HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,237 - October 28, 2025 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,237h PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the City Planning Commission of the City of
Livonia held its 1,237th Public Hearing and Regular Meetings in the Livonia City
Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan.
Mr. Ian Wilshaw, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
Members present: Patrick Droze
Ian Wilshaw
Members absent: Peter Ventura
Sam Caramagno Glen Long
David Bongero Wafa Dinaro
Mr. Jacob Uhazie, Assistant Planning Director, Kristoffer Canty, Planner IV, 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 2025-09-01-01 J & J Land Holding
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda Petition 2025-
09-01-01 submitted by J & J Land Holdings LLC, under Section
13.15 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended, requesting
to rezone the property at 13400 Newburgh Road, located at the
southeast corner of Newburgh and Schoolcraft Roads in the
Northwest '/4 of Section 29, from M-1 (Light Manufacturing
District) to C-2 (General Business District) to construct a gas
station and convenience store.
Mr. Uhazie:
Mr. Wilshaw:
Mr. Uhazie:
October 28, 2025
32041
As mentioned, this is a request to rezone the property at 13400,
Newburgh Road from M-1 to C-2. The reason for the request is
to remodel the existing building to be a gas station and
convenience store. It is located on the southeast corner of
Newburgh and Schoolcraft Roads. The property size measures
29,756 square feet, with about 172 feet of frontage along
Newburgh Road and 173 feet of frontage along Schoolcraft Road.
The site is currently vacant but was previously occupied by the
Bering Service Company, which has since moved. The adjacent
properties of the site to the east, west and south are all zoned M-
1 as well. To the north is the 1-96 freeway. The Future Land Use
Plan identifies the site as Tech and Manufacturing. These areas
should serve the community's need for research facilities,
warehouses, manufacturing and other light industrial
opportunities, or corporate campuses. Under Section 6.26 of the
zoning ordinance, gasoline service stations are allowed in the C-
2 zoning, subject to waiver -use approval. The conceptual
proposal shows the existing building footprint would be reduced
and converted to a gas station and convenience store. The
building would be 4,920 square feet. There would be a canopy
added to the north of the building with fueling pumps for eight.
The site plan proposes four drive approaches, two along
Newburgh and two on Schoolcraft. As you will hear, Fire,
Engineering and Police have all expressed concern over the
egress locations closest to the intersection. The site plan
provides 11 parking spaces, one of which is barrier free and does
satisfy the parking requirements for that use. With that, Mr.
Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence.
Yes, please.
The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated October 6,
2025, which reads as follows: "In accordance with your request,
the Engineering Division has reviewed the above -mentioned
petition. We have no objections to the proposed rezoning at this
time, but would like to note the following items: 1. The subject
parcel is assigned the address of #13400 Newburgh. Should
additional addresses be needed, the Owner will need to contact
this Department once approvals have been obtained. The legal
description included with the drawings appears to be correct and
should be used for the rezoning if the proposal is approved. 2.
The existing parcel is currently serviced by public sanitary sewer,
storm sewer and water main. Utility information has not been
submitted with the drawings, but we do not believe there will be
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any adverse effects to these systems from the proposed project.
3. As noted, no utility information has been provided, but it should
be noted that any proposed construction will be required to meet
the Wayne County Stormwater Ordinance, including detention. 4.
Per the submitted drawings, four approaches to the property are
proposed. Due to the proximity to the intersection, one or more of
the approaches may need to be eliminated, or have restrictions
on turning movements. A traffic study may be required to justify
the proposed amount of approaches and turn movements." 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 15, 2025, which reads as follows: "This office has
reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to
modify a commercial building on the property located at the above
referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal. 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 13, 2025, which reads as follows: "I have reviewed the
plans in connection with the petition. Newburgh and
Schoolcraft is historically a high crash intersection and the
addition of this development should be carefully analyzed. Any
landscaping planned on the north side of the development
should be limited in height to reduce any sight distance issues
with traffic exiting the development onto eastbound
Schoolcraft. The new proposed drive approach on Newburgh
at the northwest corner of the property should be limited to
right turns only due to its proximity to the intersection." The
letter is signed by Paul Walters, Sergeant, Traffic Bureau. The
next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated October 6,
2025, which reads as follows: "All taxes have been paid on this
property" The letter is signed by Susie Nash, Treasurer. That is
the extent of the correspondence.
Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any questions for planning staff?
Mr. Droze:
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Uhazie, I emailed about this the other
day, and I asked a question. Just for clarification purposes, the
rezoning application suggests from M-1 to C-3 zoning, and I
understand that...1 think that the staff is of the opinion that the C-
2 is more appropriate. One of the things that I think we're to
review as part of a rezoning request is, you know, is what this is
being requested for, the most appropriate use, and maybe just
provide your opinion about why the C-2 is more appropriate.
Mr. Uhazie:
Mr. Droze:
Mr. Uhazie:
October 28, 2025
32043
Correct, the petitioner did originally apply under C-3 but after
discussing with petitioner and staff, it was determined that C-2
would be the most appropriate land use for the site. C-3 would
probably be a little bit too intense for the area.
And I guess in terms of too intense...just out of curiosity...
It would allow a lot more uses that in the future, if this were ever
to be changed from a gas station, to something else, it would
allow a lot more permitted uses by right, as opposed to the C-2.
Mr. Droze: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Droze. Any other questions for staff? If not, our
petitioner is in the audience, feel free to come forward to our
podium. We'll ask that you start with your name and address for
our record.
Brandon Grysko, Fausone & Grysko, 41700 Six Mile Road, Northville Township,
MI 48168, and I'm here also with the owner of the property, the
owner operator for the fueling station, Mr. Hamade, as well as Mr.
Wright which is the project architect. I put together just a brief
slideshow, which Jacob has been kind enough to place up here
on the screen. I also have hard copies, to the extent that anybody
wants those. I just want to say, first of all, thanks for having us
here tonight. I really appreciate the opportunity to address the
commission. Also, it's always a pleasure working with the Livonia
planning staff. They're top-notch professionals. So, 1 don't know
if you just want to get...I just wanted to show sort of just kind of a
Google kind of shot of, kind of what this looks like now. And if you
want to jump to the next one. A conceptual look at what this could
be. One of the things that is of interest with respect to the Master
Plan is that it references the fact that the Master Plan is such that
it wants improvements to these sites. It wants esthetic
improvements to these sites. This is something that I got from
Book Two, page 20 of the Master Plan, or something like this. I
think this is something that clearly would meet that sort of
objective within the framework of what the Master Plan is looking
for and allows for. I did just want to take the opportunity to show,
although this is only conceptual this time, this is a pretty fair
representation of what they would hope that this site could
become, sort of, instead of the kind of, sort of the boxy, sort of
building that they have now, something that's a little more light
and vibrant with some with some pretty nice landscaping and
things like that. So, I just wanted to take the opportunity to show
conceptually what the site could look like. If you would just pop
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over to the next slide there, and I know that most of the
commissioners had the opportunity to meet Mr. Hamade at the
study meeting. So, I do appreciate the commissioners taking the
opportunity to get to know him a little bit. I want to point out that
Mr. Hamade is a small business owner and has been in business
for 20 plus years in the community. Excellent reputation in the
community and is looking to put $2 to $3 million into the property,
between acquisition costs and development costs. He's going to
own and operate this fueling station in conjunction with several
others that he already has and operates as a good community
partner. Another half million dollars is going to go into fast EV
chargers on the site, should the rezoning get approved, and then,
should the site plan be approved. This is the plan for the site, is
to have those amenities available. The other piece that I want the
commissioners to be aware of is that the security systems on site
where there's going to be sort of a top-notch security system
using artificial intelligence, this system is going to deter crime,
and it's also going to assist the police in solving crimes and
investigating traffic crashes and things like this. So not
necessarily directly pertinent to the ordinance criteria, I
understand that. I'm going to get to those just in a minute here
but did want to take the opportunity to sort of address some of the
amenities and some of the esthetics that this project is going to
bring to the table. And I know the commissioners are very well
familiar with this, so I would sort of be remiss not to include it, but
I did just sort of include the ordinance factors to have it as a touch
point, as some of the things that I'm going to be covering within
the presentation here tonight. If you want to jump to the next one
there, and this is where I start to get into some of that, the
ordinance criteria. Specifically, I just want the commissioners at
least our perspective that the fuel station that's being proposed
here tonight is totally in continuity with the Master Plan. This is
one of the things that I mentioned. This is a direct quote from the
Vision 21 Master Plan that "we want to gradually improve the
appearance of these areas", which is the area in question here,
which is calling for tech and manufacturing. "Want to gradually
improve the appearance of these areas while retaining them as
cost effective locations to support new and existing businesses in
the city". So again, directly from the Master Plan document here,
and what do we have here today, right, is somebody that's looking
to improve the appearance of this, that's going to be something
that's going to exist sort of in continuity with the existing district,
and it's going to support a new business as well. And the other
thing I wanted to suggest is that this is actually really similar to a
lot of the uses that already sort of allowed within the M-1 districts.
