HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2009-03-24MINUTES OF THE 979TH PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, March 24, 2009, the City Planning Commission of the City of
Livonia held its 979x" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting in the Livonia City
Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan.
Mr. Lee Morrow, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Members present: Deborah McDermott R. Lee Morrow Lynda Scheel
Ashley Vartoogian Gerald Taylor Ian Wilshaw
Members absent: Carol Smiley
Messrs. Mark Taormina, Planning Director; At Nowak, Planner IV; and Ms. Marge
Watson, Program Supervisor; were also present.
Chairman Morrow 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 tum, 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 fling.
The staff has furnished the Commission with both approving and denying
resolutions, which the Commission may, or may not, use depending on the
outcome oflhe proceedings tonight.
Mr. Morrow: I'm just going to lake an additional minute to welcome Joe
Taylor, who is now official to the Planning Commission. He has
taken his oath of office. We're very fortunate to have Hm join
the Commission because he brings a wealth of knowledge
based on his years with the Zoning Board of Appeals, the City
Council plus being an effective leader throughout the
community. So, Joe we look forward to working with you in the
future.
Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that
March 24, 2009
25182
ITEM #1 PETITION 2009-02-02-04 ALADDIN'S EATERY
Ms. McDermott, Acting Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda,
Petition 2009-02-02-04 submitted by JML3, L.L.C. requesting
waiver use approval for outdoor seating for an existing full
service restaurant (Aladdin's Eatery) at 37104 Six Mile Road
within the Key Bank Commons Shopping Center, located on the
north side of Six Mile Road between Newburgh Road and
Fitzgerald Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 8.
Mr. Taormina presented a map showing the property under petition plus the
existing zoning of the surrounding area.
Mr. Morrow: Is there any correspondence?
Mr. Nowak: There are three items of correspondence. The first item is from
the Engineering Division, dated March 10, 2009, which reads as
follows: 'The Engineering Division has reviewed the plan sheet
provided for the above referenced project. The legal description
contains an error. The description of the property itself appears
correct, but the bearings and distances from the section comer
are incorrect. There are multiple addresses assigned to the
buildings on this property. The address for Aladdin's Eatery is
37104 Six Mile Road." The letter is signed by Kevin G. Roney,
P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The second letter is from the
Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated February 26, 2009, which
reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan
submitted in connection with a request for waiver use approval
for outdoor seating for existing full service restaurant (seasonal
seating) on property located at the above -referenced address.
We have no objections to this proposal." The letter was signed
by Donald F. Donnelley, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from
the Inspection Department, dated March 11, 2009, which reads
as follows: "Pursuant to your request of February 20, 2009, the
above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is
noted. (1) The petitioner proposes only a 45 inch area on the
south side of the gate for the fenced in area. An area 60 inches
in the direction of travel is required. The petitioner will need to
make the needed corrections to provide barrier free
maneuvering clearances at the gate. (2) The existing large
planter that is located on the southwest side of the proposed
area may need to be relocated or removed to provide sufficient
clearance between the curb and the proposed fence. This
Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter
is signed by Jerome Hanna, Senior Bulding Inspector. That is
the extent of the correspondence.
March 24, 2009
25183
Mr. Nowak:
With respect to the issues that were listed in the letter from the
Inspection Department, the petitioner has submitted a revised
plan which addresses and rectifies all those issues.
Mr. Morrow:
Thank you. Does the Commission have any questions for the
staff? Seeing none, we will go the petitioner. We will need your
name and address for the record.
Mac BouMaroun,
37104 Six Mile Road, Livonia, Michigan 48152.
Mr. Morrow:
Is there anything you would like to add to the presentation of the
staff or any comments you would like to make?
Mr. BouMaroun:
No. I'm just here to answer any questions you may have.
Mr. Morrow:
Okay. Thank you. Is there any Commissioner that would like to
question the gentleman?
Mr. Wilshaw:
Sir, we talked about the gale at our study meeting that goes into
that fenced -in area. The reason that we brought that subject up
was because you have about a dozen parking spaces that are
along Six Mile Road on the south side of your restaurant that
are directly adjacent to what's going to be the fenced -in area for
outdoor dining. By gating that area so that you cannot go into
the restaurant from that location, it sort of makes those spaces
less accessible to your restaurant. I wonder if that's something
you've considered that maybe by removing the gate and the
fence, you could allow those patrons to walk through that area
into your restaurant.
Mr. BouMaroun:
The reason we have the gate there is for exit only. We dont
want people walking in from there because it would be hard for
us to seat them. Right now we do have customers that do park
on the side there, so I don't see that would be a problem.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Okay. You think they'll walk around the fence to gel to your side
entrance?
Mr. BouMaroun:
Yes.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Okay. That's it for now. Thank you.
Mr. Taylor:
Through the Chair to the petitioner, you have interior music
now?
Mr. BouMaroun:
Yes, we do.
March 24, 2009
25184
Mr. Taylor:
I notice that we haven't really restricted you to outside music.
