HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2010-08-24MINUTES OF THE 1,000TH REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, August 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission of the City of
Livonia held its 1,000th 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: Ashley V. Krueger Deborah McDermott R. Lee Morrow
Lynda L. Scheel Carol A. Smiley Gerald Taylor
Ian Wilshaw
Members absent: None
Mr. Mark Taormina was also present
Chairman Morrow informed the audience that if a petition on tonighfs 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 of the proceedings tonight.
ITEM #1 PETITION 2008-10-08-12 ST. MARY HOSPITAL
Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2008-10-
08-12 submitted by Sl. Mary Mercy Hospital requesting approval
of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the Zoning Ordinance
in connection with a proposal to construct an addition to the
hospital at 36475 Five Mile Road, located on the southwest
corner of Five Mile Road and Levan Road in the Northwest 1/4
of Section 20.
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25449
Mr. Taormina: This request originated in the Fall of 2008. Its referred to by the
petitioner as Momentum 2012 Phase III. This project represents
a substantial expansion and capital investment for St. Mary
Mercy Hospital. I'll provide a little background in terms of the
City's involvement with this project. It was late in 2008 when the
Planning Commission commenced its review of the project, but
shortly thereafter and primarily due to economic reasons, the
hospital elected to delay the project indefinitely. The scope and
complexity of the overall project required that a portion of the
land located at the south end of the property be rezoned to
allow for the expansion of the hospital's parking. Council did
give First Reading to the rezoning in November, 2008. Then the
project was put on hold. It was about seven months after that
the hospital resumed the review of that portion of the project
dealing only with the south parking lot. In August, 2009, the City
Council approved the rezoning along with the plans for
constructing a new parking lot at the south end of the campus,
in addition to reconstructing the existing parking lot, which is
located just south of the Marion Building. This evening we are
happy to announce that the hospital is moving forward with the
balance of the Momentum 2012 project. In general terms, this
would include the construction of a 154,000 square foot three
story addition to the south end of the hospital, relocation of the
emergency center to the first floor of the south addition, and
providing a total of 80 private rooms on the second and third
floors of the south addition. Those are the primary components
to the first phase of this project. There would be future
additional projects that are included in the plans you are
reviewing this evening that include renovating the Emergency
Center as an Out -Patient Surgery Center, renovating the in-
patient rooms located in the existing hospital from shared rooms
to private rooms, and renovations to other areas of the existing
hospital including the Slenle Process Department, the O.S.C.
Staff Support and Surgery -Radiology sections. A number of
improvements are also scheduled for the site including new
landscaping at the main entrance and around the new building
additions and parking lots, a relocation of the helipad and
improved pedestrian circulation, as well as storm water
management. Relative to parking, the number of spaces will
remain pretty much the same as what currently exists on the
site, and that is somewhere between 1,675 and 1,700 parking
spaces. However, following the recommendations of a parking
study that was conducted in 2008 by Walker Parking
Consultants, the parking would be redistributed for opfimal
utilization between the staff and visitors. Most of the staff
parking will be moved to the perimeter of the site. In fact, this is
what this plans show. Those blue areas depict generally where
designated staff parking will be located, while the patent and
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25450
visitor parking will be designed nearer to the entrances. That's
shown in the light brown color. All of the parking spaces in the
patient and visitor areas will meet the ordinance requirement of
10 feet by 20 feet, whereas the blue areas, the staff parking,
that will be sized at about 9 feet. That aspect of the plan will
require a parking variance. We do have three items of
correspondence. I can read those now.
Mr. Morrow: Please do so.
Mr. Taormina: This is correspondence that goes back to the original petition.
