquired by LAG of Livonia L.L.C., with is part of the LaFontaine Auto Group. The objective is to expand the dealership operations, presumably for vehicle display purposes. If the zoning is approved, then the existing building, as we understand it, would be demolished. The use of the property for the storage and display of vehicles in connection with the dealership operation will require waiver -use approval. If this rezoning petition moves forward, the second step of the process would be to file a waiver -use application for the use of the property for auto dealership purposes. The Livonia Vision 21 Future Land Use Map does show the subject area as corridor commercial. The site is suitable for the proposed rezoning and use. 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 20, 2021, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed rezoning at this time. The subject parcel is assigned the address of #34801 Plymouth Road. The existing building is currently serviced by public water main and sanitary sewer. Should the owner wish to redevelop the site, there is public storm sewer available to the site, however the developer may need to cross Plymouth Road to tie into the system. The developer will need to meet current Engineering requirements for the proposed project, including storm water detention per the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. It should be noted that the developer maybe required to obtain a permit from the Michigan Department of Transportation should any work occur within the Plymouth Road right-of-way." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated July 28, 2021, which reads as follows: "I have August 17, 2021 30106 reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. The following amounts are due to the City of Livonia: Unpaid water and sewer charges: $ 85.29 (past due as of 7119121) Total Due City of Livonia $ 85.29" The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 21, 2021, 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. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? I don't see any. I believe our petitioner is here. We will need your name and address for the record please. Taylor Lin, LaFontaine Automotive Group, 4000 West Highland Road, Highland, MI, 48357. Bear with me here guys, I am a little nervous as this is my first time I am speaking for LaFontaine. As you know, we recently acquired the Thayer Group dealerships. The doughnut shop's owner had approached us and made an offer. We had thought it would be a good idea. It could potentially compliment the westerly property. As you guys know, it is the only C-1 zoning on the strip with everything surrounding it being C-2. We currently have no plans for the building at the moment. We would currently be using parcel for inventory parking. We have plans to take down the doughnut shop sign, increase landscaping, restripe the lot, and we have already removed some of the weeds on the site. We are willing to install a brick pier wrought iron wall, as well. Regarding it previously being a gas station, we have extensive environmental studies. There are no environmental concerns and there are currently no underground storage tanks. I did also want to address that the monies that were due to the city have been paid since July. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Lin. We appreciate your presentation and just for everyone's benefit, this is a rezoning request from C-1 to C-2. Most of the discussion tonight is going to focus on the zoning and if that use is appropriate. You will have to come back of course as you know for a site plan or waiver -use if that is approved. We may possibly get more into the details of layout of parking and so forth at that stage. I just wanted to set everyone's expectations. We may have some questions regarding the use of the property, and we will see how this goes. Is there any questions for our petition from any of our commissioners? August 17, 2021 30107 Mr. Long: I wanted to be clear. I am not sure I understood properly. Is the building staying or is the building coming down? S. Lin: At the moment we don't have any plans for it. It could potentially be demolished in the future, or we could repurpose it. At the moment we are unsure what we would be doing. It would remain standing as it is. Mr. Long: So, if we rezone it, obviously, they will have to come back with a site plan down the road and have an idea of what the disposition would be at that time, correct? Mr. Chair? Mr. Wilshaw: I believe their intended use would require awaiver-use. Is that correct, Mr. Taormina? Mr. Taormina: That is correct. Mr. Wilshaw: So, yeah, they would have to come back for that. We could get into the details at that stage. Mr. Long: Okay. I won't take this any further then. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Any other questions from any of our commissioners? Mr. Caramagno: I heard you are going to make some improvements to the property if this goes through, and I think it's a good thing. I noticed the fencing along the Burger King western side of the property. Some of it has been knocked down and in disrepair. What is the plan for that to maintain your current property? What is the plan there? Ms. Lin: Yeah, absolutely. We want to make this site presentable and obviously if there was any fencing issue thing or in disrepair, we would go ahead and correct that. Mr. Caramagno: Fix it all up at the same time? Ms. Lin: Yes, Mr. Caramagno: It looks like someone might have drove through that. I don't know if someone got wild in the Burger King property lot. It loos like someone drove right through the fence. Ms. Lin: Maybe. Or. Caramagno: Thank you. You will take care of it. Thank you. August 17, 2021 30108 S. Lin: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: That could have been one heck of a test drive there. Mr. Caramagno: Yeah. (laughs) Mr. Wilshaw: Any other questions for our petitioner? I don't see any. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? You can come forward. We will let you speak. Thank you, Ms. Lin. James Arnold, 11205 Laurel, Livonia, MI. I have 288 length of frontage. I live right behind 34803. Basically, that is a dump right there. The Thayer Group got it from Al Tanski, which put a commercial wall in and put in Arbor Vitae in all around it and it is terrible. Like Sam was saying, I don't know how to say your last name. There are nine sections of fence down in 3408, nine sections of fence that are tore up. It looks pretty bad. There is a pile of tires that is probably 40 feet wide, 30 feet deep, and probably 10 feet tall. There is two coaxial cables, one that is on my property 11205 in the very south or the very northeastern corner and there is one down in the Burger King parking lot that goes across. The parking lot wraps around coaxial cable, probably like the cable stuff. It's not powered, so ... the grass is unkept. They have just purchased this property and I understand that they are just staring, but they basically weed wacked a little bit and tore a little bit out compared to what hasn't been done in the last 20 years. I do give them commendment to do that, you know? There is probably hundreds of feet that are overgrown of property line. I only own two hundred, three hundred feet, but it is just overgrown. I walked the whole thing looking at it. There is metal boxes in the back on 34803. Metal boxes. Fencing. It is on the commercial wall. The cap is basically torn off on the commercial wall. So, there is quite a lot of upkeep to get this place up before you can even think about... God says you have to take care of what I give you before I can give you more. There is mulch that they have just basically piled and there is a pile of cement that they have just torn out, just piles. If I lived that way, I know you guys would be knocking on my door saying pick it up, please. So, that is all I have to say. Thank you for your time. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comments, Mr. Arnold. We appreciate that. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak for or against this petition? Good evening, sir. August 17, 2021 30109 Matt Chambleau, LaFontaine Group. We are working on all of these issues. We have already mowed the grass by the Burger King. We know that the gate is in disarray. We have a bunch of junk. A forty -yard dumpster was delivered today. We are in the process of throwing all the stuff that has accumulated over years and getting all the pavement done. All that done. All the trees trimmed. All the brush picked up. We are working on all of this stuff. We literally just took ownership of that facility and this current facility. We are working on cleaning and addressing all of these issues. I have my card here and I can give it to you. You can reach out to me directly. Mr. Wilshaw: Great. Thank you. Excellent. We appreciate those comments. Mr. Chambleau: Anything...anything the neighbors need; we want to reach out to the neighbors, and we are working on all that stuff. It's only been 40 or 45 days, so it is a work in progress. We have been improving... obviously, we started on the front. If you have driven by on Plymouth Road, we have trimmed up all that brush. We have done a bunch of landscaping and wood chips upfront. We are working our way back. So, we are working on it, sir. If anyone else has any concerns, we are working on landscaping extensively in all departments and every facility we have, including the rezoning one. Mr. Wilshaw: Sure. Thank you, sir, for your comments. Ms. Smiley: First of all, thank you. Secondly, did you talk to PRDA? Is that where you got your landscape ideas from? The Plymouth Road Development Authority. Mr. Chambleau: We have not talked to them yet. It was brought up, obviously, in last weeks meeting. We made note of it with LAG Development. Ms. Smiley: I heard her talk about he wrought iron fences and what you are doing in front, I just wondered. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak to this item? If not, we always give our petitioner the last word. Is there anything else, Ms. Lin, that you wanted to mention. Your good, alright. If there is no other questions or comments, I can close the public hearing at this time. I will go to my fellow commissioners and ask for a motion. On a motion by McCue, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was August 17, 2021 30110 #08-40-2021 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on August 17, 2021, on Petition 2021-07-01-06 submitted by LAG Development pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, requesting to rezone the property at 34801 Plymouth Road, located on the south side of Plymouth Road between Stark and Wayne Roads in the Northwest''/4 of Section 33, from C-1, Local Business to C-2, General Business, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2021-09-01-07 be approved for the following reasons: 1. That a change of zoning to C-2, General Business is compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding land uses and zoning districts in the area. 2. That the proposed change of zoning would allow the property owner to seek waiver use approval to utilize the property for the storage and display of vehicles in connection with an automobile dealership operation. 3. That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the developing character of the area. 4. That the proposed change of zoning represents a reasonable and logical zoning plan for the subject property which adheres to the principles of sound land use planning, and 5. That the proposed change of zoning is supported by The Livonia Vision 21 (LV21) Future Land Use map which shows the subject area of the rezoning as Corridor Commercial. FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 23.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #2 PETITION 2021-07-02-11 Animal Care Clinic Or. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2021- 07-02-11 submitted by Animal Care Clinic of Livonia requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(b) of the City of August 17, 2021 30111 Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to expand the existing veterinary clinic at 28450 Joy Road, located on the northwest corner of Joy Road and Harrison Avenue in the Southwest'/4 of Section 36, Mr. Taormina: This is a request to expand an existing veterinary clinic that is at the corner of Joy Road and Harrison Avenue. The zoning of this property is C-2 (General Business). The property is roughly '/2 acre in size. It has 93 feet of frontage along Joy Road and a depth of 150 feet. The existing building on the property measures roughly 2,070 square feet and is located on the south part of the site. The northerly portion of the property is currently undeveloped and maintained as an open grass field. In 2016, this site received waiver -use approval for the operation of Animal Care Clinic of Livonia. The structure on this property was originally built in 1956 as a drug store. It was called Becks Drugs. The building was later converted to a laundromat and cleaners and then a coin laundry in the late 70's before sitting vacant for several years. Veterinary clinics are treated as a waiver -use under Section 11.03(b) of the zoning ordinance. The proposed addition would be on the west side of the building. The drawing on the left-hand side represents the existing conditions. This is the existing building on the property. The drawing on the right- hand side is the proposed site plan with the expanded building and parking areas. The existing building on the site would be expanded by about 1,236 square feet. This would bring the gross floor area of the structure up to 3,306 square feet. The addition would provide for additional exam rooms, as well as a surgery room, a reception and waiting area, laboratory, and some kennels. The required setback for buildings in a C-2 zoning district is 60 feet, however, the existing building is at the property line along Joy Road, essentially resulting in a zero setback. The addition, as you can see from the plan on the right, would continue along this same line with no off sets. Since the existing setback is non -conforming as well as the proposed building addition setback a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals will be required. A setback of 15 feet is required along the rear of the building where the site abuts residential. Both the existing building and addition would have a setback of roughly 172 feet. All of the other setbacks on the site would remain as is or conforming. The expanded building is going to require a total 14 parking spaces. Currently the site has 12. The site plan does show that the rear parking lot would be extended north, providing for a total of 18 parking spaces. Most of all the parking spaces on the site, except for two that are adjacent to the east side of the building, would be located behind the building. Where the site abuts residential to the north, the ordinance requires a five- to August 17, 2021 30112 seven -foot -high masonry wall. Currently there is a six-foot high white vinyl privacy fence located at the rear property line. At the closest point the expanded parking lot would be roughly 60 feet adjacent to this residential district. There is some discussion, as I understand it, relative to the location of the dumpster. The plan shows the dumpster being shifted slightly west on the property to accommodate the addition. It is my understanding that from the discussion at the study meeting would see this dumpster relocated to another area in the parking lot. We do not have plans showing how that would be accomplished. It is important that whatever is done to this dumpster, that it be properly screened, as well as containing a solid metal or composite panel gate. Some new landscaping would be provided within the parking lot area. This would be in the form of two narrow landscape islands. These four -foot -wide strips on either side of the parking lot would be planted with the shrubs. The rest of the site's landscaping, which is basically grass, would remain as is. In terms of the building design itself, it is really intended to compliment the existing building. As you can see from these plans, there is a single parapet and cornice with a central feature that would extend across the entire front of the building and a few feet above the existing roofline. The exterior finishes include a combination of stone veneer and E.I.F.S. similar to what exists currently. The north and west elevations would be covered with E.I.F.S. Again, similar to what is on the existing building. I will point out, however, one issue that I would like to address this evening with respect to the architecture. That is this parapet along the front of the building. We note that the parapet is braced here, and you can see this. I will zoom in on the area. This bracing becomes highly visible from the road, as well as the back of this parapet, especially along the side street. We would like that addressed, either by raising the parapet above that area to conceal it or some type of material that would be complimentary to the design of the building to conceal that bracing and the back side of that central parapet feature. Mr. Wilshaw: Excellent, Mr. Taormina. Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: Yes, thank you. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated July 15, 2021, 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 proposed project parcel is assigned the address of #28450 Joy Road. The existing building is currently serviced by public water main and sanitary sewer. There is public storm sewer available to the site, however the developer may need to cross Harrison Road to tie into the system. The August 17, 2021 30113 developer will need to meet current Engineering requirements for the proposed project, including storm water detention per the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. We do not believe there IN be any impacts to the existing systems. It should be noted that the developer may be required to obtain a permit from the Wayne County Department of Public Service should any work occur within the Joy Road right-of-way." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated July 15, 2021, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with 28450 Joy Rd. a request to construct a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Greg Thomas, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated July 15, 2021, 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 Finance Department, dated July 19, 2021, which reads as follows: " I have reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts receivable (general or water and sewer), I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 21, 2021, 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, the City received an email correspondence from Anita and it reads: "Animal Care Clinic wants to expand their existing veterinary clinic located at 28450 Joy Road. I think this is wonderful! I live very close to the clinic, and I take my dog there to be cared for. The doctor and the staff are great, and their hours of operation are very generous to those of us who work during the day. They always seem to be very busy. I fully support the expansion of Animal Care Clinic, and I hope this expansion is granted. Sincerely, Anita Shiplett." That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Is there any questions? As. Smiley: You referred to the parapet up there and the brace for that. Is there mechanical equipment up on the roof or where is that? Mr. Taormina: If there are any rooftop units, they are not shown on the plans. Any mechanical equipment is usually addressed in the resolution August 17, 2021 30114 that it be concealed. I will go to the aerial photos, and I believe Mr. Ventura can probably reference whether any of that is visible. Mr. Ventura: There is currently a condenser on the ground behind the building and I guess it would be interesting to have the petitioner to clarify that that would remain, so we don't have an issue with rooftop units, but today it is on the ground. Ms. Smiley: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you both. Any other questions for our planning staff? If not, if the petitioner is in the audience, please come forward. We will ask that you start with your name and address. Arezki Mekhaldi, 16970 West Warren, Detroit, MI, 48228. I am the architect for the consulting company. I am the designer. I want to talk about what was said. I would like to discuss what we talked about... Mr. Wilshaw: Can you please speak up sir? Thank you. Mr. Mekhaldi: I don't want to discuss about the project, but I would like to discuss about the point raised last pre -hearing about the relocation of the dumpster. If we look here (inaudible)... Mr. Taormina: I am sorry. We cannot hear you. You have to be at the mic. Mr. Mekhaldi: We located the dumpster enclosure here in this area. We located it to the north to facate the maneuvering safely of the waste truck which is going forward and can move back and leave easily. Second point is we are talking about a greenbelt. I talked to the owner, and he said they got the white vinyl fence was an agreement of the last petition I think in 2016. The owner ... the building has before a greenbelt. The building has before a greenbelt. It was removed by the request of the owner of the residential area over here. That is why... I just tried to provide another greenbelt, but once I talked to the owner he said move there and we moved it there at the request of the... it was I think part of the agreement from the last petition. The third point I think raised by one of the... is the power pole line. We chose... along Joy Road. We are not expanding vertically but we are expanding horizontally, which is no problem. I have here with me the electrical and city engineer.... if you want more August 17, 2021 30115 detail about it, because they are a safe distance between the line and the building which is 15 feet which is ... remains the same even if we expand horizontally not vertically. Also, I think... I have to mention one thing, that all the setbacks will remain only on the west area which is decreased from 35'Y2 feet to 17 feet. All the requirement of the Michigan Building Code and City Ordinance (in audible) of the project. If you have any question, I am ready to answer. I didn't submit this plan. I revised it but power outage for almost three days or four days I couldn't proceed with that. Mr. Wilshaw: Sure. Ms. Smiley: You can take your mask off. Mr. Wilshaw: Any questions for our petitioner's representative? Mr. Bongero: Just to be clear, I couldn't really see it. You are going to take the dumpster from its current location, and you are sticking it in the back yard along the street, closer to the side street? . Mr. Mekhaldi: Yes Mr. Bongero: Okay. I couldn't really tell. Mr. Taormina: It is roughly the location of where this north arrow is shown. Mr. Bongero: Yeah. That makes sense, which is what Mr. Ventura was talking about. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Any other questions for our petitioner's representative? Mr. Caramagno: Maybe this is more for Mark. Mark, how often do we put a dumpster right next to a sidewalk on a commercial property? Mr. Taormina: Not often. That is one thing when we review site plans, we try to conceal them as much as possible. They are enclosed on all four sides; three sides by masonry and then the gates. Ideally, they are in an area on the site that is not visible from only roads, but it is difficult on this corner property to achieve that. Even if you shift it further to the west...I understand what they are trying to accomplish here. It makes access much easier for the pick-up. It becomes a little more challenging if it is anywhere further to the west on the property. It doesn't mean it is impossible, but ideally, we would move it further west on the property. August 17, 2021 30116 Mr. Caramagno: I know and understand the access is important and it is to be safe and to be reasonable, but I just don't like that dumpster right next to the sidewalk. I don't care for it at all, even if he has to put more parking lot back there. Another 10 or 12 feet of parking lot to make that thing accessible to turn. I just don't care for an enclosure right next to that sidewalk, not at all. Mr. Taormina: What we would typically look to do in a case like this where there is little, or no option is to provide additional landscaping around and in that area. Around the enclosure. Mr. Caramagno: That is an idea. Mr. Taormina: If it could be moved a little bit further to the west that would even be better. You are right. They are going to have to create an apron no matter what for the pad for the dumpster, because you need vehicles in those parking spaces to be able to safely back up, Mr. Caramagno: Sure. I have a couple other things written down here. When I drove around the back of the building, I noticed the gas meter, the guard is broken off the wall and laying on the ground. I don't know what that material is on the wall there, but it looks like it's never been finished. What is the plan for that? Is that the E.I.F.S. or whatever that is? Mr. Mekhaldi: Yes, that is E.I.F.S. Mr. Caramagno: How come that was never finished back there? Mr. Mekhaldi: Because I think they have to remove the gas meter and finish the wall and put it back, but they didn't do that. We will take care of it in the future. Mr. Caramagno: I think, if nothing else, that guard has to go back up over that meter. It is serving no purpose now. It is there for a reason, obviously, but that doesn't look very nice at all. The other thing that I've got is there is a couple big trees in the back yard. They may not be on your property, but they are going to impact your parking lot it looks like. Mr. Mekhaldi: That is not our property. They don't affect our property. Mr. Caramagno: Mark, do you have an overhead picture of that? That one is laying right out in the field. There is a branch that is sitting probably a foot or a foot and a half off the ground. It goes right to where that August 17, 2021 30117 parking is just about going to be. You may have to look at that with the neighbor. Figure out something to do there. Mr. Mekhaldi: Okay. Mr. Wllshaw: an you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions for our petitioner? Ms. Smiley: That fence in the backyard. We had a question about that last week. Didn't we? Mark, is it okay? That fence that goes into the neighborhood. Mr. Taormina: It's fine. It could be maintained. I would have to go back and take a look at the previous approvals involving this property to see if there was either a variance, an agreement with a neighbor, or some other means by which that fence was approved in lieu of the wall. I honestly don't know. I don't have that information in front of me. Sometimes there is an easement and overhead lines that prevent a wall from being built right at the property line, so the fence is sometimes a better option. We will go back and look at that. Council, by approving this plan, would have to endorse the continuation of that fence. Whether or not it would have to go back to Zoning Board of Appeals, I don't know the answer to that. I don't believe it would have too necessarily. Ms. Smiley: They mention the hours of operation. We don't happen to know those do we? Mr. Mekhaldi: The hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Ms. Smiley: Monday to Friday? Or every day? Mr. Mekhaldi: It is Monday through Friday. There is no overnight stay. Ms. Smiley: Good. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Ms. Smiley. Any other questions? Mr. Bongero: Not to beat the dumpster issues, but now the dumpster is out of the enclosure and it is like... it is almost a straight shot if you were to take that driveway and drive straight back by this building. Maybe the enclosure could back there? It is kind of a natural for the truck to drive straight at it. Sam, would that work? You know what I am saying? If they have the dumpster out of the enclosure now, because obviously they can't navigate that turn where the enclosure is now, so it is outside the dumpster about where Mark's cursor is right there. So, why don't they just put the August 17, 2021 30118 enclosure right there? It is away from the residential and it is kind of right where it was. Do you know what I mean? If that works for you guys. You might lose one parking spot. Mr. Mekhaldi: We can do that. Mr. Wilshaw: I do believe they are over on parking by at least a space or two. Mr. Mekhaldi: The required is 17 parking space, but we provided 20 for employees or customers. Mr. Taormina: If I could respond to that? Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina. Mr. Taormina: So, this area would appear not to be landscaped. Let's assume for the sake of discussion I think what you are suggesting is that maybe the dumpster be placed somewhere over here. There is 22 feet currently shown on the plan between the parking space and the edge of this striped area. That is enough room for a car to safely backup without hitting the dumpster. It could even be placed somewhere further back here. If it is angled, it makes it easier for vehicles to come in. The problem then is how do they back out or if they do this at certain times of the day where there are no cars parked in the back it is not an issue. Often times they try to accomplish the pick ups when there is non -business hours but I don't know if that would work in this case or not. Mr. Mekhaldi; There is another option to continue the same idea. We can remove these two parking spaces... the 17... they are close to the property line, and we remove the two and we can have more space to maneuver the waste truck. Backup and leave easily. I think it maybe goes with his idea. Mr. Wilshaw: Are you all set, Mr. Bongero? Mr. Bongero: Yeah, I just think it's a better solution than having it down by the street per Mr. Caramagno's concerns. Thank you. Or. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Ventura. Or. Ventura: We are going to beat this to death. I was there last Tuesday morning. There were 17 cars parked around this building. Your business is going gangbusters. The letter that we got commending your operation is certainly right on. So, Mr. Bongero, where you are suggesting that they put the dumpster enclosure was all parked up with cars. There were 17 cars there August 17, 2021 30119 then without the addition. Some were in the street. I will suggest that we need more than 18 car parking. We do need a solution to the dumpster. I would just rather rely on Mr. Taormina and the staff to come up with a solution that works and Sam, to address your concerns from a landscaping standpoint, also one that functions and gets the actual dumpster enclosure with a dumpster in it instead of sitting on the ground. I also note that in the approving resolution article 13 addresses the fence or the wall. If we were to approve this this evening, Mr. Taormina, would we leave it in there or take it out? Mr. Taormina: I haven't yet heard from any residents to suggest that a wall is needed there. You can remove that condition and let Council address it in their final resolution. Mr. Ventura: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Ms. McCue. Ms. McCue: Just one more piece of dumpster. Just to backup what Mr. Ventura said, you were there at 5:00 in the... no you were there at 10. Mr. Ventura: I was there at 10:00 a.m. Ms. McCue: I was there at like 5 or 5:15 p.m. Same amount of traffic. So, I am just kind of backing up what you said. I don't know if taking away parking spots is... Mr. Mekhaldi: We can provide more, just if it is necessary to add more parking. We are willing to provide more parking spaces. Ms. McCue: Just in relation to where you are putting the dumpster, again Mr. Taormina can come up with an idea. I am fine with that, but that was consistent at both ends of the day. It is a consistent problem I would say. Mr. Wilshaw: Excellent. Thank you, Ms. McCue. Any other questions or comments for our petitioner? Okay, Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? Melody Doyle, 28617 Dover Street, Livonia, MI. My house backs directly up to the fence you are talking about. When they first put it in...this isn't my reason for coming, but when they first put in the fence I spoke to the owners and a brick wall was addressed. He said it was too expensive, so the privacy fence was what we decided on. That being said, that was with the building and parking very far away August 17, 2021 30120 from my home. So, you said eight feet, right? The wall would be eight feet? Mr. Taormina: In height? Ms. Doyle: Yeah. Mr. Taormina: Five to seven feet. Ms. Doyle: My original reason for coming is because that field floods. It pours over the sidewalk, which I salt all the time because, like you said with the dumpster, there are students that live in the trailer park across the street who all walk to Cleveland. That road is very walked on on that side of the street. My concern was moving the parking and everything back. That water is now going to go into my backyard. What would be the plan for...I wish I took a picture of it the other day when it rained. It was a like a lake. What is going to be the plan to fix the drainage issue? Mr. Wilshaw: That is a good question. any requirement that management? Mr. Taormina, do you know if there is they add additional storm water Mr. Taormina: While it wasn't addressed in the Engineering Department's response letter, I would expect that as this goes through the permitting process that some degree of storm water management would have to be engineered for at least the addition and the expanded parking area. What that means is they would have to create a storage, whether it is in the form of a basin or it is developed underground using pipes, but some amount of storm water collection and storage would be necessary for the site. How that impacts the surface drainage at the rear of the property, I am not sure. Those issues are usually reviewed at the time they look at these storm water management systems so that if there is a need to address those, then that will be done. I can't fully answer that question until it is done at a later stage in the engineering and review process. It is obviously important. Mr. Wilshaw: Definitely. Obviously, we are not engineers here, but it is common if a property owner wants to expand the footprint of a building or parking lot and change the dynamics of how water flows, there is usually a review process that our Engineering Department will go through to make sure that they are not making a problem worse, especially as it comes to the neighbors. It is a requirement that the property owners keep their storm water on their site and then release it at a controlled rate into the system. August 17, 2021 30121 Ms. Doyle: Okay. You said you were by there at 10 and 5? Ms. McCue: This was a couple weeks ago. S. Doyle: I was going to say that there usually isn't that many cars there. I was going to say if you were there yesterday it's because they are starting to redo that parking lot. I agree they need more parking because they do have cars parked on the street. I am glad that the business is there and it's not empty like it was when I first moved in the property. My two biggest concerns is the water and then the dumpster. Like you said, kids and everyone walk there. Mr. Wilshaw: I think Mr. Ventura has a question for you. Mr. Ventura: So, I would like to be clear on your preference or position about the fence. Given that the parking is going to move back there, and the potential exists for the dumpster to move back there or somewhere albeit screened by landscaping... Ms. Doyle: I would like it as tall as possible. I mean especially when you are backing something up now that is going to be right on my property. Mr. Ventura: So, you would like to masonry fence? Ms. Doyle: If it is taller than six feet. Mr. Ventura: Well, that is...five to seven is the ordinance, so it can be six feet I guess. I just... Ms. Doyle: I would appreciate aseven-foot-tall wall. Mr. Ventura: As opposed to the fence you have now? Ms. Doyle: I know it noes ...yeah, I know my neighbors would too, but she couldn't come, she is... Mr. Ventura: Thank you. Or. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. It is good to get your thoughts on that because you are obviously very close to this, and we care about that very much. Mr. Bongero? Or. Bongero: Just to add just a little bit more info for the retention pond. I did speak with the Engineering Department today and they said absolutely it is going to be required. August 17, 2021 30122 Ms. Doyle: Okay, perfect, because it floods and then runs down the fence and then just... and stays there for days. Mr. Bongero: They said for sure it is going to be required. Ms. Doyle: Perfect, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Any other questions for our resident here? Thank you for coming. Anyone else wishing to speak for or against this item? If not, our petitioner's representative is free to come forward and if he has any closing comments he would like to make. We will give you the last word sir. Mr. Mekhaldi: I think that the detention for the storm or the design of the storm line ... the storage of the water... storm water has to be provided. We are in the process of approving the site plan. Again, I think the requirement of a wall like he said maybe we have already agreement with the first petition. I don't know how we will go back... it was approved the first step... remove the fence and replace it with a brick wall. Maybe we can resolve all of the issues, but that fence was already part of getting ... just for the part of the agreement... the owner of the residential... Mr. Wilshaw: So, you are saying that the fence that is existing was an agreement made between your... Mr. Mekhaldi: The owner and the resident. Mr. Wilshaw: So, you would not be willing to put a wall there? Mr. Mekhaldi: I will discuss the issue with the owner, but like I said it is really really hard to replace it with a wall and we gonna take are of storm system which is a lot of cost. It is costly for an expansion of 1,200 square feet. Like I said, we think that the brick wall... its really the fence works as brick wall or privacy fence works as screening for the residential area. Mr. Wilshaw: We will see what happens. Any other comments? Any other questions for our petitioner? If there is none from any of the commissioners, I think we are all set then/ I will close the public hearing and a motion is in order. On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Caramagno, and unanimously adopted, it was August 17, 2021 30123 #08-41-2021 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on August 17, 2021, on Petition 2021-07-02-11 submitted by Animal Care Clinic of Livonia requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(b) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to expand the existing veterinary clinic at 28450 Joy Road, located on the northwest corner of Joy Road and Harrison Avenue in the Southwest /4 of Section 36, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2021-07-02- 11 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site &Landscaping Plan identified as S-1, dated June 22, 2021, prepared by Professional Consulting Company, Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 2. That the site's enclosed trash dumpster area shall be relocated to a more convenient and functional location on the site that provides that the trash collection company can access the dumpster conveniently and effectively. That the dumpster enclosure itself is screened to the extent possible from the surrounding residential areas. That the three walls of the trash dumpster area shall be constructed out of building materials that shall complement that of the building and the enclosure gates shall be of solid panel steel construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel fiberglass. 