HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUBLIC HEARING - PH 2016-08-15 - APPEAL OF DENIAL - REFUEL MASSAGE
PUBLIC HEARING
Minutes of Meeting Held on Monday, August 15, 2016
______________________________________________________________________
A Public Hearing of the Council of the City of Livonia was held at the City Hall
Auditorium on Monday, August 15, 2016.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kathleen E. McIntyre, President
Scott Bahr
Maureen Miller Brosnan
Jim Jolly
Brian Meakin
Cathy K. White
MEMBERS ABSENT: Brandon Kritzman, Vice President
OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning
Don Knapp, City Attorney
Bonnie J. Murphy, CER-2300, Certified Electronic Recorder
The Public Hearing was called to order at 7:43 p.m. with President Kathleen McIntyre
presiding. This is a Public Hearing, our fourth Public Hearing tonight, regarding an
Appeal of the Denial by the Planning Commission of Petition 2016-06-02-11 submitted
by Livonia Office Center, requesting waiver use approval to operate a massage
establishment (Refuel Massage) within the Livonia Office Center located on the north
side of Seven Mile Road, between Inkster Road and Middlebelt Road (28200 Seven
Mile Road), in the Northwest ¼ of Section 1.
The City Clerk has mailed a notice to the Petitioner and to all other parties having
interest in this request for waiver use approval, and all other requirements of Ordinance
No. 543, the Zoning Ordinance, have been fulfilled. There were four people in the
audience.
The Public Hearing is now open.
McIntyre: Mr. Taormina.
Taormina: Thank you. This is an appeal of a denial of a Planning Commission
action taken with respect to a proposed massage establishment, Refuel
Massage, in the Livonia Office Center which is on the North side of Seven
Mile Road between Middlebelt and Inkster Roads.
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This property is about three quarters of an acre in size, with 120 feet of
frontage along Seven Mile Road, and about 270 feet on Lathers. The
zoning is OS, Office Services. Council is familiar with this property, there
was a previous petition involving the zoning of this site to commercial
which was rejected in a case that I believe was filed last year. This office
center, it’s what we refer to as a bi-level office building, it was constructed
in the 1970s, and contains a gross floor area of about 10,500 square feet.
The building faces Lathers with parking located between the building and
the street as well as on the north and south sides of the building. To the
north, east and west of the property are residential homes under the
R-U-F zoning classification. To the south, across Seven Mile Road, there
is a variety of both commercial as well as residential uses.
This proposal would utilize one of the units on the lower level of the
building as a massage establishment. It’s identified as Suite #108 and
located towards the south end of the building. This space is roughly 400
square feet. The latest floor plan submitted to the Planning Commission
indicates that there are seven rooms that make up Suite #108, including a
waiting room, reception area, one massage room, a facial room, a
restroom, break room and storage space. Refuel Massage apparently has
been operating at the location for approximately one year. The owner was
issued a violation notice by the Enforcement Division with orders to cease
operations and apply for the required waiver use. There was another
massage establishment within this complex in the adjacent unit, #109, that
operated until recently. They were providing massage without
authorization, and there was an investigation. That business was shut
down as a result of some illicit activities, and they have since vacated the
premises.
So this is a massage establishment that apparently has been at this
location for some time and it was separate, as we’ve been told, from
another user which has since left the building. Parking is established as a
ratio of one space for every 200 square feet of useable floor area. That
would require a total of 42 parking spaces. The site actually exceeds that
requirement. There are two required elements to these types of
businesses in terms of special land use requirements. The first is that they
cannot be located within 400 feet of any other property which is either
occupied or approved for a massage establishment. This proposed
massage establishment would be in compliance with that provision. As of
today, there are no other massage establishments located within 400 feet
of the proposed location. Secondly, the ordinance requires that no
massage establishment be located within 400 feet of a school, place of
worship, state licensed day care facility, public library, playground, or
public park. Again, this establishment would be in compliance with that
special requirement because no such uses are located within 400 feet of
the proposed business.