I know we're looking to go to C-2 which, as chance would have it
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32045
as a waiver -use and not a use by right, for fuel stations. But
regardless, what do you have in the M-1 district that would be
allowed? highway services, okay. And I think we can see how this
is sort of consistent with that. Automotive uses. I've got a slide
here in the in a couple slides that shows the different automotive
uses that are in the direct immediate vicinity. Truck stops,
actually, if there was a large enough lot, you'd be able to do a
truck stop in the M-1 zoning district, and also petroleum product
storage. So, I hope the commissioners can see that when we're
talking about a fueling station, we're not talking about something
that is uncharacteristic for an industrial type area, but rather
something that is more or less in continuity with the types of uses
that would already be allowed within the M-1 zoning district. And
so again, this is just, this is just sort of a Google Map screenshot
here. I've got four red boxes on the screen that are that I created.
And then you can also see, there's the pin dropped at the
southeast corner of Newburgh and Schoolcraft there. That pin, of
course, is the site that we're talking about here, 13400, Newburgh
Road. Those red boxes are, you know, sort of, according to
Google, the automotive uses that are in the area. So, you've got
sort of a classic car repair, a collision shop, again, areas that have
traffic in and out of them, vehicles in and out of them, and more
or less consistent with a fuel station type, type of use. Well, I can't
read that from over here. So I think, as it pertains to one of the
things that we had talked about at the last meeting, is, you know,
why is this site no longer, you know, fit, so to speak, for industrial
use. I think the first point, which is actually the second point on
the slide there, is that the existing owner of that property, the
bearing company that's been there for a really long time, actually
moved out of there because it's too small to suit the industrial
uses that they had been occupying the property with, and they
had to move into somewhere bigger. And this is after already
having modified the site to make it a little bit bigger. So, they really
had exceeded the potential for that site as far as the industrial
use goes. And there were no other industrial properties that came
in with strong economic offers for their purposes. And so I think
we can sort of infer from that that the highest and best use of the
property is the one that Mr. Hamade has put up and is investing
in this property, for which is the fuel station. Obviously, is going
to require the rezoning here, but I think for purposes of tonight,
the building is relatively small footprint as far as things go. So
when you're looking at an industrial or warehousing type use and
warehousing, I think primarily is what it was before you don't have
the footprint or the size that you really need to get into that space
and to be able to maximize the potential of the site there. Again,
a couple of points l talked about at the at the study meeting, but
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I'll highlight here, as well is that, in keeping with the theme of sort
of that this is in continuity with the sort of industrial uses that we
have. We've got motorists that are going to be driving through
here. We've got employees that are going to be part of, you know,
the industrial parks that are back there, and they need
somewhere to go, to eat, to shop, to fuel their vehicles. People
coming off the freeway are going to be looking for a place to fuel
up and things like that as they're passing through town. And so
this is a use that's really going to serve and provide amenities for
both the employees and then also the guests to the community
and the motorists that are going to be coming through. Now, this
is a little bit of the boring. I'll be honest about that. So one thing
that I wanted to do is, is show, kind of like, how, how is the city,
how is the city zoning, sort of similar areas within town in terms
of sort of the industrial areas along the freeway. Okay, so this is
a snapshot from the city zoning map that's up on the website for
the Farmington and Schoolcraft area. So, if we just look on the
south side of the freeway there, you see the Tight blue taking up