The first item is from the Division of Police, dated November 6,
2008, which reads as follows: We have reviewed the plans in
connection with the St. Mary Mercy Hospital located at 36475
Five Mile. We have two recommendations to the plans
submitted. (1) We have had numerous complaints regarding
car door dents in the existing parking lots. Review of the current
plans show some parking spots are narrower than the required
10 feet by 20 feet per the zoning ordinance. We request that
the proposed parking spots conform to the Zoning Ordinance:
regular parking spots 10 feet by 20 feet and handicap spots 12
feet by 20 feet, and include a restdping requirement of the
existing parking lot spots. (2) The cross -walks need to conform
to the Michigan Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Pavement markings should include diagonal or longitudinal lines
of 12 inches to 24 inches wide and spaced 12 inches to 60
inches apart, and the spacing should not exceed 2.5 times the
width. Signage should be the pedestrian crosswalk warning
assembly (Wll-2 with supplemental W16 -7p) in yellow -green
reflective coating (see attached)." The letter is signed by David
W. Sludl, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The second letter is from
the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated November 12, 2008,
which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan
submitted in connection with a request to expand the parking lot
and construct an addition to the hospital on the property located
at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this
proposal with the following stipulations. (1) If subject building(s)
are to be provided with an automatic sprinkler system, an on-
site hydrant shall be located between 50 feet and 100 feet from
the Fire Department connection. (2) Adequate hydrants shall be
provided and located with a maximum spacing of 300 feet
between hydrants. Most remote hydrant shall flow 1,500 GPM
with a residual pressure of 20 PSI. (3) This Division requests
that the drive along the west and east sides of the addition be
posted (on both sides) 'Fire Lane — No Parking'. In addition, this
division also requests that the south drive along the professional
building be posted in a similar manner. (4) Fire lanes shall be
provided for all buildings that are set back more than 150 feet
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25451
from a public road or exceed 30 feet in height and are set back
over 50 feet from a public road. (5) Fire lanes shall be not less
than 20 feet of unobstructed width, able to withstand live loads
of fire apparatus, and have minimum of 13 feet 6 inches of
vertical clearance. (6) Fire lanes shall be marked with
freestanding signs that have the words FIRE LANE — NO
PARKING painted in contrasting colors (on both sides) at a size
and spacing approved by the authority having junsdiction." The
letter is signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Inspector. The third letter is
from the Inspection Department, dated November 14, 2008,
which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request of October
24, 2008, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed.
The following is noted. (1) The petitioner went before the Zoning
Board of Appeals in 2006 for deficiencies in number of parking
spaces, parking space width and parking space depth. Only the
parking space width of 9 feet was approved as presented at that
time. The other parking deficiencies were not resolved. The
petitioner would be required to obtain a variance from the
Zoning Board of Appeals to maintain any deficiencies in the size
and number of parking spaces. (2) A variance for excess
signage exists currently. The petitioner would need to obtain a
variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to increase the
square footage and/or number of wall signs presented. This
Department has no further objections to this petition." The letter
is signed by Jerome Hanna, Assistant Director of Inspection.
That is the extent of the correspondence.
Mr. Morrow: Thank you, Mr. Taormina. We have with us tonight
representatives from the St. Mary Mercy Hospital. They are
known as one of the best hospitals in the United States, and
tonight how they're going to tell us how they're going to make it
better. With that, whoever wants to address the Commission,
please come forward and on your initial remarks, we will need
your name and address for the record.
Sarah Gilbert, Director of Strategic Capital Projects, SL Mary Mercy Hospital,
36475 Five Mile Road, Livonia, Michigan 48154. 1 want to thank
you all for getting us on your agenda so quickly. We are very
excited about this project and a lot of good things that we can
bring to Livonia. As you see, the 80 new private patient beds
and then going back in and renovating existing rooms and
making them private as well. So this is going to be a great
service to our community here in Livonia. So we're very excited
about that as well as the new Emergency Center that will really
help us with wait times and gelling patients admitted more
quickly for the care that they need. So again, thank you. I have
a couple of different people here with me tonight that can
probably answer some of your very specific questions if you
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25452
have any. We have Chadey Huber from Hobbs+Black, who is
the architecture firm that has been working with us on this
project, and Mike Lowicki from Tucker, Young, who has been
helping us with some of the site development. Any questions
for me?
Mr. Morrow:
Commission? Ms. Gilbert, no. No questions. Last week we
were pleased to see a number of boards indicating the three
dimensional type relief of the hospital of the additions that Mr.
Taormina discussed. If you could share those with us and our
audience, it would be appreciated. We have an easel set up
with a microphone.
Charley Huber,
Hobbs+Black Architects, 100 N. Slate Street, Ann Arbor,
Michigan 48104. What we have here are a variety of boards
explaining the project that has been described previously. This
is the site plan which shows in contrasting colors the existing
facility and the new proposed building. As was described, there
is an Emergency Center on the first floor and two bed floors, 40
beds each, on the second and third floor. The building consists
of a full basement with support spaces that lie into the existing
support spaces, all designed around improving patient care and
the care model for the hospital. There is also work shown at the
front, the Five Mile entrance, that has a new canopy, new
landscaping and some new parking spaces specifically shown
as a bander free lot to allow for handicapped accessible spaces
to be as close to the front door as possible without having to
traverse traffic through the site. So those are some of the
benefits shown at the front door. The majority of the work is on
the southern end of the site near the Marion Professional
Building. The relocation of the helipad from Levan Road to a
more in -board portion of the site to allow for it to service directly
into the new Emergency Center, and also removing some of
that congestion of the helipad traffic that is currently on Levan
Road. There is a rework of some of the parking (hats already
been done (hats been shown on here along with the additional
south parking. The area was previously rezoned. The approval
to do that work was given. Picking up that work and continuing
with it would be part of this project, along with just some of the
greenscape along Levan Road that was requested by the
Commission previously and put in when that work was done.
Are there any questions about the site plan?
Ms. Smiley:
I was wondering. Did you put in a walkway along Levan now?
Mr. Huber:
Yes, we did. The walk is not complete at this time. There were
a couple pieces. Some of the handicap ramps were not put in
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25453
Mr. Huber: So I'll just keep going unless somebody raises their hand
because there's still some work to be done in that area. Those
would be put in when that work is completed.
Ms. Smiley:
Thankyou.
Mr. Morrow:
I might add as we're moving through the boards and if there are
any questions as we're going along, Mr. Huber, just ask to be
recognized rather than asking if there's any questions so we can
proceed.
Mr. Huber:
Okay. You had mentioned some of the three dimensional
images which there are several that we'll flip through. The first
two are of the new building that is being constructed to the
south. This is an image from the professional office building
parking lot that shows the new building extending out towards
the south of the site. Part of the variance that will be requested
will be for some of the signage for the hospital. There's also
some signage for the emergency center to clearly identify to the
traffic coming to that center where to arrive at to drop off
patients in an emergency situation. The materials that are
shown on the building from the brick and the precast match the
existing materials on the site so the building, while it has a new
appearance to it, will blend into the existing site with its
materials and the design that they're used for. There is also
some portions of glass that are shown along the southern edge
that will stick out past the existing building that will be visible
from Levan Road so that the new building, while it's toward the
southern end of the site and back away from the road, will
provide some presence but not overwhelm the residents that
are to the east. There is a large canopy for the Emergency
Center drop off. Again, the canopy provided for patient care
and patient satisfaction to continue with the model being
developed inside the facility from the front door all the way
through to improved patient care. I'll go to another image. We
can see a little bit more of the approach that people will see as
they enter the site. This image is from in front of the canopy
that leads into the Marion Professional Building. Again, just
giving a little more context for the building. This corner is the
existing corner of the Marion Professional Building. You can
see the brick that's on the building. We're showing matching
that on the existing building so that it ties in. I have an image of
the Five Mile entry. Before I show that, does anybody have any
questions?
Mr. Morrow:
If you have any questions, just ask for them to be recognized
ratherthan asking.
Mr. Huber: So I'll just keep going unless somebody raises their hand
August 24, 2010
25454
Mr. Morrow: We may come back later on, but we'll move through it
Mr. Taylor:
If you could just back up one. Where would be the emergency
entrance?
Mr. Huber:
From the road or into the building?
Mr. Taylor:
No, from Levan Road.
Mr. Huber:
Okay. Levan Road is along this side. The entrance would be
between the south professional lot and the south lot chats yet to
be constructed.
Mr. Taylor:
It would be the farthest entry?
Mr. Huber:
It would be the farthest entryway so it would separate that traffic
from any traffic going into the Professional Building and the
traffic into the ER would not have to drive in front of pedestrian
traffic. They would come along here and then come up a
dedicated road that doesn't have any other traffic on it and
come underneath the canopy.
Mr. Taylor:
Thankyou.
Mr. Huber:
This is a preliminary image of the new canopy that was
suggested for the Five Mile entry. The new canopy starts from
this point and extends out. What you see back here is the
existing canopy that there's today. This canopy covers the drive
similar to the ER canopy that was shown in the previous images
so that the patients in inclement weather, whether it be snow or
rain, are completely covered by the canopy. Today that canopy
comes out to the drive but does not cover the car completely.
So this will allow for some new image along Five Mile Road for
the patients approaching but also provide a functional element
of covering those cars so people can gel in and out of the facility
without having to deal with the weather as much. These are
colored versions of the elevations that were submitted with the
site plan package. They show the new building, the new
southwest addition. It shows a bit more of the building than was
shown on the renderings. This area extending back into the
campus wasn't seen on the renderings. So I present these just
so you can see how those materials continue from the area you
could see on the renderings all the way through. There are a
few more on the backside that, again, just illustrate those same
materials. This is the west elevation that would be facing the
assisted living facility and that side, loo, has those same
materials. There is no change in materials as we gel around the
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25455
backside that the adjoining property would see. That brick
would remain the same.
Mr. Taylor: Are they enlarging those windows or is that how the windows
are now?
Mr. Huber: This is the new building. The new windows are slightly larger
than the existing windows, but what you're seeing here is all
new building so those windows would be constructed as part of
this project. They are slightly larger than the windows in the
existing patient rooms.
Mr. Taylor: I know you mentioned at our study meeting that you're also
going to redo all of the existing rooms.
Mr. Huber: Yes.
Mr. Taylor: Renovate all of those and they will all be single bedrooms, not
increasing the beds in the hospital, just making them all single
beds.
Mr. Huber: The overall bed count for the facility will stay the same. The
beds will go to a private bed model. So on the third, fourth and
fifth floors of the existing bed units, those would be renovated
with similar materials and similar functional elements as we are
pulling into the new beds. So both the renovated beds and the
new beds would get those similar amenities when it comes to
patient care.
Mr. Taylor: This is an extremely big project and, fortunately or unfortunately,
I was in Livonia when Sl. Mary Hospital first came into Livonia.
It certainly has been expanded year after year when funds were
available. What types of money are you spending on this
particular project?
Mr. Huber: The budget for this particular project is currently being evaluated
by the construction engineers that are going to be working on it.
The actual numbers for it, Sarah, correct me if I'm wrong, but
the global dollars being invested are about $40 million.
Ms. Gilbert: We are anticipating that the construction budget is going to be
around $60 million. Of course, we're hoping it might be a little
cheaper than that, but that is what we're expecting al this point.
Mr. Taylor: Well, that's great for Livonia. Its amazing to invest that type of
money. We've always been fortunate enough to have our own
hospital so to speak. I know everybody else comes here also,
but it sure is a great feeling to know that you would spend that
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kind of dollars to make the patients more comfortable actually.
Thankyou.
Mr. Taormina:
Just a quick question regarding the roof -mounted equipment.
Does the rendering you have on the board now illustrate what
would be used to screen any roof -mounted equipment and, if
so, what does that involve?
Mr. Huber:
What you see here is an illustration of the units that would be up
there. The screens that are on there are labeled as architectural
panels attached to the mechanical units, so you would not see a
free-standing mechanical unit up there. They would be
enclosed in panels that would be skinned and colored to match
other aspects of the building. When looking at the building from
a distance, you wouldn't just see the mechanical units. They
will have a screen attached to them.
Mr. Taormina:
But clearly those would be visible from Levan Road. They're
intended to fully screen whatever is on top of the roof with
something that's going to be compatible with the design of the
building, like a metal clad material?
Mr. Huber:
Yes. If we look at some of the elements on the building, first of
all, yes, they will be visible as you gel further away from the
building. So from Levan Road you would be able to see them.
The metal panel is what we were intending to screen them with,
which we can see being used in other portions of the building
and on the other elevations, that same material is prevalent as
well. So it will tie into the building. They are visible, but they will
tie into the architectural design of it.
Mr. Taormina: Thankyou
Mr. Huber: Some of the site improvements include landscaping, as was
mentioned previously. The front door, with the new canopy,
landscaping being done around the drop-off drive to give a little
shade to the area, to give a little bit of a refreshed image to that
area. There is planting done in the center island. Planting done
on either side and also done closer to the building so from the
lobby area, that image is improved with the landscaping. This is
the north end of the new south addition, and this is the maternity
area. So in between the new building and the existing building
with patient rooms there is a significant investment being put
into landscaping so that those patients have a pleasant view
outside of their rooms. And then around the southern end of the
new addition, there is also a significant amount of landscaping
being done to create some garden areas that are visible from
internal courtyards, as well as visible from the professional
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25457
office building and the bed floor up above, and then landscaping
being done around the south end where patients are entering
the facility.
Mr. Morrow:
Mr. Huber, where is the entrance to the emergency room?
Mr. Huber:
The entrance is at the comer right here. So the drive that I
pointed out earlier comes along here, up and around for the
drop-off and the patients come in at this point. You see parking
is down here. So people walking up, that landscape is intended
to soften that view of the building as they're coming in.
Mr. Morrow:
Thankyou
Mr. Huber:
This is the slightly updated version of the parking plan that Mark
showed earlier, the only change being the berm that was
requested along Levan Road here. That's shown on this
drawing, and the parking count matches what Mark had said
earlier.
Mr. Morrow:
I know you briefly touched on it, but it appears that you put the
handicap spots a lot closer to the entrance than they are
presently.
Mr. Huber:
Yes. And the handicap lot that I mentioned is right here with
access to a sidewalk to the front door without having it cross the
traffic coming to the front door or coming into the site to the
parking lots. That required some re -work of some other parking
lots. The hospital really felt that was a necessity forthe patients
coming into the building and picked up a little bit extra site work
to provide that.
Ms. Scheel:
The new parking lot by the emergency room, is that a walkway,
that dark green line?
Mr. Huber:
Here?