Are you planning on putting it out there?
Mr. BouMaroun:
That's something we haven't decided yet.
Mr. Taylor:
I think it's going to be important to the City Council and to this
Board because music, if played loo loudly, the neighbors do not
appreciate. It probably would be a good idea for you to either
have an approval of the music or a disapproval of the music by
the time you gel to the Council to lel them know what you're
going to do.
Mr. BouMaroun:
Okay.
Mr. Taylor:
We have to control that the best we can. If it's very low, it's not
all bad. You only have a few seats out there. Are you planning
on putting healing out there also in the weather where you might
be able to use it a little longer in the fall season?
Mr. BouMaroun:
No, basically for now, we're just going to be for summer, and as
far as the music goes, if we do end up having music out there, it
will be at a low level so it wouldn't be a distraction to the
neighborhood.
Mr. Taylor:
And what about the lighting? Would you have lights out there?
Mr. BouMaroun:
Yes.
Mr. Taylor:
Some type of a hooded light?
Mr. BouMaroun:
Right. We're in the process right now talking with a few different
companies regarding lights. Obviously, the lights will be bright
but not too bright that it will be a distraction to the driving traffic.
Mr. Taylor:
Well, I guess according to the resolution here, we're going to
kind of leave it up to the Inspection Department and the
Planning Department to regulate those types of things, but you
may want to decide what you're going to do and how you're
going to handle it before getting to the Livonia City Council if
you have an approval through this Board.
Mr. BouMaroun:
Okay.
Mr. Taylor:
Thank you.
Mr. BouMaroun:
Thank you.
March 24, 2009
25185
Mr. Morrow:
Commissioners, any other questions? Going along with Mr.
Wilshaw's comments, you might be served to put a sign on that
gate to let them know that this is exit only or something like that
so they won't be sitting there trying to gel in and maybe try to
scale the gate.
Mr. BouMaroun:
Right. We were planning to do that. We plan on having a sign
that says, "Exit only - please use the front door for service."
Mr. Morrow:
Okay. Very good. If that's all the questions for the petitioner
right now, I'm going to go to the audience and request that
anyone that is interested in this petition, either for or against it,
please come forward at this time. On that note, I will close the
public hearing. If there are no other comments from the
petitioner, I'll askfora motion.
On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Varloogian, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#03-25-2009
RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been
held by the City Planning Commission on March 24, 2009, on
Petition 2009-02-02-04 submitted by JML3, L.L.C. requesting
waiver use approval for outdoor sealing for an existing full
service restaurant (Aladdin's Eatery) at 37104 Six Mile Road
within the Key Bank Commons Shopping Center, located on the
north side of Six Mile Road between Newburgh Road and
Fitzgerald Avenue in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 8, which
property is zoned G2, the Planning Commission does hereby
recommend to the City Council that Petition 2009-02-02-04 be
approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the Proposed Outdoor Seating Plan marked Sheet C-
1 prepared by Technical Group Inc., received by the
Planning Commission on March 13, 2009, is hereby
approved and shall be adhered to, with the outdoor sealing
being confined to portions of the sidewalk directly south of
the subject restaurant unit as shown on said plan;
2. That the gate in the fence enclosing the outdoor seating
area shall be positioned to swing open to allow passage in
the direction of the handicapped ramp and at least 60
inches of clear space shall be maintained between the
fence and the south edge of the sidewalk and also
between the fence and the existing planter on the westerly
portion of the sidewalk;
March 24, 2009
25186
3. That the maximum number of customer seats shall not
exceed 84 seats, including 60 seats inside the building and
24 outdoor seats;
4. That trash receptacles shall be provided for the outdoor
seating area and shall be emptied regularly as needed;
5. That all lighting equipment installed for the outdoor seating
area shall be hooded or shielded to minimize stray light
trespassing across property lines and glaring into adjacent
roadway,
6. That sound levels of any outdoor speakers shall be kept to
a reasonable minimum so as to not become objectionable;
7. That only conforming signage is approved with this petition,
and any additional signage shall be submitted for review
and approval by the Planning Commission and City
Council;
8. That no LED lighlband or exposed neon shall be permitted
on the site including, but not limited to, the building or
around the windows;
9. That all conditions imposed by Council Resolution #514-
08, which granted waiver use approval to operate a Class
C license in connection with the subject restaurant, shall
remain in effect to the extent that they are not in conflict
with this approval; and
10. That the specific plans referenced in this approving
resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department
at the time of application for a Zoning Compliance Permit
for the outdoor dining.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that notice of the above h=aring was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.05 of
Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended.
Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing
resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an
approving resolution.
March 24, 2009
25187
ITEM #2 PETITION 2008-05-06-01 LANGUAGE AMENDMENT
Ms. McDermott, Acting Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda,
Pefition 2008-05-06-01 submitted by the City Planning
Commission, pursuant to Council Resolution #402-08 and
Council Resolution #78-09, and Section 23.01(a) of the Livonia
Zoning Ordinance, as amended, proposing to add a new
Section 17.09 to Article XVII of the City of Livonia Zoning
Ordinance in order to create a licensing procedure in connection
with the outdoor storage of rewand recyclable paving materials.
Mr. Morrow: Because this is a petition that the Planning Commission brought
forward, I'm going to ask Mr. Taormina to give us a brief
overview on the reason for this petifion.
Mr. Taormina: Thank you. Council Resolufion #78-09 requests that the
Planning Commission conduct a public hearing regarding a
proposed language amendment to add a new Section 17.09 to
the Zoning Ordinance. These are the 92 District regulations.
The new section would be entified "Annual Licensure of
Concrete and Asphalt Recycling Plants" This new section to
Article XVII would make concrete and asphalt recycling facilifies
subject to an annual City license, rather than and instead of a
valid nonconforming use as had been previously proposed. The
new Section 17.09 of Article XVII of the Zoning Ordinance
creates a licensing procedure by which concrete and asphalt
recycling plants, and yards related thereto, existing in the City
on January 1, 2008, in M-2 zoning districts, and again, this is
primarily intended for Nagle Paving Company, may be annually
licensed and continue their operations, notwithstanding the fact
that they would be still a nonconforming use as part of the
Zoning Ordinance, but they would be subject to a list of specific
regulations and requirements that would pertain to such items
as dust control, monitoring safeguards, limits on pile heights and
on-site drainage protection that must be complied with. These
are the same regulations that had been outlined in the Planning
Commission's recommendation in connection with the
previously proposed language amendment pertaining to the
subject use. The proposed amendment to Section 17.09 is a
companion to Ordinance No. 2810, adopted by the City Council
on November 19, 2008, which amended Section 170 of Title 5,
Chapter 03 (General Licensing Procedure) of the Code of
Ordinances establishing a new $900.00 Concrete and Asphalt
Recycling Plant annual license fee. The fee required to be paid
is based upon various factors, including "inspection and
regulation required." So basically, this is the same restrictions
and provisions that were provided in the ordinance that was
March 24, 2009
25188
reviewed by this body last year in June but as part of a separate
ordinance, part of the M-2 District regulations instead of a valid
nonconforming use, but it still contains all those same
restrictions and conditions that we had reviewed very carefully
last year. Thank you.
Mr. Morrow:
Yes. I think the Council had some concerns about having some
sort of a sunset regulation in there, did it not, Mr. Taormina?
Mr. Taormina:
That was one of the items that was brought up at their public
hearing and the reason why the Law Department redrafted the
ordinance in its current forth.
Mr. Morrow:
Okay. Thank you. Mr. Nowak, is there any correspondence on
this petition?
Mr. Nowak:
No, there is no correspondence in connection with this petition.
Mr. Morrow:
And because we're the petitioner, I'm going to go right to the
audience and ask if there's anyone in the audience wishing to
speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one
coming forward, I am going to close the public hearing. A
motion would be in order please.
On a motion by
Wilshaw, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, 0 was
#03-26-2009
RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been
held by the City Planning Commission on March 24, 2009, on
Petition 2008-05-06-01 submitted by the City Planning
Commission, pursuant to Council Resolutions #402-08 and #78-
09, and Section 23.01(a) of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as
amended, proposing to add a new Section 17.09 to Article XVII
of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance in order to create a
licensing procedure in connection with the outdoor storage of
raw and recyclable paving materials, the Planning Commission
does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2008-
05-06-01 be approved for the following reasons:
1. That the proposed language amendment will create a
licensing procedure by which concrete and asphalt plants,
and yards related thereto, existing in the City on January 1,
2008, in 92 zoning districts may be annually licensed to
continue said use, notwithstanding nonconformity to the
Zoning Ordinance;
March 24, 2009
25189
2. That the proposed language amendment stipulates specific
regulations, such as dust control, monitoring safeguards,
limits on pile heights and onsite drainage protection that
must be complied with; and
3. That the proposed language amendment is consistent with
the intent and purpose of the Zoning Ordinance which,
among other things, is to protect the health, safety and
welfare of the community and its citizens.
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. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing
resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an
approving resolution.
ITEM#3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 978TM Regular Meeting
Ms. McDermott, Acting Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda,
Approval of the Minutes of the 978"' Regular Meeting held on
March 10, 2009.
On a motion by Wilshaw, seconded by McDermott, and adopted, it was
#03-27-2009 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 978" Regular Meeting held by
the Planning Commission on March 10, 2009, are hereby
approved.
A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES:
Wilshaw, McDermott, Scheel, Varloogian, Morrow
NAYS:
None
ABSENT:
Smiley
ABSTAIN:
Taylor
Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing
resolution adopted.
March 24, 2009
25190
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 979" Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on March 24, 2009, was adjourned at 7:29
p.m.
CIN PLANNING COMMISSION
Deborah McDermott
Acting Secretary
ATTEST:
R. Lee Morrow, Chairman