Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2018-11-27 MINUTES OF THE 1,133rd PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, November 27, 2018, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,1331d 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: David Bongero Sam Caramagno Glen Long Betsy McCue Carol Smiley 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 2018-10-01-09 LIVONIA HOTEL Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2018- 10-01-09 submitted by Livonia Hotel Group, L.L.C. pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, requesting to rezone the property at 19265 Victor Parkway, located on the west side of Victor Parkway between Seven Mile Road and Pembroke Avenue in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 6, from C-2 to C-4 I. November 27, 2018 28838 Mr. Taormina: This is a petition to rezone property located on Victor Parkway north of Seven Mile Road. This is the former site of Doc's Sport Retreat, which is on the west side of the road with frontage both along Victor Parkway as well as 1-275. The current zoning of the site is C-2, General Business. The proposed change would rezone the property to C-4-I, which is the high-rise commercial classification. This classification would allow for buildings to be over two stories in height with a maximum height of six stories. The property is 3.2 acres in size. Looking at the surrounding area, immediately north of the subject parcel is Los Amigos Don Juan restaurant as well as Dave & Buster's Arcade and Bar. Both of those properties are zoned C-2, General Business. To the south is a stormwater detention basin for Victor Corporate Park. To the east across Victor Parkway are single family homes zoned RUF. To the west is the 1-275/1-96 Expressway. The purpose of the rezoning would be to allow for the redevelopment of the site with a five to six story hotel. Hotels are treated as a permitted use within the C-4-I district. The conceptual plan presented with the application shows how the site might be developed should the change of zoning move forward. This plan shows a building that would be centrally located on the property. It would be about 133,000 square feet in size, contain roughly 220 rooms and would provide parking both along the west, north and east sides of the building. This site is subject to cross access and parking agreements with both of the commercial properties to the north. The Future Land Use Plan designates the subject property as commercial, which corresponds to both the current as well as the proposed rezoning. We have some renderings which I'll let the architect describe. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Yes, please. Mr. Taormina: There are several items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated October 31, 2018, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced rezoning petition. We have no objections to the proposed rezoning at this time. The existing parcel is assigned the address of 19265 Victor Parkway. The legal description provided by the petitioner appears to be correct and should be used in conjunction with his petition. The existing parcel is currently serviced by public utilities, but the information submitted does not show proposed connections or calculations, so we cannot determine impacts to the existing systems at this time. At the time of plan submittal for permitting, the owner will need to provide proposed flow calculations for the sanitary sewer and water service connections to determine if November 27, 2018 28839 there is capacity in the existing lines to service the proposed project. We will provide a detailed review once full engineering site plans have been submitted for approval. Storm water detention has been provided for the parcel with the previous development. The owner will need to determine if the provided detention is sufficient for the additional runoff from the proposed project, or provide additional detention as required by the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance. It should be noted that the developer will be required to obtain permits from MDOT for any work within the 1-275 right-of-way."The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated October 31, 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 next letter is from the Finance Department, dated November 2, 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? Seeing none, the petitioner is here. We will need your name and address for the record please. Again, I always like to remind everyone that what we're dealing with tonight is the rezoning request. We're going to focus mostly on the issues of zoning. There may be some discussion about the conceptual site plan, but it is only conceptual at this time. Tim Ponton, Stonefield Engineering and Design, 28454 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067. Good evening Chairman, Members of the Board. I am the owner of Stonefield Engineering and Design. We have been retained on this project along with the project architect to lead the design. When the applicant first sent over this site and we started finagling with some of the design and working through some of the site constraints, we found that there were a couple of items that led to the ultimate request for the rezoning from C-2 to C-4-I. I think Mark did a good job summarizing, but just to add onto that. An important point to notice is that we do have a limited lot width of just under 140 feet. With that being said, there is not that much area to place the building, also with the ability to allow for safe fire circulation. Adding onto that, the elevation of Victor Parkway as you go south, at the northern end of our site, the November 27, 2018 28840 elevation is approximately 762, and at the southern portion of our site, is about 753. So it's an 8 to 9 foot change in elevation overall. We're in front of you tonight essentially trying to change the height associated with what's permitted at this site. It is consistent with surrounding patterns of the neighborhood. There is a similar zoning just a couple of properties away, which is Embassy Suites. It is also C-4. In addition to those constraints, the visibility aspects from the highway. Even if we were to do a six-story building, it would still appear one story lower than the property one site to the north. As you get a couple of more properties similar to where the Embassy Suites is, they are almost 20 feet higher in elevation than we are. To the south is the retention basin and then the bank. In addition to that, the other properties are located much closer to the actual highway than our property because what we have behind us is the jug handle on/off from the exit ramp associated with the highway. So we're a couple hundred feet away as you can see on the screen as compared to the other properties that are in the surrounding neighborhood. Those are the main reasons for the request, and we're happy to answer any questions. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Ponton. Do we have any questions of our petitioner? Ms. Smiley: The Engineering Department mentioned the 1-275 easement. How much of that is involved on your property? Mr. Ponton: There are a number of different easements that are located on our property to the north and along the highway parcel that we're contending with. Ms. Smiley: So you're aware and you've made arrangements not to infringe on those easements? Mr. Ponton: Right. Ms. Smiley: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Any other questions for our petitioner? Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against this item? John Kaounas, 19533 Victor Parkway, Livonia, Michigan. I'm the owner of the building north of this property. I agree to rezoning it. I think it's going to help us. I have a restaurant next to it. So I do approve, if you guys approve it. That's what I want to say. November 27, 2018 28841 Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. We appreciate you coming and offering that information. Mr. Kaounas: Sure. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Anybody else in the audience wishing to speak for or against this item? I don't think any substantial information was added to bring the petitioner forward again unless there is anything else you would like to say. Are there any other questions or comments from the Commission? We can go ahead and close the public hearing, and a motion would be in order. On a motion by Long, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #11-76-2018 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on November 27, 2018, on Petition 2018-10-01-09 submitted by Livonia Hotel Group, L.L.C. pursuant to Section 23.01 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, requesting to rezone the property at 19265 Victor Parkway, located on the west side of Victor Parkway between Seven Mile Road and Pembroke Avenue in the Southeast Y4 of Section 6, from C-2 to C-4-I, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2018-10-01-09 be approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed change of zoning is compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding land uses and zoning districts in the area; 2. That the proposed change of zoning is consistent with the developing character of the area; 3. That the proposed change of zoning would provide for the development of the subject property in a manner that is appropriate with its size and location; and 4. That the proposed change of zoning is supported by the Future Land Use Plan which recommends commercial use in this area. 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, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving. November 27, 2018 28842 ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,132nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,132nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on October 30, 2018. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by McCue, and unanimously adopted, it was #11-77-2018 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,132nd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on October 30, 2018, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Smiley, McCue, Bongero, Long, Ventura, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: None 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 1,133rd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on November 27, 2018, was adjourned at 7:16 p.m. CITY P 'NING COMMISSION Sam 41'ramagno, Secretary /rte - ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman