HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2018-05-01 MINUTES OF THE 1,122nd PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia
held its 1,122nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting in the Livonia City Hall,
33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan.
Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Members present: Sam Caramagno Glen Long Betsy McCue
Carol Smiley Kevin Priddy Peter Ventura
Ian Wilshaw
Members absent: None
Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, and Ms. Margie Watson, 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 2018-03-02-06 ALLOUSH CAFE
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2018-
03-02-06 submitted by Khuja Consulting L.L.C. requesting waiver
use approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of Livonia
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to increase the seating
capacity of a previously approved limited service restaurant
(formerly Rocky's Rotisserie) into a full service restaurant
(Alloush Cafe) at 37337 Six Mile Road within the Newburgh Plaza
shopping center, located at the southeast corner of Six Mile and
Newburgh Roads in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 17.
May 1, 2018
28533
Mr. Taormina: This is a request to increase the seating capacity of a unit within
a shopping center that was previously approved as a restaurant
use. This is at the Newburgh Plaza which is at the southeast
corner of Six Mile and Newburgh Roads. The zoning of the
property is C-2, General Business. In 2017, waiver use approval
was granted to Rocky's Rotisserie with a condition that restricted
the seating capacity to 30. Rocky's is no longer in operation and
Alloush Café is the new restaurant that would occupy the same
space that was previously occupied by Rocky's. Presently, they
are authorized to have up to 30 seats, but they would like to
expand the seating capacity to 60. This would change the use
category under the C-2 district regulations from a limited service
restaurant to a full-service restaurant. Newburgh Plaza currently
has three full service restaurants in operation. One is Thai Basil
which was formerly Szechuan Empire and prior to that Wing
Yee's. Kirby Coney Island is another full-service restaurant
located at the plaza. I was informed this evening by the owner of
the mall that Panera Bread has officially closed and relocated
across the street to Laurel Park Place. So there are three full
service restaurants. Big Boy would be the third. Technically, they
are not owned by the same entity that owns the plaza. They are
a free-standing building located in the front parking lot. The
restaurant that is proposed here, Alloush Café, would occupy a
2,475 square foot space. The unit measures about 19.8 feet by
125 feet. It's located toward the westerly end of the shopping
center building. Floor plans submitted with the application
indicate how the seating would be arranged to include tables and
chairs, booths, and counter stools for the total seating of 60. The
dining and the open kitchen area would be in the front half of the
restaurant with storage, office and other service areas at the rear.
The site plan does not show any proposed outdoor seating. There
are no modifications to the exterior of the building other than
signage. Alloush Café would be allowed one sign totaling 20
square feet. Parking at Newburgh Plaza is adequate to
accommodate the additional seating. With that, Mr. Chairman, I
can read out the departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: There are six items of correspondence. The first item is from the
Engineering Division, dated April 6, 2018, which reads as follows:
"In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has
reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections
to the waiver use at this time. The existing parcel is assigned a
range of addresses from #37083 to #37411 Six Mile Road, with
the address of #37083 Six Mile Road being assigned to the
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28534
overall parcel. The submitted legal description is not correct for
the existing parcel and should not be used for this petition. The
legal description on record with the Assessor's Office appears to
be correct and should be used in place of the provided
description. The existing building is currently serviced by public
water main, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. Should renovations
to the building require alterations to the existing services,
drawings will need to be submitted to this department to
determine if permits will be required. Also, should the owner need
to complete work within the Six Mile Road right-of-way, permits
from the Wayne County Department of Public Services will be
required."The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant
City Engineer. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire &
Rescue Division, received by the Planning Commission on April
5, 2018, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site
plan submitted in connection with a request to increase the
seating capacity of a previously approved limited service
restaurant into a full service restaurant on property located at the
above referenced address. We have no objections to this
proposal with the following stipulations: (1) CO2 detection
required for beverage distribution systems and coolers if
tank/tanks are 100 lbs. or great. (Per 2015 IFC 5307.1) (2) Knox
Box installation is required for Fire Department access."The letter
is signed by Keith Bo, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the
Division of Police, dated April 4, 2018, which reads as follows: "/
have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no
objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Brian Leigh,
Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection
Department, dated April 23, 2018, which reads as follows:
"Pursuant to your request, the above-referenced petition has
been reviewed. This Department has no objections to this
petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of
Inspection. The fifth letter is from the Treasurer's Department,
dated April 13, 2018, which reads as follows: "In accordance with
your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the address
connected with the above noted petition. At this time, there are
no outstanding amounts receivable for taxes. Therefore, I have
no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda
Scheel, Treasurer. The sixth letter is from the Finance
Department, dated April 4, 2018, which reads as follows: "/ have
reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition.
