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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1,235 - September 16, 2025 signedMINUTES OF THE 1,235th PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING HELD BY THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the City Planning Commission of the City of Livonia held its 1,235th 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: Wafa Dinaro Patrick Droze David Bongero Sam Caramagno Glen Long Ian Wilshaw Members absent: Peter Ventura Mr. Jacob Uhazie, Assistant Planning Director, 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 2025-08-08-07 Sheetz Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the first item on the agenda, Petition 2025- 08-08-07 submitted by Skilken Gold, on behalf Sheetz, requesting site plan approval pursuant to ZBA Resolution 2025- 03-04, approved May 6, 2025, to construct a gasoline service station, limited service/carry-out restaurant, including a drive-thru window at the southeast. corner of Newburgh Road and Eight Mile Road in the northwest 1/4 of Section 5. Mr. Uhazie: September 16, 2025 31995 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As mentioned, this petition requests to construct a gasoline service station with limited service carry out, including a drive through facility located on the southeast corner of Newburgh and Eight Mile Road. The size of the property is 1.83 acres in size, with approximately 269 feet of frontage along Eight Mile Road, and 285 feet of frontage along Newburgh. The existing zoning is C-1, local business district. Adjacent properties are zoned PL to the south and east, which encompasses the Whispering Willows golf course. To the west across Newburgh is the Greenmead Historical Park, zoned PL, as well. And then to the north, across Eight Mile Road is the City of Farmington Hills, which has a daycare setback from Eight Mile. The existing commercial development was approved on November 14, 1995, by City Council. It contains a two-story multi -unit commercial center, which currently sits vacant. Due to the slope of the land the building has a one-story appearance from Eight Mile Road. The site was formerly occupied by a 10,050 square feet Rite Aid on the upper floor that faced Eight Mile Road, and then an additional 14,825 square feet or retail space was located on the lower level that was occupied by the Caddy Shack golf shop that faced Newburgh Road. In 2024 the site was petitioned to be rezoned from a C-1 to C-2, which was denied by City Council. As mentioned, the petitioner has been approved by ZBA resolution, 2025-03-04, which was approved on May 6, 2025, to provide a variance for the use of a gas station, limited carry out and drive through facility within the C-1 district. Sheetz is a convenience store and gas station chain that is privately owned and based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and was started in 1952. It now operates nearly 700 stores in addition to its gasoline service. Sheetz is known for their food customers order through self-service kiosks. Sheetz stores typically have both indoor and outdoor seating. The petitioner has provided an updated site plan from our last study session. I will call out some of the changes as we go along, but overall it is about the same. The site plan shows a one-story building that would be 6,139 square feet in size, (Audience stated they couldn't see the TV's because they were not showing what Mr. Uhazie was showing on the other screens) Mr. Wilshaw: You need to look at the TVs. I can't control that, sir. (Audience member asked if he could fix it) Mr. Wilshaw: No, I cannot. Mr. Uhazie: The building would be located 150 feet from Eight Mile Road and approximately 60 feet from Newburgh Road. One access drive September 16, 2025 31996 from both Newburgh and Eight Mile would be provided. The existing northernmost curb cut along Newburgh Road would be removed and the Eight Mile Road entrance will have a deceleration taper onto the property due to the higher speeds. Vehicular traffic would enter the drive through on the west side of the building with the clearance bar and order kiosk, and then the vehicle would turn left along the south side of the building for both the pay window and food window before exiting the drive through on the east side of the building. Required parking for a gasoline service station is one space per fuel pump. The petition also includes a limited service and carry out restaurant, including a drive thru, which requires one space for each 125 square feet, plus one space for each three outside patio seating spaces, plus one space for each employee. The total for this site plan would require 47 parking spaces. The updated site plan shows a total of 47 double -stripped parking spaces, two of which are barrier free, and two spaces reserved for air stations. This does meet the zoning requirements for parking. One of the changes that we've discussed since last week is showing the dumpster has been moved to the southeast corner of the site, and two refuse containers would be shielded on three sides with a seven -foot, four -inch masonry wall. And access to the gates of the enclosure would face west towards Newburgh Road and will be a dark, bronzing color. They are shown here. They're the same design as last week, just the location has shifted to the southeast corner. The site plan specifies that the landscaping areas will be irrigated by an automatic underground irrigation system, and section 10.03 of the zoning ordinance requires one deciduous or evergreen tree per 40 linear feet of road frontage, one ornamental flowering tree per 100 feet of linear feet of road frontage, and eight shrubs per 40 linear feet of road frontage. The site plan requires 13 frontage trees, six trees along Eight Mile Road and seven trees along Newburgh Road. It requires six ornamental trees, three to be located on Eight Mile Road and three along Newburgh Road, and then a total of 95 shrubs, 46 along Eight Mile Road and 49 shrubs along Newburgh Road. The petitioner's landscape plan satisfies the frontage tree requirements, and the petitioner provides nine parking lot trees, which is three more than is required by the open space on the property. They did also add snow storage in the landscaping areas with the appropriate planting to resist salt and that was added to the landscape plan as well. All exterior lighting on the property, including illuminated signs, shall be erected and hooded, shielded and recessed to be deflected away from any adjacent or neighboring residential property. The lighting plans show that lighting on site is satisfactory as light does not bleed into the neighboring properties. The floor plan submitted shows an interior large retail area, cashier, counter, walk in, cooler, September 16, 2025 31997 indoor seating area, office and restrooms. The restaurant seating area and self-service kiosks are shown in the eastern corner of the building. The floor plan shows 30 interior seating and four automated kiosks. An outdoor patio would be located on the eastern side of the building with seating for 16. The seating area is protected by a decorative aluminum fence. Elevation plans indicate that the exterior of the building would be constructed out of brick and crab orchid cast stone. The peak tower feature is shown in the northeast corner of the building above the main entrance that measures 26 feet to the top of the cupula. The design also incorporates canopies, awnings and screening for the roof mounted mechanical equipment. The petitioner has said that they are adjusting the canopy height to meet the Zoning Ordinance requirements. This is for the fueling area that was discussed. It was in excess of the height requirement allotments, and they said that they will make changes to reduce it to meet code, which is 18 feet. They have not provided updated plans yet. They just have not had the time to make the renderings, but they have committed to complying with the 18-foot height restriction. The canopy will look slightly different, mainly with decorative trusses being removed and the canopy being flattened instead of an angle to meet that requirement. Additionally, they have submitted renderings of the site. The petitioner also provided a stormwater plan. Section 9.10 of the zoning ordinance requires stormwater runoff created because improvements to the parking area must be controlled in such a manner to reduce and/or eliminate draining onto neighboring properties. There is a proposed underground detention system on the west side of the property shown in their utility plan. There's also decorative fencing surrounding the site provided here along the road frontages. Section 6.26 of the zoning ordinance states that gas stations are allowed to have one ground sign not to exceed 40 square feet in area and 12 feet in height, with a max minimum setback of five feet from any right-of-way line. The site has a proposed ground sign at the corner of Newburgh and Eight Mile Road measuring nine feet tall and would be constructed out of brick. The actual Sheetz sign is 12.2 square feet. The monument sign will also include a 26.8 square foot sign for the digital display of unleaded and auto diesel fuel. The elevation plan shows the following signs, additionally, four wall signs on the building, two signs on the canopy, one facing Eight Mile Road and one facing Newburgh Road. The total amount of wall signage equals 89 square feet. Any amount of signage over what is allowed by the ordinance would require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. With that, Mr. Chairman, I can read out the departmental correspondence. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Uhazie: September 16, 2025 31998 Yes, please. The first item is from the Engineering Division, dated September 2, 2025, 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 project but would like to note the following items: 1. The subject parcel is assigned the addresses of #37355 thru #37361 Eight Mile Road as well as #20694 Newburgh Road. The address of #37355 Eight Mile Road has been assigned to the overall parcel. 2. The submitted drawings indicate a proposed water main tap into the existing 24" transmission main on Newburgh Road. Private services are not allowed to connect to transmission mains, so the project may be required to tie into the existing 8" water main on the golf course property if the existing lead cannot be re -used. 3. The submitted drawings show a proposed sanitary sewer lead connected to a storm manhole. (mis-labeled as a sanitary sewer manhole) Currently, the property is serviced by a 2" force main that connects to the sanitary sewer south of the golf course driveway. If the proposed project cannot re -use the existing force -main, an alternative means of discharging sanitary will need to be proposed. 4. The drawings do show underground detention being provided, but no calculations are included with the submittal. The project will need to meet the requirements of the Wayne County Storm Water Ordinance, including detention volumes. Also, since storm water is being discharged to a wetland, EGLE permits will be required for any discharge and disturbance within the wetland boundaries. 