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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,207 - December 19, 2023 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,207th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,207th Public Hearing and Regular Meetings in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Members present: David Bongero Ian Wilshaw Glen Long Peter Ventura Members absent: Wafa Dinaro Sam Caramagno Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, Jacob Uhazie, Planning & Economic Development Coordinator, 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 a preliminary plat and/or vacating petition. The Commission's recommendation is forwarded to the City Council for the final determination of 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 2023-11-02-14 Rental Equip. Solutions Mr. Bongero, Acting Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2023-11-02-14 submitted by Rental Equipment Solutions requesting waiver use approval under Section 6.58 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to operate a construction equipment rental business with outdoor storage at 34147 Schoolcraft Road, located on the south side of Schoolcraft Road between Stark Road and Ashurst Court in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 28. Mr. Taormina: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina: December 19, 2023 31202 Thank you. This proposal is to operate a construction equipment rental business with outdoor storage at 34147 Schoolcraft Road, on the south side of the road, just west of Stark Road. This property is approximately 0.8 acres in size. It includes 114 feet of frontage on Schoolcraft Road. The depth of the property is 326 feet. The zoning is M-1 (Light Manufacturing), with industrial uses surrounding the property. The site presently contains a one-story building that's about 10,000 square feet in size. It's located near the front of the property adjacent to Schoolcraft Road. The rear 125 feet is hard -surfaced and fenced. Special trade contractors, where vehicles, trailers, equipment, and other materials are not wholly enclosed within a building, require waiver -use approval, which is the reason this item is before you this evening. Rental Equipment Solutions rents general construction equipment, including aerial lifts and material handling equipment, such as scissor lifts, telescopic boom lifts, and forklifts. Their primary customers are contractors. They also service residential customers but at a lower volume. Most of the equipment is delivered to the job site, with a small portion of the equipment being picked up from this location. The yard behind the building is fenced. Access to the storage yard is restricted to the east and west sides of the building, where there are gates. The equipment in the storage yard would be fully enclosed with fencing. Most equipment would be parked along the side or rear property line. Employees would move and retrieve the equipment. Twenty -four - foot aisleways are provided between the rows of equipment to allow for maneuverability. There's a requirement for 10 parking spaces. The site currently has 18 parking spaces. There are 14 parking spaces along the west side of the building, and there are an additional four spaces on the front of the building. The petitioner provided an interior layout of the building, primarily broken down between warehouse rooms, showrooms, and office space. There are no proposed improvements to the building other than some interior modifications, and no exterior changes are proposed. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated November 20, 2023, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed waiver use at this time, but would like to note the December 19, 2023 31203 following items: 1. The subject parcel is assigned the address range of #34147 thru #34171 Schoolcraft Road, with the address of #34147 Schoolcraft Road being assigned to the overall parcel. 2. The legal description included with the submitted drawings appears to be correct, and should be used in conjunction with this project should the waiver use be approved. 3. The existing parcel is currently serviced by public sanitary sewer, water main and storm sewer. The submitted drawings do not show any changes to the existing services to the building, so we do not believe there will be any negative impacts to the system with the proposed usages. 4. Any work within the Schoolcraft Road right-of-way will require permitting through City of Livonia's Engineering Department" The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated December 7, 2023, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to use a commercial building on the property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal with the following stipulations: 1. Access around the entire bldg. must be maintained for the use emergency vehicles. Equipment stored outside cannot create an obstruction/barrier. 2. Equipment stored indoors cannot block access to electrical or mechanical rooms or panels. 3. Exit doors cannot by blocked by stored equipment. 4. If perimeter gate has electronic access, provisions are required for immediate emergency vehicle access. A further detailed plan review will take place when this division receives an official plan set" The letter is signed by Brian Kukla, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated November 20, 2023, which reads as follows: `1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Paul Walters, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated December 13, 2023, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced Petition has been reviewed. 1. The parking lot is in disrepair and shall be repaired or replaced as necessary. 2. Parking spaces shall be 10' wide and 20' deep and double striped. 3. An enclosure of sufficient height to completely screen the dumpster is required on three (3) sides of the waste receptacle with a solid gate on the fourth side. The height of the enclosure must be not less than six (6) feet or at least one (1) foot above the height of the dumpster, whichever is greater. The enclosure gates shall be of solid panel steel construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel fiberglass and, when not in use, closed at all times. The enclosure must be constructed of the same or compatible material and colors of the principal building in terms of texture and quality. This Department has no further Mr. Wilshaw: December 19, 2023 31204 objections to this Petition."The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of Inspection. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated December 12, 2023, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition. The following amounts are due to the City of Livonia: Unpaid water charges (34151 Schoolcraft) $106.86 Total Due City of Livonia $106,86."The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. We do know that payment has been received for that outstanding balance. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated November 20, 2023, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the name and addresses connected with the above noted petition. At this time there are no taxes due on this property, therefore, I do not have any objections to this proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. That is the extent of the correspondence. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Is there any questions for our planning staff? I don't see any questions. Our petitioner is in the audience. If you'd like to come to one of our podiums here. You can introduce yourself. We ask that you start with your name and address. Matt Hull, Rental Solutions, 34147 Schoolcraft Road, Livonia, MI 48150 Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Hull: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Ventura: Thank you, sir. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about your proposal? I think Mark did a great job of speaking to what we plan to do with the building and the space. I don't have anything incredibly detailed to add to that, unless there's additional questions, I can speak to for you. Thank you, Mr. Hull. Mr. Taormina does have a tendency to steal people's thunder. In the interest of time. Well, let's just see if there's any questions for our petitioner. Any questions for Mr. Hull? I don't see any questions from any of our commissioners. Mr. Ventura. Chairman, I'll ask a question. Mr. Hull. During the study session, we noted that the pavement around the building was in poor condition, and you were gonna go back to the landlord and see if you can rectify that situation. Have you been successful in being able to do that? Mr. Hull: December 19, 2023 31205 We have reached back out to our landlord. He is actually here, right. We do plan to have that work done. The details of that...we don't have actual dates yet or anything. There's obviously... we can't do asphalt in the in the wintertime. We do have plans to repair it. Mr. Ventura: Okay. Mr. Wilshaw: Well, thank you. Mr. Ventura. Thank you, Mr. Hull. Any other questions for petitioner? I don't hear any other questions. Mr. Hull, just a quick question for me. In regard to your rental operations, is there any intention to have rental vehicles at any point? In the future? Mr. Hull: At this point I would say no, we've been sticking to, you know, equipment, primarily. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, because I know the U haul, and those types of things tend to align themselves with these types of businesses. I wasn't sure if you were considering that in the future. And then your delivery trucks or vehicles that deliver the equipment, how many of those do you have? Mr. Hull: Currently, we actually only own one, it's like an F 250 pickup truck with a trailer behind it. A lot of our deliveries are actually outsourced to third parties. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, good to know. So, you won't really have, you'll just have the one vehicle that you'll be storing on the property after hours. Mr. Hull: We could be expanding in the future to get a larger like roll back truck for delivery of larger equipment rather than continuing to outsource. But that would be you know, a bit down the road at least. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. And if you do have additional delivery vehicles, you would intend to probably store those in the back? Mr. Hull: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Okay, good. All right. That's the only questions I had. If, again, if there's no other questions from any of our commissioners, I don't see any other questions. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak for or against this item? I don't see anybody rushing forward. So, is December 19, 2023 31206 there anything else that you'd like to tell us Mr. Hull before we make our decision? Mr. Hull: No, I think we should be okay. Mr. Wilshaw: I think we've covered all our bases. I'll close the public hearing and a motion would be an order. On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was #12-68-2023 RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on December 19, 2023, on Petition 2023-11-02-14 submitted by Rental Equipment Solutions requesting waiver use approval under Section 6.58 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to operate a construction equipment rental business with outdoor storage at 34147 Schoolcraft Road, located on the south side of Schoolcraft Road between Stark Road and Ashurst Court in the Northeast Y4 of Section 28, be approved, subject to the following conditions: 1. The outdoor storage of all construction equipment shall be limited to the fenced -in area behind the building and shall be maintained. The site's paved areas, including the rear storage yard and parking lot, shall be repaired and resealed as necessary to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department. Parking spaces shall be appropriately sized and double -striped, including any barrier -free space(s) as may be required by the State of Michigan. There shall be no outdoor storage of disabled or inoperative equipment and vehicles, scrap material, debris, or other similar items. 4. No flammable, explosive, radioactive, hazardous, toxic, or volatile substances will be stored within or on the premises. 5. This waiver use is granted to this petitioner only, and any new user of this property that qualifies as a Special Trade Contractor must seek and receive the City Council's consent before occupancy. 6. Unless approved by the proper local authority, any type of exterior advertising, such as promotional flags, streamers, rental equipment on display, or sponsored vehicles December 19, 2023 31207 designed to attract the attention of passing motorists, shall be prohibited. 7. Any facilities for the outdoor storage of refuse shall be screened by means of an enclosure constructed of masonry walls with solid metal enclosure gates. If no outside dumpster is located on the site, all trash must be contained within the building except on the day trash is scheduled for removal. 8. 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; and 9. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, this approval is valid for a period of one year only from the date of approval by the City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to the City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #2 PETITION 2023-11-08-08 Culver's Mr. Bongero, Acting Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2023-11-08-08, submitted by S & Z Restaurants, L.L.C., requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 3.11 and 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, in connection with a proposal to add a second drive-thru lane at the Culver's restaurant at 13030 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and Schoolcraft Road in the Northwest of Section 25. Mr. Taormina: As indicated, this is a request by Culver's restaurant to add a second drive-thru lane. Culvers is at Millennium Park, on the east side of Middlebelt Road. The zoning of the property is C-2 (General Business). The site is approximately 1.5 acres in size. Culvers was approved in 2013. The development includes a one- story restaurant with a gross floor area of about 4,500 square feet. There is seating for 131 customers, including 119 interior seats and 12 outdoor patio seats. As you can see from the aerial photograph, the building is positioned towards the east side of the Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Taormina: December 19, 2023 31208 property. The west half of the site contains parking and the 73- foot-wide lawn area. Access to the site is from Millennium Drive to the north and the Meijer parking lot to the south. A drive -up window service is located on the east side of the building. Currently, there is a single lane that serves the drive -up window. This lane commences on the south side of the building and then loops around to the window on the east side. The area just south of the building would be reconfigured to accommodate the second drive-thru lane. This would be done by moving the existing lane closer to the building. It also requires relocating the dumpster enclosure to the west side of the parking lot. There is a bypass lane currently along the south side. The bypass lane would be converted to the second drive-thru lane, and a small landscape island would be created between the two lanes. Beyond the ordering station, the two (2) lanes would converge to form a single lane. The plan shows sufficient vehicle stacking for both drive-thru lanes. The minimum required lane width is 10 feet. This plan complies with that requirement. Drive -up establishments must also provide a bypass lane, but as was indicated previously, with the reconfiguration, the existing bypass lane is being converted to the new drive-thru lane; thus, a bypass lane will no longer be available at this location. The new dumpster would be placed in the southwest corner of the parking lot. The walls must be constructed out of poured concrete or material to match the brick pattern on the building. The second drive-thru lane does not affect the site's parking count or layout. No parking spaces are located within the area where the proposed additional lane would be installed, and there are no renovations proposed to either the building or the landscaping around the building or the site. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Yes, please. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated December 4, 2023, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed project at this time, but would like to note the following items: 1. The subject parcel is assigned the address of #13030 Middlebelt Road. 2. The existing parcel is currently serviced by public sanitary sewer and water main, as well as private storm sewer. The submitted drawings do not show any changes to the existing services to the building, so we do not believe there will be any negative impacts to the system with the proposed usages. 3. Should any revisions to the on -site be required, the owner will need to submit engineering drawings to this Department to December 19, 2023 31209 determine if permits will be required." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated December 7, 2023, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to use a commercial building on the property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal with the following stipulations: 1. Access around the entire bldg. must be maintained for the use emergency vehicles. Equipment stored outside cannot create an obstruction/barrier. 2. Equipment stored indoors cannot block access to electrical or mechanical rooms or panels. 3. Exit doors cannot by blocked by stored equipment. 4. If perimeter gate has electronic access, provisions are required for immediate emergency vehicle access. A further detailed plan review will take place when this division receives an official plan set.."The letter is signed by Brian Kukla, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated December 4, 2023, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Paul Walters, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated December 13, 2023, which reads as follows: " Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced Petition has been reviewed. 1. A bypass lane is not shown on the proposed plan. A waiver from Council would be required to eliminate the bypass lane. 2. Any proposed signage that does not meet the ordinance would require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. This Department has no further objections to this Petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of Inspection. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated December 12, 2023, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition. The following amounts are due to the City of Livonia: Unpaid Misc. Billing charges (Annual/Biennial Inspection): $100.00 Total Due City of Livonia $100.00" The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated December 4, 2023, which reads as follows: `In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the name and addresses connected with the above noted petition. At this time there are taxes due on this property, however they are not delinquent, therefore, I do not have any objections to this proposal."The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Any questions for our planning staff? Mr. Ventura. Mr. Ventura: Mr. Taormina: Mr. Wilshaw: December 19, 2023 31210 Mr. Taormina, during our study session, we talked about the bypass lane, and you made the statement that the bypass Lane does not function in any way or fulfill a requirement by the fire department for fire safety reasons. Is that true? It is not indicated in their letter, so I don't believe the Fire Department has any objections to the design. They must believe sufficient access will be maintained around the building for fire safety. Thank you, Mr. Taormina. Any other questions for our planning staff? If not, our petitioner is in the audience. Feel free to come to our podium. Introduce yourself and let us know what you want to do. Andrew Zielke, S & Z restaurants, 13030 Middle Belt Road, Livonia, Michigan, 48150. Looking to add an additional drive thru lane to our existing Culvers at 13030 Middle Belt Road. That's pretty much it. I mean, Mark pretty much explained it as to what we're doing. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Let's see if we have any questions from any of our commissioners for you. Are there any questions for Mr. Zielke? Mr. Long. Mr. Long: Mr. Zielke: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Zielke, the elimination of the existing bypass lane won't affect the parking count, but it will in practice, kind of eliminate those, I don't know, maybe five or six north angled parking spaces on the northeast corner during peak hours. Is that going to be any kind of a problem? Do you foresee any problem with them? Not really. Not really, right offhand. Because like I said, our business has shifted more towards the drive thru. And it's probably opened up more, you know, parking outside of that. And I think there are 15 spaces on that one side and, you know, probably more than half will be used as order waiting and there's probably like four or five or six maybe left that could be used if an employee was able to get around or whatever, you know, we would encourage that just to have it over on that side. But for the most part, you know, there's really not really anybody that parks over there anyways, at this point. Mr. Long: Certainly, I mean, you know, an employee coming as long as there were no cars there. Mr. Zielke: Mr. Long: Mr. Zielke: Mr. Long: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Zielke: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Zielke: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Zielke: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Zielke: Mr. Wilshaw: December 19, 2023 31211 If they wanted to wait, you know, a couple of minutes and pull through... Like you said, the ones further, I guess further north, right? I said the northeast, but it's the southeast that would be eliminated. Correct. Yep. Yep. Okay. I'm okay with that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Long. Any other questions for our petitioner? I don't see any other questions from the Commission. Is there anyone in our audience wishing to speak on this item? No one wishing to speak on this item. Mr. Zielke, I did have one question for you. And it was in regard to the signage, was there any additional signage that you were proposing to put up? Yeah, the additional signage would be this submenu board, if you guys consider that additional signage, but for the most part, building signs or any type of, you know, Culvers signs, there's not going to be any of that. Okay. But you aren't going to have any additional advertising type signs. No. And then Mr. Taormina has shown us you did have a canopy that is going to be over each of the ordering stations as well, right? Over the ordering speaker posts, yes. Yeah. It's kind of a, you know, a new canopy update and make it look better than what it is now that just, you know, metal box sticking on the ground?. Sure. Yeah. I think it's very attractive. Yeah. All right. Good. I just wanted to ask that. I don't think there's any other questions from any of our commissioners. I think there's no one in our audience wishing to speak. So, well leave you with the last word. Is there anything else you'd like to let us know before we make our decision? No, it was pretty straightforward. Very good. Thank you. December 19, 2023 31212 Mr. Zielke: Yeah. One other thing. There's a $100 bill or something like that that was outstanding for a building inspection. That's been paid. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Good. That's something that... if this moves to City Council, they definitely like to make sure that any outstanding bills are have been paid. We won't hold you up for that. Mr. Zielke: Scott sent an email to me and I thought I was going to be held up. I called him to clarify that. Mr. Wilshaw: But you got it all cleared up. Mr. Zielke: Yeah, exactly. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Sounds good. All right. I will look to our commissioners for a motion. On a motion by Long, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was #12-69-2023 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2023-11-08-08 submitted by S & Z Restaurants, L.L.C. requesting approval of all plans required by Sections 3.11 and 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, in connection with a proposal to add a second drive-thru lane at the Culver's restaurant at 13030 Middlebelt Road, located on the east side of Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and Schoolcraft Road in the Northwest ' of Section 25, be approved, subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan identified as Option:3, dated November 3, 2023, prepared by Culver Franchising Systems, L.L.C., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. 2. That the required bypass lane may be omitted only if this requirement is waived by the City Council by means of a separate resolution by which two-thirds of the members of the City Council concur. 3. 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, and 4. Pursuant to Section 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, this approval is valid for a period of one year December 19, 2023 31213 only from the date of approval by the City Council, and unless a permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to the City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,206th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Bongero, Acting Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,206th Public Hearing and Regular Meeting held on November 14, 2023. On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Long , and unanimously adopted, it was #12-70-2023 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,206th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on November 14, 2023, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Bongero, Long, Ventura, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: Dinaro, Caramagno ABSTAIN: None Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,207th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on December 19, 2023, was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. ATTEST: Ian Wilshaairman CITY PL WING COMMISSION Sam Caramagno, Secretary