As there are no outstanding amounts receivable, general or water
and sewer, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is
signed by Coline Coleman, Chief Accountant. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director?
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28535
Mr. Ventura: Mr. Taormina, if you can recall, can you tell me why Rocky's was
limited to 30 seats? Was there a reason that existed then?
Mr. Taormina: I think it would have comported with the plans that were
presented at the time.
Mr. Ventura: So they never asked for more.
Mr. Taormina: I think the reason is that they never asked for more seating.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and
address for the record please.
Stuart Frankel, Newburgh Plaza, L.L.C., 1334 Maplelawn Drive, Troy, Michigan
48084. I'm the original owner and developer of Newburgh Plaza,
1971. So I've been here a long, long time. Rocky's has been
empty for over two and half years. It's been very difficult to find a
good replacement tenant who has the resources and the
knowledge to operate a full-service restaurant to be competitive
in today's marketplace. I've been fortunate enough to lease this
restaurant to Adel who opened Alloush Café, Lebanese.
Immediately west of him we have AAA and Rite Aid drug store
with an abundance of parking in the northwest quadrant of the
shopping center. So there's an abundance of parking. I think the
answer to the question Mr. Ventura asked, that Rocky's was
principally a carry-out facility as opposed to a sit-down facility and
because it principally was a carry-out facility they only showed 30
seats on the drawing that they submitted for approval. This will
be a full-service restaurant and the 60 seats is needed to be
competitive in the marketplace. We're fortunate to have them be
part of Newburgh Plaza and a member of the community. I'd be
happy to answer any questions you may have.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, very much, Mr. Frankel. Do we have any questions
for the landlord?
Mr. Caramagno: Alloush Café, it's a first go round for them or do they have others
in the area?
Mr. Frankel: They have one other facility in Woodhaven.
Mr. Caramagno: Been in business how long?
Mr. Frankel: Let me introduce Adel who is the owner/operator of Alloush.
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28536
Adel Badreldin, Alloush Café, 37337 Six Mile, Livonia. I would like to introduce
myself. I've been in the business almost 25 years. I used to work
for La Sheesh when La Sheesh was in the business. I managed
his place for maybe 15 years. I was General Manager for him
before he closed down. I think I left La Sheesh in 2004. I started
my own business. The first location for me was in Taylor,
Lebanese food. It's still in business. I sold it and now I have the
other one in Woodhaven on Allen Road. It's called Shish
Gardens. I've been in business for nine years at this location. I'm
doing a very good business. The reason I came to Livonia, I
would love to serve the community and I think I will do a good job
if I just have a full-service dining room. Thanks so much.
Mr. Ventura: I see your floor plan up here on the screen, and I was never in
Rocky's so I've never been in this space. Is this a totally new re-
built interior or are you adding to what was already there? How
much of this is going to be new and remodeled?
Mr. Badreldin: I am doing everything new from A to Z. So new floors, new ceiling,
new kitchen equipment, but I think I still have some existing. I'm
adding the new seating area and everything can be new and fresh
and brand new.
Mr. Ventura: So you're making a significant investment.
Mr. Badreldin: Yes.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against this item? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the
public hearing and ask for a motion.
On a motion by Ventura, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was
#05-25-2018 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on May 1, 2018, on Petition
2018-03-02-06 submitted by Khuja Consulting L.L.C. requesting
waiver use approval pursuant to Section 19.06 of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to increase the
seating capacity of a previously approved limited service
restaurant (formerly Rocky's Rotisserie) into a full service
restaurant (Alloush Cafe) at 37337 Six Mile Road within the
Newburgh Plaza shopping center, located at the southeast corner
of Six Mile and Newburgh Roads in the Northwest 1/4 of Section
17, which property is zoned C-2 and P, the Planning Commission
May 1, 2018
28537
does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2018-
03-02-06 be approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the maximum customer seating count for this
restaurant shall not exceed sixty (60) seats;
2. 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
3. That no LED light band or exposed neon shall be permitted
on the site including, but not limited to, the building or around
the windows.
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use complies with all of the special and
general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth
in Sections 10.03 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance #543;
2. That the subject site has the capacity to accommodate the
proposed use; and
3. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
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, 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 2018-04-02-07 FOUNDATION HOUSE
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2018-
04-02-07 submitted by Bianca Bousamra requesting waiver use
approval pursuant to Section 16.11(f) of the City of Livonia Zoning
Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a dance studio (The
Foundation House) at 11936 Farmington Road, located on the
east side of Farmington Road between Plymouth Road and the
CSX railroad right-of-way in the Southwest % of Section 27.
Mr. Taormina: This is a request to operate a dance studio in a building that is
zoned primarily for industrial purposes. This site is located on the
May 1, 2018
28538
east side of Farmington Road between Plymouth Road and the
CSX railroad. The zoning is M-1, Light Manufacturing. Approval
to operate this type of use falls under the provisions set forth in
Section 16.11(f) of the Zoning Ordinance. This section allows for
public or private indoor recreational facilities and athletic training
schools within the M-1 district subject to waiver use approval.
Uses such as dance and yoga studios and gymnastic training
facilities are allowed within industrial buildings because of unique
features or characteristics that these uses require, such as wide
open spaces or higher ceilings. A key criterion in determining
whether a use of this type is appropriate is making sure that all
the parking and ingress and egress to the facility does not pose
a safety hazard or interfere with the normal industrial traffic in the
area. The subject site is 5.5 acres in size. It's about 320 feet wide
along Farmington Road by a depth of 950 feet. This is a multi-
tenant industrial complex that contains two buildings. The
building that is closest to Farmington Road is about 38,230
square feet in size and the other building that is located to the
rear of the site is about 44,000 square feet. As you can see from
the map, there are industrial uses immediately to the north and
the east. To the west across Farmington Road is commercial
zoning that is the site of the Consumers Energy Regional Service
Center. Lying immediately to the south of this property are the
Fountain Park condominiums which are zoned R-8C. The
Foundation House would occupy a 2,400 square feet unit that
would be located on the north side of the front building at 11936
Farmington. The unit is located near the middle section of the
building. The unit has two exterior doors. The front portion would
include a lobby as well as a changing room and restrooms while
the remaining back section of the space would consist of a large
open studio. There are no exterior building modifications with this
proposal. Parking is available adjacent to the unit which the
petitioner feels is adequate for the employees and students
without causing any safety problems, congestion or otherwise
interfere with the normal operations of industrial uses within the
complex. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the
departmental correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please.
