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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNING MINUTES 2013-10-01MINUTES OF THE 1,044rH PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,044`h 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: R. Lee Morrow Lynda L. Scheel Carol A. Smiley Gerald Taylor Ian Wilshaw Members absent: Scott Bahr Mr. Mark Taormina, Planning Director, and Ms. Margie 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 wnting, 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. Before we go on to the first agenda item, the Petitioner, TSFR Apple Venture, L.L.C., has requested that Agenda Items 5 and 6 under Miscellaneous Items be postponed to a future meeting. If things work out, they will be on the October 15, 2013, Regular Meeting. ITEM #1 PETMON 2013-08-02-21 GOODWILL Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2013-08- 02-21 submitted by Architectural Concepts requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(() of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct and operate a second-hand store and resale shop (Goodwill) within an ou0ol October 1, 2013 25980 on the site of the Menards Home Improvement Store, 12701 Middlebelt Road, located on the west side of Middlebelt Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and Schoolcmft Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 26. Mr. Taormina: Goodwill is proposing to construct a new retail store on one of the oulparcels that was created in front of the recently developed Menards store, located on the west side of Middlebelt Road just north of the CSX railroad. The parcel is about 2.41 acres in size. It is zoned C-2, General Business. This is an older aerial photograph showing the old Farmer's Jack Advantage Logisitics warehouse which has been completed demolished and redeveloped as the Menards store. To the south on the other side of the railroad is the Ford distribution plant. Across Middlebelt is the Meijer store, and in the southeast comer of the railroad right-of-way and Middlebelt Road is the former GM Powertrain plant. To the north is Kroger's dairy operation, Michigan Dairy, and TCF bank. Second hand stores require waiver use approval under Section 11.03(t) of the Zoning Ordinance. There are a couple special requirements of the ordinance as they pertain to second hand stores. First, there cannot be any outdoor sales, storage or display of merchandise. And second, and ingress and egress must be provided from a public street having an existing or planned right -of --way width of at least 120 feel, of which Middlebelt Road qualifies. The building that Goodwill proposes to construct is about 18,466 square feel. It's a single story structure. Donated clothing and other items would be accepted through an exterior drive -up donation drop-off area located on the north side of the building. There is a service drive that provides access to properly that CSX owns to the south. The reason the service drive runs in front of the parcel in question is because of the topography associated with the abutting railroad overpass. Because of the grade change, this road provides access to the CSX yard. Access to the Goodwill site will not be provided from the service drive, which is owned and located on the CSX property. Access would be provided from an extension of a driveway which currently terminates right here. It would be extended further to the south to provide access not only to the Goodwill store but to the one or two other outlets that could be developed immediately to the north. The drive extends north and goes directly to Industrial Road, which then provides access to Middlebelt Road via a signalized intersection. Secondarily, there is access provided to Middlebelt Road on what is typically refered to as the east driveway. Parking is based on the requirement of one space for every 150 square feel of useable floor space, so 89 parking spaces are needed. They are showing 89 parking spaces on the site plan so they are in full October 1, 2013 25981 compliance. In terms of landscaping, they are required to provide a minimum of 15 percent of the site landscaped. This plan illustrates the amount of greenspace that would be created on the site and that constitutes 17 percent of the site. So again they are in compliance with that requirement. They have incorporeled the changes we've requested along the frontage, adding some of the hardscape improvements, the low walls and urns that were part of the previous site plan on the site to the north. We want to continue that same theme along this side of Middlebell Road. The petitioner has modified the landscape plan and is showing those details as part of the current plan. In terms of the building itself, it is a single story, flat -roofed commercial building. Its predominant exterior materials include face brick along with E.I.F.S. It has a canopy over the front entrance facing Middlebell, which extends about 15 feet out over the sidewalk. There are masonry support columns for the canopy. The drive -up donation drop-off area is on the north side and it is wide enough to accommodate two vehicles. It extends about 23 feel out from the building face. The clearance is about 12 feel. Altogether, the building height, as measured from the lop of parapet wall is about 18'-6". Lighting is in compliance with our site plan standards. In terms of signage, they would be allowed one wall sign not to exceed a total of 111 square feel in area and one ground sign not to exceed 30 square feel in area. We don't have any details on monument signage. The main identification sign on the front of the building would comply with our sign regulations. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Yes, please Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 9, 2013, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced planning petition. We have no objections to the proposed site development at this time, although the developer will need to provide this office with detailed engineering plans for permit approval prior to any construction activities. The legal description provided is missing information and does not close. We suggest using the following legal description in connection with the parcel: Part of the Northeast X of Section 26, T. 1 S., R. 9 E., described as commencing at the Northeast comer of said Section 26, thence S 02' 00'00"E, 1320.17 feet, thence S 87' 52'20"W, 60.00 feet, thence S 02'00'00"E, 361.18 feet to the Point of Beginning, thence S 02' 00' 00" E, 248.70 feet, thence S 88' 00' 00" W, 77.00 feet, thence S 02' 00' 00" E, 571.44 feet, thence N 72' 42'35" W, 225.64 feet, thence S 87' October 1, 2013 25982 54'03" W, 2018.81 feet, thence S 72' 24' 13" W, 289.26 feet, thence N 02' 13' 54" W, 831.66 feet, thence N 87' 52' 20" E, 550.76 feet, thence N 02' 00'00" W, 24.43 feet, thence N 87' 52' 20" E, 1074.53 feet, thence N 02' 00' 00" W, 56.35 feet, thence N 87' 52' 20" E, 609.68 feet, thence S 01' 55'50" E, 91.35 feet, thence N 87' 52' 20" E, 355.90 feet to the Point of Beginning. Containing 46.08 Acres more or less. Subject to any easements, conditions, restrictions and exceptions of record. The address to be used for all future correspondence regarding this project should be 12651 MiddlebeH Road. The parcel is currently serviced by sanitary sewer and water main. It should be noted that the developer will be required to connect proposed services for the new building to the existing sanitary sewer and water main within the Middlebeit Road right-of-way. Permits from both the City of Livonia and Wayne County will be required for this work. The developer has proposed routing storm water drainage through a common detention basin before being discharged to an existing storm sewer north of the parcel. No drainage calculations orgrades have been provided with this submittal, so we are unable to determine if the proposed detention basin meets current requirements. The developer will need to submit engineering plans meeting current Wayne County storm water requirements to this office prior to obtaining permits. A soil erosion and sedimentation control (SESC) permit will be required and involve separate plans to be submitted since the proposed site is one (1) acre or more or within 500 feet of a lake or stream. This permit and associated fees will be handled by the City of Livonia's Engineering Department before any work commences." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer II. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated September 30, 2013, which reads as follows: 9 have reviewed the petition for waiver use approval on the property at the above referenced address to construct and operate a secondhand store and resale shop and have noted the following. In regards to NFPA 1, 2009 edition: (1) Fire Department Access shall be maintained in accordance to 18.2.3.2, (2) Vertical Access shall be maintained in accordance to 18.2.3.4.1.2, (3) 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 jurisdiction, (4) Fire Hydrants and Water Supply shall be followed according to 18.3. In regards to NFPA 101, 2009 edition: (1) Chapter 36 shall be followed for New Mercantile Occupancies, (2) Chapter 8 & 9, Fire Protection & Alarm Systems, shall be followed. These issues and other code requirements will be addressed during the formal plan review process. Providing that all details in regards to New Mercantile Occupancies are followed and October 1, 2013 25983 inspected prior to tenant use, this department has no objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 10, 2013, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. 1 have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 23, 2013, 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, Assistant Director of Inspection. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Ms. Smiley: The donation drop off sign, that's not really signage is it? Isn't it more like informational? Mr. Taormina: I don't believe that is going to qualify as signage under the ordinance because its not likely that it will be legible from any public thoroughfares. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and address for the record please. Jeffrey J. Ukminec, Director, Donated Goods, Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, 3111 Grand River Avenue, Delrod, Michigan 48208. Mr. Morrow: You've heard the presentation by Mr. Taormina. Is there anything you'd like to add to it? Mr. Ukminec: If time permits, we have a little short video of what Goodwill is all about just to give you a little bit of brief history. Goodwill Induslnes of Greater Detroit, our mission is to put people with employment challenges to work. So whether you have any kind of disability, physical disability, mental disability, all the revenue from the purchases and donations out of all our facilities go back into either our employment and training programs to get people skills necessary to get a job, or like the store's we're building are actually trying to create the jobs. Our stores intent is not only to support our mission but to live our mission - to get the revenue to support our programs, but also employ people. There is a short video we put together kind of highlighting what Goodwill is all about, about our Commerce store and our recent Dearborn store - if you can play that. October 1, 2013 25984 Mr. Morrow: Thankyou. Thalwas helpful. Mr. Ukrainec: We have kind of redefined and rebranded ourselves. If you've seen some of the video and if you had a chance to review the portfolio or visit our Commerce store, its a new brand. It's a new image with an upscale look with high end lighting, wood flooring, not only to attract all types of demographics but to fl within the community. We want to be something that's an attractive addition to any community we go into like Livonia, like Dearborn, Commerce and Canton - that people will be proud to come and shop as well as we're proud to represent. Mr. Taylor: You dont own the property, right? Mr. Ukminec: That is correct. Pinnacle Construction is the owner of the property, so we lease from them. Mr. Taylor: So that way the City will get taxes Mr. Ukminec: That is correct. Yes. Mr. Taylor: How many people do you employ? Mr. Ukminec: At each location, we employ about 25 people. With this store, we'll hire about 25 people, but not only that. Within the store we hire people to support the store, the infrastructure behind the stores, like our Transportation Department, our warehousing, our trucking. At basic stores, we employ about 25 people per locafion. Mr. Taylor: Do you have a manager? Mr. Ukminec: We have a manager, two assistant managers and then we have retail individuals as well as people that will accept your donations, process those donations and put them on the floor for sale. Mr. Taylor: What kind of a pay scale do you have for your employees? Mr. Ukminec: We do pay just above minimum wage for our starting employees. For our managers, they're salaried employees. Depending on level of years of experience and level of service, anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 a year for our managers. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Wilshaw: What will be the hours of operation of the store? October 1, 2013 25985 Mr. Ukrainec: The store is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, and our donations are an hour before that. So it's 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mr. Wilshaw: When it comes to the donation aspect of the store and the operation, obviously you have this donation drop off area, but are you also going to have bins to put things in after-hours? Mr. Ukrainec: No. We don't believe in bins. Our philosophy has been bins tend to attract trash. Our goal is to touch every donor, touch every customer, so we can show how much we value what we receive. If you have attended donation centers, people don't have the tendency to drop things off after-hours. So the bins you see anywhere else around different communities, it just becomes an eyesore and we want to be convenient for the donors. That's our philosophy. That's our goal is to be as convenient as possible for the donors where they dont have to gel out of their cars. They'll drive up under this overhang so rain, sleet or shine, we will attend to them and gel their donations out of their vehicles and give them a receipt if they so choose for lax purposes. Mr. Wilshaw: The donations that are dropped off at that store, do they slay at that store? How does that part of your inventory work? Mr. Ukrainec: We have individuals who are donation attendants and processors. We'll sort through every donation that comes through that door. We have a very strict quality program. If an item has a nip, stain or tear on it or any type of odor, it does not make it to the retail floor. We go through that process so we are assuring the customer that not only are they getting a value, because people still need a value in this economic situation that everyone is in, but they want quality. So they're going to be assured that they gel quality merchandise at a great value. Items that don't sell on the retail floor, I ship it off to my warehousing facility where I do ship it off to different brokers or vendors that I sell to by the pound. Another great item that we're proud of is we recycle, repurpose and reuse pretty much everything that comes through the door. About 95 percent of the items are reused, recycled, repurposed or resold. So we eliminate things going to a landfill. Textiles or clothes, for example, I sell to companies that either will shred them for rags so we get reuse out of it or they'll ship it to third world counlnes for those less fortunate individuals. October 1, 2013 25986 Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Interesting. Do you receive merchandise at the stores from the trucks that go to people's houses like Purple Heart or organizations that dont have retail operations? Mr. Ukrainec : No. We do our own home pickup program. Right now we're a little bit low on trucks, but we do our own home pickup program so we're self-sufficient. We really depend on the donors coming to the retail facility. We look for properties in areas within the community that are convenient for the donors. If they're going to a Meijer on a Sunday afternoon, they're going to drop off their donations. So we're really relying on being self-sufficient with these facilities, and our history has shown that they are. The Canton, Dearborn facilities are more than self-sufficient and Commerce is getting to that level already. Mr. Wilshaw: Just out of curiosity, how do you determine the price for merchandise? Obviously someone could donate a designer shirt that a high retail value or maybe a real high name fashion Rem. How do you determine those prices? Mr. Ukrainec: We do competitive shopping. Obviously, we have other retail stores that are within the area or we go as far as going to Walmarl or Target ora Marshall's to see where they're at from a price structure standpoint. Our philosophy is we have a unit price on every piece of merchandise. Our pants, for example, are all $4.99 no matter what kind of brand they are. Shirts are all $3.99. So they're in a range that is comparable with the competition in the area and we also look at other Goodwills and how they price their products. Again, the goal is to be as economical as possible because everyone is in different economic situations. That demographic will always exist so you can obviously overprice it because people need to shop for a value, but then you're also getting the decor and the environment. That's why we brand ourselves where you gel quality. People come in looking for treasures. They're looking for a value but they're also looking for a treasure and that's kind of what we're going for. Mr. Wilshaw: What other types of merchandise would a person see at a Goodwill store besides clothing? Mr. Ukrainec: We accept pretty much anything. We don't accept mattresses, hazardous waste or appliances. We sell all the clothes, all the shoes, all the housewares, pots and pans, lamps, fine china, TV's, sporting equipment, whatever it is. The only thing we can't accept is mattresses, the baby items that are now governed by the Consumer Products Safety Commission and October 1, 2013 25987 like I said, hazardous waste or larger appliances, as far as refrigerators, dishwashers, things like that. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Smiley: For example, right now, Carson's store in Livonia is doing a partnership with you. Mr. Ukrainec: We've had a partnership with them for many, many years. If you bring in an item to a Carson's store, you'll gel a coupon to shop in their store. So its a win-win for both of us. It generates traffic for them and we get the donations, and the donations we get out of that are phenomenal. They are great quality donations because actually people look forward to that sale because Carson's only discounts certain items twice a year for the Goodwill sale and we gel that merchandise. It's just another national partnership with Bon -Ton, it's the parent organization. So its all across the country that we've had that relationship with them for many, many years - 20 years. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Scheel: With moving into this area, you would still keep that connection with Carson's? Mr. Ukrainec: Yes. Ms. Scheel: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Ukrainec: For them, it's actually their biggest time of the year. It's bigger than the day after Thanksgiving. They love the Goodwill sale. Ms. Scheel: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Let's say you have some merohandise, whether it's clothing or furniture, and it's been there for quite some time. Do you ever have markdowns? Mr. Ukrainec: Every product has what we call three weeks at full price. The fourth week we discount it to 50 peroent off. If that item has not sold within four weeks, we remove it from the floor because we want to insure that we're giving the customer fresh product every single week. We put out over 1,000 items every single day. It's almost like a treasure hunt. We gel repeat customers because they come in every single day because our inventory constantly changes. We do remove those items after four weeks if they haven't sold. We have a color coded program where we put a color barb on everything single item, or a color October 1, 2013 25988 lag on it, so I know that any particular week, if it's red, for example, I know that I put out all red merchandise this week. So four weeks from now if I still have red product on the floor, I know to remove it. Its all computerized at our point of sale system so I know exactly where everything is at, how much I've sold so we can kind of control our inventory that way as well. Mr. Morrow: You would need a good system to move that much merchandise and keep it up to dale. Mr. Ukminec: It is. Its actually pretry sophisticated. When we show people about our program and our operation, it is pretty sophisticated in how we operate. Mr. Morrow: Based on the video, it looks like your housekeeping is very good. I assume that's a high pnonty. Mr. Ukminec: That's a very high priority. Like I said, we have recreated a new image, rebranded what Goodwill is all about. It's not that old thnit store that people have in their mind from 20 years ago. It is that higher end with the lighting, wood flooring, plasma TVs. Again, to be an attractive addition to any community we go into and have people feel comfortable shopping. As a matter of fact, when we opened up our Canton store in 2011, we were named Crain's Best Managed Non -Profit just because of that store, of how we operate, the cleanliness of it, the decor. We've had Goodwills from across the country come up to see how we've been so successful with one store. They've all commented on the decor. People are comfortable shopping in your stores. Theyre spending more time. They're spending more money. Theyre willing to donate. They love coming to the store because they're not turned off by it. Ms. Scheel: Will you have dressing rooms where people can try things on? Mr. Ukminec: Yes. We have four dressing rooms per store, two on each side and one is ADA compliant. Ms. Scheel: Do you accept tools also? Mr. Ukminec: Yes. Ms. Scheel: So if somebody wanted to try something or check out an appliance, is that going to be available to make sure something works? Mr. Ukminec: Yes, and we have a seven day return policy as well. So as along as there's a receipt and it's still tagged, any item can be October 1, 2013 25989 returned. But we do have all the electronic configurations in store if something needs to be tried out. Ms. Scheel: Thank you very much Ms. Smiley: Your landscape plan. You worked with our Planning Department to come up with this? Ken Watkins, Architectural Concepts, 6650 Crossing Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49508. We did. As Mr. Taormina showed, the original landscape plan that was up there was the first submission after the preliminary meeting with staff. We did make some changes. I do have another color board showing that, but I believe Mr. Taormina actually found a black and while copy that he put up there. We did make those revisions that were suggested to include some of the low planters and walls along Middlebelt. That's actually the most recent plan. Ms. Smiley: I wanted to tell you that I thought it was an improvement, and thank you. Mr. Morrow: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or againstthe grenfing ofthis petition? Chnslopher Martin, 12275 Inkster Road, Livonia, Michigan 48150. I've spoken on behalf of these stores in the past. They provide a service. I think it's a great location to be honest with you. I'm at Home Depot at least three days a week and for the contractors that will be coming across Middlebelt there and shopping at Menards and looking for work clothes, some blue jeans. That's where I get my stuff, okay, because I'm working on things all the time. No sense for me buying brand new blue jeans with what I'm doing. So that's a good location, I think, for that. Possibly you'll remember, I don't know, maybe a year and a half ago or whatever, there was quite a bit of discussion on the second hand store StyleTrader that went in at the southeast comer of Plymouth and Middlebelt. That building was vacant for more than five years. Quite a discussion on what an upscale second hand store was, but if you drive by that now, now that the store is in there, the entire strip mall that is over there in that southeast comer is being redone. So the first domino goes over and there's improvements. It does help people that are slightly disabled as far as employment. It makes them feel like they have a purpose in life. You asked a pretty good question about shirts, the pace of a shirt. I mentioned this in the past. When I spoke about StyleTrade I mentioned this. See that logo there? The City of Livonia? This shirt was $3.99. 1 happened to pick this up at the Salvation Army, one of your competitors, on October 1, 2013 25990 Plymouth Road. And as Lynda is well aware, I wore that last week at the candidate's debate. It's one of my favorite shirts. So I think it's important to support things like this, and I know that all of you will. Mr. Morrow: Is there anybody else in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I'm going to close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Smiley, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, d was #1036-2013 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on October 1, 2013, on Petition 2013-08-02-21 submitted by Architectural Concepts requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 11.03(() of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to construct and operate a second-hand store and resale shop (Goodwill) within an oullol on the site of the Menards Home Improvement Store, 12701 Middlebelt Road, located on the west side of Middlebell Road between the CSX Railroad right- of-way and SchoolcraR Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 26, which properly is zoned G2, the Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2013-08-02- 21 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet C-1 dated August 27, 2013, prepared by Architectural Concepts, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Enlarged Site Plan marked C-2 dated September 27, 2013, prepared by Architectural Concepts, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That appropriate recordable legal instrumentation, such as a cross access agreement, that gives notice and outlines the terms of how the subject properly would share parking and access with abutting property(s), be supplied to the Inspection Department at the time a building permit is applied for; 4. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet L-1 dated September 27, 2013, as revised, prepared by Design Scapes, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 5. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding; October 1, 2013 25991 6. 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; 7. That there shall be no outdoor sales, storage or display of merchandise, and no storage of merchandise or other materials in any type of temporary or portable unit, structure, trailer or donation receptacle; 8. Thal the Exterior Building Elevation Plans marked Sheets A-3 and A-4 both dated August 27, 2013, as revised, prepared by Architectural Concepts, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 9. That the three walls of the trash dumpster area shall be constructed out of the same brick used in the construction of the building or in the event a poured wall is substituted, the wall's design, texture and color shall match that of the building and the enclosure gales shall be of solid panel steel construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel fiberglass and maintained and when not in use closed at all limes; 10. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feel (20') in height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into adjacent roadways; 11. 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; 12. That no LED lighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows; 13. That the specific plan referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time of application for building permits, occupancy permits and zoning compliance permits; and 14. 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 dale of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this October 1, 2013 25992 approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. Subject to the preceding conditions, this petition is approved for the following reasons: 1. That the proposed use complies with all of the general waiver use standards and requirements as set forth in Section 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 surounding uses in the area. FURTHER, the Planning Commission recommends the approval of a Conditional Agreement limiting this waiver use to this user only, with the provision to extend this waiver use approval to a new user only upon approval of the new user by the City Council. 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. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Ms. Scheel: To Mr. Taormina, the letter from our Engineering Department that speaks to the corected legal description, do we have to note that anywhere? Mr. Taormina: No. Ms. Scheel: Will it automatically be corected. Mr. Taormina: Yes, dwill. Ms. Smiley: And Mark, we're good on that date? Mr. Taormina: Yes, we are. Mr. Morow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. October 1, 2013 25993 ITEM #2 PETITION 2013-09-02-22 BILL BROWN FORD Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09-02-22 01309-02-22 submitted by Bill Brown Ford requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(a) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate an automobile and truck fleet repair facility at 32333 Capitol Avenue, located on the south side of Capital Avenue between Hubbard Avenue and Farmington Road in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 27. Mr. Taormina: This involves a petition to operate an automobile and truck fleet repair facility located at the southwest comer of Capitol and Hubbard Roads, north of Plymouth Road. It is within the Cilys industrial corridor. The properly in question is zoned M-1, Light Manufacturing, as well as all of the surrounding properties. The parcel altogether is 4.92 acres in area. The proposed use would occupy a portion of an existing 54,800 square foot multi - tenant industrial building. In terms of the waiver use requirement, garages, repair shops, and similar highway services do require waiver use approval under Section 16.11(a) of the Zoning Ordinance. There are a couple special provisions that apply to automobile repair facilities in the M-1 zoning. The lot area shall be enclosed with a fence of a type approved by the Planning Commission, and that would include the entire parcel except for the front yard, and then requirements for a certain amount of landscaping within the front yard, and in the case of a corner lot, the side yard abutting the street. What Bill Brown proposes to occupy would be the south half of this building within a space that is roughly 28,000 square feet in size. This building is contiguous to property owned by Bill Brown Ford along Hubbard Avenue, which is used for employee parking and vehicle inventory storage. Quality Fleet provides light maintenance and repair services for medium and large commeroial vehicles. There would not be any heavy bump, paint or collision repair work associated with this operation. Also, the facility would not be open to the public. We have been informed that the use would employ 10 technicians as well as 2 office employees. They are not proposing to fence or enclose any part of the lot. The part of the lot where fleet vehicles would be parked outside would be along the west side of the building. To go back to the site plan, they've shaded the area in yellow which Bill Brown would lease, not only that portion of the building but also the surrounding parking lot. There is ciroulalion fully around the building fortrucks and automobiles. Fencing off any portion of the site would restrict the flow of traffic in and around the site. Bill Brown is going to be seeking a waiver of that requirement, which would ultimately require City Council's October 1, 2013 25994 approval. The site is required to provide a sufficient number of parking spaces. In terms of what is required, we calculate the parking for repair facilities at a ratio of two spaces per workstation, plus one parking space per employee. The facility would have a total of 14 workstations and 12 employees and thus require at least 28 customer vehicle spaces, plus 12 employee spaces for a total parking requirement of 40 spaces. The amount of parking available on the site altogether is over 200 parking spaces, so we don't foresee any parking problems or anticipate any issues in that respect with the proposed use of the property. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Yes, please Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first dem is from the Engineering Division, dated September 10, 2013, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced planning petition. We have no objections to the proposed site development at this time. The legal description provided appears to be connect and is acceptable to this olFice. The address of 32333 Capitol Avenue is cenect for the parcel and should be used in conjunction with the proposed project. The existing structure is currently serviced by storm sewer, sanitary sewer and water main, and from the provided information it does not appear that any of the existing utilities will be disturbed. It should be noted that the owner will need to work with the City of Livonia Building Department to ensure that fluids from the proposed maintenance activities do not enter the storm sewer system. Should alterations to the existing utilities be required outside of the existing building, detailed plans will need to be submitted to the Engineering Department to determine whether permits will be required." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer II. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated September 20, 2013, which reads as follows: 7 have reviewed the petition for waiver use approval on the property at the above referenced address to operate an automobile and truck repair facility and have noted the following: In regards to NFPA 1, 2009 edition, Chapter 40 must be followed for Industrial Occupancies. This issue and other code requirements will be addressed during the formal plan review process. Providing that all details in regards to Industrial Occupancies are followed and inspected prior to tenant use, this department has no objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Daniel Lee, Fire Marshal. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 10, 2013, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the plans in connection with October 1, 2013 25995 the petition. 1 have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September, 23, 2013, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. The petitioner does not show the property being fenced as required. A super majority of Council would be needed to waive this requirement. 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: 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. John Houle, Service Manager, Bill Brown Ford, 32222 Plymouth, Livonia, Michigan 48150. Mr. Morrow: You've heard the presentation. Is there anything you'd like to add to it? Mr. Houle: Two years ago, we opened a commercial facility dedicated to serving the medium truck sector, primarily. This would be clients like, for example, Comcast, many cable vehicles, Livonia PD, Livonia Public Schools, the transit busses. We put together a 6,500 square foot facility. The business has grown so much that we need to expand that. So the only building that is available that is adjacent to our property that would be sufficient is this particular building. So we're going from 6,500 square feet to 27,000. Mr. Taylor: That would allow the average customer to come in and get into your repair facility? Mr. Houle: Yes, it will move that congestion to that area. It will be focusing on the commercial business. It's a little bit different business. We're working on a different vehicle really, a specialized vehicle. If you think about these units have different components on them. For example if it's a cable truck, it will have an inverter and maybe a generator, different things. So we service the whole vehicle. It's a holistic approach. We do the whole thing. Mr. Taylor: There will be no bumping and painting. Mr. Houle: No bumping and painting. We have a separate facility for that. October 1, 2013 25996 Mr. Wilshaw: The typical service that we're going to have at this location is going to be maintenance on vehicles as far as brakes, oil changes, repair alternators, things like that? Mr. Houle: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: How many vehicles would you anticipate would be waiting for service at any given point out in the parking lot? Mr. Houle: Ten to 20. Mr. Wilshaw: And these aren't going to be vehicles that are waiting for body repair with banged up fenders and bumpers. Mr. Houle: No. They rarely stay the night. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. You're going to have several bays inside this facility to not only store vehicles, but also work on them. Mr. Houle: Fourteen. Mr. Wilshaw: Fourteen bays. Okay. You'll keep vehicles in those bays overnight if they need to be? Mr. Houle: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Typically we ask, in our normal process, that vehicles that are being stored outside for repair are in a fenced lot. Now, you're not proposing to have one on this location, right? Mr. Houle: Correct. Mr. Wilshaw: You're okay with not having a fenced lot as far as the security of those vehicles overnight. Right? Mr. Houle: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: If I'm not mistaken, Bill Brown provides security, checks all your facilities throughout the night, right? Mr. Houle: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Well, this is a particularly nice location. The owners of this property have kept it very nicely maintained and its appearance has always been very good. Bill Brown, of course, is very concerned with its aesthetics as well. I'm sure that you'll continue that trend of keeping this building looking nice even though it is going to be a repair center in a sense. October 1, 2013 25997 Mr. Houle: We will. Mr. Wilshaw: That sounds good to me. I think your business has been very successful in the community. I know fleet sales are a very important lifeblood of the auto dealerships and fleet service apparenfly now has become a very important part of your business as well. Mr. Houle: We think it's the most important. Mr. Wilshaw: Very good. Anything we can do to help make that a success is good for us, so thank you. Ms. Scheel: Will the hours of operation of this particular facility be any different? Mr. Houle: No, they won't. Ms. Scheel: So everything stays status quo? Mr. Houle: Yes. Ms. Scheel: Thankyou. Ms. Smiley: Will you be increasing your staff? You're not going to take those people from the other side of the street, are you? Mr. Houle: No. We'll be adding people. Yes. Most of our technicians, a lot of our technicians, come through the career center and then get secondary education from the community college and then specialized training. So we're going to have a core that will move from our existing commercial building. We'll be doubling that. Mr. Taormina: You'll be sharing this building with another tenant or user. Mr. Houle: Yes. Mr. Taormina: Do you foresee any issues in terms of noise? Who is the other tenant in terms of how they utilize the site for truck traffic and employee parking? How do you see the relationship between the two users now in this facility? Mr. Houle: I think it will be great. They have very little traffic in and out. Most of their work is done at night, I've been told. Our work will be done during the day. They are out collecting during the day, October 1, 2013 25998 and I guess they do the analysis during the night. For us, we'll be working during the day. Mr. Taormina: Are they a testing company of sorts? Mr. Houle: Yes. Mr. Morrow: Are there any other questions of the petitioner? Seeing none, is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I'm going to close the public hearing and ask for a motion. On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, it was #1037-2013 RESOLVED, that pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held by the City Planning Commission on May 14, 2013, on Petition 2013-09-02-22 submitted by Bill Brown Ford requesting waiver use approval pursuant to Section 16.11(a) of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, to operate an automobile and truck fleet repair facility at 32333 Capitol Avenue, located on the south side of Capital Avenue between Hubbard Avenue and Farmington Road 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 2013-09-02-22 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan submitted by Bill Brown Ford received by the Planning Commission on September 6, 2013, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That all vehicle repair and maintenance operations shall be performed inside the building and the service operations shall not be open to the general public; 3. That only minor repairs and maintenance work on vehicles be conducted at this site, and that repair work shall not include major collision repair; 4. That outdoor parking of vehicles shall not include dismantled, damaged, abandoned, junked and/or unlicensed vehicles; 5. That there shall be no outdoor storage of auto parts, equipment, scrap material, debris, waste petroleum products or other similar items generated by the subject use; October 1, 2013 25999 6. That the restriction specifying that except for the front yard setback, the lot area be enclosed with a fence may be omitted only if this requirement is waived by the City Council by means of a separate resolution by which two- thirds of the members of the City Council concur: and 7. That the plan referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time the occupancy and zoning compliance permits are applied for. 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 surounding uses in the area. FURTHER, the Planning Commission recommends the approval of a Conditional Agreement limiting this waiver use to this user only, with the provision to extend this waiver use approval to a new user only upon approval of the new user by the City Council. 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. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Mr. Taormina: If the maker of the motion would accept additional language to limit the waiver use to this user, subject to City Council approval to change the user. Mr. Morrow: Similarto whatwe had on the prior petition. Ms. Scheel: I'm good with that. Mr. Taylor: No problem. October 1, 2013 26000 Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #3 PETITION 2013-09-08-07 ST. JUDE Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09-08-07 submitted by Sl. Jude Nursing Center, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to construct an addition to the existing convalescent home at 34350 Ann Arbor Trail, located on the north side of Ann Arbor Trail between Joy Road and Stark Road in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 33. Mr. Taormina: This is a request to construct additions onto an existing nursing/convalescent center called Sl. Jude. It is located on the northeast corner of Ann Arbor Trail and Stark Road. The property is zoned OS, Office Services. The area of the site is roughly 1.6 acres. This facility was constructed prior to 1965. St. Jude provides extended -stay nursing care to seniors with varying levels of disabilities. Convalescent and nursing homes and homes for the elderly require waiver use approval pursuant to Section 9:03(8) of the Zoning Ordinance. Sl. Jude is currently licensed by the Slate to have a total of 64 beds, but it is our understanding that this project will not increase the number of beds. In terms of the surrounding land uses and zoning, immediately to the north of the subject property is the Middle Rouge Parkway, which is part of the Wayne County Park system. Hines Park basically borders the north edge of this property. To the east are residential homes that are part of the Lakeside Estates Subdivision, zoned R-1. To the south are residential homes that are part of the Rouge Trail View Subdivision, and then lying to the west across Stark Road are homes that are within an RUF, Rural Urban Farm, classification. The existing one-story convalescent center is about 12,750 square feet in size. The footprint configuration on the existing building is somewhat "T" shaped. The addition that we're looking at this evening is the "L" shaped area. The current facility is divided into 27 units that contain a total of 64 beds. The existing units contain mostly a mix of two and three beds. There are 30 parking spaces available in the facility's existing parking lot, which is located in the southeast comer of the property. The driveway providing access oft Ann Arbor Trail into the parking lot is shifted a little bit further to the west. The October 1, 2013 26001 configuration of the lot itself is a little different than what is shown on the proposed site plan. There are roughly 30 parking spaces within the existing lot located in the southeast comer of the property. The addition would be about 8,620 square feel in overall area. It would occupy a substantial portion of the front yard bordering along Stark and Ann Arbor Trail. The required setbacks are 40 feel in the front and that would apply at Ann Arbor Trail and Stark Road. The required side yard setback is 25 feel. At the closest points, the proposed building would be about 19.6 feet from Ann Arbor Trail and roughly 20 feel from Stark Road, the side -street yard. So the building addition will require variances for deficient front and side yard setbacks. With the addition, the enlarged convalescent center would contain a gross floor area of roughly 21,260 square feel. The addition includes 16 units, bringing the total to 43 units. However, the number of beds would remain the same at 64. It is our understanding that the intent is to provide more private units and reduce the number of beds per unit and thereby provide more space for each resident. Required parking is 51 spaces. This is based on the number of beds as well as the number of employees. With 64 beds, one doctor and 28 employees, the parking requirement for the facility is 51. The revised plan shows a total of 40 parking spaces. What they are doing a little differently is reconfiguring the parking lot in the southeast corner, making it a little bit more efficient, shifting the driveway around, but also adding a small 10 space parking lot in the northwest comer of the site with access off Stark Road. The addition of the driveway would lead to a very small parking area that would probably be an employee parking lot that would be in the extreme northwest corner of the site. In terms of stormwater runoff, that would be managed by two bio-swales that would be constructed along the northwest part of the site adjacent to the Rouge Parkway as well as along the side yard abutting Stark. These are just shallow depressions that accept the stormwater from the rooftops and from the parking areas, and then they drain off into the storm system. They provide some degree of stormwater storage as well as filtration prior to that water being exiled into the storm system and into the adjacent water course. Landscaping would be provided around the foundation as well as throughout the site. It is a very nicely maintained property. In terms of the architecture, this would be a building that would maintain a residential appearance. It would be constructed primarily out of brick on the lower portions of the building with fiber cement along the front part of the building and sides. The rooftop is single story but it's also a peaked roof with asphalt shingles. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental cerespondence. October 1, 2013 26002 Mr. Morrow: Would you go over the parking and the number required, what they currently have and what the new lot will have? Mr. Taormina: Yes. The way the ordinance applies parking for this type of use is based on the number of beds as well as the number of employees, including visiting doctors. Staff apparently confirmed with the petitioner that with 64 beds, and that's one parking space for every three beds, one space for every doctor and employee, that would require 29. A total of 51 parking spaces are required. What they are showing with this plan are 40 parking spaces. They cunenlly have 30. With the changes that I spoke about, they are going to increase that by about 10 spaces and bring the total number up to 40. So they are reducing the parking deficiency that cunenlly exists. Mr. Morrow: Thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt you. You can go on with the correspondence now. Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 10, 2012, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above-referenced planning petition. We have no objections to the proposed site development at this time, although detailed Engineering plans will need to be submitted prior to approval from this department. The legal description provided appears to be correct and is acceptable to this office. The address of 34350 Ann Arbor Trail is connect for the parcel and should be used in conjunction with the proposed project. The existing structure is currently serviced by sanitary sewer and water main. The parcel sheet drains to Hines Park on the North side of the lot, as no storm sewer is available. The submitted plans indicate no alterations to the utilities will be required, but the plans do not indicate the locations of existing service leads. Should the leads need to be revised, the owner will need to provide detailed plans to the Engineering Department to determine whether permits will be required. The submitted drawings indicate that storm detention will be handled through a series of bioawales located in various locations on the site. The proposed layout appears to address storm requirements, but no calculations have been included to determine whether the amount of detention shown will meet the current City standards. It should be noted that the bioswales may need to be designed with emergency overflows and/or underdrains to account for storm runoff larger than the capacities of the swa/es. The Northerly basins will be able to drain to Hines Park on the North, but the Westerly Swale has no defined emergency overflow mute. The owner may need to provide an outiet to the existing drainage Swale along Stark October 1, 2013 26003 Road in order to account for large storm events. Also, we would like to we the owner explore other design options for the parking area on the Northwest comer of the site. We would prefer to have the owner use a low -impact design material such as grass pavers or permeable pavement for the area to lessen the storm mnoff and detention requirements." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer II. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated September 20, 2013, which reads as follows: 9 have reviewed the petition requesting an approval for a proposal on the property at the above referenced address to construct an addition to the existing convalescent home and have noted the following. In regards to NFPA 1, 2009 edition: (1) Fire Department Access shall be maintained in accordance to 18.2.3.2, (2) Vertical Clearance shall be maintained in accordance to 18.2.3.4.1.2, (3) Unobstructed Width for Vertical Clearance shall be maintained in accordance to 18.2.3.4.1.1; (4) 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 jurisdiction, (5) Fire Hydrants and Water Supply shall be required according to 18.3, (6) Nursing homes shall be protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance to 13.3.2.10.1. In regards to NFPA 101, 2009 edition: (1) Chapter 19 shall be followed for Existing Health Care Occupancies, (2) Chapter 8 & 9, Fire Protection and Alarm Systems, shall be followed. In regards to NFPA 13, 2007 edition, Fire Department Connections should be of 2-X Detroit Standard Thread. These issues and other code requirements will be addressed during the plan review process. Providing that all details in regards to Existing Health Care Occupancies are followed and inspected prior to tenant use, this department has no objections to this petition." The letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 10, 2013, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 23, 2013, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request of September 28, 2012, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) A variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals would be required to maintain the deficient front yard setback. (2) A variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals would be required to maintain the deficient number of parking spaces. 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. October 1, 2013 26004 Mr. Morrow: 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. H. Roger Muli, Mission Point Management, 721 Elmwood, Troy, Michigan 48083. I'm here on behalf of the petitioner. Mr. Morrow: You've heard the presentation. Is there anything you'd like to add to it? Mr. Muli: Just to expand a little bit on what was already said. The intention of this project is to build 16 new private rooms. These will be first class, fully modern rooms. We'll also be constructing a new physical therapy area, private dining lounge, private activities area in addition to fully upgraded nursing stations. It is going to be a first class, fully renovated project. In addition to that, one thing I'd like to add is what we will also be doing to the existing facility as part of this project. It would be the normal course renovations, replacing the roof, upgrading the carpet, paint, flooring, that sort of thing. So overall, I think the construction project is going to improve the entire facility. It's going to improve the area. It was also mentioned that we are going to keep this at 64 beds. In doing that, what we will be doing is reconfiguring the beds in the existing remaining area and will be eliminating all of the four -bed and five -bed wards. They are sort of an antiquated business model and so as all nursing facilities are getting away from that. I think we'll be providing better service to our residents by doing that. So with that, I'd be more than happy to answer any additional questions. Ms. Scheel: Good evening. When you do the new construction, are you still going to be open in the area that you have right now? Mr. Muli: Yes, we are. That's a great question. Not only are we going to remain open, at this time we are also planning on not having to relocate any of the residents or the employees. So the way that we going to do this is build the new area, and then once that's done, we'll be able to sort of play, for lack of a better word, hopscotch with the residents. So move existing residents into the newly constructed while we renovate the existing wing. If you look at the 'T' that's left, if we can break that down into four or possibly eight distinct areas that they can renovate one area at a time. Ms. Scheel: So eventually, the entire facility will be new, some will be brand new, some will be reconstructed. October 1, 2013 26005 Mr. Muli: Correct. Ms. Scheel: What about the outside of the building? Will you be redoing the outside around the entire building? Mr. Muli: We will be, yes. The outside for the existing will be renovated. It will be repainted. To the extent that windows do need replacement, we will be replacing those. As I mentioned before, the roof, and as you can see from the plan, a brand new parking area, new landscaping, new courtyard and what we will try to do is make sure the existing building matches to the newly constructed building so it doesn't look like two buildings just smushed together. Ms. Scheel: Okay. That's all my questions for now. Ms. Smiley: Good evening. Do you have a color rendering of what the new and improved building is going to look like? Mr. Muli: For the exterior? Ms. Smiley: Yes. Mr. Muli: We do not have a color rendering. I think it was up on the screen before. We just have the site plan as submitted, but we do not have a color rendering. Ms. Smiley: You have four and five bedroom wards right now. What is your breakdown going to be? Are you going to have 16 private rooms? Is that it, and then in addition to the 16 rooms ... Mr. Muli: After construction, we will have 16 new private rooms, 6 renovated private rooms, for a total of 22 private rooms. After construction, there will be a total of 21 renovated private rooms. So to your question, the total number of units will be 43 comprised of 22 privates and 21 semi -privates. Ms. Smiley: So in the semi -privates, there will be two in those? Mr. Muli: Right. We'll eliminate the three and five beds. Ms. Smiley: Great. Okay. And you're going to match the brick that's on there? Is that what you're going to tryto do, in color? Mr. Muli: Currently there is no brick on the existing building. We'll match the color and the siding. We will re -side the existing building with the same material that we're using on the newly constructed building. October 1, 2013 26006 Ms. Smiley: Okay. And you said you represent the owner. I assume that's not Sl. Jude. Who is the owner? Mr. Muli: Its my family. We own Sl. Jude nursing center. Not St. Jude Hospital. This is a different Sl. Jude. Ms. Smiley: So there's no connection? Mr. Muli: No, no connection. Right. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Taylor: I was out there today. It looks like you might have a parking problem now. Are there a lot of visitors or is that just the employees? Obviously, it's not the patients that are there. Mr. Muli: It can depend. Typically, during shift change times, it will be a more congested time of the day. As part of this project, we are increasing by 12 parking spaces so there will be additional parking. There is a service cul along Stark Road now which is infrequently used. So what our plan would be is to not have traffic along Stark Road, would be employees that are there permanent, adminislrelor, social worker, those employees that don't have to come in and out, they would park in the back at the beginning of the day so there would only be one change in and out. Then typically speaking, after that peak shift, it's really a very empty parking lot because then comes midnight, there's less staff there. There's less visitors and, of course, later into the afternoon. Mr. Taylor: Are you going to redo the parking lot? Mr. Muli: We are. We are going to resurface it and then configure even the entrance. As was pointed out eadier, the entrance is a little bit further along Ann Arbor Trail. We're going to move it a little bit down increasing the parking, and its actually going to increase the lreffc flow so you have more of a circular pattern through the parking lot instead of the five point turns in and out that you have to do now. Mr. Taylor: I pulled into the driveway you're talking about to the north off of Stark. North of that, you're going to put some parking in? Mr. Muli: Correct. Yes. Mr. Taylor: And pave it? October 1, 2013 26007 Mr. Muli: Absolutely. Yes. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Wilshaw: You're obviously highly utilizing this site as much as possible. Do you feel that you're going to have adequate space for not only the employees but the guests when this is all complete? Mr. Muli: Yes, we do. Definitely. Because of where the parking is now and then of course I'm increasing it. But as it was pointed out, the residents typical don't have vehicles there, so even though the requirement is one parking space for every three beds, that's really just for the visitors. There's really just a small period of time during the day, its usually like between 3:00, 3:30, 4:00 that you might have some congestion. But certainly with the 10 new spaces, we shouldn't have any. I know, of course, what the requirements are but I know on any given day who comes in there, and it would be very strange to have more than 28 cars in there at any particular time. Mr. Wilshaw: Do you have ambulances come to your facility to either drop people off or pick people up? Mr. Muli: We do. So in this configuration they'd be able to do the loop and then there are the two accessible spots there, which are going to be big enough for an ambulance to park, but more than ambulances. Its usually going to be the bigger vans, the transportation vehicles that we have daily, but we do have ambulance traffic as well. Mr. Wilshaw: That's what I'm thinking. You're going to have private ambulances and other transportation vehicles dropping people off with possibly wheelchairs. Mr. Muli: There's a spot in between those spaces so they should ft easily into those accessible areas. Mr. Wilshaw: You may have noted one of our department's comments about the parking lot in the northwest corner. They are concerned that being hard pavement may affect the drainage in that area, and the suggestion was that they use, which is kind of a creative suggestion, some sort of an ecologically friendly parking material. I'm assuming some kind of a gravel or some sort of other material for parking. Did you understand that? Mr. Muli: Our engineer is here. He can probably speak better to that than I could. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Good. Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions from the Commissioners? October 1, 2013 26008 Brad Brickel, Nowak & Fraus Engineers, 46777 Woodward Avenue, Pontiac, Michigan 48342. We have done different scenarios like that where we've put in ... or at least I should say that at the preliminary stages, we always look at putting in pervious concretes, pervious pavements. In this area, in this environment in southeast Michigan, very rarely unless it's real large developments that have deep pockets do we ever see that come to fmition just because of the cost. You're putting down three foot base to allow drainable bases. In this area you have a little more clay material and things like that. What we did to try to impact that, is we actually created bio-swales directly adjacent to that to allow it to sheet flow. We essentially created quite a bit more area of bio-swales and it will handle any additional drainage and everything that is being impacted by the expansion of the parking and the expansion of the building. We actually met with Engineering and they saw the constraints with the stormwater, not having a storm sewer. So we came in right up front and said, hey, we recommend maybe we can do bio- swales or other things. Look at the landscape plan, the type of plantings, the plugs and everything are very good about absorbing that water into them, different things like that. So we feel the environment impact issues we brought and addressed are substantial for an impervious pavement. It's just hard to maintain that small area. A lot of people like @ but its not as practical. Mr. Wilshaw: As you know, the stonnwater retention and management aspects of both the County and the City have gotten stricter over the years as we run into issues of flooding affecting adjacent properties. So I want to make sure that you feel that you understand the requirements, that you're able to meet those. Mr. Brickel: Absolutely. And like they mentioned in the report about having no land overflows and things like that, there's ditches along the west side that would overflow into there, and vice versa. Everything right now sheet flows right down to the river. So essentially what we do is create a holding area. If it ever exceeded the volume, we got too large of a storm, then it would just overflow the bio-swale and run down the hill like it does now. By putting in bio retention areas now, we'll contain it on site a lotmore so the reduction of flow going down the hill will be improved. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Good. Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Are there any questions from the Commissioners? October 1, 2013 26009 Mr. Taylor: On the parking, are you going to be able to meet all requirements of the ordinance, 10 feel by 20 feet, double striped in the parking lot? Mr. Bnckel: Yes, absolutely. Everything is per your ordinance with double striping and everything like that. Yes. Mr. Taylor: Thankyou. Mr. Taormina: Did you ever consider maybe going up a second story to lessen some of the amount of site area being covered by building, thereby giving you a little bit more room for parking and driveways and perhaps a covered drop-off area? I'm just wondering whether or not you ever analyzed going up a second level in this area of the building and then allowing for some kind of a ciroular drive with a covered drop-off area? It might serve your needs a Iitfle bit better than what you're showing here. Mr. Muli: We did. From an opereflonal perspective, that becomes a challenge. In order to do that, then you'd be looking ata second floor with eight residents there. So it's hard to manage. You can't have a second floor with such a limited number of residents in that area because then it requires us to double our nursing staff, nursing stations, everything else. But we did think about that and the possibilities. We also thought that with a single story, it does ft in with the neighborhood. It does blend it and it will have a residential look to it when it's done. It's not as practical. Mr. Morrow: Thankyou. Ms. Scheel: I want to go back to what Commissioner Smiley asked regarding the colors of the building being constructed. They're going to match the current that you have now or are you doing something different? Mr. Muli: The colors will match al the end. I don't know that the colors will be what they are today, but they will be consistent between the two. Does that make sense? We may change the color design but it's not going to change between the existing building and the new construction. Ms. Scheel: Lel me just ask it this way. If you have beige brick, just as an example, on your building right now, would you go to red brick or would you stay with some sort of beige brick? Mr. Muli: We would stay with beige. We would stay so it's consistent. Correct. Yes. October 1, 2013 26010 Ms. Scheel: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Smiley: I strongly recommend you gel a color rendering before you go to Council should this go through. Mr. Muli: Okay. We can do that. Ms. Smiley: And some materials. They like to see that, like to know what's coming. Mr. Taylor: So only when you're done, ft's going to all look the same. It's not going to look like we put a new addition on. You're going to make it conform. Mr. Muli: Correct. Yes. Absolutely. Mr. Morrow: If there are no further questions or comments from the Commissioners, I'll go to the audience. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Gail Price, 34414 Ann Arbor Trail, Livonia, Michigan 48150. I'm representing my mother, step -father and my siblings in the estate. My family has lived there since 1957. I'm real concerned because over the years this proposal has been denied multiple times, and I'm just curious as to what's different now from the previous proposals lhatwere denied before. Mr. Morrow: I can't speak to that. Ms. Price: No one can tell what's different now than what happened before? Mr. Muli: I can't speak to that either. Mr. Morrow: Please address the Commission. Ms. Price: Okay. I'm sorry. I'm having a hard time visualizing what this is going to look like because my home looks right at it. It's been very uncomfortable looking at all those. Are you going to put central air in? I don't know if they're going to put central air in but they've got all these portable air conditioning units hanging out the window. I took a walk around the facility today and there were all these broken glass, there was boarded up windows, baths discarded in the backyard. So I'm concerned how they're going to upkeep more area if they can't maintain what they already have. And another issue I have is the parking. It is a October 1, 2013 26011 problem. We have people parking in our yard, parking along the street at our house. And you'll put 12 more spots in. Is that what we're going for or? Mr. Morrow: I believe that's the number he gave us. Ms. Price: Okay. And another concern I have is about the ambulances. Are they moving it to the other side of the building or are they still going to be coming up my street and having the ambulances blowing at all hours of the night while we're home. Mr. Morrow: We'll have the petitioner respond to some of these questions and concems you have. Ms. Price: Okaythen. Thankyou. Ms. Scheel: Before the petitioner responds, Mark, can you show us where her house is in relationship to this? Mr. Taormina: I'm not sure. Ms. Price: Theyre on one side of Stark Road; I'm on the other. Mr. Wilshaw: Due west. Mr. Taormina: Its probably right about here. Lel me put up the aerial. Ma'am, is this your house? Ms. Price: Yep. Ms. Scheel: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Would you like to respond to some of the things you've heard? Mr. Muli: First, in response to the question on the HVAC, so the new unit will be centrally cooled. It will have a, for lack of a better word, concealed unit or landscape behind it. Will the unit be on the roof? It will be so it will not be visible. That's first and foremost. Then for the existing air conditioning units, we are installing throughout the entire facility new PTACH units. So those are the units that you would have in a hotel room that can have hot and cold through there. They would be designed in with the new windows and everything else. It would certainly be an upgrade from what's going on before. The problem, because of the age of the building, we can't do central air in the existing building but it will be an upgraded improvement. Aesthetically it will look a lot better from the exterior. And then to address the parking, we talked about that before. So there will be additional October 1, 2013 26012 parking. So it's an improvement. We're not increasing the number of employees, we're not increasing the number of units, and we're not increasing the number or visitors, but we are increasing the parking by 12 spots, so just in and of itself. The designed area for the ambulance will be in those two accessible areas off of Ann Arbor Trail. Mr. Morrow: I think she made reference to some of the housekeeping around the site. Mr. Muli: I can look into that. We don't have anything boarded up that I know of. I'll go back and look tomorrow but not that I know of but I'll certainly look into that immediately tomorrow. I'll look at that for the broken glass. Mr. Morrow: She made some reference to the fad that this has been denied in the past and what's different from the prior request. Can you give us some history? Mr. Muli: I don't know. I don't know the other proposals. We've owned it since 2005 and have never put a proposal forward for an addition. So if there was something before that, I can't comment on that. I don't have any information. To my knowledge, I've never been a part of it so at least in the last eight years, there hasn't been anything that we've submitted. Mr. Morrow: Thankyou. Anyone else? Kevin Price, 2599 Brookhaven, Canton, Michigan 48188. May I speak? Mr. Morrow: Yes. Mr. Price: I'm from a different city so I wasn't sure. Mr. Morrow: As long as you give us your name and address, you can speak. Mr. Pnce: Okay. I'm glad the building is finally getting updated. Its really a boring, dingy, little building where it's at right now. A couple things I noticed was in good weather, some of the patients or the people who live there, come out and visit the gazebo, and I was wondering what's going to happen now while there's virtually no space for them to come out to. Number two, I was wondering. The new building is going to have a pitched roof. The existing building, I believe, is a flat roof. I was wondering if you're going to put a new gabled roof on the existing building or not. And the most important thing to me is, I don't understand why you're building over the right-0f--way and have less than required parking. That makes no sense. October 1, 2013 26013 Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. Sir, you may respond. Mr. Muli: Again, just to the area, there are two aspects. We are preserving the courtyard. So you'll see in there that there is a courtyard, and then the area to the back there is going to be landscape so there will be a second courtyard off the, I'm sorry. That area will be landscaped but that's not where the residents will be off the parking lot there in the front. Yes, right down in this area. So there will be two areas for the residents to go outside. But also as I mentioned eadier, what we're going to be doing on the inside is a brand new private lounge, a brand new activities area which will be large spaces. It will be better than anything that we have right now. And then again like I said, with the interior courtyard, we'll get that. As far as the look for the pitched roof, the back of the property will remain as a flat roof. For those of you who know it, the front of the building does look like a house. It was originally at one time a house. So it will have a pitched roof look in the front as you look from Ann Arbor Trail or as you look at it I guess from the first part of Stark Road. But on the back of the property, it is today a flat roof. It will remain as a flat roof. Then again, back to the parking. We are improving on the parking. Its deficient now and we're adding additional spaces as part of this. Mr. Morrow: Okay. Thank you. As it relates to building on the road right-of- way, Mark. Mr. Taormina: I'm guessing the gentleman was probably referring to the setback. They are encroaching into the required setback but not within the actual right -0f --way. One of the additions to the plan that was not provided in your first submittal was a sidewalk along Ann Arbor Trail. Mr. Morrow: And is that in the right-of-way? Mr. Taormina: That would be within the right-of-way. That is correct. Mr. Morrow: Do you have any idea what's going to happen with Joy Road at this time? I assume it's a City road. Mr. Wilshaw: Ann Arbor Trail. Mr. Morrow: Ann Arbor Trail. Mr. Muli: I could comment on the sidewalk. That was not in our original plan. The issue with the sidewalk is that when we looked at it, for those of you who have been there, that area is lined with October 1, 2013 26014 trees right now. So we're struggling to put that sidewalk in. We're going to be laking out about eight trees 18 inches or larger. So we're taking out eight fully matured trees. And just something for us to consider, the way it looks right now it has a nice sort of a suburban feel to the area. I'm just struggling with it. I'd hale to remove those trees. Also there is a full connecting sidewalk on the other side of the street. So on the other side of Ann Arbor Trail, there is currently a sidewalk. Then I dont think this sidewalk - it will slop. It really doesn't connect to anywhere. I know that it's something that was asked of us, but I guess just maybe a question back is if this is going to be required. Mr. Morrow: Mark, did we request that? Mr. Taormina: Its up to the Commission. We typically like to see the extension of the sidewalks on developments like these given the impact. What I would suggest, should this petition move forward, is that a detailed analysis be undertaken by Planning and Engineering to determine if a sidewalk is warranted in this location given the impact to the trees and its potential for use. Mr. Morrow: That will be handled at the site plan review? Mr. Taormina: That would be a recommendation going forward to the Council. That is correct. Mr. Taylor: I was out there today. We're talking about those huge trees in the front? Mr. Taormina: Correct. Mr. Taylor: Because you had it staked out and I wondered at the time if you were going to lose those trees. That would be a shame to lose those large trees. I agree with that. Mr. Morrow: Theyre actually in the right-of-way. Mr. Muli: The trees are and that's where the sidewalk would go. Right. Based on the proposal, we'd have to take some of the trees out. Again, just looking at it from a practical standpoint and how much use it would get because there is that full connecting sidewalk on the other side of the street currently. Mr. Morrow: Okay. You heard the Planning Director. Part of a recommendation would be to look at it again. Mr. Muli: Okay. October 1, 2013 26015 Brian Duneske, 34414 Ann Arbor Trail, Livonia, Michigan 48150. Good evening. I'm the second house to the west. I've lived there since 2003. 1 have a couple questions and concerns. First of all, security for your facility. What are you going to do for security? Mr. Morrow: Please address the Commission Mr. Duneske: What are you going to do for security for the facility? Adding these other rooms and things like that, what is the security they have right now? Are the doors alarmed inside the building in front of the building? It is a nursing home. I know in Livonia there was an incident where a person got out and froze to death. So I just want to know about the secunty issues that are concerned with this. The freight truck traffic. I'll tell you that Ann Arbor Trail, its really not showing the curvature of Ann Arbor Trail. That is a very dangerous tum. Since I've lived there, I can assure you that there's been at lead len accidents. I've seen three this year already, and they all occur in that turn. They occur before the entrance to his building and past on a residential street. It's a very sharp turn. You have the freight trucks that come in that are making turns going in there. You have obstructions to the traffic. You can tell from the Livonia Police the amount of accidents they've had in that area. So the turnaround, what are they going to do for the turnaround for the freight trucks? And now for the ambulances, I've seen 90 percent of the ambulance trucks all use Stark Road and use the entrance at the side of the building. I have seen them use off of the front, but 90 percent all use and park off of Stark Road on the dirt. Along with that, Livonia Fire has responded down there and Livonia Fire trucks have actually had to go ... and they're not showing the actual dirt road that goes behind. There's the dirt road right there. Yep. Fire trucks literally had to go down to that dirt road, which is a one way road, pull in, back around, and come back up. Now that's the City trucks that have to do that. I'm not sure that's in everybody's best interests. The DNR and for the water flow, if they want to build that existing parking lot in the back, as they were saying, the water is going to flow down to the river. And who is going to improve the water and watch what's flowing into that river? There is really no control that's going to stop anything from going into that aver by having additional parking over there. And I will say for the most part, they do maintain that building very good, but the lawn service vehicles that they use park on Stark Road. Again, when they come in, you have traffic backed up. So it become a very narrow road for all the big trucks that got to go in there. Again, I'd like to know how they're addressing what they're going to do with the freight trucks and there are freight trucks that come in there on a daily basis to drop off their materials, beds, you know, anything October 1, 2013 26016 that goes in a nursing home. I understand it's a nursing home, and I can understand the noise, but it is true that its 24/7. Again, these trucks are using Stark Road and that is in the middle of the night that they're using Stark Road. He talked about and he asked about the color, and I really liked that one because I forgot about that one altogether. It is siding. It's not brick, and so to me, it almost seems like it would have to be a more modem color because I'm not sure they could dale back to that existing color. They may be able to match it but I kind of question it. I'd be very curious to know what the color is going to be. And is that wetlands back over there because there is a lot of wetlands swamp area over there. You talked about taking out those trees. When we first moved in, my neighbor told me, he says, that's the best thing we need because of accidents. Part of the median there, there's actually been someone who's been killed in that turn right there. If you're going to take those trees out, which a lot of people unfortunately do hit, and telephone poles, and you're going to put it closer to the road so when the people come out, does that mean the people are going to be on the road because I really don't see any room for a sidewalk. So the cars coming around, are they now going to be hitting the building? What's going to be the banner to stop the traffic coming through there and hitting that building and affecting the residents that are going there for whatever their purposes are. Those are my questions. Mr. Morrow: We'll let the petitioner respond, but just understand, the only thing this is changing is the footprint and we're gelling a bigger parking area. If we did nothing, everything would probably slay the same. We'll have the petitioner address some of these other questions, but what the gentleman is trying to do is modernize it, make the place look better, clean it up and have a better presentation. The number of beds stay the same and it's business as usual just in a different footprint and a different parking lot. But he'll respond to some of your other questions. Mr. Duneske: May I ask one more question? Mr. Morrow: Sure. Mr. Duneske: He referenced that he'll put the air conditioning units on the roof. What roof would he put that air conditioning unit on because that does make noise as well. Mr. Morrow: They would put it on their new facility. Mr. Duneske: Which is closer to the residential homes in that area. Mr. Muli: We made a note of that. We will prepare color drawings October 1, 2013 26017 Mr. Morrow: He will respond to the type of unit they have there. Mr. Duneske: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Muli: Just to go in order of how he addressed them. First, with respect to security, yes, there is security. So we currently have security at the facility. It is locked down. Not locked in that respect, but it is alarmed. So even throughout the day, because we do have residents that may have demenfia or Alzheimers. So if you pull any door in the facility, an alarm will go off and a buzzer. It is, one, alarmed, and two, we do employ security that will come in at various times. As far as the traffic and the parking, again, this has come up a lot. I think you hit it right on. We see this as an improvement because we're not increasing the number of units or the number of employees. So whatever we're doing there is going to improve it. The parking area will actually be bigger and will provide more turnaround. As I mentioned before with respect to the ambulance traffic, we'll be guiding the traffic to the front door for ambulances and there's a back area where the larger trucks will be able to pull in and deliver the medical supplies and food. Those are big, medical supplies, and then Gordon Foods have to come in on the bigger trucks. So they'll be able to deliver in the parking lot along the back there. As far as Livonia Fire, I guess I would have to defer back to the report. We're not changing it so they'll have the access that they had before. The water flow, I think that was addressed as well by Mr. Brickel. Curenlly, there is no system in place so it does right now flow into the river. So we are going to put in the bio-swales. Although I can't pretend to completely understand what that means, I think it means that we're going to be improving the water flow before it gets to the river. And as I indicated before with the color, I guess I didn't articulate it well enough. We're not necessarily going to slay with the color schematic that's on the building right now, curmmy. I think for just the reason that was pointed out. I don't know if we'll be able to fit it, but we will be resurfacing the existing building so they will match. The existing building may change color, but it will be a neutral type color, a beige -type gray. We're not going to put a red building out there that doesn't do anything for us. So it's going to be something that fits in with the residential area. Mr. Morrow: And per Ms. Smiley, when it gets to the Council level you will have ... Mr. Muli: We made a note of that. We will prepare color drawings Mr. Morrow: A ground unit? October 1, 2013 26018 Mr. Morrow: Okay. I can't think of anything else that wasn't addressed, but just to add that a lot of the concems as far as the runoff and the sidewalk and these types of things, at plan review, it will be determined whether or not the sidewalk makes sense, and as far as the handling of the water, that will all be reviewed with Engineering at site plan review. Anyone else? You will have to come to the podium. Ms. Price: I commend him for upgrading the facility. It's been long overdue and I would love to see the private rooms and everything. I think it's absolutely wonderful. My concern is that they have enough space to do what they want to do without overcrowding the area. I'm just not sure if I understand what's happening to the existing building. At first I thought they were going to bring it up to coordinate with the original one, and then I got confused when they started talking about putting air conditioning things on the flat roof. So are they actually going to change the exterior of the building orjust put it behind the new building? Mr. Morrow: We'll try one more time here. Mr. Muli: I'm sorry for not being clear on that. Actually, I just asked our construction team who is in here. The air conditioner may be more internalized