Ms. Scheel:
Yes.
Mr. Huber:
That is a row of planting intended to keep any debris from the
helicopter when it lands from being blown into the vehicles
parked in this area.
Ms. Scheel:
So when people park in that parking lot, do they walk through
the parking lot?
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25458
Mr. Huber:
They would walk along the row of cars or they would come over
to the sidewalk. Most likely, they would just come up along
here. This sidewalk feeds the parking lot down to the south.
Ms. Scheel:
Is there parking on both sides then?
Mr. Huber:
There is parking here and here. We originally discussed putting
a sidewalk here, but because of the heliport, having a sidewalk
adjacent to that was a safety risk.
Ms. Scheel:
Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Taylor:
I know you're pulling in a lot more asphalt or cement, and I
know at the study meeting they mentioned that you're going to
have underground detention for water. It's always been a
problem we have across Levan into Rennolds Ravine. I think
for those people who might be watching, it might be a good idea
to explain exactly how that works.
Mr. Huber:
Certainly. I'll touch on it. If there are any detailed questions, I'll
let Mike from Tucker, Young, Jackson and Tull talk about it as
they are the civil engineers. The ravine that you're mentioning
runs through the site here, across Levan Road, and continues
into the residential area. The barrier free parking lot, the work
being done along Levan Road here, and all of the south parking
that's being done, is all of this surface area. The runoff is being
retained in pipes below the asphalt and is being contained and
cleaned before it runs into the ravine. The system being set up
is set up so that the peak flow into that ravine will actually be
less than what it is today. The retention that's being put in
actually picks up some of the pavement that wouldn't typically
be renovated in this project, but the hospital stepped forward
knowing the issues that were there and actually put in some
retention in areas that wouldn't necessarily be required by code.
Mr. Taylor:
If you didn't have that in there, it would just be running off into
the storm drain. So now its maintained in the storm drain and
lel out gradually. That's what l think they want to know.
Mr. Huber:
Yes. Okay. If you'd like, Mike can come up and describe the
system and how that works for anybody that would be watching,
but that's how it functions.
Mr. Taylor:
That's what I thought. Thank you.
Mr. Morrow:
Are there any other boards and then we'll see if Mike wants to
add anything.
August 24, 2010
25459
Mr. Huber:
Those were the boards we brought to cover the scope of the
project and try to lel everybody know what was going on.
Unless there are any other questions, that's what we have.
Mr. Morrow:
I know Mrs. Krueger had a question about the landscape plan.
Are you satisfied with what you've seen, or do you want more
detail?
Ms. Krueger:
I'm satisfied. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Before Mr. Huber leaves, I did want to ask about the movement
of the PET scan trailer. That's something we talked about at our
study meeting, and I know during the construction you're going
to have to move that to an unique location toward Levan. If you
could please talk about that a little bit for us.
Mr. Huber:
Not a problem. The current location for the mobile trailer is
along the Marion Professional Building in this area. We are in
the long term relocating the mobile port to the back side of the
new addition, which will connect it to necessary hospital
functions. The temporary location, while we're doing the
construction in this area before the final port is done, is along
the Cancer Center in this area here, just to the southeast of the
Cancer Center. A temporary connection would be made from
inside the Cancer Center where there's currently a vacant suite
which would be utilized for prepping the patients to take them
onto the trailer. The trailer would sit on some of the existing
drive pavement in this area. The pavement will be upgraded to
support the trailers because they have more weight than typical
car traffic. Some of the curbs will be modified in this area to
allow for the truck to pull in and back into where it needs to go,
and it will sit in that area for approximately 21 months and then
be relocated and the building restored back to the way it is now.
Mr. Wilshaw:
The visibility of that trailer from Levan Road, will it be obscured
by the landscaping or will it be completely visible?
Mr. Huber:
There is some landscaping in here that would obscure it. We
were not planning on any new landscaping to obscure it any
more from Levan Road. There is some there that would do that,
but as you're driving along that road, it would be visible for that
temporary portion of time.
Mr. Wilshaw:
I've seen those trailers in operation and they have generators in
them that run and make a fair amount of noise while they're
operating. Does the trailer make the noise only when it's
operational or does it do it all the time its there throughout the
night?
August 24, 2010
25460
Mr. Huber:
The units that are in the trailers are continually running. They
get powered down but they continually run. Some of the noise
generated from those trailers are from the cooling units for the
patients while they're in there. So while they're running, they
are louder than when they're in their down time, if you want,
when they're not seeing patients. The trucks are there two days
a week. One day for MRI, one day for the PET scan, and they
come and go during that day. They would come in early in the
morning, but they wouldn't be there throughout the evening to
affect anybody that was in the area on off hours.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Okay. That's kind of where I was headed because just the other
night, I was down on Plymouth Road and one of those PET
scan trailers drove by and stopped at the red light. Just
standing several hundred feet away from it, it was quite noisy
while it was just sitting at a red light, and that was not the semi
truck. It was the trailer making the noise.