5. Due to the proximity of the drive entrances to the intersection of Newburgh and Eight Mile Roads, turning movements may need to be restricted. Recommendations from the Traffic Commission and from Wayne County should be solicited to determine if restrictions will be warranted. 6. The south half of the existing sidewalk along Newburgh Road should be relocated to the correct location along the property line. 7. Once approvals have been received, the Owner will need to submit Engineering drawings to this Department to for permitting." The letter is signed by David W. Lear, P.E., Assistant City Engineer. The next letter is from the Livonia Fire & Rescue Division, dated August 27, 2025, which reads as follows: "This office has reviewed the site plan submitted in connection with a request to construct a commercial building on property located at the above referenced address. We have no objections to this proposal. 1. Suppression System required for kitchen (As noted in plans. Separate permits and plans required).2. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) monitoring for tanks, or tank totals over 1001bs. (CO2 systems used for pop/soda dispensing). 3. Follow thru and compliance with any State of MI. requirements Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Bongero: Mr. Uhazie: Mr. Bongero: Mr. Uhazie: Mr. Bongero: Mr. Wilshaw: September 16, 2025 31999 and/or inspections. 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 August 25, 2025, which reads as follows: "I 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 September 4, 2025, which reads as follows: "Pursuant to your request, the above -referenced Petition has been reviewed. 1. Parking spaces shall be 10' wide and 20' deep and double -striped. 2. All signage shall be conforming. Any non -conforming signage would require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. 3. All existing and proposed landscaped areas must have a functioning irrigation system installed. 4. All barrier -free parking spaces, including van - accessible spaces, shall be sized, signed, and marked in accordance with the Michigan Barrier -Free Code This Department has no further objections to this Petition." The letter is signed by Jerome Hanna, Director of Inspection. The next letter is from the Treasurer's Department, dated August 25, 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. Are there any questions for the Planning Director? Mr. Uhazie, was there a traffic study submitted, or some type of traffic management proposal? I have not seen an updated one for the site. They have worked with Engineering from Wayne County and our city to make adjustments, like adding the taper lane, as well as removing the drive the northernmost drive on Newburgh, to reduce turning movements and possible conflicts. Anything planned for the lighting, the lights, traffic lights? I would have to defer to the petitioner on that. Okay. Okay, understand. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Mr. Bongero. Any other questions for planning staff? If there's no other questions for staff, our petitioners in the audience. Feel free to come to the podium. I'll ask that you start with your name and address for our record. Good evening. September 16, 2025 32000 Alex Swicki, Sheetz, 39300 West 12 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI. Thank you for having me again this evening. So, I wanted to start out with just a real quick introduction. So, I prepared just a very short PowerPoint presentation for you this evening. Thank you for being my clicker, Jacob. So just to get your bearings here, this rendering on the screen, it's if you're standing on Eight Mile looking southwest towards the site, if you move on to the next side for me. So, as you know, we are requesting a site plan recommendation this evening. The use variance was previously approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals on this project. So, we are looking at site plan compliance this evening. Which, Mr. Chair, you had mentioned earlier. Going into the next slide and overview here. So, it's a 6,139 square foot restaurant, convenience store and gas station. It's located on the corners of Eight Mile and Newburgh. Going into the site plan on the next slide. So, we did send you an updated site plan from the study meeting last week, and even from the last time you've all seen it. So some quick, high level changes that we've made to it. There have been some dimensional modifications to the site, especially to allow for the new dumpster location in that southeast corner, and more landscape screening along the drive thru area along the building there. There is also now decorative fencing on the west portion of the site along Newburgh there. Moving into the next slide, you'll see our building elevations. We have made some architectural enhancements these building elevations since you last saw them and previous meetings, these buildings now include, or this building now includes, a lot less of our signature red, and we went with more of an earth tone, along with a lot of these enhancements to architecture that I'll keep discussing, and some of the things that we did with The site plan. It's to kind of help it blend in even more with the beautiful landscaping that you have in the area over there as long also with the building architecture, we added some screening for the ice and propane, so you will have a lot less visibility of those from the street. We also added foundation plantings along the building frontage and it's one side to kind of help blend it in. Going onto the next slide, I'II quickly talk about the canopy, as Jacob had mentioned. So this canopy that's shown in the screen is taller than your ordinance allows. We do intend to comply with your 18-foot maximum. What that's going to do is it's going to flatten out the canopy and eliminate those decorative trusses down there, and we just have to shrink it from 21 to 18. Those are the things we have to do to get it there. But we also took brick all the way from the bottom of the columns all the way to what will now be at the top of the deck, again, to kind of help enhance its look and feel for the area moving into the next slide, just kind of help you get your bearings. So this is a bird's eye view above Eight Mile looking southwest. Mr. Wilshaw: Ms. Dinaro: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Droze: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Uhazie: Mr. Droze: September 16, 2025 32001 The next slide is a bird's eye view above the intersection looking southeast. Next one is bird's eye on Newburgh looking northeast. And that is the last of it. So, from there, I am here to answer your questions. All right, thank you. Mr. Swicki. Do we have any questions for our petitioner? Ms. Dinaro. Can you please walk us through the lighting plans and how that's going to impact the neighborhood? Absolutely. So, our lighting plans are designed where there's no lighting trespass past our property lines. We use fully cut off fixtures, and what that means is all the lighting is pointed directly downward. So, let's say this podium is a light pole. If I'm standing behind the light pole, there shouldn't be any light shining on me. We also use LED fixtures. We do very tasteful lighting, fully in compliance with your ordinance. But the big one is, and you can see on the screen all the black that surrounds the property line, none of the lighting will trespass the property line. Thank you. Any other questions for our petitioner? Thank you. Mr. Swicki, a couple questions about landscape plan, and maybe I'll start with the site plan. Yeah, Jacob, I'm not sure if you can bring C 1.0 up, yeah. So, the driveway, kind of see it there where we have the drive through on the south side of the building. I know we're basically at the parking requirements. You need 47 spaces. You have 47 I guess I'm a little concerned about the small island that is between that last space and the drive thru lane, and I'm just assuming that people are going to drive over that. And I guess maybe it's a question for us as a commission, whether we might allow to take that space out, bank it and then convert that to landscaping. We lose one spot, but it's, it's more, just more for the site function. It just feels a little tight in there. You know, I think I can agree to that. That's a really good call out. And I would agree there will probably be people that will probably cut the corner there a little bit, but that would require a greater waiver of your parking requirement to have one Tess. So, if everyone's on board with that, I am too. One thing I did misspeak earlier. They do have 48 spaces showing, so they do have one to spare. Okay, that'd be a good one to lose. Just don't take anymore. September 16, 2025 32002 Mr. Swicki Sure. Mr. Droze: On the landscaping sheet, L1.0, there's a, I think a number of, I think they're service berries that are located on the Newburgh side, right at that driveway. I guess a concern I have is site distance for people turning out of that. The Serviceberry is, depending how filled in they get, that could affect the vision triangle, not only people driving, but there's people on the sidewalk. I guess a recommendation for consideration would be to maybe shift that around a little bit to help with safety at that particular entrance. I know just...haven't really left that driveway in a while, but I know that is a little tight over there, even if you're leaving whispering willows. So that's, I guess, a consideration, if you guys would be open to it. Mr. Swicki: I just want to make sure I understand. So, you're talking about the Serviceberries along Newburgh, that entrance. Allegheny. Mr. Droze: Allegheny Serviceberry multi trunk. Mr. Swicki: Yes. Mr. Droze: Okay, there's two. Mr. Swicki: We're good. We can do that. John's my landscape architect. Mr. Droze: Okay, great, and then so there's a space between...there's going to be a retaining wall on the south and east side of the site, and I'll probably get into that next but I believe the plans call out for like a low mow or a no mow fescue type seed mix in that area. And just from my experience, that's generally doesn't require a lot of mowing, but I kind of see that hatch elsewhere on the site. So maybe just landscape architect to speak to the basically how the open space is being handled, that the legend on sheet L1.0 doesn't show the any corresponding hatch to what's shown. Mr. Swicki: Mr. Droze: Correct. So, it looks like we are intending to put the same species of grass throughout the entire property. It would be, typically, what we would put in would be a grass that you would mow very frequently, okay? And I would expect that to also occur along the wall as well. There's some space there for them to get a push mower in, and then we'd whack around some of the tighter areas. Okay, all right. Next one is on the wall itself. So, at last meeting, it was discussed as a segmental