in the connection where the current building connects to the new building. So it would be somewhat concealed. As far as the existing area that is flat roof, we're installing new PTACH units. They don't aesthetically look right because they are just wall units that are stuck in a window, but we'll actually have carved out, engineered and designed PTACH units that are installed and filled into the window. So it will have a nicer look from the exterior and interior as well. Just to be clear, we will be resurfacing or re -siding the exterior of the existing building to match the new building. There are areas there that are currently siding, so that siding will be removed and replaced with siding that matches the new construction siding so that it all looks like a smooth, consistent area. Mr. Morrow: There was one other question as far as the air conditioner on the roof of the new addition. I'm assuming it's about the same noise as a regular residential air conditioner. Mr. Muli: Right. And it may not be on the roof. It may be at the connection between the existing building and the new construction building. Mr. Morrow: A ground unit? Mr. Muli: October 1, 2013 26019 Mr. Muli: I'm sorry, on the flat roof. It will be on the existing building flat roof at that connection area. So I think the concern was, is this air conditioner going to be along Stark Road, and its not. It will be more located in the center of the "T" building there. Mr. Morrow: So it will moved further back? Mr. Muli: It will be moved further back so it will not be along the road. Mr. Wilshaw: For the sake of just trying, one more time, to make sure we understand exactly and the residents understand sort of what's Mr. Wilshaw: happening to this building. For the sake of not offending you, but currently, the building has sort of a motor -inn appearance because its 40 - 50 years old. What it sounds like you're trying to do is modernize the appearance at the front of the building Mr. Muli: with this extension, but also modernize the rest of the building Mr. Wilshaw: so that the air conditioning units are mounted underneath the Mr. Muli: windows, sort of integrated into the walls, sort of like what we saw at the high schools. They recently put those in classrooms and we've seen those in modern hotels. It's going to have more of a modem hotel appearance as opposed to the 1960's motor inn appearance. Mr. Muli: Exactly. We're improving on what's currently there and we are, like I think it was pointed out, expanding the footprint of the building without increasing the number of units or the employees. I think from all aspects, it really is just an overall improvement. Whatever is there now, I can say with absolutely certainty it will look better when we're done that it does today. It is dated. It does need a reface. It needs to be resurfaced. It's been a long time in coming but I think this is the right time to do it and it will look better for the neighborhood certainly, and then It's going to greatly improve the quality of life for the residents. Mr. Wilshaw: Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind mentioning, its certainly up to you if you don't want to, but what sort of investment are we talking about in terms of dollars that you're putting into this property? Mr. Muli: When it's all said and done, $6.3 to $6.5 million. Mr. Wilshaw: So this is a substantial investment. Mr. Muli: Yes, its a big deal. This is going to be a real change in direction for that facility. I think it's going to be really good for that community. And I hear the concern and of course everything is a valid concern, but based on this, there really is 1. That the General Site Plan marked Sheet SP2 dated August 29, 2013, as revised, prepared by Nowak & Fraus Engineers, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Conceptual Architectural Site Plan marked Sheet ASP dated August 23, 2013 prepared by Progressive Associates, Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That the shall City evaluate the need for a sidewalk along Ann Arbor Trail and its impact on existing mature trees and report back to the City Council with a recommendation; October 1, 2013 26020 going to be an improvement. I think people are going to be very happy with it. Mr. Morrow: I'm afraid I'm going to have to close the public hearing. I think we've had enough debate on it. Well, we could go here all night. I'll allow you one more question and then I'm closing R. You have to come to the podium. Mr. Duneske: Who is going to maintain Stark Road? Is the City of Livonia going to maintain Stark Road? Its a dirt road. It's not a paved road. Who is going to maintain that for plowing purposes and for cleaning purposes to get into the parking lot back there? Whose responsibility is that going to be? Mr. Taormina: There's no change. Whoever is responsible for it curmmy. If the City is maintaining it, then I would say the City would continue to maintain it. I don't really know all the details. I can't imagine that ifs a private road. So to that extent, I'm sure it's a city maintained road. This petition does not change that. On a motion by Wilshaw, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, it was #1038-2013 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2013-09-08-07 submitted by Sl. Jude Nursing Center, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, in connection with a proposal to construct an addition to the existing convalescent home at 34350 Ann Arbor Trail, located on the north side of Ann Arbor Trail between Joy Road and Stark Road in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 33, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the General Site Plan marked Sheet SP2 dated August 29, 2013, as revised, prepared by Nowak & Fraus Engineers, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Conceptual Architectural Site Plan marked Sheet ASP dated August 23, 2013 prepared by Progressive Associates, Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That the shall City evaluate the need for a sidewalk along Ann Arbor Trail and its impact on existing mature trees and report back to the City Council with a recommendation; October 1, 2013 26021 4. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet Ll dated August 29, 2013 prepared by Nowak & Freus Engineers, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 5. That all disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded in lieu of hydroseeding; 6. That the Conceptual Building Elevations marked Sheet SK2 dated August 23, 2013, prepared by Progressive Associates, Inc., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 7. 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); 8. That all light fixtures shall not exceed twenty feel (20') in height and shall be aimed and shielded so as to minimize stray light trespassing across property lines and glaring into adjacent roadways; 9. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals for deficient front and side yard setbacks and deficient parking and any conditions related thereto; 10. 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; 11. 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, 12. 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 peril is obtained this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. Mr. Morrow, Chairan, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an October 1, 2013 26022 approving resolution. For the benefit of the residents, the Planning Commission is a recommending body. You've seen what we've done here tonight. Everything we've accomplished in the resolution indicated that there would be more information at the Council level as it relates to color renderings. If you're interested in this, contact the Council office and ask that you be advised when this comes before the City Council if you'd like to join them at that level, but they will ultimately make the decision as to whether the petition is approved or rejected. Thank you for coming tonight. ITEM #4 PETITION 2013 -09 -SN -03 LADYWOOD Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09 -SN -03 submitted by SignGrephix, Inc. requesting approval of a replacement ground sign with variable electronic message board pursuant to Section 18.50 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, for Ladywood High School at 14680 Newburgh Road, located on the east side of Newburgh Road between SchoolcmR Road and Five Mile Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 20. Mr. Taormina: I'll move quickly through this petition because I think it's rather self-explanatory in terms of what the petitioner is proposing to do. On the screen currently is a photograph of the sign that exists at Ladywood High School. This is on the east side of Newburgh just south of Five Mile Road. This sign was approved in 1978. The sign measures about 10 feet in height and 64 square feel in area. When the Zoning Board of Appeals approved this sign, they imposed a condition that the sign be extinguished no later than 11:00 p.m. I lake that to mean that any illumination of the sign would have to be shut off at that hour of the evening. What Ladywood wants to do now is upgrade the sign. The sign would remain within the two brick piers that exist today. The sign overall is 64 square feet in total sign area. Instead of having the manual, changeable sign board on the lower part of the sign, what Ladywood would do is install a variable electronic message board that measures about 19 square feet. Looking at the sign, it's the lowest portion of the sign that would be the electronic message board that they propose. The sign is the same height, same total area. It occupies a little bit larger mass. It's a little bulkier in that respect, but technically is the same area. It's in the same location, again, between the same two brick piers. On September 10, 2013, Zoning Board of Appeals reviewed the ground sign and they referred it back to the Planning Mr. Morrow: Any questions of the petitioner? Ms. Scheel: Good evening. This is a double sided sign. Right? October 1, 2013 26023 Commission and City Council for its review since this does qualify as a waiver use and an expansion of a waiver use is deemed by the Zoning Board of Appeals. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Morrow: Please do. Mr. Taormina: There is one item of correspondence from the Inspection Department, dated September 24, 2013, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. A variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals would be required for the excess height, square footage, and the variable electronic message sign. 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: Are there any questions of the Planning Director? Seeing none, will the petitioner please come forward? We will need your name and address for the record please. William Lutz, SignGraphix, Inc., 39255 Country Club Drive, Suite B35, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331. 1 think the key thing here is that Ladywood is going through a modernization program. Theyve updated their logo. They've updated their websites. Theyve updated their curricula over the years to include a lot of technology. This is a new look, and it completes what they're doing in other areas of the school. The current changeable message board is not very practical in modern days. It's easily vandalized and is on many occasions. This will be a lot safer. It will be a lot easier to use. It will be part of their curricula in terms of programming because its electronic. We're actually proposing to reduce the square fool of the changeable message area. These new LED electronic message centers are much more efficient. You can really gel a lot of the same message in a smaller unit if you will. Per the City of Livonia restrictions, there is no intent to use this as a large media display. Its, frankly, practically impossible to do that. It's only 28 inches high. So there's won't be any moving basketballs or anything like that. Its strictly static messages that will change on a somewhat regular basis, but within the ordinance that's been established in the business communities for electronic message centers. Mr. Morrow: Any questions of the petitioner? Ms. Scheel: Good evening. This is a double sided sign. Right? October 1, 2013 26024 Mr. Lutz: Yes, ma'am. Ms. Scheel: And it will say the same thing on both sides? Mr. Lutz: Correct. It has the potential to show different messages from the electronic standpoint on opposite sides, so you could show alternating messages one side to the other, but other than that, yes, the message would be compatible. Ms. Scheel: Thankyou. Mr. Morrow: Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to speak for or against the granting of this petition? Seeing no one coming forward, I'm going to close the public hearing. Mr. Taylor: This looks like a really great improvement. I'll ask for an approving resolution. On a motion by Taylor, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was #1039-2013 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2013 -09 -SN -03 submitted by SignGraphix, Inc. requesting approval of a replacement ground sign with variable electronic message board pursuant to Section 18.50 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, for Ladywood High School at 14680 Newburgh Road, located on the east side of Newburgh Road between SchoolcreR Road and Five Mile Road in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 20, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the ground sign shall be installed in accordance with the Sign Plan submitted by SignGraphix, Inc., as received by the Planning Commission on September 12, 2013; 2. That this approval is subject to the petitioner being granted variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals for excess sign area and height and the inclusion of a variable electronic message board and any conditions related thereto; 3. That the variable electronic message board shall conform to restrictions and limitations as set forth in Section 18.50H(o) of the Zoning Ordinance regarding the duration and transition limes of the messages, and on the sign's illumination levels; and October 1, 2013 26025 4. That the Sign Plan referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time the sign permits are applied for. Mr. Morrow: Is there any discussion? Ms. Smiley: Mr. Chair, only to say this is a really nice improvement. I'm very excited about it. It looks very professional, and we're thrilled to have it. Mr. Wilshaw: I'll echo Ms. Smileys sentiments. I think the school has received tremendous value out of its previous sign. I didn't realize it had been there for that long. So it's good value for the money there. The entire properly, not only Ladywood High School, which is a gem in our community, but the other parcels on that property have done a nice job of continuous improvement and modem ization, and this is just a another piece of that puzzle, and I think that's excellent. Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Mr. Morrow: As I said earlier, agenda Items #5 and #6 have been removed from the agenda and will be heard a later meeting. ITEM #5 PETITION 2013 -09 -SN -04 APPLEBEE'S Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09 -SN -04 submitted by TSFR Apple Venture, L.L.C. requesting approval of a ground sign with variable electronic message board pursuant to Section 18.50 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, for the recently approved Applebee's restaurant at 13301 Middlebell Road, located on the west side of Middlebell Road between the CSX Railroad right- of-way and Schoolcmft Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 26. ITEM #6 PETITION 2013 -09 -SN -05 DEL TACO Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09 -SN -05 submitted by TSFR Apple Venture, L.L.C. requesting approval of a ground sign with variable electronic message board pursuant to Section 18.50 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance #543, as amended, for the recently approved multi - tenant commercial building with a full service restaurant including drive -up window facilities (Del Taco) at 13301 October 1, 2013 26026 Middlebelt Road, located on the west side of Middlebeft Road between the CSX Railroad right-of-way and Schoolcrett Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 26. ITEM #7 PETITION 2013-09-08-08 PHILMAR PLAZA Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09-08-08 submitted by DeMattia Associates, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the Zoning Ordinance in connection with a proposal to remodel the exterior of the commercial center (Philmar Plaza) at 33467 and 33501 Eight Mile Road, located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Farmington Road and Gill Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 4. Mr. Taormina: This is a petition that would provide a facelift and upgrade to two commercial buildings that are located along the south side of Eight Mile just west of Farmington Road. The zoning of the properties is C-2, General Business. Both of the buildings that make up what is referred to as Philmar Plaza are multi- tenant/multi-building commercial developments. It consists of two buildings located on two adjoining parcels that share parking, access and are under common ownership. Building 1 is about 19,500 square feet; it can be divided into roughly 11 tenant spaces. It is the easterly building that faces north towards Eight Mile with the majority of the parking located between the building and Eight Mile. Building #2 runs north and south. The storefronts face east. The building is about 7,000 square feel and is divided into five tenant spaces. The majority of the parking is provided along the south and to the east in front of the storefronts. Building 1 has a plain, gray E.I.F.S. fagade. Building 2 has a somewhat different appearance. It has a mansard roof extending across the brick fagade. Each of the buildings would continue to have a distinctive look but would share some commonality relatively to the color scheme and some of the design elements. The upgrade will include a series of parapet walls that would be added along the lop half of both structures. The vertical wall sections would project above the rooflines and also wrap around the buildings for a short distance similar to what currently exists. The parapets would vary in height and width and in the some case step out from the buildings. They would be constructed primarily of an E.I.F.S. material and would be capped with a decorative comice. New cladding would be placed on the columns. Awnings would be installed along the front of the buildings. Building 1 has the mansard roof. It will have a distinctive look but also some October 1, 2013 26027 commonality with Building 2 in respect to some of the elements. The addition of the awnings may be a different color but some the bieges that would be used, the cornice treatments and those types of things tie the two buildings together. It certainly gives them a fresh and new appearance. With that I can answer any questions you may have. Mr. Morrow: Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first dem is from the Engineering Division, dated September 18, 2013, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced planning petition. We have no objections to the proposed site renovation at this time. The proposed plan indicates that project will consist of renovating the exterior of the building and minor parking lot repairs. The owner will need to follow the City's current double-line parking lot striping detail for the proposed improvements. The legal description provided appears to be correct and is acceptable to this office. The address of 33467 and 33501 Eight Mile Road are comect for the parcels and should be used in conjunction with the proposed project. The existing structure is currently serviced by public utilities, which are to remain in place. Should changes to the existing utility leads be needed, the owner will need to submit plans to the Engineering Department to determine if permits will be required." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer 11. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated September 20, 2013, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the petition for requesting approval for the proposal to remodel the exterior of the commercial center at the addresses stated above and have noted the following: In regards to NFPA 1, 2009 edition: (1) Fire Department Access shall be maintained in accordance to 18.2.3.2, (2) 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 jurisdiction. We have no otherconcems with the remodel to the exterior of both buildings." The letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 19, 2013, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 23, 2013, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. The parking lot shall be repaired, sealed and restriped as necessary. October 1, 2013 26028 Parking spaces shall be 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep and double striped. Required barrier free parking spaces shall also be property sized, signed and stoped. 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: Are there any questions from the Commissioners? Is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and address for the record please. Timothy Zawodny, DeMattia Associates, Inc., 46321 Five Mile, Plymouth, Michigan 48170. Mr. Morrow: You've heard the presentation by Mr. Taormina. Is there anything you'd like to add to it? Mr. Zawodny: I believe it was summarized very well. The only thing that I would like to clarify or add a little bit is on Building 1, which is currently on the screen. The parapet heights as they step up and down now generally correlate with the existing construction. The only thing that is a little bit different is the current building has a few extra steps in it. We just tried to clean those up and eliminate that. In the fascia E.I.F.S. surfacing, the bull nose that occurs just above the awnings is a full 12 inch high half round bull nose to create some shadow line and interest at that point as well as the same consideration with the cornices up above. In the existing masonry, set back beyond the colonnade will be painted a darker accent color. The other building, Building 2, if R's possible to switch that slide, there the existing brick masonry is in very reasonable shape so our intent is to continue to utilize that and that's, in essence, what starts to set our color palette and our color lone so that things will work together in good harmony. The existing mansard roof, though, unfortunately is not in that good of shape as its been set with signs and things over the years and is deteriorating so it's going to be removed in its entirely, and then these fascias will be built at those locations. The higher sections of the building are within limits. Their intent really is to help give the tenants, as was noted in the presentation, most of them face to the east and unfortunately leaves them all a little bit in the shadows when it comes to visibility for business purposes. The slightly elevated parapet at that point is about where the higher mansard was before. That will help the tenant at the far south end, the back end of the building from the road. We would also have another raised section as you can see there with the intent that will help another anchor tenant or larger tenant potential down there to have some visibility. One of the things that we have identified October 1, 2013 26029 as a potential there for that last one, just to step out from the building approximately eight feel to provide a little canopy cover at the door and again improve the visibility of it, but the long range inclusion of that would depend on budget and buyout in terms of bidding and things of that type. I do have some samples. I know in the process of computer rendering it's not always easy to gel accurate colors. Mr. Morrow: You're way ahead of us now. I think we can set up the easel. There is a microphone there for your use. Mr. Zawodny: The light shade that you see is the general field color for both buildings. The darker shade would be the recessed areas between columns that you can see the darker tones are there, generally where the awnings are placed. That sits back approximately three to four inches from the front fagade so it creates some shadow lines and changing color will help accentuate that. On Building 2, this is the color of the large feature wall that occurs in the three different locations. This is the existing coloration of the blended brick that's on that building. The intent for Building 1 is to have one awning or canopy color, and a second color on Building 2. These would be a sunbrella type fabric. Marygrove Awning or others would be quoting this. It would be a weatherized material that would be placed over a rigid panel and then a steel frame so that it has better durability as opposed to just being free fabric that's susceptible to ripping and tearing. The awning structures, as you see on Building 1, are pitched very close to vertical. The reason for that is we have very little drive room, very little access room around the building. Anything that projects out further than what you see is going to be a hazard relative to emergency vehicles or delivery vehicles or things like that and won't last very long. We're trying to respect the limited site space that we have. The bases and the columns as was noted will be reconstructed and it will be split face masonry on the lower coursings. That will be similar in color to the accent band. And that purpose is, if you've driven by the buildings and taken a look at it, the red tile on the bottom with an E.I.F.S. colonnade, a lot of them have been hit so many limes. You can walk up and move them around with your hand because they're not anchored anymore and the tiles are just literally being knocked off. So we're trying to create something that is a little more permanent and a little bit more durable. The metal roof on Building 1 will be a prefinished standing seam roof, and it will occur at the gable area in the center, and then on either side is actually a slightly recessed metal accent area as well. So we can maintain the construction height of the parapet but create some visual change through that area and a little bit of interest October 1, 2013 26030 at the center of the building. The lighting that you see on the face of Building 2 will be an accent light. It will basically be 150 or 250 waft metal halide fixture. On Building 1, because we have the colonnade and the canopy, it will be recessed down lights along the length of the canopy. What's under there now are strip fluorescents and those will be removed and cleaned up. The owner's intent is to try and bring this up to speed with other things along Eight Mile Road, and very frankly, their hope is that it will also allow them to increase tenancy, which is sorely lacking at the moment, and be able to continue to improve the center as time goes on. Mr. Taylor: The north side of Building 2, are you going to have the same type of construction? Mr. Zawodny: Yes. Mr. Taylor: So its going to wrap around. Mr. Zawodny: If you look at the black and white elevations, it does show an elevation of that angle of the building. It shows a feature wall with two existing windows and the rest of it will be similar to the balance of Building 2. Ms. Smiley: Are you keeping the red door at Lim Star? Is that a deal breaker? Mr. Zawodny: In the near future, the intent is to keep that as is for the tenant who invested in the improvements of that. Ms. Smiley: Okay. I live real near there and I do frequent that center. It sadly needs some help as does the parking lot. I'm glad to see this. The only stone work really is on the columns on the bottom? Mr. Zawodny: Correct. Ms. Smiley: And the rest of it is all going to other material. Okay. And that stands up to weather pretty good? Mr. Zawodny: Yes. Ms. Smiley: Okay. So all the red tile will be gone. Right? Mr. Zawodny: That will be gone. Ms. Smiley: Its not that I don't like red. October 1, 2013 26031 Mr. Zawodny: It was an interesting choice back in the early '90's as most tile applications don't hold up in Michigan for outside weatherability. Ms. Smiley: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Scheel: Your tenants that are in these buildings right now, they'll be able to slay in there during the time that you'll be doing construction? Mr. Zawodny: Yes. Ms. Scheel: Provided this goes through here and then goes to Council, are you anticipating being able to start this year or not until spring? Mr. Zawodny: Our hope originally was to start this year, and we're trying to push through to get that to work out. I know that if we are approved tonight and we move forward to Council, we're now going to be two to three more weeks. Realistically, we're probably looking at a spring start to avoid incurring winter condition costs and to also address the concern about will the tenants be able to continue to operate. Anything we try to do throughout the winter months is just going to be a nightmare for them in terms of mud being tracked in and things of that type. Our intent is, underneath that canopy on Building 1, the entire sidewalk will be replaced so it needs to be sequenced and staged in such a way that allows everybody to continue to operate. Ms. Scheel: Thankyou. Mr. Taylor: Are you going to redo the signage on the sides of the building or are you going to use the old signs? Mr. Zawodny: For the existing tenants, the intent is to continue to use the existing sign that's there. It will be taken down and then reinstalled. Anything that is new with continued tenant interest and new lease will all be done in accordance with the sign ordinance and permitted appropriately. Mr. Wilshaw: I just want to thank the petitioner for bringing in the material samples. I think that helps a lot in visualizing the appearance of this over the computer renderings which had sort of a gold yellowish color to it. This appears to be an attractive color combination. I think the addition of the colored awnings is a nice element that visually catches your eye a little bit. I appreciate that. Mr. Zawodny: Thankyou. October 1, 2013 26032 Mr. Morrow: 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 Scheel, seconded by Wilshaw, and unanimously adopted, it was #10-60-2013 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2013-09-08-08 submitted by DeMattia Associates, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.47 of the Zoning Ordinance in connection with a proposal to remodel the exterior of the commercial center (Philmar Plaza) at 33467 and 33501 Eight Mile Road, located on the south side of Eight Mile Road between Farmington Road and Gill Road in the Northeast 1/4 of Section 4, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Site Plan marked Sheet AS101 dated August 16, 2013, as revised, prepared by DeMalfia Associates, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That the Elevation Plans marked A101, A102, A103 & A104 all dated August 16, 2013, prepared by DeMalfia Associates, are hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. 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; 4. 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; 5. That no LED Iighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows; 6. 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, 7. 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. October 1, 2013 26033 Mr. Morrow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. Its going to be a substantial upgrade to the current facility. It will really look nice on Eight Mile Road, and we hope the owner will get some more tenants in there. Mr. Zawodny: I hope for their sake as well. They definitely want to make sure that this improvement lends itself both to their property as well as the community. Mr. Morrow: Thank you for coming. ITEM #8 PETITION 2013-09-08-09 SHELL STATION Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Petition 2013- 09-08-09 submitted by N.C. Designers & Contracting, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the Zoning Ordinance in connection with a proposal to remodel the exterior of the gas station (Shell) at 36420 Plymouth Road, located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Levan Road and Market Street in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 29. Mr. Taormina: This is a request to remodel the exterior of a commeroial properly. Its the Shell gas station located at the northwest corner of Plymouth and Levan Roads. The building currently has a peaked roof with some vertical siding and a combination of brick and block. These are the black and while drawings. The top one illuslmles what the building looks like today, and the bottom drawing shows you what the building would look like after the fagade renovation. This would occur to that portion of the building facing south on Plymouth Road. I'm going to go through a series of photographs that will give you a better idea of what the project entails. It would be a complete upgrade to the appearance of the gas station. There are new parapet walls that would be added along the top half of the structure that would project above the existing peaked roof and would conceal it on three sides. Those three sides being the south facing Plymouth Road, the east facing Levan and the west side of the building as well. Low parapet walls would be added to the north elevation which is the rear of the building, which would leave that side of the building exposed. The primary reason for that is how the roof runs and the need for drainage. The petitioner will explain the complications he has with trying to address that side of the building and what he is going to do alternatively to help conceal some of the rooftop mechanical equipment and make it October 1, 2013 26034 look more in keeping with the improvements to the other sides. The E.I.F.S. goes on top. The awnings are a part of the improvements. There is new parapet, which has a different color. The bottom half of the building would be wrapped in cultured stone up to the base of the window sills. When we first mel with the petitioner, we asked him to increase the amount of masonry on the building and he has done that. Decorative light fixtures would be added to the building. In terms of the rear of the building, this shows you a similar type of property where painting was done to help match the colors of what was being done on the front of the building. You have to look very carefully here because what you'll see is, on the left hand side, the backside of the extended wall. They wrap it with a material; it could be light; it could be dark. You will also see how the roofline comes down and you have the issue of drainage. So all the water is running off the roof and coming in this direction. They have to build a valley that will allow the water to sheet flow down across the back of the parapet and then be picked up by a scupper or a small gutter and then a downspout, an outlet. They are concentrating the flow of that water. That's part of the problem the petitioner faces with addressing that issue. Alternatively what he can do along the back of that in order to conceal it, is to run some type of a screen along the back. For the HVAC unit and the microwave dish that sits on lop of the roof, what he is proposing to do here is mount a screen that would run along the peak. In some places it would be higher than other areas. At the apex, you can see here so the fence, when you get down to the eaves, that would be where the screen material would be the tallest, and it could be constructed either of a wood or metal material, but it's going to have to have some openings or some slats. It would have to be built out of a slatted material in order for proper wind load bracing. That's really the challenges he has with extending a screen across here, but I'll let the architect describe to you the reasons behind the design. Mr. Morrow: Is there any correspondence? Mr. Taormina: There are four items of correspondence. The first dem is from the Engineering Division, dated September 18, 2013, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -referenced planning petition. We have no objections to the proposed site renovation at this time. The proposed plan indicates that no construction will be occurring outside of the building footprint, so no Engineering permits will be required. The legal description provided appears to be comect and is acceptable to this office. The address of 36420 Plymouth Road is correct for the parcel October 1, 2013 26035 and should be used in conjunction with the proposed project. The existing structure is currently serviced by public utilities, which are to remain in place. Should changes to the existing utility leads be needed, the owner will need to submit plans to the Engineering Department to determine if permits will be required." The letter is signed by David Lear, P.E., Civil Engineer 11. The second letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated September 19, 2013, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the plans for approving this petition to remodel the exterior at the above referenced address. 1 have no objection to the exterior remodel of the Shell gas station." The letter is signed by Keith Bo, Senior Fire Inspector. The third letter is from the Division of Police, dated September 19, 2013, which reads as follows: "1 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. 1 have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by John Gibbs, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The fourth letter is from the Inspection Department, dated September 23, 2013, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced petition has been reviewed. The following is noted. (1) The Commission and/or Council may wish to address free air at this site and add the following statement. Free air shall be provided at all times while this station is open for business. The free air shall be dispensed at the point of service without having to enter the station or the performance of any extra action in order to obtain the air without charge. (2) The parking lot shall be repaired and restriped as necessary. Parking spaces shall be 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep and double striped. (3) The gates on the existing dumpster enclosure are in disrepair. (4) There is debris piled behind the station that needs to be removed, and the roof gutter on the rear of the building is in disrepair. (5) The landscaping and trees on the property and in the right of way need to be maintained. (6) The excess window signage on this site needs to be removed. 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: Are there any questions from the Commissioners? Mr. Wilshaw: Though the Chair to the Planning Director, I'm just thinking back. There's a cell phone store at the intersection of Ann Arbor Road and Ann Arbor Trail that I recall having a similar roof situation where they had to angle the roof. They put a fagade in front to modernize the appearance but then there were able to do something in back to allow water to flow. They put gutters in or something to allow water to flow out of there but also conceal that angled roof. October 1, 2013 26036 Mr. Taormina: I don't remember what that design was. I'd have to take a look at it. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. Mr. Taormina: I didn't look. I can check. Mr. Wilshaw: As you were mentioning that, it kind of struck my memory that we kind of had a similar situation in the past and resolved it somehow. Thank you. Mr. Morrow: Is the petitioner here this evening? We will need your name and address for the record please. Nasser Choucair, N.C. Designers & Contracting, Inc., 5685 Rouge Circle, Dearborn Heights, Michigan 48127. Good evening. I'm representing N.C. Designers and Safeway Acquisition. Mr. Taormina said enough, but regarding the back. I'm doing about 17 gas stations. We have about eight of them like this one, and the others that like sandwich panels. The gabled roof always gives us a problem in a structure way. If we have a snowdrift, if we enclose the whole thing you put too much load on the structure. That would lead us into another problem. The only reason Ileave the back open for the water drain because I'm sloping. When we built the walls on the front, we have to support it so the wind won't blow it. What we do is build another structure tying into the roof, and that structure is also going to be sloped in a valley. That valley would come about 10 feel wide and it goes down to the back to two feel. I have a scupper there with a downspout to allow the water to go into the grass or into the drain. I had the same problem with Rochester City. They told me we have to screen the back. So I came with a solution, which I told Mr. Taormina. I gave him a way. What we can build, its a typical thing like we do in our houses but we do vertical fencing. The same thing, but we will put it horizontal. I need the space to be there because I cannot put any structure to hold this fence if a wind flies into this wall. I want the wind to go through this wall. I need that two inch space between every six inches. When I gel to the bottom, I need to leave about eight inches to one fool for any snow to fly off the roof. I cannot keep any snow load or create extra loads on the roof. They are good roofs, the good school roof, and they're over designed. They hold enough wind blow and snow, but still we have to take our precautions and I have to do whatever I designed Iasi. That fence would be coffee cream like the building color. On the front and the sides, we're going up four feel on the front, or 40 inches on the front with the cultured stone with a dryvil band above it, creating a dip edge so we wont have any water going October 1, 2013 26037 into the snow. Above that, it's going to be all E.I.F.S. dryvit, of course with the building and safety instructions. The crown at the lop with a different color, it's a dark brown. It would give a three dimensional look for the building. Plus we have some striped canopy with red and little bluish color and yellow in them. They are only for the character, probably only over the door to give a nice look for the building. We're giving a nice look for these gas stations because we don't want it to look any more like a gas station. We want it to look like a nice retail area and community. That's R. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Mr. Morrow: We'll find out if the Commission has any questions. Mr. Taylor: I think you did a great job on the front of the building, but I went down Levan today. The back has a lot of exposure. It's white now. I'm assuming you're going to paint it to match the color of the building? Mr. Choucair: Yes. Mr. Taylor: Whatever you can do to the back is certainly going to help because the visual appearance of it when you're going south is going to ruin the front of your building, I think. Other than that, I think the building looks great. Mr. Choucair: Also in the back, when we do the sides, I have always a kick about two feet in. It would be a nice finish to the side and little bit in to hold more of the wall. As I said, if we can put that screen wall, I think it would cover most of the stuff that you have over there, and these dishes, we're eliminating them. They have new technology which is intemel I guess. They're not using these shell dishes anymore, so we're getting rid of all these dishes on the roof. Sometimes if we have any interior renovation, we're getting rid of the AC from the roof also and pulling them inside. Mr. Taylor: Whatever you can do to improve the back, I think will help. Thankyou. Ms. Smiley: I guess I'm a little confused on the back. You said you're going to wrap the stone around a couple feet in the back. Mr. Choucair: No. Front, side and back only from the lop where the roof is, I always go in two feel. You see that corner, even the crown, so the crown won't be cul like. This is in Warren city. These are two different pictures he's showing. This is in Warren city on 15 Mile and Schoenherr. That roof, the while, that's the wall of the October 1, 2013 26038 roof and that litfle corner, (hats the kick that I put all the time to hold the wall and to give a continuous look, 90 degree. Ms. Smiley: So it goes in a couple feet across ... Mr. Choucair: This is Utica. These are two different sites. So I'm showing you in all the sites we do the same painting, the same job. We're not leaving the back while or gray or whatever. Ms. Smiley: But the stone doesn'lwmp around the back at all. Mr. Choucair: No, no. Ms. Smiley: It goes across the front, down the side, and then stops. Mr. Choucair Exactly. Ms. Smiley: And then you're just going to paint the back and put up some kind of a .... Mr. Choucair: Now the screening that we were talking about, me and Mark, because for any utilities, like I did so. This is a new drawing I sent them. To hide any utilities on the roof, we'll put this screening and we'll match the building color on R. So if ft's wood, we'll just paint it the same color as the building. Ms. Smiley: Is that screening at the edge? Mr. Choucair: At the edge of the roof so it would hide any dish or AC or any utilities that they have. Ms. Smiley: But you said there's not going to be a dish any more, right, probably because it's internet. Mr. Choucair: Yes, they have them now on the side. They're laking them all out. Ms. Smiley: Okay. I would agree with Mr. Taylor. There is a great deal of exposure going south on Levan. So anything that you could do .. or you need to do something to the back of the building so it looks like it belongs with the rest of the building. You could put half a dress on. The front is all set then your back's not working. Maybe the screen will help tremendously. Mr. Choucair: If you put any kind of wall in the back, especially at the top, you're going to have snow accumulation. You're not going to let the air flow so it would blow the snow off the roof. I don't want October 1, 2013 26039 to create something on the roof. It would be a structural thing and I don't want to go near that. Ms. Smiley: I'm not an engineer. I couldn't pretend to tell you how to fix that roof so that the snow or you don't get an ice jam or whatever it is if you put a wall or something up. But the roof hangs over a little bit. Mr. Choucair: Yes. Its like a soffit. Ms. Smiley: Yes. The whole back Mr. Choucair: What I'm going to do, you have to imagine the same thing. That roof line stays but we're going to have a screen along the whole roof. So you wont see the white in the back. So I can create that screen with the same color, the coffee cream, and it would cover all that back. It would enhance that better than that, if you don't like that. Ms. Smiley: Okay. You said you did that to a building. You don't have a picture? Mr. Choucair: No. I'm doing the same thing we're doing here. They came up with this idea, put any screening in the back to create something like this, like what I'm saying. So that's why I can forward this idea. Ms. Smiley: Okay. I'm sure Council would love a picture of that when you're done. Mr. Wilshaw: Hi, Nassar. You always bring us very creative and attractive remodels of gas stations, so I always look forward to seeing you when you bring projects to us because theyre always nice. It is a very attractive building from the front, but obviously, as you can tell, the back is really the only thing that concerns us. If there is anything you can do to improve that or, as Ms. Smiley mentioned, if you can gel a picture of what you're going to do in Rochester, if you happen to gel it done in time for the Council meeting to show them what its going to look like, I think that would help. If there's anything I can suggest as far as improving that screening would be to not use painted wood. I just think it would delenorete faidy quick. If you could do a metal or some type of a maintenance -free vinyl or something like that, that might hold up a little bit better over time. The rest of your building, I can't say anything bad about it because it's one of yourlypical, reallynice designs. Sothankyou. October 1, 2013 26040 Mr. Morrow: Is there anything else? The red really draws your attention to it. It makes it stand out. So we focus on that. If it's the same color, I think some of the focus will go away. If there are no more questions and there's no one left in the audience, I think we can ask for a motion. On a motion by Wilshaw, seconded by Taylor, and unanimously adopted, 0 was #10-61-2013 RESOLVED, that the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2013-09-08-09 submitted by N.C. Designers & Contracting, Inc. requesting approval of all plans required by Section 18.58 of the Zoning Ordinance in connection with a proposal to remodel the exterior of the gas station (Shell) at 36420 Plymouth Road, located on the north side of Plymouth Road between Levan Road and Market Street in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 29, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the Elevation Plans marked 2-6 & 3-6 both dated September 9, 2013, as revised, prepared by N.C. Designers & Contracting, Inc., are hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 2. That all rooftop mechanical equipment shall be concealed from public view on all sides, including the north elevation (rear), by screening that shall be of a maintenance-free vinyl or metal material with a compatible character and color to other exterior materials on the building; 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; 4. That no LED Iighthand or exposed neon shall be permitted on this site including, but not limited to, the building or around the windows; 5. That the issues as outlined in the correspondence dated September 23, 2013, from the Assistant Director of Inspection shall be resolved to the satisfaction of the Inspection Department; 6. That no outside storage, placement or display of merchandise shall be permitted at any time on this site, however the foregoing prohibition shall not apply to the display, on the pump islands only, of oil based products as permitted in Section 11.03(12)(a) ofthe Zoning Ordinance; October 1, 2013 26041 7. That free air shall be provided at all limes this station is open for business. The free air shall be dispensed at the point of service without having to enter the station or the performance of any extra action in order to obtain the air without charge; 8. 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, 9. 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 dale of approval by City Council, and unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiretion of said period. Mr. Morow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #9 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,0431d Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Ms. Scheel, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,043rd Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on September 17, 2013. On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Smiley, and unanimously adopted, it was #10-62-2013 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of 1,13W Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on September 17, 2013, are hereby approved. A roll call vole on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following AYES: Scheel, Smiley, Wilshaw, Taylor, Morrow NAYS: None ABSENT: Bahr ABSTAIN: None Mr. Morow, Chairman, declared the motion is carded and the foregoing resolution adopted. October 1, 2013 26042 On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,044'" Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on October 1, 2013, was adjourned at 9:54 p.m. ATTEST: R. Lee Morrow, Chairman CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Lynda L. Scheel, Secretary