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'
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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