the majority of the south end of the freeway there. And those light
blue areas are going to be industrial type areas. And the red
areas on the corner are going to be commercial uses. Similarly,
if you go to the northwest, on the northwest corner there, you've
got a little chunk parcel there that's sort of a little bit darker blue,
also an industrial type use. And again, you've got on that corner
a gas station, which I can't recall if it's C-2 or C-3 right there, but
again, ifs one of those commercial type uses there. And spoiler
alert, this is going to be sort of a pattern that we're going to see
as we travel east along the freeway from Farmington to Merriman
to Middle Belt. And you've got three corners on that one that are
sort of taken up by fuel stations. So as we look to the Merriman
zoning map, just get to that page again. So south of the freeway
Merriman and Schoolcraft, what do you have? You see sort of
light blue, dark blue, which are sort of the industrial type zoning
areas. And right on the corner you've got punctuated with red,
and on the southwest corner there is a gas station, of course, and
also the northwest corner, and on the north side anyhow, and
similar to Farmington, you've got sort of residential areas kind of
close by there, which is just an issue we don't have here, which
actually, I think would be make it even more appropriate in our
case, versus some of these other cases. Middle Belt, so not as
much here in the way of gas stations. But again, you see this kind
of consistent pattern of industrial areas and the corners are sort
of punctuated with the commercial uses. And that's essentially
the exact same thing we're trying to do here. By taking this from
M-1 to C-2, you're going to see that same type of punctuation,
just like you see along Farmington, about a mile and a half away,
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and then a mile from that, Merriman, and then another mile from
that Middle Belt. Just a summation of the different various things
that we talked about on this slide. One of the things I did want to
point out, though, as Jacob was kind enough to mention some
issues identified with respect to access and egress from the site,
but no real objections from the department heads. You've got
issues to work through within the framework of site planning, but
nothing I don't think that really impacts the zoning, although traffic
obviously is a factor in considering whether to rezone a property,
and it's something that I know the commission will take into
account appropriately. But Newburgh Road right there, if I'm not
mistaken...the City of Livonia has the ability to implement the
traffic control order there and provide for right turns only through
site planning, the Commission and the City Council would be able
to do essentially the same thing. So, these are all issues that I
think would be fairly easy to work through within the framework
of site planning. I think I mentioned this earlier, probably, but
within the M-1 zoning district, you've already got a lot of different
components to a fueling station, right? So, you've got the ability
for retail, you've got the ability for highway services, you've got
the ability for automotive uses, you've got the ability for parking.
If you take all these things and sort of mix them together, you
essentially end up with what would be a fueling station. And so I
think the components all there, the industrial zoning district is
generally a higher intensity use, and the C-2 commercial zoning
district is much lower of an intensity of usage. And so I think from
that perspective, you're going from an area of higher intensity to
lower intensity, which is something that a lot of communities, I
think, would take into account. I hope that the Commission takes
that into account as well, that you're taking something relatively
consistent, and you're not making it more intense than what the
district can handle, but rather dialing it back a little bit. And of
course, as I said, the petitioner is here. He's going to be the owner
operator and is willing to answer questions, and so is the
architect. Of course, the plans are conceptual at this point, and
so we don't have the full slate before the commission, but we are
happy to answer any of the questions that may have come up
throughout the course of the presentation or otherwise.