Mr. Taormina: There are six items of correspondence. The first item is from the
Engineering Division, dated April 9, 2018, which reads as follows:
"In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has
reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections
to the waiver use at this time. The existing parcel is assigned a
range of addresses from #11900 to #11950 Farmington Road,
with the address of#11900 Farmington Road being assigned to
May 1, 2018
28539
the overall parcel. The submitted legal description appears to be
correct and should be used in association with this petition. The
existing building is currently serviced by public water main,
sanitary sewer and storm sewer. Should renovations to the
building require alterations to the existing services, drawings will
need to be submitted to this department to determine if permits
will be required. Also, should the owner need to complete work
within the Farmington Road right-of-way, permits from the Wayne
County Department of Public Services will be required."The letter
is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The
second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated
April 10, 2018, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed
the site plan submitted in connection with a request to operate a
dance studio on property located at the above referenced
address. We have no objections to this proposal." The letter is
signed by Keith Bo, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the
Division of Police, dated April 10, 2018, 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 Brian Leigh,
Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection
Department, dated April 23, 2018, which reads as follows:
"Pursuant to your request, the above referenced Petition has
been reviewed. (1) The parking lot shall be repaired and restriped
as necessary. (2) Some of the asphalt curbs are damaged and
shall be replaced. (3) Dumpster enclosures are not provided for
all the dumpsters on site. The Commission and/or Council may
wish to address this issue. (4) There is trash and debris on the
ground around the dumpsters. This shall be removed or placed
in the dumpster. This Department has no further objections to this
petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of
Inspection. The fifth letter is from the Treasurer's Department,
dated April 13, 2018, which reads as follows: "In accordance with
your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the address
connected with the above noted petition. At this time, there are
no outstanding amounts receivable for taxes. Therefore, I have
no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda
Scheel, Treasurer. The sixth letter is from the Finance
Department, dated April 10, 2018, which reads as follows: "I have
reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition.
As there are no outstanding amounts receivable, general or water
and sewer, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is
signed by Coline Coleman, Chief Accountant. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Seeing none,
is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and
address for the record please.
May 1, 2018
28540
Linda Bousamra, 6626 Evangeline, Dearborn Heights, Michigan 48127. I'm here
representing my daughter, Bianca. She is currently working in
California so she couldn't be here. She's interested in opening
this dance studio in Livonia and born and raised in Dearborn,
Michigan, and I don't know what information you need.
Mr. Wilshaw: If there is anything else that you wanted to add to what Mark has
already said, you can do that. Otherwise, we'll see if we have any
questions for you.
Ms. Bousamra: Okay.
Mr. Wilshaw: Do we have any questions?
Ms. Smiley: Good evening. What kind of dance will it be? Is it for children or
adults?
Ms. Bousamra: It would be basically for children, but she is open . . . I mean, this
is her first business. She is 23 years old. It's her first venture into
this, but she's been teaching dance for about eight years in
Dearborn, and now she's been in California the last year teaching
dance, and she wants to come home and open this studio,
primarily for children.
Ms. Smiley: So like little ballet, tap, jazz.
Ms. Bousamra: Ballet, tap, jazz.
Ms. Smiley: And she has eight years experience teaching.
Ms. Bousamra: Teaching at Lorette Dunworth in Dearborn. She has a Bachelor
of Fine Arts and Criminal Justice from Wayne State.
Ms. Smiley: Great. How about in the business aspect of it? Is she going to be
alone?
Ms. Bousamra: She is getting in married in August and her husband to be is
actually a professional tap dancer. He travels all over the country.
So primarily it will be her, but he will be there teaching also, but
she's taking this on.
Ms. Smiley: When is she looking to open up?
Ms. Bousamra: She would like to open when the school year starts, August,
September.
Ms. Smiley: Thank you.
May 1, 2018
28541
Ms. McCue: I don't know if you're going to be able to answer this, specifically,
but what are the thought processes for how we're going to work
with the dumpster setup and things like that? I know that's
probably not something that you've even talked about, but in the
notes it just said that there were no dumpster enclosures and that
there was garbage scattered around.
Thomas Gigugre, Signature Associates. One Towne Square, Suite 1200,
Southfield, Michigan 48076. We manage the property and I'm
here to represent the landlord. To answer your question, the
property has been picked up. I don't want to make excuses. The
property should never look like that and we do take steps to have
the lot swept and picked up. I do have some pictures that were
taken yesterday morning. The dumpster enclosures have been
cleaned. I don't have multiple sets but I'm happy to hand them off
to you guys. And I also have our plan that we're bidding as far as
parking lot work for the year and striping and seal coating. As far
as the dumpster enclosures, the common dumpsters are in
enclosures. We have two enclosures there for dumpsters. PPG
is a tenant at the property. I don't know if they've been there
forever, but as long as we've managed the property, they've had
two dumpsters of their own that are not in an enclosure.We would
be willing to potentially build an enclosure for them or it's probably
more likely that we would have them if required, we'd probably
have them do away with the dumpsters and use the common
dumpsters that are provided and increase the pickups.