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Another piece of new information that you received this evening was a site
plan, and this is something that we really didn’t get a chance to look at too
carefully. But I think what it does show or illustrates is an attempt on the
part of the owner to make certain upgrades to the site, mostly in the form
of drainage and landscaping which shows he’s proposing trees along
Seven Mile Road as well as some bushes. There’s apparently a storm
sewer that runs along the west side of the property where there would be
some drainage improvements and additional new stairways would be
added. And I know that the person has been working with the Inspection
Department on making sure that all of the Code compliance problems are
taken care of. I know it’s a work in progress, I’m not sure if that maybe the
new staircases are a requirement from working with the Inspection
Department.
The Planning Commission is recommending denial of this petition and I’ll
be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
McIntyre: Thank you. Council, if no one has any questions for Mr. Taormina, we’ll
go to the petitioner.
Biskner: Good evening. My name is Brian Biskner, from Powell Engineering, 4700
Cornerstone Drive, White Lake, Michigan. I’m here on behalf of the
owner, Chand Marwaha, and I’m here also with Jonnita Stanton, she is the
owner of the massage studio therapy.
I want to start if I could by talking a little bit about what has changed in the
site plan we provided, the Planning Commission has seen it.
What Chand is proposing to do along the south side of the building that
fronts on West Seven Mile is remove the pavement, to move a few parking
spaces and he’s going to landscape the area appropriately according to
your ordinance. And if you view the building from West Seven Mile, that’s
where it is most sorely needed using some type of screen or buffer along
Seven Mile and he is prepared to add some landscaping. There currently
is no landscaping or any buffer on Seven Mile Road so we’ll remove a few
of those spots there and replace it with landscaping. We’re also going to
remove some of the sidewalk up against the building along the south edge
of the building we’re going to put some plantings to further increase some
of that screening on Seven Mile. The rear part of the building, he does
have to add another exit that is required by the Building Department. And
there’s a couple of minor small issues, I’m not sure exactly what they are
but they were described to me as fairly minor at the entrance to bring the
building up to Code. All that sidewalk along the back building will be
removed. The downspout drainage currently is PVC pipe laying on the
sidewalk that drains out into a swale that runs to the south. The building
will be dropped subgrade, graded in nicely and a new sidewalk installed.
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As I was driving by the site today on Lathers I noticed that there’s eight
existing trees along Lathers that are fairly mature as the building has been
there a while but there’s a large gap between the trees and we would ask
the help of Planning there to equalize that landscape screen along Lathers
Road there. You’ll notice that one of the main differences between the
site plan that was presented to the Planning Commission and I’d like to
address the four waiver requirements for the massage therapy. As Mark
mentioned, the two 400-foot isolation distances for permitted uses,
activities. Other than that, she is a licensed massage therapist and then
the fourth one is the hours of operation at first which she would need to
have indicated was 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. I want to ask the Planning
Commission to read through the minutes of the meeting that I think the
Planning Commission felt that the applicant had an incomplete, didn’t
have all their ducks in a row if I can paraphrase the minutes. I think we’re
a little bit closer to that and we wanted to make sure, but other than that if
you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.
McIntyre: Council? Councilmember Jolly.
Jolly: Through the Chair, can you provide an accurate answer as to how long
you’ve been in business with this operation, in this service?
Stanton: My name is Jonnita Stanton, Taylor, Michigan. And I’ve been operating
officially since about December of 2015. However, I was pregnant during
the time and didn’t know about the other tenant.
Jolly: Did the owner of the of the center not know it was a prohibited use? Is it a
situation that we’re claiming ignorance?
Marwaha: I was not aware of that.
McIntyre: Could you please state your name for us.
Marwaha: I am Chand Marwaha, and 3665 Valley View Lane, West Bloomfield,
Michigan. I was not aware of that, that was an error, and I apologize.
Brosnan: Through the Chair to the Law Department, as to the explanation provided
by Mr. Taormina and in the Planning Commission Meeting minutes, there
was a reference to illicit activities at the site. What specifically are these
pertaining to there?
Knapp: I’m not personally familiar with any illicit activities at the site, I’m not aware
of any cases being prosecuted. I can research that and provide an
answer, whether it was this petitioner or some previous petitioner that was
operating illegally.