Mr. Wilshaw: Well, thank you, Mr. Grysko, for your presentation. I appreciate
that, and you did a nice job of framing the topic that I was just
going to talk about, which is that, you know, we are looking at the
rezoning of this property right now. This is a multi -step process
right now. You're looking to rezone to a zoning that would in this
case, C-2, is what we're discussing tonight, which, under a
waiver -use would allow a fueling station and if the rezoning is
Mr. Droze:
Mr. Grysko:
October 28, 2025
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favorable and carries on, then the second part of the process
would then be the site plan process that you would come back to
us for, and that's where we would actually discuss all the details
of the layout of the site, the building, the materials, colors, hours,
lighting, and all those things. So tonight, for the sake of what we
have before us, is the zoning. So, there's not going to be a ton of
discussion around the actual site plan. There may be, as you
said, it's conceptual. There may be a few general questions we
have for you, but we're going to try to focus our discussion on the
zoning and the proposed use as it relates to that. So, with that
again, thank you for your presentation. Is there any questions
from any of our commissioners for our petitioner? Mr. Droze.
Thank you Mr. Chair. I echo Chairman Wilshaw's comments
regarding your presentation. I think a lot of things that we look at
as part of these requests were covered very nicely, especially on
the Schoolcraft corridor. I guess getting into the details of the plan
a little bit is one of the things that I'm looking at, at least, is just to
make sure that the use that's being requested can fit within the
site. I did notice that there's what looks like a shared driveway on
the east side, which is going to be pretty critical to making this
site happen. And it looks like there's a...one of the exceptions on
the Alta survey it lists that there's a looks like a shared easement
or something like that. And I guess maybe just if the team could
speak to the relationship with the neighbor, and if you guys are
comfortable that you know, you able to work through if there are
any sort of drive alterations on Schoolcraft.
I'll let, I'll let somebody else speak to that. But as an attorney. I
feel the need to comment on everything, of course, so I'm going
to comment anyway. I believe the parcels used to be under
shared ownership, under common ownership, and so probably at
the time that it's split off, there were arrangements made. But I
don't know if you have Scott if you know for a fact, go ahead,
please.
Steve Hamade, owner. We met last week and thank you for the opportunity to hear
our case today. Regarding the easement, this was, as Brandon
expressed, that the whole parcel was owned by the same owner
I purchased the land with, and because he sold them that small
parcel gave them the rights to use the entrance, so that's where
it's at. So, they are allowed to use the entrance for their business.
They also have another entrance that they currently use as well.
So, they're using my parking lot, using, you know, a big portion of
the parking lot and using the entrance as well. I have no issue
with that. Thank you.
Mr. Wilshaw:
Mr. Droze:
Mr. Wilshaw:
Mr. Caramagno:
Mr. Hamade:
October 28, 2025
32049
Thank you. Mr. Droze.
Thank you.
Okay, is there any other questions for our petitioner? Mr.
Caramagno.
How did you go about finding this property and determining that
it needs a gas station? What was your process there?
Well, it was, I was just driving in the area, and I seen the for sale
sign there, and I been in the business for over 32 years. I know
gas stations. Fueling stations need high traffic. It needs a corner,
and I seen that it was a viable option to explore, and I didn't think
I could actually get that parcel because it was so many people
have had put bids on it, but I guess I was the highest bidder. And,
you know, I'm very happy and ecstatic about opening my first
business in Livonia.
Mr. Caramagno: There was another question I had. So, you've got other
businesses, this will be your first in Livonia.
Mr. Hamade: Yes.
Mr. Caramagno: Okay, and then this is a unique piece of property is, from what I
can tell. You know, obviously ifs a major thoroughfare. No gas
stations on a major thoroughfare, so its gotten by forever without
a service station. And it seems like you're stumbling up on a good
opportunity here. So, I personally like it, but that's my opinion.
Mr. Hamade: Thank you. So in 1972 when that building was built, traffic was
probably a lot less than today, and it wouldn't have been viable
for any C-2 or, you know, convenience store at that time. Now
that traffic is probably 50 times more than it was since 1972 and
the industrial area there. They need people. They need a fueling
station with convenience and food, fresh food to serve them.
Mr. Caramagno: Thank you.
Mr. Hamade:
Mr. Wilshaw:
Most welcome.