Ms. McCue: Thank you.
Mr. Ventura: Can you commit to taking care of all of the things that are on Mr.
Miller's letter on behalf of the ownership?
Mr. Gigugre: That being the parking lot?
Mr. Ventura: Right.
Mr. Gigugre: Yes.
Mr. Ventura: So all of that stuff will be taken care of.
Mr. Gigugre: Yes.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
May 1, 2018
28542
Mr. Caramagno: What interior changes happen at this particular studio?What has
to happen in the building as it currently sits versus what it's going
to be like to have a dance studio there?
Mr. Gigugre: For us, as far as landlord's work, we're simply demo-ing some
wood structure that the previous tenant built and left behind.
Beyond that, it's realty up to the tenant for what she wants to put
in there.
Mr. Caramagno: So the wood structure, is it walls?
Mr. Gigugre: It was almost like a . . . it wasn't really a mezzanine. It was kind
of a funky loft kind of thing that he built. We've demo-ed that.
Mr. Caramagno: Is there good lighting and heat? They're all individually heated
and lit?
Mr. Gigugre: Yes.
Mr. Caramagno: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Taormina: Just a question for Tom. As far as I'm aware, this is the first of
this type of use to be located within this industrial complex. I'm
just curious. Your thoughts on introducing this type of use to the
facility with respect to parking and hours of operation and any
potential conflicts with the existing tenants within the center.
Mr. Gigugre: I will say we haven't had it at that particular property, but we've
had similar uses at other properties. One in Plymouth on
Northville Road and generally the hours tend to offset each other.
The property itself, there's not a huge amount, it's not heavy
industrial. There's not a huge amount of truck traffic and things of
that nature through that property. Most of the tenants there are
pretty light use, but usually what we find with that kind of
operation is that most of their business is done later in the day
and into the evening, the dance studio, at which point most of the
rest of the tenants are done for the day.
Mr. Taormina: As was indicated by the petitioner, it sounds like many of the
students will be younger so they will be dropped off and picked
up which should be less of a demand for parking at that time of
the day.
Mr. Wilshaw: I would guess if it's mostly young students, it would be an after
school activity so it would probably be afternoon into the evening.
May 1, 2018
28543
Mr. Long: I know lighting and heating was addressed. In the summer, is it
air conditioned or is it not necessary?
Mr. Gigugre: It is air conditioned.
Mr. Long: Okay. Thank you.
Ms. Smiley: What kind of signage . . . it looks like they are down a couple
doors.
Mr. Gigugre: The only real signage that we have at the center is some wall
plagues with the address and tenant names on it. It's pretty
uniform.
Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against this item? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the
public hearing and ask for a motion.
On a motion by McCue, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was
#05-26-2018 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on May 1, 2018, on Petition
2018-04-02-07 submitted by Bianca Bousamra requesting waiver
use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(f) of the City of Livonia
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate a dance studio
(The Foundation House) at 11936 Farmington Road, located on
the east side of Farmington Road between Plymouth Road and
the CSX railroad right-of-way in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 27,
which property is zoned M-1, the Planning Commission does
hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2018-04-02-
07 be approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the site plan, as received by the Planning Commission
on April 5, 2018, is hereby approved and shall be adhered
to;
2. That adequate off-street parking shall be provided which
shall be sufficient to comply with the parking requirement for
employees and patrons as set forth in Section 18.38(12) of
the Zoning Ordinance;
3. 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
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28544
4. That the issues as outlined in the correspondence dated
April 23, 2018 from the Director of Inspection shall be
resolved to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department.
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use is in compliance with all of the special
and general waiver use standards and requirements as set
forth in Sections 16.11 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance
#543;
2. That the subject property has the capacity to accommodate
the proposed use; and
3. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
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, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #3 PETITION 2018-04-02-08 CROSSFIT NORTH
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2018-
04-02-08 submitted by Crossfit North Industry requesting waiver
use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(f) of the City of Livonia
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate an indoor
fitness center at 11944 and 11948 Farmington Road, located on
the east side of Farmington Road between Plymouth Road and
the CSX railroad right-of-way in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 27.