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Marwaha: The owner wasn’t there and the employees did something not ethical.
Brosnan: Could you hold on? If you could look into that for us and anything relative
to that site that maybe important then to due process. Thank you.
Marwaha: May I say something? That incident I was not aware of that, the person
that rented that space, the person – the owner wasn’t there and the
employee did something that was not ethical. And I was not aware – at
2:00 in the morning I am not there and I found out after that and I
terminated their lease and kicked them out. And I took the writ of
execution to the Building Department. I went to the police station. In other
words, the activity was supposed to be illegal, we’re not exactly sure and
I’m not aware that the owner was aware of that. But somehow they are no
longer there and there are no incidents.
Brosnan: Thank you. I’m sure that will help Mr. Knapp as he proceeds with his
research.
Biskner: Also, I want to mention my error, it didn’t make it on the plan at the time,
Chand, for the record, is going to install four to six closed circuit TV
cameras around the building and is going to be clearly posted on the sign
that the property is under surveillance.
McIntyre: I have a follow-up question. As far as the cameras, will they capture just
the perimeter of the building or will they capture license plates?
Biskner: They are high definition cameras and that should create a relatively clear
image of the parking lot at night and depending on lighting, etc., and I
know at the sites where I use this, I have been very impressed when I
view the images, even from your basic Costco set of cameras that you get
off the shelf, they do a very, very high definition area. You should be able
to but I can’t speak to anything beyond that.
McIntyre: Thank you.
Jolly: Madam Chair.
McIntyre: Yes, Mr. Jolly.
Jolly: For the owner, can you tell us what efforts you’ve made to rent this space
out and be in compliance, why you need waiver use?
Marwaha: It is a financial hardship. The economy is very bad, it’s very hard to find
tenants. The cost of heating, cooling and it has to be kept up. So I don’t
plan to open another massage therapy in that building, if you ask me that
question, I will do my best to find office people like dentists, accountants.
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The economy is so bad, I have other tenants, but it’s very hard to find
office people, medical people to take that space.
Jolly: So who are your other tenants?
Marwaha: I told you I have an ophthalmologist there; I also have a computer
company. I also have a dentist, so I have some long tenants but to bring
new tenants is very difficult.
Jolly: So the tenants that you just listed off, can you give us an idea of how long
they’ve been there?
Marwaha: The computer has been there twenty years.
Jolly: How long is the lease going forward for each of those tenants?
Marwaha: They have 3-5 year leases. But the dentist has been there longer than
twenty years. The ophthalmologist has been there 25 years. But these
people are long term tenants. But bringing in new business is very
difficult. I have no intention to open another massage therapy that is not
permitted. I have a real interest to bring people, business people, office
people, medical people, that’s what I’m advertising for and campaigning
for. And I do not plan on bringing anymore and I do not want to bring any
more massage therapists. And the suite is only about 400 square feet out
of 10,000 square feet, it’s only 400 square feet out of 10,000, not a big
space.
Jolly: You’ve answered my question, thank you.
McIntyre: At this time, we’ll go to the audience.
Williams: My name is Gary Williams, 28112 Seven Mile. I don’t know where to start.
The dentist, I’m sorry, to make it clear, he’s no longer there. He makes
molars or dentures, he’s not a dentist. He was there for 15 years, he had
a good background, the guy, whatever the case is. I went to the
neighbors and boy, oh boy, did I get a good response that I’m not alone
out there. You know they’ve seen all the activity for all of these years, I
have some sign a petition that I used, can I present this?
McIntyre: If you would hand that to Mr. Taormina.
Williams: And then it went to that, but it’s a little informal but all of their information is
there and here’s about five of the mistakes that this guy has made in the
same types of businesses that have been under investigation outside
Livonia, a Federal investigation, I think there’s a few other ones. Officer
Painter, I’ve personally worked with him, I have his number on my cell
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phone. It’s been so bad over there; my wife is afraid. I have upped my
security at my house it’s so bad, I have cameras, we have guns in
everybody’s room, we have doors locked. The neighbors are tired of this
building, I have great neighbors, I have 95 percent support on Lathers that
they don’t want no more of this, and I’m going to get more and I’m not
going to stop. This guy is out of zone, he does not cater to handicapped,
he does not cater to – what is that, the American Disabilities Act, that you
advertise on your website for the City.