Thank you. Mr. Caramagno, any other questions for our
petitioner? No, okay, Mr. Hamade, just a quick question for you.
You said that you own some other gas stations. I know you own
Mr. Hamade:
Mr. Wilshaw:
Mr. Hamade:
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32050
other businesses as well, but more focused on the gas stations.
Can you tell us where some of those are located?
Correct. I own one on the border of Livonia and Westland at Joy
and Newburgh. It's a Sunoco Gas Station.
On the southwest corner.
Southwest corner, yes, and I ran a burger shop out of there with
my family. And during the pandemic, it kind of... it was hard to get
employees, and we kind of idled it. And it was a great concept.
And so, the other location is on Warren and Venoy, Warren and
Newburgh, sorry, and all my sites are designated as emergency
sites for the City of Westland. We have a great partnership
together that I provide for them, 24-hour generator in case there's
any storms or anything like that. They're designated as, as
Brandon knows, as a emergency site for police, fire and they get
their fuel from me as well. The other location is on Warren and
Venoy, which is my first station after... in Garden City, after I left
Detroit. That was my first station 19. I bought it in 91 And the other
location is on Warren and Merriman. Sn old Clark station that I
rehabbed and did a beautiful job on it. So, you're more than
welcome to take a tour with me there and see how I operate. It's
very clean, very well lit, nicely landscaped.
Mr. Wilshaw: Well, that's why I asked the question, because it gives us an
opportunity to see some of your other work in action, and those
will, I'm sure, speak for the type of development that you're
looking for here as well. So, thank you. All right, good. If there's
no other questions for the petitioner, I don't see anything from any
commissioners. I will go to the audience. Is there anyone in the
audience wishing to speak for or against this petition? If so,
please come forward.
Mr. Wilshaw: Good evening, sir.
Brian Auerbach, 14299 Stonehouse, Livonia, MI. Thank you for having me here. I
am very familiar with this area, and I've lived there for 25 years.
You know, I put some notes down here, but after hearing the
petitioner, I appreciate the information and how they presented it,
and it's compelling. Great corner. Lot of traffic. However, I can
say myself, living there for 25 years, I've never once looked at
that corner and said to myself, geez, I wish there was a gas
station or convenience store there. You know, I have two gas
stations, convenience stores, just barely a mile north, at Five Mile
and Newburgh, and one of them is a 24-hour station. And rarely,
Mr. Wilshaw:
Mr. Auerbach:
Mr. Wilshaw:
October 28, 2025
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if ever, do I see them overwhelmed with vehicles or people
utilizing the facility. So you mentioned the traffic, and I certainly
think a traffic study should be employed here, because living
there, I do see the amount of traffic, and I think that is a definite
consideration when you guys are folks are doing the due
diligence and deciding whether or not to rezone this. So other
things that I had here that I think apply, certainly with the Vision
21 plan that was implemented, and this doesn't fit that plan. It's a
variance that moves away from that, and I get the fact that it's not
a large parcel, but it does still offer a great location near the
freeway for folks to access from outer, whether it be Ann Arbor or
Southfield. So, I think there's still other opportunities, other than
having a convenience store in the fueling station there. And I
didn't do account how many local stations we have nearby. I just
know the two that we have close. I think the petitioner made a
kind of almost a compelling case for me, in a sense, or my
neighbors, that along the freeway, there's already plenty of
opportunity of folks that are coming in and out of the Livonia area
to stop and fuel up convenience right there. Lot of folks that are
moving through are coming in or through to work, and they've
already made their morning arrangements to have fuel, their
coffee, what have you. And the same thing when they're leaving
out so and if they haven't, again, as I mentioned, just a slight mile
north and as well as a petitioner station that's just south of there
as well. So, I'm against it rezoning. I do think it opens up a bit of
a can of worms that if it is approved, and then there might be
variances asked, such as the sharing businesses to the east. I
understand a C-2 property to an M-1, has to have a six-foot
barrier or a 20-foot green belt. And I don't know if that's possible
in that particular location. And so, I can foresee some variances
being asked of the committee moving forward. So again, I
appreciate the time and the consideration.