Mr. Huber:
They do have a significant amount of noise they generate. They
will not be there all the time, and they would not be there for a
full evening to affect the residents on the other side of Levan
Road.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Okay. And then the breezeway that you're going to create that's
going to go from the building to the trailer, that's going to be a
temporary structure that when you're done is going to be
removed and put back the way it was before the trailer was
moved there. Right?
Mr. Huber:
Yes. It's a temporary structure. It's a canvas structure. Its
enclosed. It's tempered with heaters and cooling during the
summer. It will be there for the 21 months, and then when its
removed, the area around it will be restored to the condition its
in today.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Okay. That sounds good. Thank you.
Mr. Taylor:
What is this board?
Mr. Huber:
These are the floor plans of the first floor and the second floor.
This shows the interior of the Emergency Center. We brought
this just in case there were any questions about entry and exit
from the building onto the site. The entry is down here where I
pointed out on the other boards with the exam core in the
center, the ambulances on the backside and the connection into
the existing hospital. The other side shows the bed floors and
August 24, 2010
25461
the 40 private patient rooms with the nursing center adjacent to
the family waiting and support services in the center.
Ms. Smiley:
The official name of the hospital is St. Mary Mercy. You're
connected with St. Joe's in Ann Arbor. Is that correct?
Mr. Huber:
Yes.
Ms. Smiley:
Is there another hospital? Are there three hospitals in the group
or just two?
Mr. Huber:
There are multiple hospitals. I don't know exactly how many.
They gained some recently. Sarah could address that a bit
better than me.
Ms. Gilbert:
The Sl. Joseph Mercy Health System consists of Ann Arbor,
Saline, Livingston, Chelsea was added just about a year ago,
Livonia and then Oakland and Port Huron. So the name that
you'll see on the building, I believe, is Sl. Mary Mercy Livonia.
Thal will be the name you see on the building. I do believe that
we are in the process of changing some of our existing signs
today. I mean we're going through the process of talking with
this group, but the signs that we put on the new building will be
consistent with that. So what you'll see in the next couple
months is what you're going to see on the new building.
Ms. Smiley:
How do you like those signs? I mean you'll be able to see them.
Ms. Gilbert:
Yes. You're going to be able to see them. The goal really is to
standardize them so that we all look very similar. It is a
branded approach. They all look the same. They all have the
same coloring. They all have the same lettering, font style, etc.
etc.
Ms. Smiley:
Is there some kind of symbol?
Ms. Gilbert:
I believe there's a cross in the image. I believe. I don't know
that I've seen it just recently. We went through several design
processes and multiple people involved, so I'm sure you can
guess how that went.
Ms. Smiley:
So it will remain Sl. Mary's. It's not going to change to St.
Joseph's?
Ms. Gilbert:
No. It will slay Sl. Mary Mercy Livonia. The Catholic heritage is
very strong, so I do believe the cross is in it. The little circular
symbol has the cross and then I believe it's gray at the top and
then like a dark burgundy along the bottom.
August 24, 2010
25462
Ms. Smiley: Thankyou.
Mr. Morrow: But you indicated that will be coming back later on
Ms. Gilbert:
We know that we have to ask for a variance with signage
because we have more signs on the building. I do believe that
is in process. That will be a different person coming forward
other than me, but we are trying to coordinate so that we're all
doing the same things.
Mr. Morrow:
Okay. Thank you.
Ms. McDermott:
Are there any features to the rooms that you want to highlight
other than the fad that they're moving to the private rooms,
which are great, but anything in comparison maybe to the rooms
that are there now. Would you like to give us a description?
Mr. Huber:
Both the new rooms and the renovated rooms are going to be
updated to current patient care practices. There are sinks within
the room adjacent to the patient bed so hygiene is obviously of
an importance in a health care facility. That is being managed
both outside the room and inside the room. The ability for the
nurses, physicians and support staff to provide care to the
patients is being upgraded in the location of technology, both at
central stations within the room and outside the room so that
there is really the ability to care for a patient 24/7 without having
to interrupt them while they're sleeping, while they're resting.
Things like that. So the overall design for the bed floors, I only
have an image of the new bed floor, is to upgrade that patient
care standard and provide for an environment where people can
heal without being affected by things around them that don't
deal with their care.
Ms. McDermott:
I'm assuming the picture on the right, that's the actual room?
