MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION,
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2002, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1. Roll Call
PRESENT: Baker, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Max, Senesac, Slicker, Svenson, and Wieland
ABSENT: Dowling (previously arranged)
OTHERS PRESENT: Jon Lynch, Director of Planning
& Community Development; Mark Ostgarden, City Planner; Cheri Standfest,
Administrative Assistant; and 18 others.
2. Approval
of the minutes of the meeting of October 8, 2002
Wieland
moved approval of the minutes of the meeting of October 8, 2002 with Slicker
supporting the motion. The minutes were
approved as presented.
3. Public
Hearings
a.
Preliminary
Plat of Winding Creek Estates – request
of Bennett Construction for tentative approval of a preliminary plat of Winding
Creek Estates, a residential subdivision of 83 lots on 48.2 acres east of
Perrine Road and north of Letts Street. [see transcript]
4. Public
Comments (not related to agenda items)
Mr. Tom
McCann of 3305 Jefferson Avenue addressed the Planning Commission and noted
that he owns a significant amount of property along North Saginaw Road and he
recommends that, even though he owns several houses on the road, that the City
zone the property along the north side of the road to a commercial status.
5.
Old
Business
a.
Preliminary
Plat of Countryside Estates – request
of Schroeder Builders for tentative approval of a preliminary plat of
Countryside Estates, a residential subdivision of 56 lots on 18.42 acres west
of Dublin Avenue and south of Countryside Drive. Mr. Lynch provided a brief
review of the public hearing conducted regarding this petition on October 8th. He shared public comments received since the
conclusion of public hearing regarding access to the “Haug” property and site
drainage.
Mr.
Lynch shared with Commissioners a proposed preliminary plat of Jilmar Estates
as well as the plat that was ultimately approved. It was noted that some modification of the
originally submitted plat would result in Vandemere Street connecting to the
proposed Summergate Lane. The property
owner, Mr. Ken Haug, previously indicated that he would continue to discuss a
potential connection with Mr. Schroeder but that connecting Vandemere to Dublin
Road would likely be more efficient.
Mr.
Scott Bell of Lapham Associates spoke on behalf of the petitioner and noted
that runoff generated by the development is not allowed to discharge onto
adjacent property. While the site
drainage system is yet to be designed to detail, the petitioner understands
that the design must be reviewed and approved by the City’s Engineering
Department.
Commissioner
Senesac stated that this plat complied with provisions of the Subdivision
Ordinance and should be approved.
It was moved by Senesac and seconded by Kozakiewicz to recommend to City
Council tentative approval of the preliminary plat of Countryside Estates
contingent upon:
1) The City Council grants an exception from Section 23-53 of the Subdivision Ordinance, permitting Summergate Lane to be located within 625 feet of Vandemere Drive.
2) Storm water retention plans are reviewed and approved by the City of Midland Engineering Department.
3) Provisions are made for private maintenance of parks dedicated for private use.
The vote proceeded as follows:
YEA: Baker, Geisler, Kozakiewicz,
Max, Senesac, Slicker, Svenson, and Wieland
NAY: None
ABSENT: Dowling
b.
Zoning Petition
No. 495 – request of James Wilson on behalf
of Midland Ford to rezone property east of Washington Street and south of
Eastlawn Drive from Office Service-2 to Business B-2 zoning. Mr. Lynch provided a brief review of the
public hearing conducted regarding this petition on October 8th.
Commissioner
Senesac inquired about how the proposed parking are would be utilized if the
rezoning were approved. Mr. Richard
Handlon, speaking on behalf of Mr. Wilson, indicated that employee parking
would not be eliminated. Mr. Wilson also
pointed out that the employees would park in a designated area while the
balance of the site would accommodate 30 to 40 new vehicles for sale.
Commissioner
Senesac also inquired about the licensed vehicles currently parked behind the
primary building. Mr. Wilson stated that
those vehicles are customer’s cars there for service. They are typically in and out of the “shop”
in a day. It would be inefficient to
park those cars across Wisconsin Street and putting wrecked cars there would
detract from the appearance of the neighborhood.
Mr. Tom
McCann of 3305 Jefferson Avenue expressed support for the requested rezoning,
noting that it would not have a detrimental impact on the area and that he
would hate to see Ford leave the already crowded property.
