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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,206 - November 14, 2023 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,206th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,206th Public Hearing and Regular Meetings in the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. Mr. lan Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Members present: Sam Caramagno Glen Long Peter Ventura Ian Wilshaw Members absent: Wafa Dinaro David Bongero Mr. Jacob Uhazie, Planning and Economic Development Coordinator, and Stephanie Reece, Program Supervisor, were also present. Chairman Wilshaw 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 turn, will hold its own public hearing and make the final determination as to whether a petition is approved or denied. The Planning Commission holds the only public hearing on a request for preliminary plat and/or vacating petition. The Commission's recommendation is forwarded to the City Council for the final determination as to whether a plat is accepted or rejected. If a petition requesting a waiver of use or site plan approval is denied tonight, the petitioner has ten days in which to appeal the decision, in writing, to the City Council. Resolutions adopted by the City Planning Commission become effective seven (7) days after the date of adoption. The Planning Commission and the professional staff have reviewed each of these petitions upon their filing. The staff has furnished the Commission with both approving and denying resolutions, which the Commission may, or may not, use depending on the outcome of the proceedings tonight. ITEM #1 PETITION 2023-10-02-13 Shredder Livonia Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2023- 10-02-13 submitted by Michael Duffield requesting waiver use approval under Section 6.32 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to operate a ski and snowboard training facility (Shredder Livonia) at 32543 Schoolcraft Road, located on the south side of Schoolcraft Road between Hubbard Avenue and Farmington Road in the Northwest Y4 of Section 27. Mr. Uhazie: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Uhazie: November 14, 2023 31191 Good evening. This is a request to operate a ski and snowboard training facility. It is located on the south side of Schoolcraft between Hubbard Avenue and Farmington Road. The current zoning is M-1 (Light manufacturing). Approval to operate this type of use falls under Section 16.32 of the Zoning Ordinance. Because of the buildings, open spaces and high ceilings, industrial buildings are desired for fitness and training centers. A key criterion in determining whether this type is appropriate is ensuring that all parking and egress to the facility does not pose a safety hazard to interfere with regular traffic. The subject site measures approximately 160 feet by 577 feet for a total lot area of about 92,320 square feet. The multi -tenant industrial building on the site is approximately 31,000 square feet in size and is located near the middle of the property. Parking is located along the east side of the building. The surrounding neighborhood to the east and west are industrial uses of M-1 and M-2. To the south of the property is zoned PL and to the north is the 196 expressway. The proposal is for Shredders Livonia would occupy a middle unit in the building. The space measures 80 feet by 68 feet for a total of 5,440 square feet. The main entrance would be located in the southeast corner of the unit. The floor layout includes a lobby and reception area, two restrooms, a large open area with a 10-foot-high ramp and two six -foot -high ramps. The petitioner is not planning any exterior building modifications with this proposal. Parking would require a total of 22 parking spaces. Even though students could park anywhere on the site, there are at least 22 parking spaces in proximity to the subject unit. The business operation according to the petitioner would have an average class size of four to five young adults, most of whom are dropped off. The busier classes generally run in the afternoon and evening, and not during peak operating hours of the businesses in the complex. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Yes, please. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated October 18, 2023, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request, the Engineering Division has reviewed the above referenced petition. We have no objections to the proposed waiver use at this time, but would like to note the following items: 1. The subject parcel is assigned the address range of #32541 thru #32553 Schoolcraft Road, with the address of #32543 Schoolcraft Road being assigned to the overall parcel. 2. The legal description included with the submitted drawings appears to be correct, and should be used in conjunction with this project should the waiver use be approved. 3. The existing parcel is currently serviced by November 14, 2023 31192 public sanitary sewer, water main and storm sewer. The submitted drawings do not include any information regarding proposed services to the buildings, but we do not believe there will be any negative impacts to the system with the proposed usages. 4. Any work within the Schoolcraft Road right-of-way will require permitting through City of Livonia's Engineering Department." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated October 19, 2023, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to modify a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal with the following stipulations: 1. If space is sprinkled or fire alarm monitored, these systems must remain and function as designed. 2. Due to proximity of the ramps to egress doors and potential height of ramps; Exit signs, emergency lights may have to positioned for a better visual on egress routes. A further detailed plan review will take place when this division receives an official plan set" The letter is signed by Brian Kukla, Fire Marshal. The next letter is from the Division of Police, dated October 18, 2023, which reads as follows: `7 have reviewed the plans in connection with the petition. I have no objections to the proposal."The letter is signed by Paul Walters, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The next letter is from the Inspection Department, dated October 27, 2023, 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, Director of Inspection. The next letter is from the Finance Department, dated October 19, 2023, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the addresses connected with the above noted petition. As there are no outstanding amounts receivable, general or water and sewer, I have no objections to the proposal." The letter is signed by Connie Kumpula, Chief Accountant. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated October 23, 2023, which reads as follows: `In accordance with your request, the Treasurer's Office has reviewed the name and addresses connected with the above noted petition. At this time there are no taxes due. Therefore, I do not have an objection to this proposal. 2023 Summer taxes were received in the mail and posted paid in the afternoon of October 20, 2023." The letter is signed by Lynda Scheel, Treasurer. We did receive an email correspondence dated November 13, 2023 that reads: "To Whom it May Concern: I am writing to you because I cannot be there in person on Tuesday November the 14th re: above petition. The Macomb Group, located in the 32567 Schoolcraft building, directly next to property in question, is against the waiver to allow the facility in the 32451-32553 building to operate as a skate/sky November 14, 2023 31193 training facility. The Macomb Group has been in our building for 20 plus years and we have deliveries throughout the day. The added traffic in the easement area would greatly impact our daily business and create undue stress and liability issues that we do not wish to engage in. I do not wish to holdback an entrepreneur for doing business, I just ask that the City Planning Commission stick to its current Zoning Ordinance plan and not allow this type of business to operate in the location described in Petition 2023- 10-02-13": That email is signed Keith Schatko, Macomb Group. That is the extent of the correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: All right, thank you Mr. Uhazie. Is there any questions for our planning staff? I don't see any questions from our planning staff. The petitioner is in our audience. Good evening, sir. You're welcome to come forward to our podium. And we'll ask you to start with your name and address for our record. Michael Duffield, 32543 Schoolcraft, Livonia, Mil. I'm the owner operator of Shredder Livonia. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Duffield: Thank you for coming. Mr. Duffield. Is there anything else that you'd like to tell us about your business? Yes. So, Shredder is, as was stated, is an indoor training school for skiing for kids aged one through 10. And ifs designed to take out the environment of learning how to snowboard, the snow, the fear of the mountains and bring it in to an indoor safe, controlled fun environment for kids. so they can learn and make the day overall more enjoyable for families when they can get out to the hill, because half the time it's just, you know, two runs and a hot chocolate because they're tired or cold. They don't know what they're doing. It's hard to learn. This brings it inside in a quick little 40-minute session over seven-to-10-week course of lessons where they're learning on a curriculum that is based off of PSAI and AASI professional skiing and snowboarding instructors classes that are taught throughout the country. So, what they're being taught here, they can go anywhere out west or to a local hill and get lessons there as well and there they would be receiving the same type of instruction. So, the school is not designed to replace on mountain riding by any means, it's designed to help kids get there faster, safer, and have more fun with it. Like was stated earlier as well, it's a 40 minute class. It is a drop off style class, but most parents don't. If you think about like a swim class or soccer, a lot of parents love to sit there and watch their kids progress and learn, and that's the whole point of that lobby area there and have it nice and wide open for them to watch. So with you know, I can understand the safety concerns November 14, 2023 31194 within the industrial area, and I appreciate this waiver -use get an opportunity to bring this here. It's like there's going to be parents and you know, helping the little ones get in and out of the class and only four at a time. So it's only gonna be very, very light traffic throughout each hour kind of at one time, and luckily how we have it set up on the site plan here of how this building is set up, all of the parking is on one side of the building and the shipping receiving for this building is all on another avenue. They do not share a ramp and will not cause any strife to any type of delivery being made at this building once it gets filled up with other tenants or any other adjacent building. And as well, luckily that the width of the front lot of the building, there's at least the required parking in that designated area. We know a lot of parking in front of it, but it is first come first serve. But there's a lot in that front area that at a max time, you know, every hour can only see five or six vehicles, tops. So really excited to bring this to Livonia and get kids learning how to ski and snowboard. Mr. Wilshaw: We appreciate your presentation. Let's see if we have any questions from any of our commissioners for you. Does anybody have any questions for our petitioner? Mr. Ventura, Mr. Ventura: Mr. Duffield: Mr. Ventura: I was not able to attend the study session so if these questions have been asked and answered you can just tell me that. Looking at the lobby area, is that an enclosed area? It'll be wide open, so it'll just be like your half height pony wall. So, the only walls will be those bathrooms. Those won't even be full height to the ceiling either because the bottom of the joist are 16 feet right and then yeah, and on the left side there is a big kind of U shaped desk that we would utilize for the front reception area for check in, answering phone calls, monitoring the facility, and then that lobby area does have a dividing wall but it's only a partial height.point. I see the pony walls. You'll have seating there so parents can watch. How do your students get