Mr. Huber:
That's a design concept for the room showing some wood
finishes, the bed, the large windows, direct and indirect lighting
so you dont have light shining directly into your face as you're
laying on the bed recovering. This is the end of the counter with
the sink on it so its directly adjacent to patient care. A family
zone on the side of the room opposite the doors so that the
families have a space near the window so the natural light
coming through is provided there, and then all the staff
amenities are closer to the door. So the rooms are all being
zoned with a staff area, patient area and a family area so that
the interaction of those don't conflict with one another.
August 24, 2010
25463
Ms. McDermott:
Okay. Great. I don't know if they've gone into this much detail
yet, but are there like boards or areas for people to hang cards
and things that are personal?
Mr. Huber:
You can see some of those in the images here. There are
areas for people to put belongings, for people to put flowers,
cards. There are spaces for visitors to sit, but again, are out of
the way of where the staff are working. There are areas here to
liven up the room while the patients are in there.
Ms. McDermott:
Okay. And that's why I'm asking. It makes it feel maybe a little
less like a hospital room and a little more like their own personal
area if they can have some of their own amenities there. Thank
you.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Do you know the approximate square footage of those rooms?
Mr. Huber:
With the project restarting, I don't know the exact number off the
lop of my head. The rooms are approximately 15 feet by 24 feel
from outside to outside.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Will they be similar to what other hospitals in the area have?
Mr. Huber:
Yes. If you've been in the existing rooms, they are larger than
those existing rooms, and they meet quite a few national
standards along with the newer hospitals that have been built in
this area recently.
Mr. Wilshaw:
It sounds like it will be bigger than some motels I've stayed in.
Mr. Taylor:
I think this question will probably go to Ms. Gilbert. Al one time,
there were wards in these hospitals. Then they went to two
beds and three beds. How does the insurance company cover
this type of thing. Is this a problem, because it used to be that if
you wanted a single room, it cost you more money and
sometimes your insurance wouldn't pay for it.
Ms. Gilbert:
I truly believe that insurance is paying for the care regardless of
whether you're in a room by yourself or you're in a room with
another person. I mean its a standard rate. It's all based on
what your diagnosis is. So there is not a specific rate for a
private room versus a semi -private room, but there are a lot of
studies out there that say that private rooms are best for
infection control purposes, for patient healing, for quiet. And so
what we've seen happen over the past several years is that as
hospitals have been able to rebuild, they've incorporated those
standards and gone to private rooms.
August 24, 2010
25464
Mr. Taylor: I don't disagree with what you're saying about a private room,
but I know in the past you could not get a single room unless
you paid for it.
Ms. Gilbert: Yes, and I do believe that's probable accurate like some years
ago, but I know, like in the most recent, when you get paid from
Medicare or Blue Cross, it's based on your diagnosis. It's not
based on your room, unless it's an ICU room, and then that's a
totally different level of care, nursing care, etc.
Mr. Taylor: Thankyou.
Mr. Morrow: Are there any more questions for Mr. Huber? Thank you very
much. Does anyone want further explanation on the drainage of
the site? It looks like you handled that very well loo. Is there
anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the
granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, a
motion would be in order.
On a motion by McDermott, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#08-60-2010 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby
recommend to the City Council that Petition 2008-10-08-12
submitted by Sl. Mary Mercy Hospital requesting approval of all
plans required by Section 18.58 of the Zoning Ordinance in
connection with a proposal to construct an addition to the
hospital at 36475 Five Mile Road, located on the southwest
corner of Five Mile Road and Levan Road in the Northwest 1/4
of Section 20, be approved subject to the following conditions:
1. That the General Site Plan marked Sheet C100 dated
August 6, 2010, as revised, prepared by Hobbs + Black
Architects, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
2. That the General Site Plan — North marked Sheet C100 -N
dated August 6, 2010, as revised, prepared by Hobbs +
Black Architects, is hereby approved and shall be adhered
to;
3. That the General Site Plan — South marked Sheet C100 -S
dated August 6, 2010, as revised, prepared by Hobbs +
Black Architects, is hereby approved and shall be adhered
to;
4. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet L1 dated October
24, 2008, as revised, prepared by Michael J. Dul &
Associates, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
August 24, 2010
25465
5. That the Detailed Planting Plan — North Site & West
Courtyard marked Sheet L2 dated October 24, 2008, as
revised, prepared by Michael J. Dul & Associates, is
hereby approved and shall be adhered to;
6. That the Detailed Planting Plan — South Site marked Sheet
L3 dated October 24, 2008, as revised, prepared by
Michael J. Dul & Associates, is hereby approved and shall
be adhered to;
7. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of
hydroseeding;
8. That underground sprinklers are to be provided for all
landscaped and sodded areas and all planted materials
shall be installed to the satisfaction of the Inspection
Department and thereafter permanently maintained in a
healthy condition;
9. That the Exterior Building Elevation Plans marked Sheets
