MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING
COMMISSION,
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
JUNE 24, 2008, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1.
Roll Call
PRESENT: Brown,
Gaynor, Hanna, King, Mead, Senesac and Svenson
ABSENT: Eyre and Kozakiewicz
OTHERS PRESENT: Keith Baker,
Planning Director; Daryl Poprave, Deputy Planning Director; Cheri King,
Community Development Specialist and 5 others.
2.
Approval
of Minutes
Moved by Senesac,
seconded by Hanna, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of June 10,
2008. Motion passed
unanimously.
3. Public Hearing
a. Site
Plan No. 283 from Three Rivers Corporation on behalf of Midland Equities, LLC
for site plan review and approval for a 43,975 square foot building located at 215
Fast Ice Drive.
Due
to technical difficulties, the overhead camera did not work, so there was no
overhead document camera for viewers at home.
Mr.
Baker explained this is a site plan for a 43,975 sq. ft. facility located at
215 Fast Ice Drive, on the southwest corner of Fast Ice Drive, just west of
Rockwell Drive, near where the Midland County Jail is now under
construction. The property is zoned
LCMR. The adjacent property is zoned
Agricultural to the north, Community to the east, Industrial
B to the south and Industrial A to the west.
The project does not pose any impediments to the development of any of
the surrounding properties. Required
landscaping was calculated based upon street frontage, parking lot area and the
general site area under development. A
total of 36 trees and 109 shrubs are required.
The project does meet all setbacks and height requirements of the LCMR
district. The site is heavily
wooded. Only the area required for
development is proposed to be cleared for construction. Approximately 1/3 of the area will remain in
its current wooded state. Wetlands have
been preserved in the western 1/3 of the property. There is adequate turning radius for
emergency vehicles according to the Fire Department. The site is relatively irregular, in that it
has a small footprint on Fast Ice Drive, but it expands south and west. There is a single drive approach with a
boulevard median to separate ingress and egress. There will be public sidewalk required along
Fast Ice Drive. There will be only one
drive approach. The petitioner has
identified 175 parking stalls, six of which will be barrier free. There are two above-ground storm water
detention ponds located on site. A storm
water management plan is required to be approved by the City Engineering
Department. The photometric plan does
meet the requirements of the ordinance.
There are adequate public services available to the site. They are looking to begin construction this
summer of a 44,100 sq. ft. building.
Signage will have to meet the requirements of Article 8 in the Zoning
Ordinance. Staff recommends a favorable
consideration of this site plan along with the five regular conditions normally
attached to a site plan, plus a sixth condition.
Mrs.
Hanna asked about the detention ponds – will they be landscaped, bermed or fenced, and what is the depth of the ponds? Mr. Baker stated the pond at the north of the
site will be approximately five feet deep.
There will be landscaping on the front of that. The pond at the south side of the site will
be approximately four feet in depth with landscaping in front of it.
Mr.
Gaynor asked about the proposed expansion on the west side of the
building. Previously another petitioner
proposed an expansion and the Fire Department desired a road on either side of
the building. Mr. Baker stated the Fire
Department did look at the site plan and had no further comments.
Mr.
King asked what would happen if there was not sufficient water pressure to the
site? Mr. Baker stated there would have
to be a “booster pump” installed to provide additional water pressure and fire
suppression. This area of town has the
lowest water pressure of anywhere in town as there are no water towers in this
section of the city.
Randy
Sherman, of Three Rivers Corporation, Vantage Point Drive, Midland, Michigan,
stated they will make sure that the water pressure coming into the building
will accommodate both the proposed building and the proposed expansion. The service drive loops around the building
for emergency vehicle access. They are
trying to accommodate all issues to accommodate future development. They have retained a wetland consultant who
has submitted plans to the MDEQ. The
consultant has walked the site with the MDEQ and they are awaiting a final
decision from the DEQ.
No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to this
request.
The public hearing was closed.
4. Public Comments (not related to agenda items)
None
5. New Business
None
6.
Old
Business
a. Conditional
Use Permit No. 30, the request of Joan Dukarski for a
group child day care home located at 809 E. Sugnet
Road.
Mr. Poprave explained that this property is located
at 809 E. Sugnet Road. It is totally surrounded by single family
residential. There is a church on the
east side of Washington on the north side of E. Sugnet
Road. Mrs. Dukarski
is seeking conditional approval to operate a group day care home, which will
allow the care of up to 12 minor children with one additional staff
person. There is adequate parking for
from four to six vehicles. Portions of
the rear yard were fenced. The
discretionary standards are mentioned in the staff report. Staff recommends approval of this conditional
use permit, with similar contingencies to the conditional use permit for a
daycare facility that was before the Commission on Partridge Lane.