3. That all disturbed lawn areas, including road rights -of -way, shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding. 4. That the Building Elevations Plan identified as A-5, dated June 24, 2021, prepared by Professional Consulting Company, Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to, provided that the rear of the front parapet wall with the central feature is modified to eliminate or obscure the bracing construction. 5. 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. 6. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feet (20') in height and shall be shielded to minimize glare trespassing on adjacent properties and roadways. 7. That the operation of the subject use shall not include the overnight boarding or care of animals. August 17, 2021 30124 8. That all animal remains, medical and animal waste shall be properly disposed of. 9. That adequate soundproofing shall be installed to the extent necessary to insure the elimination of all noise from the building. 10. That the use of open or outdoor runways, kennels or pens are prohibited. 11. That only conforming signage is approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 12. That no LED lightband or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows. 13. That for the north property line where a protective wall is required, the petitioner shall have the option of either erecting a protective wall, going to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a temporary wall variance or have the wall permanently waived by the substitution of a greenbelt. Such substitution shall be subject to approval by the Planning Commission and City Council. 14. That the north wall, along with the gas meter and guard be repaired to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department; 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. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a period of one-year only from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing .was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? August 17, 2021 30125 Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go onto City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #3 PETITION 2021-07-02-12 Quik Stop Inc. Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Peon 2021- 07-02-12 submitted by Quik Stop, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 11.03(a) and 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to add fuel pumps and operate a gasoline service station at 37405 Ann Arbor Road, located at the southwest corner of Ann Arbor and Newburgh Roads in the Northeast'/4 of Section 31, Mr. Taormina: This is a request to add fuel pumps and operate a gasoline station at an existing retail plaza located at the southwest corner of Ann Arbor Road and Newburgh Road. The zoning of the property in . question is C-2 (General Business), which does allow for gas stations, however, subject to waiver -use approval under the provisions set forth under Section 11.03(a) of the zoning ordinance. The existing multi -tenant retail building on this property measures roughly 16,500 square feet in size. The unit where the gas station would operate was most recently occupied by a Family Video. This space measure roughly 4,000 square feet. It is located in the northeast corner of the building. Biggby Coffee is the other main tenant. They are on the east side of the building in a space that is about 1,477 square feet in size. There are two other units identified as Lease Area A and Lease Area B, which are currently vacant. Those combined measure roughly 6,360 square feet. In the northwest corner of the building, the plans show three separate spaces totaling about 2,800 square feet being used for storage purposes. Going back to the map, the surrounding neighborhood includes, to the south and west, single-family homes that are zoned R-1 (Single-family residential). To the west is another retail building zoned C-1 (Local Business). To the north across Ann Arbor Road is Newburgh Lake. To the east across Newburgh Road are residential homes and a church along with the parking lot for the church. This is the proposed site plan. The only real change would be the addition of the fuel pumps, as well as an overhead canopy. The storefront as well as the main entrance would face north toward Ann Arbor Road. There are five fuel pumps shown on the plan. These would be located between the building and Ann Arbor Road. The pumps would impact roughly 26 parking spaces. Vehicles would continue to enter and exit the site using the existing driveways on both Ann Arbor and Newburgh Roads. August 17, 2021 30126 The pumps would be covered by a canopy that measures roughly 28 feet by 129 feet. The height of the canopy would be 18 feet and it would be located roughly 33 feet from the right -of -away of Ann Arbor Road and 40 feet from the right-of-way of Newburgh Road. The floor plan included with the application shows that the unit that would be used for the gas station convenience store would be subdivided into several spaces, including a large display and sales area. It also includes coolers, a sales counter, restrooms, as well as an office, utility room, and janitor's closet. Required parking is based on the size of the retail area at a ratio of 1 space for every 150 square feet of usable floor area. Based on the overall building size, 89 parking spaces are required. With the elimination of the parking spaces needed for the fuel pumps, the site would only have 81 spaces remaining. This would represent a deficiency of roughly 8 spaces and would therefore require Zoning Board of Appeals approval. We have not reviewed this petition relative to signage. There are special signage requirements afforded to gasoline stations. There are no other site changes or improvements that are proposed as part of this petition. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: I will read out the departmental correspondence, but I will note we received several letters of objection, 11 in total, and each of the Planning Commissioners should have copies of all of those letters. I will not read all of those, but I will read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, we do have those and those will be included in our packets and in our minutes. Mr. Taormina: Yes, that is correct. They will be a part of the record. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated July 20, 2021, 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 subject parcel is assigned the range of addresses of #37401 thru #37409 Ann Arbor Road, with the overall parcel being assigned the address of #37405 Ann Arbor Road. The existing building is currently serviced by public watermain, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. The submitted drawings do not show any proposed changes to the service leads, so we cannot comment on impacts to the existing systems at this time. It should be noted that the developer will need to meet current Engineering requirements for the proposed project, including storm water detention per the August 173 2021 30127 Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance, This Department will be able to make a formal review of the proposed improvements, when detailed Engineering plans are submitted for permitting. Also, the developer may be required to obtain a permit from the Michigan Department of Transportation should any work occur within the Ann Arbor Road right-of-way." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated July 20, 2021, 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." The letter is signed by Greg Thomas, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated July 23, 2021, 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 Scott Sczepanski, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated July 28, 2021, 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: $625,22 Unpaid water and sewer charges. (currently due on 8/10/21)" The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 21, 2021, 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. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Mr. Ventura: Mr. Taormina, if there were no gas pumps associated with this petition and they wanted to operate a Quik Stop there, they could do that without showing up here. Is that correct? Mr. Taormina: Yes. The convenience store would be treated as a permitted use with no need to come before this body or City Council. It is strictly the fueling operation that requires the special approval. Mr. Ventura: There is no operational Quik Stop there now? It is just an empty building? Mr. Taormina: I am not aware of any operation out of there. I believe that space is currently unoccupied. August 17, 2021 30128 Mr, Wilshaw: Thank you. Any other questions for the planning staff? If not, is the petitioner here this evening? Good evening, sir. We will need your name and address for the record please. Dennis Banaszak, D & M Site, 401 Balsam Ave., Carrollton, MI. I am here asking for a waiver -use approval. The drawing shows pretty much what we intend to do. It is a relatively simple reuse of the property in terms of the engineering that I typically do. Basically, if you look at the plan, what looks like concrete in the drawing is actually concrete pad that goes directly under the canopy. It represents the extent of the canopy. We will have to take a bit out in order to do our regrade of the parking lot and on the right-hand side there, that big rectangle is where the tank is scheduled to go. The underground tank. Currently we are in discussion with LARA in Lansing, the Licensing Regulation Bureau. The catch basin in that area, we don't know if we are going to be able to leave the tank where we have it. We might have to push it over to the setback line in order to make sure we have enough clearance for all of our lines. In terms of what is there, we really aren't going to be changing much. Obviously, the canopy is going to be a big change, but physically altering the parking lot... you can see what the extent is going to be. We are looking for engineering to give us a little bit of time to get everything in place once we figure out where we are going to go with our catch basins. We will take care of the storm water requirements at that time. As far as signage, we are going to utilize the existing sign and I am sure that will come up when we apply for the sign permit and what we will be allowed to do. The remaining businesses that are there are going to stay. As far as the floor plan goes, the architect was a bit hasty and the coolers...I don't know if the coolers... do you know, Mr. Taormina, if the coolers were removed from the floor space count for determining parking? Mr. Taormina: The answer to that, if I may Mr. Chairman, is no. The usable floor area is factored as a percentage of the gross floor area. We take 80% of the gross in calculating parking. Thus, we typically don't look at the cooler area and other similar spaces. We factor in the 20% area for non -useable floor area. Mr. Banaszak: Thank you, I didn't realize you use the 80%formula . That makes it a lot easier. If you have any questions... Mr. Wilshaw: Alright. You are the ... are you the engineer for this? Mr. Banaszak: Yes I am. August 17, 2021 30129 Mr. Wilshaw: We will see what questions we have for you. I am guessing there may be some operational questions and so on along the way, so if you need to get some of your other companions up here, we will get to the plan when we get there. Mr. Bongero: So, the businesses that are there are staying? Biggby and the other one? Mr. Banaszak: As far as I know, yes. Mr. Bongero: There was some confusion about that last week. They weren't going to be there. I don't know if someone has an answer to that. Mr. Wilshaw: I am seeing one nodding. Please. Jason Uhaz, 500 Snapdragon Ln., DeWitt, MI. We own the building, and we were just given notice this week... actually, I think it came up last week and so we looked into. Biggby is vacating so that will leave it fully vacant. Mr. Bongero: Thanks. Mr. Wilshaw: Any other questions for our petitioner? Mr. Caramagno: At the study session, if I remember last week, as these video stores went out of business, your company owned the buildings or purchased the buildings. What has happened to other Family Video stores throughout the state? Mr. Uhaz: Yeah, so, we have approximately 750 buildings that we own and operate. The video industry did not survive COVID and so they are all gone now. One family owns all the buildings, hence the name Family Video, so we are re -leasing them and looking for new tenants. This building in particular is significantly larger than our average. If you have seen them around the metro area, they are generally 6,000 or 7,000 square feet. This one is significantly larger than our other ones. Many of them are being filled by dollar stores. Similar use that came up a minute ago saying retail to retail. They come in there ... we have filled over 150, closer to 175 of our buildings, with straight Dollar Generals. Your run of the mill dollar stores that are taking the buildings and opening up because it is straight retail to retail use. We have some medical that is going in that will take maybe 2,500 square feet. We are seeing a lot of what Jameel is proposing here where we are