McIntyre: Mr. Williams, we are aware of the building violations.
Williams: And all the other businesses? What is that, a modeling school that you’ve
got in there?
McIntyre: Mr. Williams, if you’d address your comments to Council.
Williams: He’s got a new business but I can’t figure out what’s going on. They’ve
been there for about the last two weeks, well, they’ve got twenty people
out there in line like it’s a catwalk on the blacktop with music going, I don’t
know what it is. It just popped up and no previous business. There’s no
regulation over there on his business. He doesn’t give a crap.
McIntyre: Mr. Williams –
Williams: I apologize.
McIntyre: Mr. Williams, I’d like to ask you to keep your comments not your
supposition about whether businesses are licensed or not, but your
objection to the issue before us tonight.
Williams: I apologize.
McIntyre: No, you don’t need to apologize.
Williams: And you know I have some other issues, too. I mean we all know the
violations of these illegal businesses. I called you guys and told you that
this business has been opened and operating. I called the Zoning, the
Ordinance, I have their after hour numbers. I called Wayne County
Sheriff’s Department because I had nowhere else to go anymore because
I feel that I’ve exhausted, seven years of fighting this, can you imagine
that? I mean seven fricking years, I mean I’m tired. I don’t want to do this
no more. You know then he’s got the Fire Marshal problem, is there
sprinklers in there? You know there was a fire. The insurance agent
came over and begged us, did you please anything because it’s so
suspicious. I can’t prove anything, we can’t. No smoking gun but we have
a smoking building. The handicapped we just talked about, the public
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liability, insurance, the trash hasn’t been picked up. I had to call for two
days straight in a row that the trash is overflowing, bags all around the
place.
McIntyre: Excuse me, is this the office building garbage?
Williams: Yeah. It just goes on and on and on. I need some help over there, I
asked for State mediation, I need you to know I petitioned Bill Schuette’s
office, “I’m busy now, I’ll be slowing down in another two months and I
promise you I’m going to be very active with this.” And a few other
problems with the building. And thank you for setting me up Building, you
helped me out with that. But this building has got – something has to
happen. I’m tired, the neighborhood is tired, we have a school, we have a
park and we have a pool and we have a community that don’t want this for
too long. March 29, 2016, seven undercover officers with vests, M-16s
over there for three and a half hours. The reason I have that date burned
in my mind is we were having a party for my son, his birthday.
You know what Officer Caid said – or, Chief Caid. He’s executing a
building inspection violation. The whole neighborhood, we laughed at this.
But that’s fine, maybe it’s a need to know. I’m ex-military and I understand
that but come on, we’re ridiculous, come on. I’m tired and the whole
people are tired. It’s the same old, same old, seven years, seven years.
I’m sorry about this, I’m done. I’m sorry for being –
McIntyre: No need to apologize.
Williams: I’m just very angry about this whole thing.
McIntyre: I understand, we understand.
Williams: And now my wife came to me, she’s afraid because of all the criminal
activity and now I’ve got a target on my back. I’ll say one more thing.
When they didn’t raze that place, the morons, you might call them morons,
but the deviants would park on Lathers waiting for the prostitutes, I think it
was some Escape Massage and I would go up to them because they were
fools and I’d chase them away. But you know, I’m not the policemen
there, you know, I’m not a cop, I’m not City Council. I’m done.
McIntyre: All right. Thank you very much for your time. Council?
White: Madam Chair, I would offer both an approving and a denying.
McIntyre: Mr. Bahr.
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Bahr: Madam Chair, if I may, I just happened to notice that the business owner,
if I read her correctly, she had an explanation for what he said about lining
up in the parking lot. If I’m wrong, you don’t have to say anything, but if
you want to we will give you an opportunity, but if you’d rather not, you
don’t have to.
Stanton: There is a hair salon in the building and I know that she’s preparing for a
big show that she does every year to promote her business, so she uses
models for that day and they’re just practicing out there.