up to the 10-foot-high ramp platform or the six -foot -high ramp platform? I don't see the stairs. Mr. Duffield: They walk up them either strapped into the skis or definitely not the board. Mr. Ventura: They walk up the incline? Mr. Duffield: Correct. Yeah, it's only a 15-degree slope. So, the design of the L-shape for the two little ones is just to be a one-way traffic. One way up. One way down. Then the big ramp is about 20 to 25 feet November 14, 2023 31195 wide. So enough room to unstrap and have them walk up either...you know, depending on the age, there's the one to three classes, the parents are involved. So, parents have to be there, and those kids aren't getting on the big ramp anyway, at that time. And then four to 10, depending on their skill level, either learning to carry the ski, so that's also part of it. Part of being on the mountain is carrying skis, carrying the board, carrying your equipment because it gets heavy for parents lugging around. I have a seven- and four -year -old and I do that every weekend. But yeah, it's walking up the ramp on each side...it's a little way up on one side. Some of the facilities out west...I forgot to mention, this is a franchise that we're bringing here. It is based in Colorado. Six currently in Colorado that has been operating for 12 years, and we will be the first to bring this to Michigan. A couple of facilities there do have little handrails to kind of help the kiddos up on the side, as well, if needed. So that's not in the design right now, but should it be needed, and I don't think it is from the classes that I've seen out there and using the ramps myself, it's easy enough and small enough pitch that they can walk up. Mr. Ventura: Okay. I guess my last observation is that it appears that the bathrooms are 10 feet away from the bottom of the ramp. Is that the side they would be going up? I'm just thinking if somebody came down outside, they could easily run into the bathroom. Mr. Duffield: That's a great observation. That is designed to be the up direction. We will have that labeled. That's an instruction led class. There's a chance that it will but ifs not designed to be that way at least. Mr. Ventura: Okay, thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Duffield: Thank you, and Mr. Duffield, can you give us your background in training, in snowboarding, skiing, I know you have some experience? I started snowboarding when I was 13. So over 23 years now. I skied for two years and have been snowboarding ever since. In college I taught some classes at the local hill at Michigan Tech, as well. I taught for two and a half years there and was also part of the mountain crew just doing maintenance around the hill. I have not taught skiing classes but have done enough snowboarding, and also with my little girls again, four- and seven- year -old, they've been snowboarding since they were two, so going into their fifth and third seasons this year and I've taught in that realm. Plus, aside from the teaching aspect of things, just management positions that I've had as well in school at a local Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Long: Mr. Duffield: Mr. Long: Mr. Duffield: November 14, 2023 31196 pizza restaurant, and in my current work job as well. So having that business aspect to it, tie it all together. Excellent. Thank you that helps us understand your background as well. Any other questions for our petitioner? It said the class size is four? Four kids, correct. Okay. And so that, obviously, that's small, what's your hours of operation? How many? And how many kids do you envision having. I am planning on anywhere from eight to seven, eight to eight, maybe starting at nine, depending on the demand needs Every facility is different. Different scheduling. Different timing. So, it all depends on what people would like to sign up for and what they do, but we're going to be available to be there for them. And we'll... obviously, the first year there is gonna be a lot of fluctuation of when we will be scheduling and see when the peak is, but it will be, you know, eight to nine- ish from six to seven or so. And the very beginning with, you know, getting people introduced to it and minimal staff, it'll be one class an hour, so just gonna be the four students every hour, one instructor. As we start to grow, we can start overlapping those classes every 20 minutes or so. So, at peak times, I think the, you know, the biggest facility out there is doing three classes an hour for a couple hours starting on the hour, on the 20, and on the 40, and then that way, it's designed to have, you know, a quick 40-minute thing for the kids and there's a 20-minute break for the instructor. So regardless of what their schedule, there's always that 20-minute break for the employee. So very, very peak. I don't foresee us getting to that three in an hour, at least for a few years. If we get to that point. But definitely that overlap in and having eight students there, which could potentially mean eight to 10 cars. Depending on how many employees we have working at a time. Mr. Long: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Caramagno: Mr. Duffield: Thank you, Mr. Long. Any other questions? How do you advertise yourself in the metro Detroit area? How do you let people know you're here? It's gonna be a lot of word of mouth to start and social media advertising and getting the local papers. Trying to do a lot of, you November 14, 2023 31197 know, brochures, just getting the name out there, telling as many people as we can. All of our friends in the area and investing a little bit more in marketing in the beginning, because the franchise is helping us establish that internet social media presence and getting Internet searches set up. So, if people are starting to search different classes, we can pop up on that front. And it's been word of mouth for them as well is how they've been as successful as they've been. Once a parent and students get in there, they tell all their friends about hey, check out this awesome class my kid is doing and it's something different, other than these other activities that we have all signed up and you might want to check it out. So, we're not going to be relying on the word of mouth at first, we will be doing a little bit more. We will