demising the video space. The 7,000 square feet is not ideal for a lot of candidates, so they will take 2,000 or 4,000 square feet and will create some other suites, which is what we intend to do here. He August 17, 2021 30130 will have as proposed, a little storage area but that will actually create another suite. Then there is another... if I look at it, Retail Area B and A are actually not separated. Right now that is one open big L-shaped space. They are not two separate suites in there. It is all one big open space currently. We have not had any tenants in there and it is all undeveloped, just raw space in there. Biggby and Family Video were the only ones that ... the only tenants we had in there and they are vacating as well. Mr. Caramagno: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions for our petitioners? Ms. McCue: I don't know who would be the one to answer this, but I think this was touched on in the last study session. Can you confirm that you are going to be selling beer and wine? Jameel Alhadiss, 3169 Halloway Ave., Flint, MI No, we won't. We don't sell beer and wine at any other locations. Ms. McCue: Okay, so no alcohol? Mr. Alhadiss: No. Ms. McCue: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. McCue. Any other questions or comments? Ms. McCue: I am sorry. I could have caught you when you were up there. I was just waiting until you sat down to ask. I don't think we are overly familiar with Quik Stop and how that works. Is it a brand? Are you having a different brand of gas there? How is that signage work? The titling? Mr. Alhadiss: It is like Marathon. Marathon gas with just selling cigarettes, some pop and just convenience store. Ms. McCue: So, it will be a Marathon station is what you are saying? Or. Alhadiss: Marathon or Sunoco. Depends. Hours of operation if you need...that area is just traffic... I think it is just working people just traveling on those roads, so I am just assuming just 5 to 11. Ms. McCue: Thank you. August 17, 2021 30131 Or. Wilshaw: Any other questions for any of our petitioners here? If not, we will give you a moment to sit down and we will hear from our audience members. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? You are welcome to come forward to the podium so we can hear you. You are welcome to line up. Again, because there are a number of folks waiting to speak... again, just start with your name and address. Rick Bazzi, 37921 Ann Arbor Road, Livonia, MI. I am the dealer, the Mobil dealer on Ann Arbor Road and Ann Arbor Trail. I have been there for about 20 years. This addition it is just way too close to my gas station. It has been tough staying in business and staying in business the last 20 years. There is gas stations within a half - mile in every direction there. Too many. Approving this one could just mean another one going out of business. That is all I had to say. Or. Wilshaw: Thank you. Appreciate that. We will let the person behind you speak. Tom Eidson, 9721 Newburgh, Livonia, Ml, In response to what he said, we have also sent an email to the Council asking you to reject this request. Adding to that is, our driveway is a half -mile to Joy Road. There is a Marathon station there. To the west is a Mobil station next to McDonald's. To the east there is a Shell and a Sunoco. There are four gas stations within a half -mile radius of our house. We would like to see the project... the property developed, but we believe that a gas station is not needed in this area. Please reject this request. Or. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. Good evening. Kim Peterson, 9817 Newburgh, Livonia, MI I live directly next door to the property in question. We don't need a Quik Stop. We don't need a gas station. We have 7-11 on the other corner for convenience store. We don't need any more traffic on that corner. We don't need anymore criminal activity in our neighborhood or trash on our lawns to be picked up. Most of all, the most important thing to me, besides these issues and the inconvenience that we have and all the traffic, the underground gas tanks will be put in less than a couple ... a few hundred feet from Newburgh Lake. Newburgh Lake has been in trouble for years. Our... the Friends of Newburgh, I mean the Friends of Rouge and our own Parks and Recreation, and other environmental groups have been working tirelessly for years and investing money in cleaning up the lake and it is working. Our wildlife is coming back. These tanks... any spillage from the gas station and any leaks from the August 17, 2021 30132 tanks will go directly into Newburgh Lake and the Rouge River. Everything is coming back. We don't want to disturb this. I am afraid of what we are going to do... I even have a female pheasant that took up residence in my backyard this year. She is getting very big. It is like having a huge chicken in your backyard. When I first moved into the house some 20 some odd years ago, it was the IRS that owned the building. They were mean but they were quiet. So, our trash and the criminal element a couple months ago, we had a police chase and a crash in the parking lot next door and across the street. The two people that were driving the stolen truck that the police were chasing jumped out and ran through our backyards. We have enough activity going on in the neighborhood. This is mainly a residential neighborhood. We are tired of the mess. We really are concerned about the effects on the lake, the potential effects, on the lake. Besides the spillage and everything, there is also the question of air quality in and around a gas station. We have to worry about the wildlife for our future. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, ma'am. Rachel Holgate, 9804 Horton, Livonia, MI. I am roughly four houses, but I am kiddy -corner to where this is ... mine is...I can't tell...I actually go all the way to Newburgh, so that other lot is mine as well. When I was thinking about this going in and I really do try to look at both sides, one common theme that kept returning to me was the future and the future of this corner. One of the things that they have done, like she mentioned about Newburgh Lake, they have put in a new fishing dock there. So, there is a lot more fisherman. I am seeing more kayaker's there, as well as ... this wasn't mentioned, but there is a bike trail that Hines has improved. They have added a parking lot there and the bike trail goes right along the Rouge River. One of the things when I think of the future of this property is pollution. I don't know if it true or if it is going to be 24-hours or not, but I think of noise pollution, odor pollution, and light pollution, especially for people that are really close to it. When I think of...I know I can't speak on tanks. I don't know how long they last, but one thing I do know is people aren't necessarily the neatest when they are pumping gas. You are going to have some type of spillage on the ground and we have been having such heavy rains that I am concerned because this site is very high. If you look at the surrounding areas, the homes, and businesses. It is very high and the lake being directly across and then the Rouge being across the other street, across Newburgh, those are the low-lying areas. If we get those heavy rains, any spillage will naturally get to go over there. I am also concerned about the traffic. With a video store or just some other small August 17, 2021 30133 business, you don't have such a high frequency of cars going in and out. This corner, and to correct the gentleman, the traffic is much later than the time he was saying because we have the Yacht Club bar across the street, and we already get a lot of noise pollution from that and a lot of traffic. I don't think that this is going to be as late as they say or 24-hours, it is not going to help our situation at all. Also, just to add to the crime element. She is right. I actually have on camera... the police were searching my backyard, so that kind of freaked me out a little bit at first. Then just the corner itself is high -traffic corner. You have turns from every direction and then with it being such... so close to Hines Drive, we have a lot of bikers, and we have a lot of walkers going to both the bike trail and to Hines Drive. It is a very hard corner to cross. There is a lot of just physical fitness enthusiasts trying to cross that corner on their bike. They don't necessarily get off their bike. It is going to be a tough situation if we have a business that has a high frequency of in and out cars within three to five minutes every single car is going to be going in and out. I don't think it is going to help that corner. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for coming tonight. Good evening, ma'am. Maria Grantham, Horton Street, Livonia, Mi. I fondly call that area the Bermuda Triangle because we are encountered by the three roads. I don't know if all of you got a chance to visit the site or even to read the emails that were sent to you. Mr. Wilshaw: We did. Ms. Grantham; Everybody did a get a chance to read the emails. I actually sent two. I have some concerns. as night at about...) don't know it was very late when I sent my last one, but was there a traffic study done on this in this area? Mr. Wilshaw: There was not. Ms. Grantham: There was not. You did a traffic study for a road that is not even nearly as busy for the veterinarian place, but you didn't do it for that corner? For that intersection? I really think that should have been considered. I mean I don't understand why one wasn't done. Another thing. If they are going to use those existing driveways, are you going to have no left turns? Where in turn if there are no left turns, they already do as a turn -around. Mr. Wilshaw: Acut-through. are going to use Horton St. as they August 17, 2021 30134 Ms. Grantham: A cut -through. There is traffic ... we have a small block there, but we have a large variety of people on there. We have babies to senior citizens. We take care of our block. Any given day, there is somebody out there cutting their grass, there is flowers, there is gardens in the back. Rachel has her property that goes all the way to Newburgh. Her backyard is full of garden. I just think that this is not planned. I believe this goes against Livonia's Vision 21 plan. I understand that you were in the process of denying a carwash to be put on Six Mile and Newburgh. That area is probably better set for a carwash, and it was denied based on the fact that it doesn't fit the plan for Vision 21 for that to be a walkable area. Well, our area is more walkable than Six Mile and Newburgh. As Rachel said, we have people the bicycle. We have people that run. We have the high school down the street, Churchill. They use that as a route to run for their cross-country and track practices. None of this is being considered. I really think... and as you stated also that those two drives are going to stay. I don't think that is going to be a possibility. You will approve this gas station and those driveways will have to be changed eventually because of the fact that the property is elevated. Because it is elevated, the signage, the lights and everything else will create light pollution for that area. Also, I really think it would be a poor choice to allow...I am not against a business being there, but I think it would be a poor choice to have a gas station. The Family Video people, they do not care for this property as it should be. One of the women... one of the neighbors that are directly there, her backyard, she ... I don't know if she sent pictures in her email or explained, she has... there is a mess back there. This gentleman here has spoken about the traffic and the only traffic there is business traffic. Well, no, there is a lot more than business traffic and like I said, our street ... we have children that ride their bicycles in there... there in no parking on the streets, so it is a very narrow road. I really hope and wish that you guys will take this into consideration and deny the use of a gas station. I don't know... there are signs that people put in their neighborhoods, drive like your children live here. I ask the Planning Commission to please vote as if you live on our block. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, ma'am. Good evening. Whitney Bucher, 9808 Horton, Livonia, MI. I don't know why I am up here because I think everyone covered everything I was going to say. I was going to talk about the pollution and like the concern for me is health risk, because like I from the kitchen window I can literally see the Family Video and that whole area. I just redid a lot of my backyard so I can finally enjoy it and now I am like ... the fumes August 17, 2021 30135 alone from a gas station being there, it is really unfortunate. Again, people cut through our neighborhood all the time. Just because how chaotic that whole area is and there is no parking, so it is super narrow and like I already have concerns about my dog getting out and like... Tom actually saved my dog at one point because he did get out. Again, it was my first home. When I heard about the gas station, and I was super bummed, and I really hope that you guys don't approve it. Anyways, thank you very much. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for coming. We appreciate your comments. Anyone else in our audience wishing to speak? Ms. Peterson: I want to speak in proxy for my husband. He was out of town for work. One thing that I do want to mention is the saturation for the businesses. I would like to see...I don't know if the gentleman is still here, but the Marathon station has been there for 20 years. My husband did a search and within two miles there is actually seven gas stations. If you go three miles, there is 10 gas stations. Just thinking of the vision of Livonia, when we think of the future we want to think of who is going to come to our area when people like...I am 51 and I probably got 30 more years to go. What is it going to look like in 30 years? We want to be able to attract new young people and I think having gas stations on every single corner is not the appeal that we should be going tor. I think that is my final thing I have. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. We certainly hope you are going to have more than 30 years to go. We have to be positive. You have one more thought? Ms. Grantham: The proximity of this gas station goes against all of what Livonia has...about 90% of the gas stations in Livonia have some kind of barrier to the neighborhoods. There are high walls. They are usually surrounded by big parking lots and businesses behind those parking lots and then the residential. This will go against probably 90% of the gas stations that are in the City of Livonia. I do really hope you take that into consideration. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comment. Is there anybody else? If not, we will go back to our petitioner and you can make your final address to us. Mr. Uhaz: From a landlord standpoint ... a couple things that I just want to mention. I know some of the residents mentioned criminal activity and trash and things. I oversee approximately 145 former vacant Family Video stores. Every week I am encountering homeless August 17, 2021 30136 people that are breaking in and sleeping in front of the building. Sleeping behind them. Sleeping in the dumpster enclosures. A large amount of trash that publicly dump. We are also up against that, whether he is denied or is not there and Biggby moves, we are going to have a vacant building and I think you will actually see more crime, more... there will be homeless. I am seeing them every single week at the former video stores where there is a big vacant building and there is nothing going on there. With regard to the amount of traffic that Mr. Alhadiss will have there, the video stores were printing cash for many years, and we were averaging like 600 to 1,500 customer tickets, individual sales receipts, a day. The video business was a very very strong business from the mid-90's until the mid-2000's and my conversations with him... he can speak to that when he talks, but we were doing way more tickets... much more car traffic and customer traffic in the video business than he sees in his gas station. I just wanted to clarify some of those points. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, thank you, Mr. Uhaz. If there is no other questions or comments, is there anyone else from your team that you would like to present before we close? Mr. Banaszak: I don't mean to downplay the issue of pollution, but these fiberglass tanks that are used in these gas stations, they are double walled tanks with very long -life spans. They are approved by Eagle and by EPA, so in terms of pollution issues caused by the tank is almost non-existent in todays tanks. The old metal tanks that we used to have, yeah, I did enough tank replacements or replacements to know that they were a problem for a long time, but currently the new tanks don't really have that problem. As far as spills in the parking lot, we will probably be forced to install a stormceptor which is an oil separator system that will trap up to about 150 gallons of any hydrocarbons that end up in the storm sewer system. I expect this to be discussed with your engineering when we go through the storage. We will also have the underground storage so that if there is a leak it will stay in the system on the site, as opposed to going out. I don't see that much of an issue for those two items. In terms of the VS for pedestrians and for bicyclists that is a signalize intersection. I don't know how much safer it can be made. I imagine that there are push buttons there. I would have to apologize. I haven't gone out and looked at the signalization myself, but in terms of what is going on there, if there is a concern it should be addressed with MDOT as opposed to the developer because the driveways are there, and they are going to be used as they were intended. We don't want to change them because we don't want to have to deal with MDOT ourselves. I don't see any change there unless it is being August 17, 2021 30137 forced. In terms of what we are doing, it is something that I wasn't expecting a whole bunch of people coming up and saying that they didn't want it. The way the building is sited, the canopy would be out front, and it is completely shielded from the neighborhood behind it. Putting up a canopy shading those lights, we can put on cut-offs so that the light does not go off site. We want to be a good neighbor. Is there anything else? Mr. Wilshaw: is there any other questions from any of the commissioners for our petitioner? I don't think so. Or. Banaszak; Thank you. Or, Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. With that, that will be the final word and I will close the public hearing and a motion would be in order. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-42-2021 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby deny Petition 2021-07-02-12 submitted by Quik Stop, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 11.03(a) and 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to add fuel pumps and operate a gasoline service station at 37405 Ann Arbor Road, located at the southwest corner of Ann Arbor and Newburgh Roads in the Northeast '/4 of Section 31, for the following reasons: 1. That the petitioner has failed to comply with all general standards and requirements as set forth in Sections 11.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance. 2. That the petitioner has failed to demonstrate the need in the area for the type of commercial service proposed to be operated on the subject site. 3. That the petitioner has failed to adequately demonstrate that the site has the capacity to accommodate the proposed use. 4. That the operation of a gasoline service station on this site would have a negative effect upon the neighboring properties. 5. That the proposed use would unduly tax and conflict with the established and normal traffic flow of the area. August 17, 2021 30138 6. That the proposal creates significant adverse impacts on adjoining parcels, public services, and community planning efforts. 7. That the petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated that the operation of a gasoline service station would be compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding uses in the area, and 8. That the petitioner has failed to comply with all the concerns deemed necessary for the safety and welfare of the City and its residents. FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Long, McCue, Smiley, Ventura, Bongero, Wilshaw NAYS: Caramagno ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. ITEM #4 PETITION 2021-07-08-04 Kroger Company Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2021- 07-08-04 submitted by The Kroger Company of Michigan requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 and Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to redevelop portions of the commercial shopping center (Northridge Commons), including demolishing approximately 22,000 square feet of existing retail space, constructing an addition to the Kroger store measuring approximately 28,500 square feet, as well as other fagade and parking lot improvements, at 33523-33751 Eight Mile Road, located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Farmington and Gill Roads in the Northeast'/4 of Section 4. Or, Taormina: This is a request to redevelop portions of the Northridge Commons Shopping Center, which is on the south side of Eight Mile Road just west of Farmington Road. The site of the shopping August 17, 2021 30139 center is about 14x2 acres and consists of four separate buildings and a gas station. For the purpose of this review, the overall complex has been divided into seven parts. Let me show what those are. Retail Area 1 here is about 13,950 square feet and is located on the north side of the Kroger store. The Kroger store is the second component. It measures about 47,500 square feet. Retail Area 2 is comprised of the south end of the shopping complex. This area is about 51,500 square feet. Retail Area 3 is located here and is about 8,150 square feet. It is located just south of the existing Kroger store. Then there is the Kroger fueling facility located adjacent to Eight Mile Road. The other two components that are not shown on this particular plan are the Arby's restaurant and the PNC Bank, which are both outlots to the overall Northridge Commons shopping complex. So, not including the gas station or the outlots, the center contains roughly 121,000 square feet of gross floor area with Kroger being the largest single tenant. The expansion of the Kroger is going to require the removal of about 21,900 square feet of existing retail space which is located in the southwest corner of the shopping center. The demolition areas include about 13,700 square feet at the west end of Retail Area 2. It is difficult to see here, but if you look closely at these hatch lines this is part of the Retail Area 2 that would come down and all of Retail Area 3. These areas would then be replaced with an expansion of the Kroger, which is located here. You can just see the crosshatched area carefully. The area of addition is about 28,600 square feet. Once that is done, the Kroger goes from 47,540 square feet to a total of 76,160 square feet. The overall retail complex would increase slightly just under 128,000 square feet. A couple of features to point out on the site plan. The south end would contain the store's pharmacy where there would be a drop-off and pick-up window. Both the interior and exterior of the store would be completely remodeled. The main customer entrance would be centrally located along the storefront. Next to the main entrance there would be a vestibule, as well as a pick-up room that would measure about 1,400 square feet and would be used to organize and store items for customer pick-up. Adjacent to that area, as you can see on the plan, that pick-up area is located just south of the main entrance. There are 12 parking spaces that would be marked and signed to be devoted solely for the grocery pick-up. I am going to let the petitioner and their representatives explain a little bit more what the operational components actually consist of. This view is an enlargement of the pick-up area and what it would look like. These spaces are for designated for vehicles pulling up and getting their groceries delivered, similar to what we are seeing with many new grocery developments. This is in the interior layout of the store. I am not even going to August 17, 2021 30140 begin to try to describe this. It is extremely complex. It involves many components. Here is the pick-up window for the pharmacy. Again, the main entry is located somewhere here on the plans. There is a large bottle return area. There is a coffee shop that is located in here as well. Many different things going on. Any details can be referred to the store's representative. The exterior of the building would include a number of improvements. It includes a metal panel wood finish as well as silver corrugated metal panels that would frame the stores main entrance. What we are looking at here, and I am going to try to zoom in on this area, is the main entrance and this is that wood finish that I referred to. There are metal panels on either side of that and that would frame the main entrance. You can see the dark grey pre - finished metal panels are also shown, as well as a black colored painted brick, which is located above the bottle return and the pick-up room which are on either side of the main entrance. They continue some of the metal panels as well as painting the brick and a combination of other materials, including E.I.F.S., masonry block, metal panels that are used on the lower part of the fagade, so quite a substantial change from the current architectural elevations of the building. This really continues along the entire east fagade of the Kroger store. They are also showing the improvements along the west elevation which is the back side of the store, the north elevation, and the south elevation. In terms of parking, I just want to point out that under the current ordinance standards there is a deficiency of about 28 parking spaces. However, with the passage of the Livonia Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance we recalculate parking. Planned Commercial Shopping Centers would have a parking requirement of 1 parking space for every 250 square feet of gross floor area, plus one parking space for every 75 square feet of gross floor area that is devoted to a full -service restaurant. We had to factor in the Arby's and one other restaurant located within the shopping complex. When you do the math, they are required to have 582 parking spaces under the proposed new ordinance as opposed to 674 parking spaces. They go from a deficiency, to actually having a surplus of over 64 spaces under the new zoning ordinance. We feel that this is much more in line with the parking demand for the shopping complex. 