Well. Thank you for your comments, Mr. Auerbach, we appreciate
you coming forward.
Sure. Thank you. Have a good evening.
You too. Is there anyone else in our audience wishing to speak
on this item. If not, I'm going to go back to the petitioner. We
always give the petitioner a chance to say anything else, if they
would like, before we make our decision. Mr. Grysko, is there
anything else that you'd like to say on behalf of your client?
Mr. Grysko: I appreciate the opportunity to do so. I do appreciate the
comment. Comments and the discussion. You know, I think, I
Mr. Wilshaw:
Mr. Droze:
Mr. Wilshaw:
October 28, 2025
32052
think the presentation speaks for itself. I understand that the
resident had a different interpretation of that, but, you know, we
rely on the fact that we think it's consistent, ultimately, with the
Master Plan, the surrounding zoning, and with other uses allowed
in that district.
All right. Thank you, sir. Is there anyone on the commission with
any additional questions or comments before we make a
decision? Mr. Droze.
Mr. Chair, just to offer some comments. I know what these
rezoning requests...sometimes it's helpful to know, you know,
where our commissioners are coming from. At least in this one, I
think maybe just to highlight the fact that, you know, this is a... it's
on the edge of basically almost a square mile of manufacturing
use. And we kind of see pretty consistently throughout the city
where the corners can be different than, you know, the
surrounding uses. So that, and also its location on two major
roads. You know, we often see C-2 on these corners throughout
the city, and gas stations and that. And then I, you know, I think
the other part of it too is, you know, although not zoned that way,
it does kind of have a consistent feel with, you know, the
Newburgh corridor has a bunch of storefront businesses that, you
know, kind of are on the edge, again, of that manufacturing
corridor. So generally, you know, from that perspective and kind
of just seeing consistency throughout the rest of the city, that's
why I will be probably in support of this one tonight.
Thank you, Mr. Droze. Is there any other comments or questions
from any commissioners? If not, I will close the public hearing,
and a motion would be in order.
On a motion by Long, seconded by Droze, and unanimously adopted, it was
#10-43-2025
RESOLVED, That pursuant to a Public Hearing having been held
by the Planning Commission on October 28, 2025, on Petition
2025-09-01-01 submitted by J & J Land Holdings LLC, under
Section 13.15 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, as amended,
requesting to rezone the property at 13400 Newburgh Road,
located at the southeast corner of Newburgh and Schoolcraft
Roads in the Northwest '/ of Section 29, from M-1 (Light
Manufacturing District) to C-2 (General Business District) to
construct a gas station and convenience store, the Planning
Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that
Petition 2025-09-01-01 be approved for the following reasons:
October 28, 2025
32053
1. That the proposed change of zoning to C-2 would be
compatible to and in harmony with the surrounding zoning
and land uses in the area;
2. That the property involved in this request would be in full
compliance with C-2 District regulations;
3. That the proposed change of zoning to C-2 would cause the
zoning of the property to more accurately correspond to the
use and size of the property; and,
4. The proposed zoning change represents a reasonable and
logical plan for the subject property that adheres to sound
land use planning principles.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That notice of the above hearing was
given in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.13 and
Section 13.15 of the 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 City Council with an approving resolution.
ITEM #5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1,236th Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting
Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of
the Minutes of the 1,236th Public Hearing and Regular Meeting
held on October 7, 2025.
On a motion by Droze, seconded by Long, and unanimously adopted, it was
#10-44-2025
RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,236th Public Hearings and
Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on October 7,
2025, are hereby approved.
A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following:
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
Droze, Long, Caramagno, Wilshaw
None
Dinaro, Bongero, Ventura
None
October 28, 2025
32054
Mr. Wilshaw, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 1,237th Public
Hearings and Regular Meeting held on October 28, 2025, was adjourned at 7:41
p.m.
ATTEST:
Ian Wilshaw, Chairman
CITY P A ING COMMISSION
Sam aramagno, Secretary