Mr. Wilshaw: This one is going to look really familiar to us, I think.
Mr. Taormina: Yes. Coincidentally, this petition involves the same complex and
it is to operate an indoor fitness center in the same building as
what was just approved on the previous item. Again, the Marquis
Center is a two building M-1 zoned industrial complex located on
the east side of Farmington Road just north of Plymouth Road.
Crossfit North Industry would occupy two units that adjoin one
another located in the southwest corner of the front building.
Combined, these two units total about 8,460 square feet. There
are three exterior doors, including one on the west side of the
May 1, 2018
28545
building and then two on the south side. The door that is in the
southeast corner of the combined unit would serve as the main
entrance to the facility. The floor plan shows men and women
locker rooms as well as office and restroom, and most of the
interior space would be devoted to a large open studio. No
substantive exterior building modifications are planned, and like
the previous item, parking is available adjacent to the unit, both
in front of the unit on the west side as well as on the south side,
which the petitioner believes is sufficient for employees and
students without causing any issues.
Mr. Wilshaw: Do we have any correspondence?
Mr. Taormina: There are six items of correspondence which are identical to the
previous item. The first item is from the Engineering Division,
dated April 9, 2018, which reads as follows: "In accordance with
your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above
referenced petition. We have no objections to the waiver use at
this time. The existing parcel is assigned a range of addresses
from #11900 to #11950 Farmington Road, with the address of
#11900 Farmington Road being assigned to the overall parcel.
The submitted legal description appears to be correct and should
be used in association with this petition. The existing building is
currently serviced by public water main, sanitary sewer and storm
sewer. Should renovations to the building require alterations to
the existing services, drawings will need to be submitted to this
department to determine if permits will be required. Also, should
the owner need to complete work within the Farmington Road
right-of-way, permits from the Wayne County Department of
Public Services will be required."The letter is signed by David W.
Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the
Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated April 10, 2018, which reads
as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in
connection with a request to operate an indoor fitness center on
properties located at the above referenced addresses. We have
no objections to this proposal."The letter is signed by Keith Bo,
Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated
April 10, 2018, 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 Brian Leigh, Sergeant, Traffic
Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department,
dated April 23, 2018, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your
request, the above-referenced petition has been reviewed. (1)
The parking lot shall be repaired and restriped as necessary. (2)
Some of the asphalt curbs are damaged and shall be replaced.
(3) Dumpster enclosures are not provided for all the dumpsters
on site. The Commission and/or Council may wish to address this
May 1, 2018
28546
issue. (4) There is trash and debris on the ground around the
dumpsters. This shall be removed or placed in the dumpster. This
Department has no further objections to this Petition."The letter
is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection. The
fifth letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated April 13,
2018, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request,
the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the address connected with
the above noted petition. At this time, there are no outstanding
amounts receivable for taxes. Therefore, I have no objections to
the proposal." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer.
The sixth letter is from the Finance Department, dated April 10,
2018, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the addresses
connected with the above noted petition. As there are no
outstanding amounts receivable, general or water and sewer, I
have no objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Coline
Coleman, Chief Accountant. That is the extent of the
correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? None. All right.
The petitioner is here. We will need your name and address for
the record please. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Dennis Fenrich, Crossfit North Industry, 36963 Amrhein, Livonia, Michigan 48150.
I love questions, but I can volunteer information. I've been training
people since 2002. I started at Lifetime Fitness in 2002 in Novi. I
ran a personal training business there. I also was a group training
coordinator which handles the large group training, not in the
studios, but outside. Does anybody go to Lifetime? All right. So I
ran some other programs there, 02 testing and stuff like that. I
was also the nutrition team leader there and I left in 2013 when I
opened Crossfit North Industry in Livonia.
Mr. Wilshaw: Do we have some questions for our petitioner?