block wall. A couple things. One, the material. I'll go through my questions and you can respond. One, what material will be used for that wall in terms of the color Mr. Swicki: September 16, 2025 32003 and the texture? Two, what sort of finish will be on the top? Will there be, you know, just a cap with a fence, or we'll have some sort of guardrail and then I guess another question is, do you anticipate needing to go beyond the property line to install that? And I guess would there be any impacts to the golf course and adjacent properties? Great. So I apologize, it was just this morning what we sent you all engineering drawings for the retaining wall back there. We're intending to use a product called a ready rock. It's kind of like a segmented block, but because of the height of this wall and the bearing capacity, it has to have these ready rocks, especially at the base. The depth, not so much the face that you see, but the depth, they can be quite large. On the face of it, it'll look like, just like a segmented block, just like you would see on just about any retaining wall. We have not got to the point where we have selected a color and texture as long as it generally matches with, you know, what's going on with the site. We're not too picky when it comes to that, so that's something I can definitely work with staff about. And then as far as the top of it, it's intending to have what's called a crash barrier. It's integral with the wall. So, you'll, you'll have the parking lot, and then there will be another, you know, three or four sections of wall that are actually structurally part of the wall itself, that'll kind of act as the fence or the guardrail, if you will. Mr. Droze: How high would that...you may have mentioned how high was that wall above ground? Mr. Swicki: You know, I do not have the construction plans in front of me to be able to answer that for you. Mr. Droze: All right, thank you. This is probably a little nitpicky, so you have, I think, a brick paver patio proposed on the eating area outside of the site. Do you anticipate having any sort of like frost slabs in that area? Just want to make sure that. Mr. Swicki: Mr. Droze: Yeah. So the latest version of the Michigan Building Code requires frost slabs in front of all the doorways. So that'll be a part of this building as well. They have to go down 42 inches to the frost line and out, I don't remember a foot, two foot, something like that, that'll actually be placed under the paver. So you shouldn't see that frost slab, but it will be part of the design. And the last one for now. So, the screening that you're gonna put in front of the propane and ice, I was looking, at their site in Romulus, and ifs a screen, but I mean, you can really see what's Mr. Swicki: September 16, 2025 32004 behind it. Do you intend that to be opaquer, or is that the same as that particular site? In Romulus is our standard when we do screening like this. So that's what we proposed here. But I do have an opaquer option, which I can definitely do. Mr. Droze: Okay. Mr. Swicki: So the wing walls that you saw, the brick masonry, that wouldn't change, but the actual fencing, it would be more of a vinyl fence, bronze in color, Mr. Droze: Just to confirm I'm talking about the wing walls you've seen at the dumpster, or the propane storage? Mr. Swicki: The propane storage. So, the propane cage sits inside between two masonry walls that are tied in with the building. They come out so you can't see the propane cage or ice chest. From the sides, there's a space be able to walk in between, and then there's a fence so you can't see it from the front, that fence, I can make opaquer than what we're currently proposing. Mr. Droze: Okay, I appreciate that. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Droze. On that topic, real quickly, typically, we don't allow outdoor storage of ice and propane in most gas station sites. Is that true, Mr. Uhazie? Mr. Uhazie: That's correct. Mr. Droze: So that might be something that we need to consider as we look at conditions on the proving to not allow that if we choose. Is there any other persons with questions for the petitioner? Mr. Mr. Bongero: With being a gas station, of course, there's some environmental concerns always, and it came to my attention last week after the study meeting that Sheetz uses the underground storage tanks you use for fuel are double the size that most use, like 80,000 gallons. I don't know this for a fact, but that's what was said to me in the lobby. So, I just wanted to ask you, what do you use? What's the health risk? What safety measures do you have? Alex Swicki: So I would refute the statement that our storage capacity is double the size of what other stations use. There are definitely smaller and there are definitely larger. So here we're proposing 78,000 gallons that's across six different tanks. So, it's not one September 16, 2025 32005 giant 78,000-gallon tank. It's four 12,000 and two, 15,000 gallon and that allows us to have the variety of different grades of fuel that we offer. As far as safety situations go. Having multiple tanks actually offers a level of redundancy that we hope that we never need and we haven't had to need, as opposed to having just like one 30,000-gallon tank. That would be a lot bigger of a mess than a 10,000- or 12,000-gallon tank. But that's not going to happen, because we have, you know, state-of-the-art systems that are both electrical and mechanically monitoring these things. We have 24/7 monitoring. We have a staff of literally hundreds of people that work directly for Sheetz that respond to these...any alarms that our tanks might have, you know, sometimes frankly, within a moment's notice. We also maintain a nearly 99% technical compliance rate with the EPA. That is unheard of. That is an unheard-of statistic in the industry, and something we take a lot of pride in. Our Environmental Protection Department is the only department our company that has no budget. Whatever we need to do to maintain our systems. We do it. Mr. Bongero: Thank you for that information. The other...just following up on my question to Mr. Uhazie, did you guys look into a traffic study or traffic management? Alex Swicki: We have done a traffic impact study here. Your engineering department does have a copy of it. It's from way back when, but Mr. Uhazie kind of laid out for you there, the taper along Eight Mile is a result of that study. The study also proposes some signal timing changes to the intersection, and we have worked with the City Engineer to come up with the appropriate measures that we need to do here. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Any other commissioners with questions for our petitioner? Mr. Long: Mr. Swicki: Thank you. Mr. Chair. So, I, you know, I wasn't a fan of this during the zoning process, but we're here, and we're reviewing the site plan, and I'm doing that with an open mind. The seventh hole on Whispering Willows is one of my favorite places in Livonia, so I'm very protective of it. Gas stations are going to have gas spills around the tanks? You're going to have oil leakages from time to time, things like that. And then when you get the storm water in there, where does all that run off to? What kind of systems do you have to protect the environment from that. Yeah, so again, that's another thing that we take a lot of pride in. That's another department that's dedicated to just storm water. So, we will be offering an oil water separator here is also as well Mr. Long: September 16, 2025 32006 as water quality structures for our storm detention system. So, it's virtually impossible for any type of dribble that might have from your gas nozzle to make it into our underground storage detention system, let alone to the outlet. We are proposing the outlet to the stream that is just south. On the site, obviously we're familiar with the challenges with the site, the changes in elevations, and obviously you're going to have to bring a lot of dirt in here and I know during the study process and everything we've talked about, making sure that it holds up on all this. What is the total investment that you guys are putting into this site in order to get this ready? Mr. Swicki: It's north of 10 million. Mr. Long: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Long: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Long: And then I think I know someone else brought this up at study. We get snow in Michigan. I'm sure you do in Pennsylvania too. Where are we putting all the snow when we get a large snowfall here? So, I'm originally from Northeast Ohio, where we get heck of a lot more than Pennsylvania does, but yes, so we're going to be pushing the general snowfall that we get into the landscaping areas and we will have salt tolerant plantings, that sort of thing. But Sheetz is very...we've been around for a long time, and we know how to deal with snow. Case in point, we have stores that are like in the Erie, Pennsylvania area, right at the end of Lake Erie, who literally get feet and feet of snow, and we have policies and procedures in place to be able to truck snow off. We literally have to remove it from our roads out there. So, it's something that we're very well versed at taking care of if we ever were to get dumped on. And my last question for now, I believe your business model, most of your locations are 24/7. All of our locations are 24/7. All of your locations are 24/7, 365 okay. I don't know what the rest of the commission feels like about that. I guess I'm not a fan of that. I can tell you that right now, but we'll see how this plays out. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Long. Any other questions for our petitioner? Mr. Caramagno: Mr. Chair, I've got a couple. I notice on your digital sign for fuel, you advertise only two fuel prices. Is that interchangeable or is September 16, 2025 32007 that going to expand more? Right now on this on this package you have diesel and unleaded listed here. Mr. Swicki: That will be the only two grades of fuel that will show on that sign. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, so no credit price for either or, just those two prices? Mr. Swicki: Yes. Mr. Caramagno: No plans to change it. Okay. Tell me a little bit about a spill. If a spill happens at the at the pump, you break a hose, somebody pulls an Oslo, spills it underground. What does your local management do if something like that happens? Mr. Swicki: Yeah, so we have spill response procedures. The equipment itself will, let's say someone drives away with a with a nozzle in their car. The system itself recognizes that there's a momentary loss and pressure, and the system just shuts down. But we do have, again, spill response procedures, so as soon as someone sees that, we have emergency E-stops, is what we call them around the property. Any they're outside, any pedestrian can hit them if they see an issue, but the staff also has access to them, so they hit that shuts the system down. And we also have what we call spill kits. They're cabinets that are located throughout the fueling island that have all the necessary things that staff would need to contain the spill to just a tiny area that includes...they're called socks, but they're these long foam things to keep the fuel, you know, in one place. We have stuff that's akin to kitty litter that you throw on there to absorb it up and of course, we log a call with our environmental team. They investigate the issue. We take all the appropriate clean up measures, etc. Mr. Caramagno: Thank you. The reason I asked that is I went to your Romulus location as well, and I seen the stop button in the parking lot, and it looked like anybody could hit that button in the event of an emergency. So I don't see that at many other stations in and around Metro Detroit. Is that something unique to Sheetz? Mr. Swicki: So E-stops are required. I think the fact that we make them very visible in red is maybe a little bit different, but they should be in every station. Mr. Caramagno: It stands out, that's for sure. My next question for you, at the Romulus location, you have two air stations. How many air stations on this plan? Mr. Swicki: Two. September 16, 2025 32008 Mr. Caramagno: You have two, and they're located at two different areas of the site, Mr. Swicki: So, the northwest corner, if you see that, that shaded concrete area up there, they're both up there. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, and they're free? Mr. Swicki: Yes, sir. Mr. Caramagno: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Are there any other questions? Mr. Droze: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Droze: Just two more. Maybe I'll start with the air filling area. The light levels in that particular part of the site are much dimmer than underneath the canopy. And just you know, having filled a tire late at night, do you guys ever increase that? I mean, it is right on the property line, and I guess I'm trying to balance with our ordinance and try not to have Tight pollution beyond but at the same time, Newburgh has lights on it and is that something you're able to increase a little bit, or do you see a need for that? No, I don't technically see a need for that. That's not something in our standards that we, you know, we try to make sure air stations are right underneath the light. But if it's something that the commission is concerned with, there is a light pole looks like just little bit further south in that same row of parking. We could probably just shift them south and flop them with other parking spots. Okay, I could take it or leave it, but that was just a small comment there. And then you mentioned your landscape architect is here, maybe talk a little bit about the spacing of the plants, and because it's basically kind of groupings of the various shrubs. Do you ever intersperse those? Or is that just more for maintenance that you group them together as they're shown? Mr. Swicki: I'll invite John up. Mr. Wilshaw: Good evening, sir. Can we just get your name for our record? John Ackerman, Kimley Horn, 3000 Town Center Drive, Southfield, Michigan. Thank you. So, let me... 1 guess your question is, why the groupings versus... Mr. Droze: Mr. Ackerman: Mr. Droze: Mr. Ackerman: Mr. Droze: Mr. Ackerman: Mr. Droze: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Droze: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Swicki: September 16, 2025 32009 Yeah, so it's kind of like, it'll be like, you know, variety of eight black and another seven and then a six versus. Maybe the rendering shows it pretty well. Actually, I don't know if you can bring that up, Jacob, but you can kind of see how it's, I mean, typically you there's a little more, you know, variety. Diversification, instead of grouping one together and growing... Right. There's a couple of different reasons behind that. If sometimes, if a bug, a disease, a beetle, hits a certain kind of shrub, then you're only treating one area. I know we typically do that a lot with trees. With the shrubs that's typically something we do, too, with the you know, the goal is, there's always a delicate balance of naturalizing versus screening. So, a lot of times, depending on the characteristics of the shrub, the flowering habits and everything else, we tend to kind of group stuff together. Okay. Again, and then if there's, you know, a preference to scatter some around, we can do that. But that's kind of the method to our madness. When we're doing stuff like that. Laying this out. It's just a question about your approach to doing that. Okay, that's how you want to do. Any other questions, Mr. Droze? No, thank you. Okay. Any other questions from any of the other Commissioners? One question for you, Mr. Swicki, regarding outdoor speakers. What's going to be on this site in terms of speakers, music, advertisements, those types of things? Yeah, absolutely. So, we do have speakers on the, what would be the north and east facing parts of our building, and then underneath our canopy, we are required to have speakers outside as a part of our fueling system. We have to be able to make announcements out to the general public if there's an issue going on, or to tell somebody to stop doing something. People like to smoke at the pump. So, we do have to have them for that, but we also do use them for light music, especially the outside seating area. It's not too often you're in a restaurant and it's just September 16, 2025 32010 dead silence. There's always a little bit ambience going on. So that's really what we use them for. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay. The reason I ask is the neighboring gas station to you is... probably the closest one is the Speedway at Seven Mile and Newburgh, and Speedway uses a advertising system on their pumps with TVs and rather loud audio that you can hear from the street when you stop at a red light. Mr. Swicki: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Wilshaw: So, we do have a similar system on our pumps, not as loud as the Speedway system, and it's something that we can actually turn the volume down on pretty significantly. And we actually do use one of the lowest settings. Other companies tend to sell that advertising space. It's not what we do with it. It's just our own so it's, you know, well done to our standards. And being that you're a 24-hour operation, if that goes forward as proposed, does that advertising or those TVs that are at the pumps, are they turned off at a certain point in the evening to prevent spillover to neighboring community? Not as a typical practice? They run 24 hours as well. Okay, all right, that's what I have for now. Does anybody else have any questions on the commission? If not, we're all set with you, Mr. Swicki, for the moment. We're now going to go to our audience and give them a chance to speak on this item. Again, I'm going to ask people interested in speaking, come forward to address the site plan. I do want to give you a few rules here that... please go to either podium. If you can line up behind the speaker that's speaking that will allow us to move the meeting along a little quicker, just like the petitioner, you are going to be speaking to us. Do not turn to the audience. Do not speak to the petitioner. We want to hear what you have to say, and you will have two minutes to speak. And if you run out of time, Ms. Dinaro has volunteered to be our timekeeper. She will let you know when the two minutes is up. And I do want to just remind the audience to please try to avoid applause, jazz hands outbursts and other types of things that will slow the meeting down. If you have long form comments that you have not already submitted, you can send them to the City Council and to us, they will be made part of the permanent record for this petition. Once we hear your comments, the petitioner will get the final word before we make a motion and our vote. With that, we are now going to go to the audience and Mr. Ralko. Greg Ralko, Mr. Wilshaw: Bill Schmidt, September 16, 2025 32011 Golf Ridge Villa, Livonia, MI. One of the greatest issues here this evening, is that we all need to be aware of the two ordinances that come into play here, and to understand that there is no authority to violate either of them. The first ordinance in question can be found in the Code of Ordinance, chapter 5, 36.05 addressing newly constructed gas station location restrictions. You can read the ordinance, but it says that a gas station can't be built within 100 feet of public park or where large numbers of people gather. The corner is zero feet from Whispering Willows. It borders the property on two sides, and Whispering Willows is designated a park in the master plan, and lots of people on the seventh green every day, just feet away from the east side of the property, the Greenmead property right across. Newburgh also measures less than 100 feet from this site as well. I personally measured it. The second ordinance in question can be found in zoning ordinance section 6.5 which outlines the codes around restaurants. In subparagraph 3a, it clearly states that restaurants with a drive through operation are only permitted in C-2 zones with a waiver, or in a C-3 zone where it is already part of the zoning. The site in question is still a C-1 zone. The City Council denied the C-2 rezoning request for this property in an overwhelming five to two vote last January, therefore this C-1 property is prohibited from having a drive through window. There is no authority to ignore this ordinance and thus violate it in the process site plan discussions should exclude any reference to a drive through. The simple fact is that there is no authority that would allow the violation of these two ordinances. You've gotten copies of them. Thank you. Mr. Ralko. Gentlemen on my right. Good evening, sir. Livonia, MI. First, I'd like to thank all the commissioners for the unbelievable kind of hours that you guys put in for, like no pay. So, thanks for doing what you do. Thank you, even if I don't particularly like what you do. So, to get to what I don't like what you do, I assume that some of you are parents, maybe most of you are parents, and you've probably learned by being a parent, there's a magic word. It's called No, no. Little kids learn it. Little kids learn what no means. You've been told no, you've been told no, a couple of times repeatedly. You have an entire audience that I'm not referencing, who are here to tell you no. So, it's no. No, no means no. Doesn't mean sorta. Doesn't mean come back, doesn't mean if not here or there, this is a no-go project. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, sir. I appreciate your comments. September 16, 2025 32012 Willard Lindley, Edgewood Boulevard, Livonia, MI. I want to say that it would be premature to hold a vote on the agenda item this evening since the variance granted by the ZBA is being challenged in the Wayne County Circuit Court at this very moment. Simply put, the ZBA did not follow proper legal processes. As you know, the city zoning ordinance gasoline service stations and drive through operations are each prohibited in a C-1 zone. The ZBA public notice dated April 18, 2025 which Greg Ralko just handed out, specified that the petitioner/owner of the property, was only seeking a gas service station variance. Despite this uncontestable fact, the ZBA granted a variance for not only a gasoline service station, but also a drive through window. This is clearly in violation of the law, and the ZBA did not have authority to do this. Further, the ZBA does not have authority to violate the two ordinances that Greg also mentioned, regarding the use variance. The owner must prove a number of hardships in order to obtain a use variance. There are probably four that are mentioned in the statute. Let me just focus on one. A use authorized by the variance won't alter the essential character of the locality. The proposed owner is totally contrary to not only the existing zoning ordinance, but a 24 hour 7 day a week drive through operation will totally alter the essential character of the area. It will be in direct conflict with the zoning ordinance of the City of Livonia. I can't imagine lining up a putt on the seventh green and listening to music blasting from the Sheetz gas station, which is probably 70 feet away from the green. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Lindley, for your comments. Mr. Lindley: I'm sorry? Mr. Wilshaw: Your time is up. Mr. Lindley: Okay. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comments. I appreciate that. Go ahead sir. Randy Gostomske, 36996 Five Mile Road, Livonia, MI. I have a copy of the Sheetz newsletter from March 25 this year. One of the statements in it, "from housing to commercial development, some businesses and a lot of local busy bodies", I guess that's us, "are using government power to block out new enterprises. Lawmakers should no longer go along with it." I guess that's what they think about us. That's one thing. Their darkness map doesn't show auto light pollution; their landscaping doesn't make it blend into a residential area. They're trying to build their oversized gas station, fast food restaurant in a residential area. There are family homes September 16, 2025 32013 within sight. I wouldn't want to live in those homes looking at that or listen to it. Just not right. Ms. Dinaro: 30 seconds. Mr. Gostomske: Which is not enough. They've been violated. They violated EPA. They've been fined for their underground fuel tanks leaking. I guess that's it. That's enough for me. Mr. Wilshaw: Claudia Lindley, Thank you for your comments. I appreciate that. Edgewood, Livonia, MI. I just have some continuing of the zoning thing. The Future Land Use map found on page 71 of the Livonia Vision 21 Master Plan has designated this corner of Eight Mile and Newburgh to be Parks and Recreation. The 20 year Master Plan for Greenmead Historical Park, adopted by the Livonia City Council in early 2023 states that "the area surrounding Greenmead has been designated green and placed limits on the non -green physical interventions closest to Greenmead, which is less than 100 feet across Newburgh Road, which has been measured apparently. These master plans are the guidelines that would be followed in all future land use decisions. While these points needed to be mentioned here this evening, I go back to the simple fact that there's no authority that would allow the violation of the two ordinances that you were given copies of earlier. Code of Ordinance, 5.36,050, and zoning ordinance, Section 6.50. These city ordinances must be followed. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comments. Go ahead. Debbie (Inaudible last name) Five Mile Road, Livonia, MI. It was never about the company itself, but the location which does not fit the esthetics in the area. It's an obtuse of round peg trying to fit in a square hole. But now they've made it personal. I am going on the level of their newsletter, because when I read it, I was frankly livid. The one about the busy bodies, there's another sentence that says, "nowadays, it seems nobody can build or expand without a fuss from a few people with too much time on their hands". How dare you? You want to participate in the Livonia community, and you have the audacity to call your potential customers who are concerned about their community, their property values, with people they have too much time on their hands or busy bodies. These are our houses. These are our livelihoods, and these are our communities. Now, the Sheetz newsletter speaks volumes about their true values. They don't care about the community residents. They don't take any of the community concerns serious. We're just in the way of their build, baby, build, September 16, 2025 32014 paragraph, build, make money. Move on, leaving behind disrupted neighborhoods to deal with the repercussions. Sheetz wants less zoning rules and regulations so that they don't have to be held accountable. I hope the planning commission will take their community serious. Last I heard Livonia is still families first. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comments. Ma'am. Denny Behrendsen, Wayne Road, Livonia, MI. I'm the president of the Deer Creek Homeowners Association. Last year, when this issue came before the commission, the only argument for developing a new gas station offered by Sheetz was to fill a and this is a quote, "great need and demand". There was no need, and there is no need even less today. As you know, Costco has approved, has been approved to install 14 new gas pumps at their Haggerty store location. This is in addition to the 16 pumps they already have, which in essence, doubles their size of operation. No need for more gas stations. You remember that we polled the 400 homes of the closest subdivisions to this corner. Those are golf Ridge Villa, Willow Woods and Deer Creek, and 95% of the residents were against a gas station development at this corner, so there's no demand for another gas station. While these reminders needed to be mentioned here this evening, the simple fact remains that there is no authority that allows violation of the two ordinance you were given earlier. Those are the code of ordinance 5.36.050 and zoning ordinance, Section 6.50 subsection 3a. These city ordinances must be followed. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comments. Mr. Berenson, Hi, good evening, sir. Oren Mazzoni, 37531 Dungarran Court Farmington Hills, MI. I am also a property owner at 37330 Six Mile. My main concern that Mr. Bongero brought up earlier about a traffic study, if I am looking at all these plans correctly, there's only two ways to get into this project, making a right-hand turn, that's going north on Newburgh and going east on eight mile. So what that does, that means that everybody else going in and out of that service station has to go either those two directions or make a left hand turn. Now I live at the Dungaran Courts, just on the other side of Eight Mile and Meadowbrook Hills. We've been there 45 years, and I can't tell you how many times that we've heard screeching tires and so on. And you know, it's a corner that, if you look at it, going south on Newburgh, going north on Halstead again, going east and west, everything comes down a hill. And the biggest problem probably is when people are trying to make that light and somebody's Ms. Dinaro: Mr. Mazzoni: Mr. Wilshaw: September 16, 2025 32015 making a left-hand turn. The concern is, if somebody's going to turn into that gas station going west on Eight Mile, how are they going to get in there? That left hand turn lane, if you sit there like any time from 4:30, to 6:30 at night, those cars back up way past that gas station. Same exact thing happens on if you're going north on Newburgh, same thing happens, again... 15 seconds Those cars are backed up. You know, at least, you know, six, eight, ten at a time. So that means, you know, if somebody's going to turn into the left-hand turn lane back that traffic up. 1 think that at this point you know you really need to do an independent study for the city of what that traffic pattern is creating. Thank you for your comments. Sir. Hi. Good evening. Ma'am. Patty Riggio, 37204 Bretton Drive, Livonia, MI. I'm the president of the Willow Woods HOA. Last year, when this issue came before your commission, there were many concerns about the traffic, as he just spoke about, and the associated risks of getting through this intersection. Increased crime with 24/7 operation and significant opposition from residents. I'm going to address some of the traffic issues. Turning out of my sub onto Newburgh Road is a problem already, and it's getting worse. Newburgh is the preferred bypass for any traffic backups on 1-275 which happens often. With all the new business and the construction on Haggerty this will drive even more traffic to Newburgh. Vehicles will not be able to turn safely left, either in or out of this proposed site. Let me remind you that Speedway on Seven Mile does not allow left turns out of their corner, but drivers do it illegally every day. This is one of the clear-headed reasons why the zoning change request for this corner from C-1 to C-2 was denied five to two by our Livonia City Council. It was acknowledged that local business traffic under the typical C-1 is all that this can be safely accommodated at this site. It's pretty obvious, since it is surrounded by parks and residential homes. While these reminders are important, I need to enforce the simple fact here that no authority will allow the violation of the two ordinances that you were... Ms. Dinaro: Ms. Riggio: 30 seconds reminded of earlier, Code Ordinance C.36.050, and the zoning ordinance Sections 6.50 3a, you must follow these city ordinances. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Ms. Reggio, September 16, 2025 32016 Eric Kuszynski, 37734 Pickford Drive, Livonia, MI. I have a unique perspective on this in that my daughter just graduated from Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. It's a small town about 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh, and it's got about 4,000 residents. There are two gas stations. There is Sheetz and there is the other gas station that we, quite frankly, never went to. When I see the petitioner come here, put forth a site plan that is esthetically nice, I'm reminded of that station down in Pennsylvania, and they always did a nice job keeping it up. It was a 24/7 operation. There were no problems with crime. It was a great place to work. My daughter said everybody who works at Shetz really likes working at Sheetz. When I heard that Sheetz was going to be thinking about Livonia, quite frankly, I was excited. Unfortunately, I was out of town and I couldn't come to address the City Council or the Planning Commission, but I am very encouraged with the fact the petitioner is willing to work with the Planning Commission to address some of the smaller issues that have come up, I think that's wonderful, and I fully support Sheetz. I know in this room that makes me a little bit of a pariah, but I have had excellent dealings with them, and found them to be an excellent corporate citizen, and would encourage this body to work with them to see if this site can be developed. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Kuszynski, and I do understand the difficulty of speaking in a sort of different mindset than the majority of the audience. And I do appreciate the audience remaining gracious on that as well. So, thank you. Go ahead. Ma'am. Good evening. Marcia McClain, Edgewood Avenue, Livonia, MI. You are being given a list of questions that a group of us put together. This is by no means an exhausting list, but simply a list of questions that we would eventually like to be sufficiently answered if this project ever gets underway. You have the list now, and it should be in the record. Mr. Wilshaw: We will add it to our record. Thank you. Ms. McClain: But going back to the real issue at hand, and to emphasize that the list of questions is not intended to redirect what the focus is, and you're going to hear it again. The focus is that there's no authority that would allow the violation of two ordinances that you have been given copies of earlier. It's the code of ordinance, the zoning ordinance, the sections are crystal clear and need to be followed. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you for your comments. September 16, 2025 32017 Jim Biga, Livonia, Michigan. I know we're hearing a lot about zoning and all that. I'm not going to go there, but my issues are more with traffic. From seven in the morning to seven at night. Eight Mile is a mess. You're not going to be able to turn left into that gas station. Newburg from about the same hours both every day you're not going to be able to head south from Eight Mile or from Halstead and make a left into that gas station. I haven't heard anything about no left. Turns going into the gas station from either road. Haven't heard anything about no left turns leaving the gas station from the Planning Commission or from what the petitioner has been talking about. If you don't put restrictions on entering and exiting that gas station, it's just going to cause nothing but accidents, and all you're going to do is keep the Livonia Fire Department, the Farmington Hills Fire Department, busy at that intersection. And I think it's ridiculous to not have traffic studies currently done by both Oakland County and Wayne County, Farmington Hills police and Livonia police to say, yes, that road can handle the added traffic going into a 24 hour, really which you shouldn't have a 24-hour gas station at that intersection. I mean, it's bad enough, we got one at Seven Mile and Newburgh. And quite frankly, that's ridiculous, because who's out driving around that time of night. And yes, you have some workers who have to come out and do that, but it would be better at some other location where you don't have people living and driving in either Farmington Hills or Livonia going to their home. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Biga, and it's been a long time since I've seen you. It's good to see you again. Dave Hall, 37300 West Eight Mile, Farmington Hills, MI. Thank you. I am going to be living directly across the street from this monstrosity. I've got a lot of issues with this, and one I've just heard tonight, they're going to build on the east side of the building a sitting area. Well, that's going to be about 300 yards away from my house. The noise is going to be ridiculous. The drive through coming south and then, or I'm sorry, on the south side of the building, heading east, then they got to come north. That's puts every car light in my bedroom window. Ifs bad enough. And this is no joke. 5:30 in the morning, every morning, Whispering Willows cut their greens. That stupid little mower. Lights are in my bedroom, and it wakes us up. The noise. We like having our windows open, the noise is going to be ridiculous. 24/7 music. This is what I got to deal with the rest of my as long as we're in this house, the traffic, I don't know how I'm going to get out of my driveway at 4:30, 5:00 6:00 at night. I've got to go through three lanes now. It's so backed up, it's ridiculous. And now, if I have a truck in front of me, some generous lady lets me in. Now I got to worry about, can I go? Mr. Wilshaw: Janet Hartlep, Mr. Wilshaw: Ms. Hartlep; Mr. Wilshaw: Ms. Hartlep: September 16, 2025 32018 Because I can't see. We've already had an accident. My wife and 1, probably 15 years ago, just somebody let us in and, boom, we got T-boned. One more thing, when there is an accident, I have a circular driveway. Everybody's going to be using my driveway as a turnaround. I already have it 10-15, times a week already. It's only going to get worse. Crime. I got to deal with people four in the morning, maybe coming to my house. Mr. Hall, you're out of time. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate that. 20244 Gary Lane, Livonia, MI. I don't understand. City Council voted against this. The people are against it. It's against the ordinances. Why are we even considering this? Why were they asked to come back? I would love to see a Sheetz in Livonia along the industrial zone, you know, 1-96 or along the freeway, 1-275, and... Please, ma'am, please talk to us. not in my backyard. I've been, I was talking to the gentleman... You need to talk to us. Okay, so I've been to weddings at Greenmead. I would be very upset if I was a bride or a groom and had to listen to music across the street. I golf at Whispering Willows. I'm going to be there Thursday, as a matter of fact, and that seventh hole is down in the bottom of the hill, so you know, there's going to be runoff and stuff. So, what's that going to do to the vegetation? What's that going to do to the water. They're talking about tapping into our sewer system. So, are they going to pollute everything? You know, I don't...1 can understand they have good gas stations, but not in our backyard. You're going to cut off business from the restaurant at the golf course, which we frequent often. You're going to cut off business from the Speedway. the Kroger, and it's not necessary when they put the Rite Aid in there, 1 thought it was ridiculous, because there is a pharmacy, and I'm a pharmacist, a pharmacy on every corner, and half of them are vacant now, as is this one, and it's because City Council allowed it, and the planning and the zoning boards allowed it. You need to follow the rules and listen to the people who live in the city, not in Pennsylvania. Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Ms Hartlep. Ron Riggo, 37204 Bretton, Livonia, MI. I am just down the street from this Sheetz, truck stop, gas station, pedophile place. You know they're talking September 16, 2025 32019 about state of the art. Well, on my phone, gas leaks in almost every city, evacuation, gas leak, gas pump malfunction. I mean, large diesel fuel spills. Okay, so I'm on my phone. It's happening. We got water behind that that'd be contaminated. What about...1 haven't seen any fire hydrants there in those pretty pictures. Have you seen any fire hydrants? Are they there? Have you checked into that for fire hydrants? What about in the wintertime, when there's snow and spills, where's that snow going? Is it going to go over on Newburgh? Is it going to go over on Eight Mile Road? Where is the snow going with all the gas spills and diesel fuel? You know, you're talking about 12,500 gallons of gas in a that's an 18 wheeler. Ms. Dinaro: 30 seconds. Mr. Riggio: Okay, no matter what I say or no matter what any of these people say, one thing I've learned about this committee, you're going to pass it anyways. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Riggio. Hi. Good evening. Ma'am. Denise. Mika, Livonia, Michigan. I'm so distraught that everybody in our city government, whether you're appointed or not or elected, is ignoring the people. We had the millage in August, and you heard from the people, and you're hearing from the people tonight. It does not make sense to have that gas station there. It's going to ruin the golf course. It's going to ruin green Mead. And Greenmead has some lovely events. I can't imagine the traffic. And if there's going to be snow removal by trucks, and how are they going to get in and out of that small space. The Rite Aid, and how the elevation of the property was crazy to begin with, that was approved and now let's not make another mistake at that corner. And it's within 100 feet. They are all correct on those ordinances. And please, please, please, listen to the people, because it's going to happen that we're going to have more and more people come to all of these meetings and hold everybody accountable for what the citizens of Livonia want. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Hi. Susan Lapeer, 37162 Fairfax, Willow woods, Livonia, MI. I've been at every meeting that we've had for Sheetz, and I left here super, super excited when the vote was five to two. I said, wow, they get us. They understand what we're going to... how Willow Woods sub is going to change. I left here thinking that is a City Council that understands. When I voted this last election, I did a fine study and looked at every City Council member and what they were saying Mr. Wilshaw: Mr.Swicki: Mr. Wilshaw: Alex Swicki: September 16, 2025 32020 and what they felt for and what they are passionate about, and that's how I voted. So, I'm asking you to take into consideration those of us that live right there next to that in the first subdivision, Willow woods, and think of safety. Think of beauty. Think of us that our homes are maintained. Beautifully. That Willow Woods subdivision is gorgeous. We are as far north as we can be, and we maintain that as a beautiful corner. Please consider that when you vote and let us leave here today feeling like we did when you voted it down five to two before Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Lapeer, doesn't look like there's anyone else in our audience wishing to speak. The petitioner does have a opportunity to come forward and give any final comments that they'd like to make before we get a motion on the floor. Thank you for having me up again this evening, and thanks to everyone in the room who came up and commented. It's always good to hear comments and learn more about how we can work with communities that we're in. It is tricky this evening because we're not talking about a use we are talking about a site plan, which I know you're all familiar with. So unfortunately, most of concerns brought up this evening were about the use and not site plan. So, I'm not going to address most of those things unless, of course, you all would like any particular questions answered. The one item I did hear that I thought was closely related to site plan is in regard to music, and it was one of you that, I apologize, don't remember, one of you brought it up earlier. We can agree to not play music outside. So, we think that that would be a good addition. We do understand that, you know, we are 1,000 feet away from the closest resident. But as someone who also enjoys golf, I can see, you know, trying to land a putt on the green there. And while I don't think you would really hear our music, I could see that being distracting. So any questions I can answer, I am here. Mr. Sawicki, the one, one other comment that was made by a couple of the residents, I think is relevant in the site plan processes in regards to turn movements in and out of the property, and any restrictions of those turn movements? Is there any intent for you to do that? So as I mentioned earlier, we did do a traffic impact study. Is with Wayne County and with the city engineer. They have both seen it. The traffic impact study measures traffic at the intersection and the adjacent roadways and looks at effective intersections throughout the area based off of traffic engineers standards that traffic study did not warrant restricting movements. It said that Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Caramagno: Mr. Swicki: September 16, 2025 32021 what we would call full cuts. So, any movement in and out of those intersections would be an appropriate level of service. I do not remember what those levels of service were. Off the top my head, they grade them A to E, A being the best. But as I indicated earlier, the taper along Eight Mile was a result of the traffic impact study, timing adjustments to the light at the intersection was part of that, and again, I would have to look but in my experience, typically when you see timing adjustments at the light, it's not so much a reflection on the new use as more of a scenario that already exists. So, while I can't say for certain sound, because I don't have the TIS in front of me. It's possible that we would be fixing an issue that already exists today and not one of our making. Okay. Thank you, sir. Is there any other questions from any of the commissioners for Mr. Swicki while he's up here? Couple of questions. I just want to be clear, because I thought I heard this again. This is not a truck stop, is it? No, sir. Mr. Caramagno: Are you going to have trucking ability to fuel trucks with big nozzle diesel guns? Mr. Swicki: Mr. Caramagno: Mr. Swicki: No. Okay, so that you're...that's very clear. This is not a truck stop. Thank you. On that, there's a question about a fire hydrant. Is there a fire hydrant in close proximity to the property? So, there are two. I was looking at that. There are two existing fire hydrants. One is just east of the property line, north of the golf course, and there is one just south of the property line on Newburgh. We'II work with the fire department and your local zoning ordinances. They usually have some sort of hose lay length requirement so the fire truck can hook up and get to the building adequately. So, if we have to add hydrants, we will. It's pretty standard for us. Mr. Caramagno: I thought the hydrant question was a good one. I thought the truck stop question was, was off base. We've talked about that a couple of times. I thought. I thought I was right on that. The fellow that lives across the street, the car is shining lights in his driveway. Is there any way to screen that more so that he wouldn't have lights shining in his house? September 16, 2025 32022 Mr. Swicki: Yeah, so I do not believe our driveways line up. So, it's unlikely that you're going to have lights shining into the driveway anyway. But along the property lines, if you look at the landscape lighting, we, or excuse me, landscape lighting, landscape plans, we do have extensive tree and shrubbery all along the property lines that are also a part of your ordinance to help screen headlights. Mr. Caramagno: Okay, my last question is, a lot of talk about traffic here today. Obviously, Eight Mile Road, busy road. Eight Mile is five lanes for a long, long way. Two one way and two the other. Left hand turn lane. Lot of discussion about traffic and while I hear that, that road is designed to handle massive amounts of traffic, and it does, Newburgh Road on our side is...what is that? It's five lanes as well and then you've got Halstead, of course, north of there. It's under construction now. In your opinion, in your history with Sheetz, and you've got 700 stores, how much traffic problem do you have on your five -lane road Sheetz? Mr. Swicki: So, I'm proud to say, just like last week or so, we actually surpassed 800. We opened our 800th store down in Raleigh, North Carolina. But these are busy roads. One of the reasons that we like the corner, other than we think that there's an unmet demand, is because they're busy roads. We typically, our traffic studies will show that we capture existing traffic and put it right back on the road. We're not generating new traffic typically in these intersections. We handle them very well. We're very cognizant of how we design our sites. We want them to function well. We want them to be a convenience for our customers to be able to get in and out safely. Last thing we want is an accident to happen in front of our establishment. One, you know, we want everyone to be safe. And two, that's bad business. So I have no anticipation that traffic will be an issue from adding a Sheetz location here. Mr. Caramagno: Do you generate a lot of traffic for your food operation? Or is that part of your...is Sheetz of food destination? Or is it a matter of getting food or groceries in your travels as well? Mr. Swicki: So again, we're a traffic capture. We are there as a convenience. That's our shtick, right? We are the ultimate one stop shop for anything you need on the go. That's the tag line. You can find it on the website. So, we offer the food made to order. We offer the grocery items. And while I don't have the percentage for you, a vast majority of those purchases were because someone came and filled up their gas tank. September 16, 2025 32023 Mr. Caramagno: Do you have a massive amount of traffic related to those food carriers that come pick up, carry outs and deliver to people's homes? I can't think of the names of them right now. Do you have a lot of that at your locations, Mr. Swicki: Like DoorDash and Uber?. We do offer those services. It is a very small portion of our business; it's just not something that's taken off. Mr. Caramagno: Thank you. Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Swicki: Thank you, Mr. Caramagno. And on that same topic, I think it was discussed even at the zoning meeting, but even though it's a little off base, but there's a little bit of discussion about your drive through and stacking and how much to use the drive through gets and I believe you said at that time, the drive thru is a fairly small use for your property in comparison to say, a fast food restaurant. Is that correct? That is correct. So, it's part of the convenience thing. It contributes very little to the bottom line, it'sreally there if it's raining and someone has a van full of kids or just want to get out in the car for whatever reason, they can go through the drive through, and they can, they can pick up their food. You can order ahead on the app. You can go and just pick it up and right through. So, during lunchtime, so like the noon hour, the average throughout the entire company is something like nine cars an hour. For a fast food restaurant, depending on the restaurant, there are some that are like, the one that sells chicken is a lot busier than some other ones. But some of the other ones, they would be like 60, 70, 80 cars an hour. So significantly less. In the middle of the night, we can run like two cars an hour. It's just not something that's a primary driver of business. Okay. And I did want to note that from your original plan that you gave us back then, the drive thru lane has been reworked extensively based on our comments. I do appreciate the changes that you made to bring that closer to the building so it's not a traffic conflict inside your property. Yeah. I hope you know at the end. I hope that you vote favorably for us this evening, but if anything, I hope that you all leave this evening knowing that we are really trying to be a good community partner. So thank you for mentioning it. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Swicki, is there any other questions or comments for the petitioner? September 16, 2025 32024 Mr. Bongero: Just a question for Jacob. How does the city view the 100-foot radius? Mr. Uhazie: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Swicki: Mr. Wilshaw: We have discussed this with Law. So here is the dashed line that represents the 100-foot buffer. The buffer regarding Greenmead to the north and to the west is all in the right of way. To the south and east, it does go into the golf course, but it is of the Law department's opinion that those are not areas that the public would gather. As you can see, it's a tree line. For example, this is about the 100-foot line. You can see the tee would be further to the east, and everything to the west towards the property is kind of shrubbery and trees. So, as I mentioned, the Law department is aware and does not feel that it would be considered a public gathering place. And then, as far as Greenmead is concerned, it does not impact it. It just goes into the right way. It doesn't actually go into the property parcel. Thank you. Mr. Bongero. Any other questions or comments? If not, Mr. Lindley, we're not going back and forth with the audience. You've had a chance to speak. (Audience member asking to be heard again) No, no, no, you cannot. No, no, sir. We have heard from the audience. We're not going to go back to the audience again. Sir, I said the petitioner is going to get the last word. He's up here giving the last word. You can go ahead and sit down now. Thank you, Mr. Swicki. Is there anything else that you'd like to say? No, I appreciate you all. Thank you for your time. If there's no other questions or comments, a motion is in order On a motion by Droze, seconded by Caramagno, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-39-2025 RESOLVED, That the City Planning Commission does hereby recommend to the City Council that Petition 2025-08-08-07 submitted by Skilken Gold, on behalf Sheetz, requesting site plan approval pursuant to ZBA Resolution 2025-03-04, approved May 6, 2025, to construct a gasoline service station, limited service/carry-out restaurant, including a drive-thru window at the southeast. corner of Newburgh Road and Eight Mile Road in the northwest 1/4 of Section 5, be approved subject to the following conditions: That the Site Plan marked Sheet C1.0 received September 16, 2025, as revised, prepared by Kimley Horn, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; with the exception that September 16, 2025 32025 the parking space identified as space "1" located in the southeast corner of the building be removed to allow a greater turning radius; 2. That the Landscape Plan marked Sheet L1.0 received September 16, 2025, as revised, prepared by Kimley Horn, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 3. That the Lighting Plan marked Sheet A1.0 dated July 23, 2025, as revised, prepared by Red Leonard Associates, is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 