No one spoke either in favor of or in opposition to
this request.
Mr. Mead stated this looks like it is a fairly
straight-forward request.
It was moved by Mead, and seconded
by Gaynor, to recommend to City Council approval of Conditional Use Permit No.
30 with the following contingencies:
1. That
no on-premises signs be permitted.
2. That the hours of operation not extend
past 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
3. That no exterior or interior
alterations to the building be permitted that would otherwise change the
character or nature of the dwelling as a residential use.
4. That no more than one additional
non-resident adult employee be present at any given time.
Vote on the motion:
YEAS: Brown,
Gaynor, Hanna, King, Mead, Senesac and Svenson
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Eyre
and Kozakiewicz
The motion was approved 7-0.
b. Conditional
Use Permit No. 31, the request of Midland Country Club for a new clubhouse,
pool and cabana building at 1120 West St. Andrews Road.
Mr.
Poprave explained the changes that were made to the site plan since the last
meeting. The Country Club is in the
middle of Residential A-1 zoning. It is
bounded by Eastman Avenue on the west side, by St. Andrews on the south, and Sugnet on the north.
On the opposite side of Eastman Avenue, there is Community zoning. The project will include a new clubhouse,
pool and cabana building. The project
scope includes renovations to most of the 18 holes of golf. There will be a nearly 84,000 sq. ft.
clubhouse constructed on this site. This
property has 187 existing parking spaces.
They will construct 292 parking spaces in front of the clubhouse in a
similar location as the current parking.
Snake Creek will have some work done to it throughout the site.
The photometric grid is currently
being reviewed by the Building Department.
There will be no dumpster on site, as there is a compacter inside the
building. The site will require 19 trees
and 78 shrubs. The building will be in
excess of 270 feet from the nearest property line. Section 14.03(b)(1)
discusses the height of the building.
The clubhouse is proposed to be 40 feet high. They will be going before the Zoning Board of
Appeals for a variance at the July meeting.
There are extensive natural and built features on the site as it has
been a golf course. The Country Club has
been at this site since 1928. The
Country Club’s existing entrance was reviewed by the city Engineering
Department and the city’s traffic engineer and they determined this is the best
location for the driveway. However, the
angle has been adjusted to provide additional line of sight to traffic leaving
the site. There is still the “under
canopy” clearance requirement of 14 feet for the one canopy proposed to be on
site. The Country Club plans a total of
292 spaces, or one space for every two members.
All storm water runoff shall be retained on site per engineering
standards. Soil and erosions will be
monitored by the building department and the MDEQ. There are sufficient utilities to service
this site. The existing clubhouse will
remain open until the new clubhouse is completed, as will the existing
pool. There is no signage shown on the
site plan, but they will be removing the existing sign out by W. St. Andrews
Road.
Fred Eddy, 4322 Eastman Road,
Midland, represented the petitioner.
They have submitted the photometric plan and the canopy height has been raised to 14 feet so it does meet the ordinance
criteria. Their setback from the street
is nearly 400 feet so the building looks rather small. Parking agreements are in place with both St.
John’s Episcopal Church and Midland Center for the Arts.
No one spoke either in favor of or
in opposition to this request.
Mr. Senesac
stated he had a couple of issues when he first looked at it but all these have
been met now. Ms. Brown stated she also
does not have any problems with it. Mr.
Mead stated he has never seen a problem with parking at the Country Club and he
would like to leave sidewalks as they are today. It brings pedestrians too close to the golf
course if we have sidewalks along the golf course. Mr. King stated he is agreement with the proposed
plan.
It was moved by Senesac,
and seconded by Brown, to recommend to City Council approval of Conditional Use
Permit No. 31 with the following contingencies:
1. The
stormwater detention system is designed and
constructed in accordance with the City of Midland Engineering Department
specifications.
2. All
landscaping shall comply with Article 6 of the Zoning Ordinance and a detailed
parking lot landscaping plan shall be submitted.
3. All
exterior lighting shall comply with Section 3.12 of the Zoning Ordinance and a
photometric grid shall be provided to prove compliance.
4. All
exterior signage shall comply with Article 8 of the Zoning Ordinance.