Ms. Smiley: Can you tell me a little bit about Crossfit? Is it like boot camp?
Mr. Fenrich: That's probably a good way to look at it. We teach people how to
strength train so we do basic lifts, squats, back squats, front
squats, dead lifts, shoulder pressing, basic strength training and
then conditioning as well. Run 400 meters, do 10 dead lifts, 5
rounds, see how long it takes you. The cornerstone of Crossfit is
timing and high intensity conditioning.
Ms. Smiley: What kind of hours are you planning on being open?
May 1, 2018
28547
Mr. Fenrich: We're off hours, like they said previously. Most fitness does come
before and after work and we are an adult program. We won't
have a kids program.
Ms. Smiley: Thank you.
Mr. Priddy: Good evening. Do you foresee any outside usage? I've seen
other places where they are outside doing their thing.
Mr. Fenrich: We don't flip tires. I would like to get outside, but if it's going to
restrict us from getting in, I'll find another way to do it for sure, but
I was anticipating to be able to get out on the grassy area and do
some warmups and stuff like that just to get attention and let
people know that we're there, but outside of that, we do running
but we can find alternatives if it's not going to work.
Mr. Priddy: How would that interact with the neighbors or is it noisy?
Mr. Fenrich: Yeah, Crossfit can be a little loud, but again, and I've considered
all this stuff. We had another building we were looking at and this
was just a really good move for us. We're looking to introduce a
new program. We're bringing in a movement specialist. The
general population coming in and trying to strength train, it's really
good if you're 20 to 30, but as you get older and you're a little bit
more de-conditioned, it takes a little more time. So we want to
introduce programs to really allow people to get the time that they
need, 3, 5, 9, 12 months to kind of build up their movement
patterns, get some strength into their tissues and be able to kind
of handle the intensity that we go through, if they choose to do
that. So we needed space. This had about another 700 square
feet that I thought we could utilize, but the side of the road is really
a key point for us to be able to get awareness out there and let
people know what we're trying to do and just help people get fit
with a healthy lifestyle.
Mr. Priddy: Would they be outside in the morning then, if they are coming
before work and running around?
Mr. Fenrich: Potentially. Again, if we run into problems with that, I would find a
way to work around it. We would get treadmills if we had to run
that much.
Mr. Priddy: The reason I'm asking is because you have neighbors on the
south side of you in condos. If you're creating a lot of noise, or
even just in the mornings, a lot of people may not get up quite as
early as the Crossfit people might. They might enjoy their sleep.
May 1, 2018
28548
Mr. Fenrich: Yes. Again, we will restrict the noise. There's work-arounds for
that. In the winter we're definitely not out there, so we're looking
at maybe three or four months out of the year where there
potentially could be a challenge, but I'm not going to stop the
progression of the business because of three or four months.
We'll find a way to get around it. Again, this space is big enough
inside. The big thing that we do outside is run. The current
building we're in, we run around the building. It's about 400
meters, and 400 meters is a pretty standard run for Crossfit, but
this building has a 115 foot length. We do shuttles in the winter in
our current building and we could just do shuttles year round if it
was that big of a deal.
Mr. Priddy: Did you run outside at your previously employment?
Mr. Fenrich: At Lifetime?
Mr. Priddy: Wherever you've been.
Mr. Fenrich: Yeah, well, we would go outside at Lifetime in the parking lot a
few times.
Mr. Priddy: Thank you.
Mr. Taormina: How many parking spaces do you think you would use at times
of peak demand, including your employees and students?
Mr. Fenrich: I counted the spaces. This building is about 23. The area that
we're in, we get about 23 spaces so that's more than enough. We
might spill into 30, but there's one guy behind me. He's painting
FedEx trucks and it's just him. So he's got about 10 spaces, and
I already went and talked to him. He was more concerned about
him being too loud than I was.
Mr. Taormina: So no concerns over parking. I noticed today that there were
some trucks and trailers parked laterally across the parking
spaces so they were occupying quite a few parking spaces, and
I didn't know if that's something that is there all the time or not. It
seemed to be almost directly across from your space. Maybe it
was only temporary but it sounds like you have a certain number
of spaces that are part of the lease agreement. Is that how that
works?
Mr. Fenrich: Well, the landlord wouldn't work in any committed spacing, but
directly around our building was 23 spots. I counted it multiple
times. I was concerned about that. The building we're in now, we
have about 10 and we make it work. There's some spillover that
May 1, 2018
28549
we can get into. Our membership, we've got about 120 members
and they're real excited about doubling the parking spaces. So I
think we'll be okay.
Mr. Taormina: So you don't foresee any problems.
Mr. Fenrich: I don't. We can make it work where we're at now and I don't see
why it would be a challenge there. I'm going to have good
relationships with my neighbors so we should be able to work
anything out.
Mr. Taormina: Thank you.
Mr. Ventura: It appears that building had a pretty good sign on it that was used
by the prior tenant. What kind of signage do you anticipate putting
up?
Mr. Fenrich: We would like to have a sign in the same exact spot up on the
building there. We looked into pricing and we're definitely going
to make that happen. It's just probably going to be a couple
months. We want to have a soft opening. We want to get in there
and get things settled in a little bit before we start inviting the
public in. We just want to have a good impression with everybody
right off the bat. So we're looking at a sign in the second or third
month.
Mr. Ventura: Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or
against this item?
Nate Furlong, 24360 Novi Road. I just wanted to add in to your question about the
facility as a whole. One of the really unique approaches to this
particular Crossfit facility, my degree is in preventative and
rehabilitative medicine or programs. One of the unique
approaches to this as far as it contains the community of people
that go there, is it's really designed to help people live healthy
lives for the longevity of their lives. What we do is take
movements that are ordinarily difficult movements and break
them down to be very familiar to the body so they're very safe.
Really one of the main goals of this is to help people live, have a
better longevity, quality of life for the long term. I just wanted to
add that part in.
Mr. Wilshaw: I appreciate that. Anybody else in the audience wishing to speak?
I don't see anybody else. So I will close the public hearing and
ask for a motion.
May 1, 2018
28550
On a motion by Priddy, seconded by Caramagno, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#05-27-2018 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the City Planning Commission on May 1, 2018, on Petition
2018-04-02-08 submitted by Crossfit North Industry requesting
waiver use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(f) of the City of
Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate an
indoor fitness center at 11944 and 11948 Farmington Road,
located on the east side of Farmington Road between Plymouth
Road and the CSX railroad right-of-way in the Southwest 1/4 of
Section 27, which property is zoned M-1, the Planning
Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that
Petition 2018-04-02-08 be approved subject to the following
conditions:
1. That the site plan, as received by the Planning Commission
on April 6, 2018, is hereby approved and shall be adhered
to;
2. That adequate off-street parking shall be provided which
shall be sufficient to comply with the parking requirement for
employees and patrons as set forth in Section 18.38(12) of
the Zoning Ordinance;
3. 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
4. That the issues as outlined in the correspondence dated
April 23, 2018 from the Director of Inspection shall be
resolved to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department.
Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for
the following reasons:
1. That the proposed use is in compliance with all of the special
and general waiver use standards and requirements as set
forth in Sections 16.11 and 19.06 of the Zoning Ordinance
#543;
2. That the subject property has the capacity to accommodate
the proposed use; and
3. That the proposed use is compatible to and in harmony with
the surrounding uses in the area.
May 1, 2018
28551
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, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
ITEM #4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,121st Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of
the Minutes of the 1,121st Public Hearings and Regular Meeting
held on April 17, 2018.
On a motion by Smiley, seconded by McCue, and adopted, it was
#05-28-2018 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,121st Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on April 17,
2018, are hereby approved.
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Smiley, McCue, Long, Caramagno, Wilshaw
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: Priddy, Ventura
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously ad pted, the 1,122nd Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on May 1, 2018, w s adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
CITY PL ING COMMISSION
am Car-magno, Secretary
ATTEST:
Ian Wilshaw, Chairman