4. That the Elevation Plans marked Sheets A200 and A201 dated July 16, 2025, as revised, prepared by Convenience Architecture and Design P.C., is hereby approved and shall be adhered to; 5. That only conforming signage is approved with this petition, and any additional signage shall be separately submitted for review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals; 6. All disturbed lawn areas shall be sodded instead of hydroseeding; 7. That underground sprinklers are to be provided for all landscaped and sodded area; 8. That this site shall meet either the City of Livonia or the Wayne County Storm Water Management Ordinance, whichever applies, and shall secure any required permits, including storm water management permits, wetlands permits and soil erosion and sedimentation control permits; 9. That the south half of the existing sidewalk along Newburgh Road shall be relocated to the correct location along the property line to the satisfaction of the Planning Director; 10. That free air shall be provided at all times this station is open for business. The free air shall be dispensed at the point of service without having to enter the station or the performance of any extra action in order to obtain the air without charge; 11. That the walls of the dumpster enclosure shall be constructed out of the same brick used in the construction of the building or in the event a poured wall is substituted, the wall's design, texture and color shall match that of the September 16, 2025 32026 building and the enclosure gates shall be of solid panel steel construction or durable, long-lasting solid panel fiberglass and maintained and when not in use closed at all times; 12. That sound levels of any outdoor speakers shall be kept to a reasonable minimum so as to not become objectionable; 13. All parking spaces, except the required handicapped spaces, shall be double -striped at ten feet (10') wide by twenty feet (20') in length as required by the Zoning Ordinance; 14. That any outdoor sales of ice or propane shall be restricted to screened in area identified on the Site Plan marked C1.0 and received September 16, 2025; 15. That a trash receptacle shall be provided for the outdoor patio area and shall be emptied regularly as needed; 16. That the hours of operation shall be limited to twenty-four hours, seven days a week; 17. All rooftop mechanical equipment shall be concealed from public view on all sides by screening, which shall be compatible with the materials and colors of the other exterior materials on the building; 18. The gas pump island canopy shall not exceed eighteen feet (18') in height, and its support columns shall be covered with the same brick used in the construction of the building; 19. Unless approved by the Inspection Department, any type of exterior advertising, such as promotional flags, streamers, or sponsor vehicles designed to attract the attention of passing motorists, shall be prohibited; 20. That the specific plans referenced in this approving resolution shall be submitted to the Inspection Department at the time the building permits are applied for; and, 21. Per Section 13.13 of the Livonia Zoning Ordinance, this approval is valid for one (1) year from the date of approval by the City Council. Unless a building permit is obtained, this approval shall be null and void after the one (1) year period. Mr. Wilshaw: September 16, 2025 32027 Is there any discussion? I am trying to see if there's any other changes that need to be made. Does anybody have any other adjustments to this? Mr. Bongero: Is there something about the speakers? Mr. Wilshaw: The petitioner is volunteering to not have outdoor music. If the maker of the motion...but the petitioner needs to have speakers for safety purposes... Mr. Droze: But I think we made a note that it would be, I think it's item 12. Sound levels of any outdoor speaker shall be kept to a reasonable minimum so as not to become objectionable. Mr. Wilshaw: And that's what the maker of the motion is offering. Mr. Droze: Yes. Mr. Wilshaw: Okay, are you good with that, Mr. Bongero? Okay, any other questions or comments? Mr. Long: Within this approving resolution, there were a couple things. One was the ice, which Mr. Droze has offered to have screened. I'm not a fan of that, but I guess I can live with that. And then the other is the hours of operation, which Mr. Droze suggests would be 24 hours. You know, again, we're here to study the site plan. I think this is a good site plan. I'm not a fan of the 24 hours. I guess I'll have a decision to make if the rest of the commission thinks that that's the way we should go. I'd like to see it closed down in the middle of the night. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you, Mr. Long. Mr. Uhazie, do we need to update the dates on the resolution? You said that there are some new site plans. Mr. Uhazie: Yes, we will need to update the dates. Mr. Wilshaw: I see that these are August dates when we're dealing with a site plan that was just submitted recently. Mr. Uhazie: So this still says August 12, on the newest one. Mr. Wilshaw: Correct so, but you've received one... Mr. Uhazie: We will have to update it to be received today. Mr. Wilshaw: I think that's a good note to have on that. September 16, 2025 32028 Mr. Uhazie: Mr. Wilshaw: Mr. Droze: That would go for the site plan and the landscape plan. That way we're clarifying to the City Council that that's the plan that we're interested in at this point. Okay, any other comments from any of the commissioners before we take our roll call? I just want to just offer a little perspective on why I plan to support the site, obviously, with making the motion. So, this is a... obviously, it's a site that there's a lot of, I think, valid concerns. But I will also say that the applicant and the team that they have assembled to tackle this very challenging site is very high caliber. We see a lot of plans, and I can say that any question that we've asked as a commission has been addressed, and then some, I'll start with...really kind of just looking at...l think probably the biggest concern that's been offered is the traffic side of things. As part of the initial rezone request, a full traffic study was done, and that recommendations, included within that, included the driveway and making some alterations to the traffic signal, as was mentioned by the applicant, a lot of the issues at the intersection are about the existing condition trips, and so anything we can do to try to improve that through the site, and they've done that by trying to push the driveways as far away from the intersection as they can, working with the county to modify the signal if necessary. Those are steps that have been thoughtful in their approach to this difficult site. From the environmental perspective, this site was originally built in 1995 and that was before the county had any storm water management requirements in place. For this particular area, and we've talked about Whispering Willows on a few occasions, drains to a branch of the Bell Creek, which is part of the Rouge River system. And if you've been in the golf course Whispering Willows, Fox Creek, or any part of Livonia, you've noticed that there is a significant erosion problem in a lot of our open water courses in the city. There's about 2.3 acres of Novi and Farmington Hills that drain through under Newburgh Road and head into the golf course. The reason that there's so much erosion, in a lot of cases, is just because there's been a lot of development over the years. This project is a step in the right direction to help reduce some of the impacts of that by having detention and providing water quality to reduce the impact. So from this perspective, it's, again, it's a large investment that is helping to address an issue, that the city has been aware of, and I have direct knowledge of this because of work I've actually done in Whispering Willows about 15 years ago, doing a stormwater detention project for the city. So, this has been a need that's been known for a long time, and it's helping to address that issue. You know, relative to the use in this particular area, and there's been some discussion about the saturation of September 16, 2025 32029 stores and gas stations. I do look at this particular area, and granted, there's plenty of gas stations in Livonia, but if you go to the north in the Farmington Hills, if you were to draw a polygon with 1-275, being the western limit, Gill road being the eastern limit, Eight mile being the south and Grand River being the north, you'd actually find an area where there really aren't, I don't think, any gas stations, and so those particular areas,... (Audience started making noise and comments) Mr. Wilshaw: Folks, please, please, hey, hey,(hits the gavel). Have some respect. Mr. Droze: The opinion is that it potentially could actually provide a service for an area that actually doesn't have it. We talked about the traffic on Newburgh, potentially, you could actually reduce trips from those going down the Speedway to potentially use this gas station. So, from my perspective on that, looking at that, and then again, just looking at the fact that this is a site built in 1995 that's been in decline for a number of years. This is a challenging site. Over $10 million. I look at it as a professionally done site that's really addressing all the concerns that I have as a planning commissioner, and as somebody who has reviewed projects like this professionally for over 20 years. (Audience member yelling) Mr. Wilshaw: Ma'am. (hits the gavel again) (Audience member yelling) Mr. Wilshaw: Are you all set, Mr. Droze? Mr. Droze: With that I'll turn it back to the Chair. Mr. Wilshaw: Thank you. Mr. Droze. Any other comments from any of the commissioners? If not, there is a motion on the floor to approve, made by Mr. Droze, and supported by Mr. Caramagno. If there's no other comments, secretary can please take the roll. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Dinaro, Droze, Bongero, Long, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: Ventura ABSTAIN: None September 16, 2025 32030 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 1,234th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting Mr. Caramagno, Secretary, announced the next item on the agenda, Approval of the Minutes of the 1,234th Public Hearing and Regular Meeting held on August 19, 2025. On a motion by Caramagno, seconded by Bongero, and unanimously adopted, it was #09-40-2025 RESOLVED, That the Minutes of 1,234th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held by the Planning Commission on August 19, 2025, are hereby approved. A roll call vote on the foregoing resolution resulted in the following: AYES: Dinaro, Droze, Bongero, Long, Caramagno, Wilshaw NAYS: None ABSENT: Ventura 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 1,235th Public Hearings and Regular Meeting held on September 16, 2025, was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. ATTEST: Ian Wilshaw, Chairman CITY PL ING COMMISSION am C: ramagno, Secretary