A-200, A-201 and A-202 all dated October 24, 2008, as
revised, prepared by Hobbs + Black Architects, are hereby
approved and shall be adhered to;
10. That the brick used in the construction shall be full face
four (4") inch brick;
11. That all rooftop mechanical equipment shall be concealed
from public view on all sides by screening that shall be of a
compatible character, material and color to other exterior
materials on the building;
12. That this site shall meet either the City of Livonia or the
Wayne County Storm Water Management Ordinance,
whichever applies, and shall secure any required permits,
including storm water management permits, wetlands
permits and soil erosion and sedimentation control permits,
from Wayne County, the City of Livonia, and/or the Slate of
Michigan Department of Natural Resources and
Environment (DNRE);
13. That all light fixtures shall be aimed and shielded so as to
minimize stray light trespassing across property lines and
glaring into adjacent roadway;
14. That along Levan Road, from the south entrance drive of
the south Marion Office Building parking lot to the southern
August 24, 2010
25466
edge of the hospital's property, a sidewalk shall be
installed to the satisfaction of the Engineering Department;
15. That the cross -walks shall conform to the Michigan Manual
of Uniform Traffic Control Devices; pavement markings and
signage shall be to the Police Department's satisfaction;
16. That the issues as outlined in the correspondence dated
November 12, 2008 from the Livonia Fire and Rescue
Division shall be resolved to the satisfaction of the
Inspection Department and/or Engineering Department;
17. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted
a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for nine fool
(9') parking spaces in the designated staff parking lots and
any conditions related thereto;
18. 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;
19. That the specific plans referenced in this approving
resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department
at the time the building permits are applied for; and,
20. Pursuant to Section 19.10 of Ordinance #543, the Zoning
Ordinance of the City of Livonia, this approval is valid for a
period of one year only from the date of approval by City
Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this
approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said
period.
Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion?
Ms. Scheel: Mark, at the beginning you read some letters of
correspondence, and one of them was from the Fire Inspector.
Did those concerns get addressed in these conditions, or do we
need to address them in these conditions?
Mr. Taormina: Those issues are typically addressed at the time of plan review,
but if you want to reference that letter, we can do that. We can
add a condition that would basically indicate that those issues
as outlined in the Fire Department's correspondence dated
November 12 be addressed to the satisfaction of the Inspection
and Engineering Departments.
Mr. Morrow: Does the maker and supporter agree to that condition.
ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 9W Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the
Minutes of the 999th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held
on August 10, 2010.
August 24, 2010
25467
Mr. Taylor:
Agreed.
Ms. McDermott:
Fine.
Mr. Morrow:
Okay, then that can be added to it.
Ms. Scheel:
Thankyou, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Just to make a comment before we vote. I've always tried to
look at petitions as what's best for the residents first and then, of
course, what's best for businesses right after that. But this is an
interesting petition in the sense that it is the quintessential
petition as to what's best for the residents and how can we
better things for residents and make things betters for business
as well. There are two main areas of concern the residents that
live around Sl. Mary's Hospital have continuously brought to us
over the years. One is the issue of the helicopters landing in the
area, and the other is the drainage of the water into the ravine
and the erosion problems that they've had in the neighboring
subdivision. This petition addresses both of those concerns in a
very positive way. It benefits the health care that our residents
can gel from the hospital through having these single patient
rooms and the enhanced emergency facilities that they're going
to build. That to me is just an amazing win-win for the
community and the fact that St. Mary's Hospital is looking to
spend somewhere upwards of $60 million, or hopefully less if
they can save a few bucks, for this addition onto the hospital is
really just a benefit for our community and the neighboring
communities who use our hospital. I really appreciate that
they're making this investment in the city. Thank you.
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 #2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 9W Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the
Minutes of the 999th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held
on August 10, 2010.
August 24, 2010
25468
On a mot on by Wilshaw, seconded by Krueger, and unanimously adopted, it was
#08-61-2010 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 999th Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on August
10, 2010, are hereby approved.
A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES: Wilshaw, Krueger, McDermott, Smiley, Taylor,
Scheel, Morrow
NAYS: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None
Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the mo0on is carded and the foregoing
resolution adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,000th Regular
Meeting held on August 24, 2010, was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
CIN PLANNING COMMISSION
Lynda L. Scheel, Secretary
ATTEST:
R. Lee Morrow, Chairman