reach out to local reporters trying to get adverts in the paper ads in different types of magazines and local areas and not just Livonia but the surrounding cities as well. Mr. Caramagno: How about any signage on this property? Mr. Duffield: No, we will have window decals and stickers on the door. I know we will have...we were looking at maybe having one on the outside depending on what we can get approval with the city, but it's not proposed right now because it's not needed. It's a destination type facility. They don't need people driving by seeing the sign and be like, hey, I'm gonna check that out. Because that's not the classes that we offer. That's the destination class. So once they find it the first time, they're gonna know exactly where it is what to do. Mr. Caramagno: Two more questions. You'd mentioned rentals. Last time you met with us at the planning study session, you mentioned rentals. Are the rentals for use in your building? Or is it...are the rentals for taking to say Mount Holly, Mount Brighton somewhere around here? Mr. Duffield: Correct. Yeah, so in the facility, we will have all the equipment that is needed for the students. They're encouraged to bring their own helmets for safety, but we obviously don't have extra on hand, but that is included in the cost of the class and sign up for the sessions is the equipment needed to participate. The rental program is going to be separate and that would be students wanting to rent for either a season, or a weekend and taking it to the local hill. Mr. Caramagno: And then the final question I've got is once you're approved, how long will it take you to build this out? When will you be open? Mr. Duffield: November 14, 2023 31198 We are shooting for January, as soon as we can. It's the...luckily the buildings that we have to do, it's not much. The landlord is luckily gonna help us with the bathrooms on that front area. Those two ramps, there's a company that the franchise has used before for all six facilities called Urban Mountain. They're gonna come out and they said it takes a week to construct those laid on the floor. It's called dolmar. It's like a gymnastics mat that just covers the floor. So it's nice soft cushioning is type material. And as long as things go according to plan, then luckily it's, you know, not much demo in the building that's completely wide open now. A month or two at the max. Mr. Caramagno: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. Any other questions for our petitioner? And I don't think there's anyone in the audience. But if there's anyone in the audience wishing to speak, I don't see anybody. I wanted to give that opportunity since it is a public hearing. Mr. Duffield, is there anything else that you would like to let us know before we make our decision? Mr. Duffield: No, thank you. Thank you for everything Thank you for your time very much. Mr. Wilshaw: Well, thank you for being here. And we're gonna make our decision here in just a moment. I will close the public hearing at this time and a motion is in order. On a motion by Long, seconded by Ventura, and unanimously adopted, it was #11-66-2023 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2023-10-02-13 submitted by Michael Duffield requesting waiver use approval under Section 6.32 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, to operate a ski and snowboard training facility (Shredder Livonia) at 32543 Schoolcraft Road, located on the south side of Schoolcraft Road between Hubbard Avenue and Farmington Road in the Northwest % of Section 27, be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. The site plan, identified as Project Number S0.1, dated October 17, 2023, prepared by Rushfield L.L.C., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to. November 14, 2023 31199 Adequate off-street parking shall be provided to comply with the parking requirement for employees and patrons under Section 9.05 of the Zoning Ordinance. 3. Only conforming signs are approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 4. The specific plan referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time of application for building permits and 5. Under Section 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, this approval is valid for one year only from the date of approval by the City Council. Unless the appropriate permits are obtained, this approval shall be null and void at the expiration of said period. FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was given in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.13 of Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended. Mr. Wilshaw: Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. It will go on to the City Council with an approving resolution. ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF 2024 PLANNING COMMISSION SCHEDULE Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the 2024 Planning Commission Schedule. Mr. Wilshaw: All right, we've had a chance to look at that. I believe we discussed that our study meeting and there was no significant changes offered, as I recall from anyone. So, if that's the case, I think we can just receive and file at the direction of the Chair and we'll have our schedule for the next year. No objections from anybody. So, we'll mark that as a receive and file at direction of the Chair and with that we will now move on to the last item on our agenda. ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,205th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting November 14, 2023 31200 Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,205th Public Hearing and Regular Meeting held on October 17, 2023. On a motion by Long, seconded by Ventura , and unanimously adopted, it was: #11-67-2023 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,205th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on October 17, 2023, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Long, Ventura, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: Dinaro, Bongero ABSTAIN: None Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,206th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on November 14, 2023, was adjourned at 7:27 p.m. ATTEST: lan Wilsha . - .ir-m-n CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Sam aramagno, Secretary