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 20, 2021, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. The property associated with the project is assigned the August 17, 2021 30141 address range of #33523 thru #33751 Eight Mile Road, with #33523 Eight Mile Road being assigned to the overall parcel. The legal description for the parcel submitted with the drawings appears to be correct, and should be used for future submittals. We have no objections to the proposed project at this time, although the following items should be addressed prior to submitting plans for site plan approvals: The submitted drawings indicate relocations of existing utilities, but do not include any calculations for proposed water and sewer demands for the proposed development. Without this information, we cannot determine impacts to the existing systems, but we estimate that impacts will be minimal. It should be noted that the developer has been in contact with this office and they are aware of the Engineering requirements for the proposed project. Storm water detention will be required per the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. We will perform a full review of the utilities once full engineering drawings are submitted to this Department for permitting. Please note that any work within the Eight Mile Road right-of-way, including excavations for service connections will require permits through the Wayne County Department of Public Services."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 16, 2021, 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." The letter is signed by Greg Thomas, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated July 16, 2021, 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 Finance Department, dated July 19, 2021, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the address connected with the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts receivable (general or water and sewer), I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated July 21, 2021, 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. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? If not, we will go to our petitioner. August 17, 2021 30142 Mike McPherson, Atwell, 2 Town Square, Ste. 700, Southfield, MI. I have representatives from Kroger and the shopping center owner here tonight as well to answer any questions that may be more in their court. Mark did a great job introducing the project very thoroughly. We are very excited for the project. One item that I would point out and I know we talked about it at the study meeting was the building materials a little bit. We did obtain a sample board of materials. Mr. Wilshaw: Excellent. You can pass that around. Mr. McPherson: So, you can see better what the proposed materials would be for the new fagade. As Mark explained, it is a combination of different types of metal panels, brick, CMU, and some E.I.F.S. The proposed elevation is a lot more in line with Kroger's current prototype. A more modern building. I think we mentioned a couple of them at the study meeting that were recently built that are similar. I don't know if you had a chance to look at them as they are more across town, but we feel it is a very nice -looking building when complete. I acknowledge the comments from engineering. We have spoken with them in detail. We understand what needs to be incorporated into the engineering plans and we will submit it for all the required reviews. Beyond that I will just open it up to any questions you guys may have from any standpoint. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. McPherson. Thank you for the sample board. It is always helpful. It gives us something to throw if we need to. I don't think we will have to do any of that tonight. Is there any questions for our petitioner? Mr. Long: So, you will be going to 76,000 square feet if this is approved. How does that compare to the Haggerty store or the Five Mile store and then what would be the differences in what is there or here? Mr. McPherson: Haggerty and Five Mile? I am not familiar with that one so I am not sure. Mr. Long: Six Mile and Haggerty. Or. McPherson: What I can say is that... if that is a new store and not an expansion the typical new stores are 90,000 square feet. There are a few that were built that were bigger. They are branded as marketplace stores, if you have seen them. They are 120,000 square feet. Most of the new stores are around 90,000 square August 17, 2021 30143 feet, which is where Kroger wants to be to meet the current market demands and have all the items for their customers convenience they want to provide. With this expansion it gets them to just over 76,000 square feet, which is basically as big as we can fit on this particular site. As you can see, with the floor pIan that was provided they are going to rearrange pretty much the entire interior. I won't pic apart this floor plan, I am not the architect, but I will say the orange is new and the green is existing. You can see that 95 — 99% of this floor plan is orange. It is going to be basically a brand-new store on the inside. All new shelving and coolers, and everything essentially to bring it inline with the more current standards. Mr. Long: The current store... it will remain open while the renovation is taking place? Mr. McPherson: Yes, it is. The intent is to remain open and operational and obviously we will have to do that in a carefully staged manner. It will be more detailed on the building plans and engineering documents. Mr. Long: I am looking forward to the arrival of the new store, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Another store I think that is in the area that a lot of people think of when they think of Kroger is Five and Merriman. I don't know if you know the size of that store or not. Mr. McPherson: I do not. Sorry. Mr. Wilshaw: Very well occupied store though. Mr. Ventura? Mr. Ventura: I am looking at this area that Mark has up on the screen right now and the adjacent...Mark, if you could zoom out a little bit? The adjacent pharmacy pick-up window on the extreme south end of the addition. I guess my question is, or maybe you can explain to us how traffic works down there? Mr. McPherson: Sure. Mr. Ventura: With the cars pulling in and pulling out for pick-up and how do the parking spaces work that are south of the pick-up area? What is the traffic flow to the pick-up window and how does that work with pedestrian traffic that you would have, or would you have pedestrian traffic down there or is it your intent that people stay in their car in their parking place? I would like to kind of understand. August 17, 2021 30144 Mr. McPherson: So, first with the pick-up space is yes, they... when you come to do a pick-up you stay in your vehicle. You do not leave your vehicle. You will pull up into one of the designated spaces and there is either via an app or a phone number you would let the store know that you have arrived. Mr. Ventura: So, the customer is going to stay in their car? Or, McPherson: The customer is going to stay in their car. Or. Ventura: So, then you have an employee... Mr. McPherson: Employee comes up...you can see the designated kind of crosswalk adjacent to the numbered spaces there. Yup. They would be coming across there. There will be a designated spot and they will come, and they load the groceries into your vehicle that you have ordered via an app on your phone or tablet or whatnot. You get a designated time slot. Right? It is usually an hour long. You say you are going to pick them up on Tuesday between 2 and 3 and that is when you pull up in one of these spaces and you let them know you have arrived. They have already processed your order and they have it in that pick-up area in the building and then an employee brings it out and places it in your car and off you go. That is kind of the intent of the pick-up. Mr. Ventura: So, the only pedestrian traffic that you are going to have down there are going to be the Kroger employees bringing out groceries. Mr. McPherson: Yes, that is correct. There are a few standards. Parking spaces that you pointed out that are south of that pick-up area. There is a potential that there could be a pedestrian walking from those spaces...I envision those more as probably employee spaces, things like that. Those are less desirable if you are going to be running into the store for anything, because the main entrance is obviously pushed off to the north so those will probably be the last spaces filled. Then the pharmacy, if you had a question about that ... that is a single -lane drive-thru. You can see that it is on the south end of the building. A car could approach from either the front or the rear of the building. They can make either turn. If they come in and do a 180, there is plenty of room there. That is a typical drive-thru type service, like at any other Kroger or CVS or something of that affect if you have been through those. Usually there isn't a whole lot of stacking involved with those because you have obviously pre -ordered your subscriptions there to pick-up there. It is a quick transaction and you would pull up August 17, 2021 30145 towards the front and decide which direction you are going to be heading home and either turn left or turn right. Mr. Ventura: One fine question. Is there a walk-up window? Mr. McPherson: For the pharmacy? Mr. Ventura: Yeah. Mr. McPherson: No. There is not. No walk-up. So you would have to go inside the store if you are going to walk-up to pick-up your prescription. There would be a counter inside the store, but not from the exterior. Mr. Ventura: Mr. Wilshaw mentioned the Five Mile and Merriman has an outside one. So you are not going to have that? Mr. McPherson: No. Mr. Ventura: Thank you for that explanation. Again, I am with Mr. Long. I am happy to see this here. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ventura. Mr. Bongero? Mr. Bongero: Just a quick question. Any determination on what is going to happen to Scrappy Chic and Astoria? Bill Eisenberg, Grand Sakwa Properties, 28470 Thirteen Mile Road, Farmington Mills, MI. I am sorry I didn't hear the question. Mr. Bongero: Back at the study meeting you had said that Scrappy...that you were going to relocate Scrappy Chic as an existing tenant, but you weren't sure about Astoria, if they were going to renew. I didn't know if you had heard. Mr. Eisenberg: They did call today after they received their termination notice. They are looking at the one space that I do have available on the north side of the center. They are touring tomorrow. I would like to keep them; they are good people. We will see what happens. Mr. Bongero: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Bongero. Any other questions for our petitioner? Ms. Smiley: One quick one. Approximately how long would this transformation take? August 17, 2021 30146 Mr. McPherson: Construction will take roughly a year. About 12 months, especially since we are going to keep the existing store open. So, it will be constructed in phases. The interior of the building is going to be completely renovated. Around 12 months for construction. Ms. Smiley: Thank you and thank you for this fantastic renovation. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Ms. Smiley. Any other questions? Mr. Taormina: This is a question for the petitioner. Actually, two questions. One is, any changes to the back store operation for the Kroger primarily related to service receiving areas and then secondly, for existing Retail area 1, any changes to the fagade as it affects that portion of the retail area? That might be a question for Mr. Eisenberg. Mr. McPherson: I can answer your first one. So, right now no. There is really no changes going on with the truck docks and delivery areas in the back other than you can see there are some elevation changes. Some painting and some other little upgrades going on. As far as the operations, they are going to remain with the same number of truck docs in the same position. The same truck maneuvering. The compactor is going to stay in the back where it is now for trash. I will say that there is going to be, and it is noted on the plan, there will be an emergency generator added back in that area in case of a power failure. Also, we anticipate, and we are still working through it, but I think they are probably going to have to upgrade the transformer and switch cabinet that exists back there for the additional power demand and for the store. As far as functionality along the rear, nothing is planned to change. As far as Retail one ... fagade renovations? Mr. Eisenberg: We have asked our architect to look at the Kroger elevation and then try to compliment that on the north side. As you are probably aware, we have been cleaning up the shopping center ever since we purchased it. This is really an exciting opportunity before us to really finish off the center. I can't tell you how excited we are about it. Mr. Taormina: I can attest to what Mr. Eisenberg has said. He and I have been working on this for several years discussing with Kroger, opportunities for the expansion. This is great news because without them it would leave a huge hole in that shopping complex. Just one last question regarding the generator. Again, that is an emergency generator. It would operate under power failure August 17, 2021 30147 conditions. It does require test periodically. Can you explain what that typically involves and how that noise would be handled? Mr. McPherson: Honestly, Mark, I am not sure about the operation. I know that typically these generators a couple times a month will need to run for 30 minutes and that is a timed thing. Do you know if there is a typical time when these operate, but they are just... they need to be run periodically to make sure they are functioning. The only time they would be running for any period of time is in the event of power failure. It will be within a enclosure that will provide some sound deadening and it will obviously screen it so you don't see a generator just sitting there. I don't know if you have anymore information on the operation of the generator? Garritt Foley, Kroger Co., 40393 Grand River Ave., Novi, MI. We exercise them once a week and then we can pick a time that isn't as impactful to the neighbors. We will have the enclosure to deaden the sound. Easily, like he said, about a half hour run time once a week. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any other questions from any of our commissioners? Mr. Caramagno? Mr. Caramagno: On the north side of the building, looking at it from the east, are those garage doors? Mr. McPherson: Yeah, they are similar to garage doors. They are for the recycling center. Mr. Caramagno: What is the thought behind them? You'll put them up in the summertime? What is the thought there? Mr. Wilshaw: The east end and the north fagade. Mr. Taormina: Is it this one here? Mr. Caramagno: From the east, Mark. Top picture. Mr. Taormina: I will get there. Jr. Wilshaw: Yeah, those guys. Mr. Caramagno: So, what is the thought with the garage doors? What happens there? Mr. Foley: So, what we are trying here is to try to test out a new concept here. Behind the garage doors there are going to be the TOMRA August 17, 2021 30148 machines for recycling. You would open those during hours of operation to where a customer can come out there on the sidewalk and they do their recycling and all of the unloading of the TOMRA machines is done in the back. They have less impact on the customers as they are working there. So, the doors come up during the day, I don't know if you guys have seen an example of this at the Meijer in Lansing. They have a similar concept to that. We are just giving that a chance on this Kroger to see if it will be a concept that works there for our customers. Mr. Caramagno: Where does Kroger run that now? Do they have a place that they run that or... Mr. Foley: This will be the first one we are trying it at. Mr. Caramagno: Will it only stay open during good weather or will it be heated in there and open in the winter? Mr. Foley: We will put heat lamps in it for the winter, so it is open all year round. Mr. Taormina: So, customers come in there and they access through those doors? Mr. Foley: Yes. The door will pretty much be open throughout the whole day. It won't open and close. Open during operational hours and closed when we are closed. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, thank you. Mr. Taormina: I do have one more question. I apologize. Is this pick-up area restricted to employees only? Mr. Foley: Yes. Mr. Taormina: That is what I figured. That is what is serving the 12 spaces. Or, Foley: Correct. Or. Wilshaw: This is two, I believe, ingress and egress doors at the front now that the new vestibule will have multiple sets of doors to go in and our of, correct? Or. Taormina: Yes, on either side of that pick-up area. Correct. Or. Wilshaw: One of the issues with that store now is as that ... essentially your second entrance and exit door turned into a customer pick-up August 17, 2021 30149 staging area and it created a bottle neck for safety for people to come in and out of the building. Mr. Foley: The pick-up area will be completely separate from the main customer entrance. The pick-up entry into the building will only be for the employees bringing the pick-up items in. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Any other questions or comments from our commissioners? Just out of curiosity, do you have a cost estimate of what this project is as far as the investment that is being made? This is a pretty significant investment. Mr. Foley: I will say it is still being finalized, but we are looking at about $16 million. Mr. Wilshaw: Very good. That is a very sizable investment and very significant upgrade to this property, so we appreciate that. Anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against? Feel free to come forward. We want to hear from you as well. Jeff Salai, owner of a unit. I am one of the ones that they guy said he was going to kick me out to the curb because he don't need me no more. I have been there 31 years. One of the oldest coney islands in Livonia besides Senate. I was there four years when they took over. They never asked me for a lease or nothing. Matter of fact, I thought I was under a lease because before they took over, the old management had me sign papers saying that I am part of the lease, otherwise they couldn't sell it to these guys. That was it. I have never met the owners. I have never met the manager in four years or none of that stuff. Recently my son is there most of the time. They have talked to him about trying to get me maybe invest in the next... in the unit next to me that moved out. I don't have enough business to get into that unit, so I told them that I am not interested. I don't have enough business the way it is, especially after COVID. So, I told them I not interested. That is where the contact between me and them is. As far as anything else, they just didn't ask me if you want to relocate here or anything except for recently they did mention that there is a half- size unit up front that I can use. They have other empty spaces ya know over there, but they have bigger plans for them. That is their business, but I just feel it is unfair that just because they don't need me, and they want to knock the building over they...I have been there 31 years. All these other people...I was there for nine years before anybody moved in. That was a dead spot like an Ohio desert. Now all those people are new and they got new things and they can't get rid of them. Me they can. They could at least offer to buy my place out or something or help me August 17, 2021 30150 relocate or anything. 31 years. I don't really want it anymore, but I was... that was my sons future. That is all I got. I went through (inaudible) stuff, through the COVID and I asked for a little leeway, and they sent me a letter saying you got to get out. Even though the restaurant was closed by the State, so I went out and got a loan and I paid them and now two months later or three months later they send me a letter, you got 90 days. I mean I know you guys are good people. Livonia is good, but something like this is just like being in Southfield and I know Livonia is not Southfield. I have lived around here all my life. This is shyster work. I don't... big guy I know. They got the right tax revenue, more money, he needs the place, but they could have done something for me too at the same time. I just don't think it is fair. I know if you guys know of anybody that somebody been there 31 years and never missed a payment even through hard times then you guys know a lot of people went through and gets booted in the street, just because you can. I don't think it is fair. I don't know. I think it's got a lot to do with too is because a lot of their systems is bad there. Switch system is no good. Right now, they are using sump pumps on manholes because they don't drain. I don't know... that's been going on for a long time. Undergrounds in my restaurant they are always overflowing. For years I have been complaining and they never... they said it was my fault. Finally, a couple three months ago I couldn't stand it anymore. The bathroom for women .... every couple weeks for a long time. Women were mad at me because they had to use men's john. I told them they have to fix this problem. They finally sent the plumbers and they find out it was their problem the whole time. A11 the plumbing under the cement is bad. It was bad for years. So, I talked to the manager and he said they talked to owner and decide they gonna have to replace the bathroom and everything under the cement. Guess what, the notice to get out in 90 days was a lot easier and save money and that is exactly what happened. It hasn't even been two month since they were ... they tA me they were gonna fix the bathrooms before this stuff with the Kroger and now I am sorry but your place has been selected to be demolished. I am just saying ... just think a little bit. I aint'...I am nobody to fight against these guys, but it ain't fair at all. It is just greed. It ain't they need it okay? Even if they need it they could move me. They got empty spaces. The gym moved out and they are holding on to it to see if anybody will bite. Me, it don't matter. Kick him out in the curb and run him over. Just doesn't seem fair. I don't know what more to say. I wish you would at least in the back of your mind think about it. It ain't gonna change nothing, but I just can't go without at least saying my piece as long as I have been part of Livonia all these years. It just doesn't make sense. Thank you. August 17, 2021 30151 Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir, for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak to this item? If not, I will go back to the petitioner. Anything else you would like to say before we close out? You're all set. Okay. Thank you. With nothing else to discuss at this point and I will go to the commission and look for a motion. On a motion by McCue, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #08-43-2021 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to City Council that Petition 2021-07-08-04 submitted by The Kroger Company of Michigan requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 and Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to redevelop portions of the commercial shopping center (Northridge Commons), including demolishing approximately 22,000 square feet of existing retail space, constructing an addition to the Kroger store measuring approximately 28,500 square feet, as well as other fagade and parking lot improvements, at 33523-33751 Eight Mile Road, located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Farmington and Gill Roads in the Northeast '/4 of Section 4, be approved, subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Overall Layout Plan identified as Sheet No. C1.2.1 and the Layout Plan identified as Sheet No. C1.2.2, both dated July 13, 2021, as revised, prepared by Atwell Group, are hereby approved, and shall be adhered to. 2. That the drive -up lane for the pharmacy drop-off/pick-up window shall be at least ten feet (10') in width. 3. All parking spaces, except the required handicapped spaces, shall be doubled striped at ten feet (10') wide by twenty feet (20') in length as required. 4. That the Landscape Plan identified as Sheet No. LS1.0, dated July 13, 2021, as revised, prepared by Atwell Group, is hereby approved, and shall be adhered to. 5. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding. 6. 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 August 17, 2021 30152 Department and thereafter permanently maintained in a healthy condition. 7. That the Exterior Elevation Plan for the Kroger store, dated June 29, 2021, prepared by CR Architecture & Design, is hereby approved, and shall be adhered to. 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. That no LED lightband or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows. 12. 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. 13. 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 14. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a period of one (1) year only from the date of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? August 17, 2021 30153 Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. ITEM #5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,173'd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,173"1 Public Hearing and Regular Meeting held on July 27, 2021. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by McCue ,and unanimously adopted, it was #0&-44-2021 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,173d Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on July 27, 2021, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Long, McCue, Smiley, Ventura, Bongero, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Caramagno Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,174th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on August It 2021, was adjourned at 9:25 p. m. CITY PLA(NNfNG COMMISSION dam Caramagno, Secretary ATTEST: zz Ian Wilshaw, Chairman