Commissioner
Senesac stated that while approving the requested rezoning would facilitate
automobile sales, the Planning Commission must keep in mind that if the
dealership moved, any use permitted in the Business B-2 Zone could ultimately
be built on the site. The requested
change would also bring the commercial strip along South Saginaw Road farther
from Saginaw and closer to the neighborhoods.
Commissioner
Svenson indicated that she supports the use of the site for car sales but that rezoning
would allow many different uses.
Chairman
Geisler stated that any use permitted in the Business B-2 Zone would be
appropriate at this location and would not be detrimental.
Commissioner
Kozakiewicz stated that in the event of a change of use, some uses allowed in
the Business B-2 Zone could be bad for the area.
Commissioner
Max expressed agreement with Chairman Geisler.
Pointing
out that he voted against this request in 2000, Commissioner Baker found that
changes in the area would warrant approval of the request.
Commissioner
Wieland stated that he was disappointed that a special use provision to allow
Midland Ford to sell vehicles from this site was not successful in 2000. However, he also feels that rezoning is not
the appropriate approach to solving this problem.
Commissioner
Slicker indicated that the Office Service area on the master plan seems to
promote spot zoning.
Commissioners
also discussed other regulatory methods of addressing the problem of permitting
unlicensed cars but not licensed cars on this site including; special use
permit, use variance, zoning text amendment, and overlay zoning. Mr. Lynch explained that staff had not
researched those matters and was not in a position to make a recommendation.
It was moved by Baker and seconded by Max to recommend to City Council
approval of Zoning Petition No. 495. The vote proceeded as follows:
YEA: Baker, Geisler, Max, Slicker
NAY: Kozakiewicz, Senesac,
Svenson, Wieland
ABSENT: Dowling
The motion was defeated on a split decision.
1. Saginaw Road - West City
Limit (Cora Belle Bell property)
2. Saginaw Road - Midland Fence
Company
3. Saginaw Road - West City Limit (Ronald Campbell property)
Mr. Ostgarden and Mr. Lynch provided a review of a previous
discussion regarding this geographic area.
Information pertaining to updating the master plan and extension of
nonconforming uses was also provided to the Commission.
Commissioners again engaged in
a significant discussion regarding validity of the Future Land Use Plan for
this area. Testimony was received from
Mr. Tom McCann in support of applying commercial zoning to this entire
area. It was noted that owners of the
Humpert and McCardle parcels also support commercial zoning. Mr. Wayne Reinberg owns property next to
Midland Fence and wishes the zoning to be commercial.
Commissioners continued to
discuss current and anticipated changes of land use, street networks, and
development in the general area.
Commissioner Max recommended that the Planning Commission discuss with
Homer Township its long range land use plan for this area.
The Commission expressed
support for a joint meeting with Homer Township to discuss zoning in this
general area. Staff will attempt to
schedule such a meeting shortly after the holiday season.
6. New
Business
None
7. Communications
None
8. Report
of the Chairman
None
9. Report of the Planning Director
The
Director reported on the following matters:
October
14
Preliminary Plat – Broadhead Estates (approved)
SP No. 217 – Birchwood Pointe Apartments (approved)
SP No. 218 – Eagle Ridge Church of God (approved)
November 5
Public
hearings:
SP No. 219 – Alpine Village Mobile Home Park
ZP No. 497 – Application of RA-1 Zone to Rapanos property
ZP No. 498 – Application of RA-1 Zone to Bartow property
ZP No. 499 – Rezoning of property on Abbott Road from RA-2 to RA-4
Action
items will include:
Preliminary Plat – Winding Creek Estates
November 12
Public
hearings:
ZTX 140 – Zoning text amendments to recognize jail facilities
ZP No. 496 – Rezoning of property on M-20 to district supporting jail facilities
Action items
will include:
SP No. 219
ZP No. 499
November 26
Action
items will include:
ZTX 140
ZP No. 496
ZP No. 497
ZP No. 498
10. Adjourn.
Adjournment at approximately 9:25 PM was moved by Slicker, seconded by
Wieland, and unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Jon Lynch, AICP
Planning Commission Secretary
MINUTES ARE NOT FINAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION