City of Southgate Planning Commission Meeting FEBRUARY 13, 2012

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1 City of Southgate Planning Commission Meeting FEBRUARY 13, 2012 This meeting of the Planning Commission was held in the Municipal Council Chambers, Dix-Toledo Highway, Southgate, Michigan on Monday, February 13, 2012 and called to order by Chairman Charles Dunn at 7:30 p.m. Present - Patricia Anderson, Neil Cameron, Joseph Charney, Sheryl Denman, Charles Dunn, Anna Renaud, Elizabeth Ridenour, Peter Heggie, Rick Lamos. Also Present - Councilman Bill Colovos, Building Inspections Director Bob Casanova, Attorney Amy Higgins, Plan Consultant John Enos, Engineer Mark Gaworecki Minutes: The first order of business is approval of the minutes from the December 14, 2011 Planning Commission meeting. Moved by Renaud, supported by Heggie, RESOLVED, that the minutes of the Planning Commission Meeting dated December 14, 2011 be approved as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Public Hearings: 1. Conditional Use Approval for the construction of a 2,300 sq. ft. Tim Hortons restaurant with drive-through development at Eureka Rd. (CUA-12-01C). Applicant Patrick Bell, 565 E. Grand River Ave., Brighton, MI 48116, proposed the development of a new Tim Hortons and Cold Stone Creamery on a 42,253 sq. ft. parcel at Eureka Rd. The Tim Hortons, which includes a drive-through facility, requires a special use permit in the C-2 zoning district. The operations are brought to the front of the restaurant, where you can see the actual baking taking place. This will be one of their larger restaurants with an outdoor patio in front of the building. They hope to start construction this spring. If they could begin construction in May, they would expect to complete in about 90 days, if there are no problems. They currently have three other Tim Hortons in Southgate. Mr. Gayner, Southview, Southgate, MI 48195, a resident who lives behind the proposed restaurant, had concerns about what type of screening wall would be erected and if it would be a 24-hour restaurant. He also was concerned about possible noise from the restaurant. Messrs. Mark and Frank Gatti, owners of the strip mall located at Eureka Rd adjacent to the proposed Tim Horton site, voiced several concerns regarding the proposed restaurant: 1. Not following the Southgate Codified Ordinances 2. Negative impact to building, including visibility, safety, and traffic over-flow onto Eureka Rd. 3. Vertical visual impact, appearance of building and customer s line of sight 4. Damage the ability of commercial users to fully utilize their land 1

2 5. Conformity of Eureka Rd. set backs 6. Would not adversely impact the applicant by having them set back 6-10 extra feet Mr. Gatti feels that Tim Horton s has more than enough property to fully construct their premises. A full set back in accordance with the ordinance would not be detrimental to its ability to generate revenue. They would like to see the Tim Horton building set back at 60 ft., the same as their strip mall. This would be an additional set back of an extra 6 ½ ft. Plan Consultant John Enos stated that the applicant does meet ordinance requirements in regard to set-backs, and this is a reasonable location for the building. Moved by Ridenour, supported by Anderson, to close this Public Hearing. Motion carried unanimously. The Zoning Ordinance was amended several years ago to allow a business to build right up to the sidewalk if a building is already in that same block that goes right up to the sidewalk. Mr. Bell stated that it would not be possible for them to move the proposed Tim Hortons back any more on the site. Commissioner Anderson voiced her opinion that it would be unfortunate for the Tim Horton set back to affect the success of neighboring businesses. A letter of objection regarding the proposed Tim Horton restaurant was received by the Clerk s Office from William and Cheryl Dick, Southview Dr., Southgate MI They felt that a late-night drive-through restaurant would create more noise and traffic. Moved by Denman, supported by Anderson, RESOLVED, that the Planning Commission approves as presented, Conditional Use for the construction of a 2,300 sq. ft. Tim Hortons restaurant with drive-thru development at Eureka Road (CUA-12-01C). The site is currently zoned C-2 (General Business). Roll call vote on motion: Yeas Anderson, Cameron, Charney, Denman, Dunn, Renaud, Heggie, and Lamos Nays Ridenour Motion APPROVED 8-1. (Request APPROVED) 2. Conditional Use Approval to expand the existing restaurant, Beirut Garden, located at Eureka Rd. (CUA-12-01C (2) Mr. Hassan Al-Ammar was in attendance to present his application to expand the seating area of his business, Beirut Garden, into the neighboring unit in the strip mall. Commissioner Renaud said the owner of the property would be responsible for the screening wall. Mr. John Gatti, of Gatti Realty, made a request for a variance from being required to construct a screening wall. He cited sporadic enforcement of zoning regarding screening walls, saying that other businesses on Eureka Road do not have screening walls. He said the wall would be cost prohibitive and create a safety hazard for drivers. 2

3 Chairman Dunn stated that the ordinance requires a wall be erected across from any residential area affected by a commercial development. Plan Consultant Enos recommends approval of the expansion with the condition that the wall be erected. Moved by Anderson, supported by Ridenour, to close the Public Hearing. Motion carried unanimously. Moved by Renaud, supported by Charney, RESOLVED, that the Planning Commission approves Conditional Use to expand Beirut Garden at Eureka Road with screening wall required (CUA-12-01C(2). The site is currently zoned C-2 (General Business). Official s Reports: 1. Commercial Generator Decimal Limit Plan Consultant Enos would like to set a Public Hearing for the next Planning Commission meeting to address the issue of setting language for the use of commercial generators for decibel level and location. He would like to set the decibel requirements from a location of 15 feet from the generator. Moved by Anderson, supported by Lamos, RESOLVED, to set a Public Hearing to set decibel limits for commercial generators at the next Planning Commission Meeting. 2. Amendments to Planned Unit Developments, Sect of Zoning Ordinance Plan Consultant Enos recommends making changes to the PUD Ordinance regarding the following points: size, type of use - residential or commercial, the need for each phase standing on its own, and requiring a letter of credit instead of bonds. Moved by Renaud, supported by Ridenour, RESOLVED, to set a Public Hearing at the next Planning Commission Meeting to make Amendments to Planned Unit Developments, Section Correspondence: The following correspondence was received and filed: 1. Copy of minutes from City Council meeting dated January 4, Copy of Ord. #940 Floodplain Management 3. Copy of Ord. #941 Conditionally Rezone Fort St. 4. Copy of City Council Agenda dated January 18, 2012 and February 1, Copy of Council Work Study minutes dated December 7, 2011 and January 4,

4 6. Copy of City Council Resolution No adopting Ord. #939 to Conditionally Rezone Fort St. 7. Copy of DDA Agenda dated December 19, 2011 and January 19, Memo and site plans for AJM Packaging dated February 2, Copy of Planning & Zoning News for January Copy of DDA minutes dated January 19, 2012 Old Business None New Business 1. AJM Packaging Requesting Site Plan Approval Todd Boulyard, Project Manager and Architect of Tafari Assoc., Michigan Ave., Dearborn, spoke for AJM Packaging requesting a Site Plan Review in order to construct a 46,000 sq. ft. expansion to an existing 275,000 sq. ft. building. The addition is located along the southeast elevation adjacent to the Railroad R.O.W. Though the proposed addition is an expansion of a permitted use in the M-1 District, the Site Plan does require a Site Plan Review as required under Section (c). AJM Packaging is a family-owned business dating back to the mid-1950 s. This is a Detroit based company with seven plants throughout the U.S. This would be the beginning of several expansion projects, including purchasing more land, and possible Corporate Headquarters. AJM currently has 250 employees on three shifts. Seventeen additional employees would be added to support the new operations when the printing press is installed. A new printing press, scrap paper operations and two new truck docks would be added. The new printing press would be built along the southeast side of the building. Plan Consultant Enos confirmed that the applicant has addressed all of the City s issues. There was an issue of ft. access drive in the rear being reduced to 16 feet. The Fire Department gave their approval of this change. Plan Consultant Enos recommends approval of this Site Plan Review. AJM would have to build with masonry materials as required by our zoning laws. If they wanted to use block or any other material, they would have to go before the BZA for a variance. Mr. Boulyard confirmed that AJM would have more than sufficient parking spaces available to accommodate the changing of shifts. Plan Consultant Enos also addressed the parking issue and found there to be more than adequate parking available. Mr. Boulyard said that construction could begin this spring with construction completed by the end of summer, dependent on the Reeck Road construction planned for that period. Moved by Denman, supported by Charney, RESOLVED, that the Planning Commission approves Site Plan to construct a 46,000 sq. ft. expansion to AJM Packaging, Reeck Road, Southgate, MI contingent upon use of building materials required by the Southgate Zoning Ordinance (CS ). 4

5 2. Planning Commission Procedure Rick Lamos will provide information at the next Planning Commission Meeting. Building Inspections Director Bob Casanova brought up two new projects that will be discussed at the next meeting: 1. Soccer Complex A new 240,000 sq. ft. soccer complex on Noecker Way, off Reeck Road. 2. Hampton Inn Adjournment: Moved by Ridenour, supported by Anderson, RESOLVED, that this meeting of the Planning Commission be adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Charles Dunn Chairman, Planning Commission kp 02/13/12 5

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