Marwaha: And walking on the parking lot is not a crime, it’s not something they do
every day, that’s number one.
McIntyre: Okay, okay. State your name.
Marwaha: I’m Chand Marwaha. I don’t understand this man.
McIntyre: Sir, sir, please address your comments to Council.
Marwaha: Let me address you with these concerns, this man is insane –
McIntyre: Okay. Excuse me.
Marwaha: The garbage issue --- they never put all the debris in the garbage and
when I was informed that point, I take care of it all. The garbage is picked
up once a week, every Thursday. The man who lives next door is also my
tenant, okay, he put all the debris there. Dan called me from the Building
Department, so I went there and took care of it. If you go right now, there’s
no garbage. I watch, I come down to this building sometimes at 1:00 in
the morning, I’m out and about someplace, I’ll come look at the building,
make sure it’s well lit up, make sure the garbage is properly picked up.
We have a maintenance man who services the parking lot and the inside
and outside of the building, he comes there twice a week. So I think the
statements he made here have no bearing. People have a right to walk
on the sidewalk and do what you want, I cannot stop them.
McIntyre: Okay, thank you.
Marwaha: I would appreciate it if you would consider this, please.
Brosnan: Madam Chair, through the Chair to the petitioner, sir, before you sit down,
what’s before us is a waiver use and you present us with great information
relative to building and site plan improvements that are intended to be
made. Should you be denied the waiver use, do you still intend to make
those improvements?
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Marwaha: Yes.
Brosnan: Thank you.
McIntyre: Council?
Marwaha: Can I take one minute, make one more comment. Regardless if the
approval is approved, the building I have for 25 years. I’ve made a lot of
improvements to this building, I continue. And if you have any better ideas
I would like to hear them. It’s not the building, it’s my pride also, the
building is my pride. I will listen to you. And I’ve listened to Jerome. He
called me, I listened to me. And Dan called from the Building Department,
I heard him and I have to go clean whatever he wants. So I assure you
that I will do anything in my power to make it better for the City.
McIntyre: Is there anything else from Council?
Bahr: Actually, can I speak to the business owner again, please, if you don’t
mind. I’m sorry I didn’t pose this to you earlier, but is this the first time
you’ve been in this business or have you done this prior?
Stanton: This is my first time. When I graduated school I immediately opened my
practice.
Bahr: So, you’re before us for a waiver use and I wonder, have you explored
other options within the City?
Stanton: I didn’t explore other options, I didn’t know that this was happening, so I
have not. And I did want to speak a little bit to the business because
there’s a lot of other things that are going on today that’s not really
pertaining to the use of this space for my massage practice, nothing has
been addressed in regards to what I do there.
Bahr: This is a waiver use for your business, but if there is something else you’d
like to share with us, but a document has been provided to us with your
policies, but if you have something else you can certainly do that now.
Williams: Excuse me –
McIntyre: No, sir. I didn’t know, I thought she was done.
Biskner: If I may, Jonnita just showed me a video, I haven’t seen the remodel that
she’s done on it and it looks beautiful and professional and I just wanted to
impress to the Board that it is a waiver use just for the use. The site plan
issues are different territory than the other. The site plan we are
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proposing, that will go forward. But tonight, I was just hoping that we
keep in mind that you’ve got a business there and I’m hoping you give that
consideration.
McIntyre: Let’s go back to Mr. Bahr, if there things like videos that show
improvements to the site, it would be very helpful to get them to Mr.
Taormina’s office so it can be shared with Council. If you’d like to talk
more about your business.
Stanton: So basically I’m a licensed massage therapist through the State of
Michigan. I’ve had a real estate license that I’ve held for the last thirteen
years. So I’m very familiar with licensing and the importance of the
standards that need to be adhered to maintain those licenses. Meaning,
things that were said here, the stuff that happened, that was someone that
is not me. The document that you have there, those are my practices, my
policies, the procedures that I have, pricing, and I help people. Massage
Therapy is being recognized more by the medical community. Doctors use
it, chiropractors use it, physical therapists use it and there are a lot of
people who tell me that I help them facilitate healing, you know, to where
they don’t have to take any medication. I work with a lot of therapists,
people in that area. And actually my Facebook page should have some
reviews from people in the area. And I’ve worked real hard to maintain
this space. So the reason that I have it in Livonia is because it’s in the
middle of where I live at and where my kids go to school, they go to school
at Catholic School in Novi. So I just wanted to speak and let you all know
that as far as my business, I take pride in it and I take pride in doing things
the right way and I would never do anything to jeopardize my licensing.
McIntyre: Are there any other questions for this person?
Jolly: I do. So, it was alluded to that you made improvements to the property,
you paid for those improvements yourself?
Stanton: I did, yes.
Jolly: Can you give us an estimate of how much you’ve invested in the building?
Stanton: I would say around approximately 1,000, $1,200, for paint, carpeting,
signage, little things like having signs on my restrooms, and carpet, paint,
things like that.
McIntyre: And it would be, if you have pictures, it would be very, very helpful for us
and if you could provide that to Mr. Taormina’s office he can share it with
Council and it would be very, very helpful.
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Meakin: One more question. You mentioned, alleged inappropriate behavior going
on at that facility prior to your being there, why would you select this
building if you knew there was a bad reputation?
Stanton: I didn’t know that they were there, I moved in before those people moved
in and when I came back from maternity leave, I saw that these people
occupied the space and I asked about them, like you know do they do
massage, and I was told yes. But as far as vacating their space, I actually
called my program director at the school I graduated from and asked her
what she thought and things like that, you know. I didn’t move in knowing
because yes, it does reflect on me.
Meakin: We’ve had a number of applicants come and ask us for waivers, you
know, nine out of ten work out perfectly, but we’ve had a couple that have
come and inappropriate things are happening. That’s why we’re being
extra cautious when we’re approving these waiver uses. So we wish you
the best of luck, but we want to make sure…
Stanton: Exactly, I agree.
Meakin: Thank you.
Marwaha: May I say one more thing?
McIntyre: Go to the podium, please.
Marwaha: What happened was after the fact, that she was here before and these
people came and were doing something that was not legally right. Neither
was I aware, it happened without our knowing. At 2:00 in the morning, I
was never there. So if people commit crimes when I’m not there. I would
give anything in the world to keep her, because I know she’s a good
person, she has done a lot. She even called me and said –
McIntyre: Okay. I do want to clarify one thing with Mr. Marwaha.
Marwaha: Call me Chand, please, it will be a little bit easier.
McIntyre: Mr. Chand. You did say you’re not there at 2:00 in the morning but you
told us that sometimes you’re there at 1:30.
Marwaha: I own shopping centers so when I am taking a ride, I’ll go by, I’ll make time
if it’s out of the way. I own shopping centers downriver and Commerce
Township. So when I’m coming from there, I will make a swing and go by
there and then go home.
McIntyre: Very good.
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Marwaha: But I care for the property, twenty-six years is a long time to own it. I tell
you going forward it will never happen again. And I have no intention of
bringing another massage therapist, that will be the last one.
McIntyre: Okay. We’ll go back to the audience one final time.
Williams: Thank you. Gary Williams, I think I’ve shown you really examples of legal
massage establishments over the years and criminal massage people
over the years, it shows that the man can’t manage the building at 1:30,
2:30, whatever, it don’t matter, coming from Bloomfield Hills, the facility
would have been knocked down a long time ago. But here’s the problem I
have to this: there’s no recourse for the neighbors around there. The
neighbors want to get involved. And I want to tell you one more thing on
this. There were five other handwritten disapprovals of this at the other
meeting –
McIntyre: Those are in our packets.
Williams: Okay, just want to let you know so you’re on board with that and I think
blah, blah, blah. I think I’m going to go out to dinner because I’m pretty
hungry and I do appreciate it, it’s been a fun seven years. Thank you very
much.
McIntyre: Thank you. I just want to inform the petitioner that the Regular Meeting
date for this item is Wednesday, September 7, 2016, and you will have to
be present on that date.
As there were no further questions or comments, the Public Hearing was
declared closed at 8:20 p.m.
SUSAN M. NASH, CITY CLERK