5. All
parking spaces shall comply with Section 5.01D of the Zoning Ordinance and be
delineated by the “box” style striping.
6. All
roof top and ground mounted mechanical equipment shall be screened in
accordance with 6.02(e)2 of the Zoning Ordinance.
7. Existing
shared off-street parking agreements shall be maintained to provide excess
event parking.
8. The
clubhouse building height shall not exceed 28 feet unless a variance is granted
from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
9. All
entry canopies shall maintain a minimum canopy under clearance of 14 feet.
10. A
public water main maintenance easement shall be created for the city to access
and maintain this public utility.
11. The
location, access and flow of the proposed fire hydrants shall be in accordance
with the City of Midland Fire Department specifications.
12.
No additional sidewalks
need to be included.
Vote on the motion:
YEAS: Brown,
Gaynor, Hanna, King, Mead, Senesac and Svenson
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Eyre
and Kozakiewicz
The motion was approved 7-0.
c. Site
Plan No. 282 from MidMichigan Medical Center for site
plan review and approval for a 101,410 square foot Harlow Bed Tower Expansion
located at 4005 Orchard Drive.
Mr. Baker stated this site plan is for the 101,410
sq. ft. expansion of MidMichigan Medical Center. The tower will not include any additional
beds. Parking will be removed at the
southwest corner of the parking lot with additional spaces being located in the
Campus Ridge parking lot, relocating 73 spaces from the southwest corner off Sugnet.
The facility is also proposing a
couple of emergency generators which will be located on the west side of the
addition off Sugnet.
The petitioner provided an elevation drawing of the new building
relative to height and setback off Orchard Drive and McCandless Drive. The city has received no additional public
comments since the public hearing on June 10th.
Tom Lind, 2508 Greenwich Circle, Vice President of MidMichigan Medical Center, stated they have no new
information to present tonight. No one else
spoke either in favor of or in opposition to this site plan.
Mr. Senesac
stated he is in support of this site plan.
Mr. Mead stated he is also in favor of this plan. He has been impressed with the screening in
the area of the office building. Mrs.
Hanna stated she does commend them for trying to preserve the wetlands on the
site.
It was moved by Gaynor, and seconded
by Hanna, to recommend to City Council approval of Site Plan No. 282 with the
following contingencies:
1. The stormwater detention system is designed and
constructed in accordance with the City of Midland
Engineering Department specifications.
2. All
landscaping shall comply with Article 6 of the
Zoning Ordinance
including the addition of 12 trees
and
46 shrubs.
3.
All exterior lighting shall comply
with Section 3.12 of
the
Zoning Ordinance including the submission of a
photometric
plan for the new parking lot expansion.
4. All
exterior signage shall comply with Article 8 of the
Zoning
Ordinance.
5.
All parking spaces shall comply
with Section 5.01D of
the
Zoning Ordinance and be delineated by the “box”
style
striping.
6. All
roof or ground mounted mechanical equipment
shall
be screened in accordance with Section 6.02(E)2
of
the Zoning Ordinance.
Vote on the motion:
YEAS: Brown,
Gaynor, Hanna, King, Mead, Senesac and Svenson
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Eyre
and Kozakiewicz
The motion was approved 7-0.
7.
Communications
Commissioners received a copy of the Michigan
Planner magazine.
8. Report of the Chairperson
None
9. Report of the
Planning Director
June 23rd
ACTION ITEMS
a.
Site Plan No. 280
from Mark Sirrine, North-Point Construction, Inc. for site plan review
and approval for a 27,524 square foot mixed commercial shopping center called
Bell Plaza located at 211 East Wackerly Street. (Approved)
b.
Site Plan No. 281
from Evergreen Solar
for site plan review and approval for a 31,400 square foot building located at
2820 Schuette Road on 4.76 acres. (Approved)
July 14th
ACTION ITEMS
a.
Site Plan No. 282
from MidMichigan Medical Center for site plan review
and approval for a 101,410 square foot Harlow Bed Tower Expansion located at
4005 Orchard Drive.
b.
Site Plan No. 283
from Three Rivers Corporation on behalf of Midland Equities, LLC for site plan review
and approval for a 43,975 square foot building located at 215 Fast Ice Drive.
c.
Zoning Petition No.
552 initiated by Three Rivers Corporation on behalf of Dublin Enterprises for property located
at 4916 N. Saginaw Road, 4920 N. Saginaw Road and 5000 N. Saginaw Road from
Regional Commercial to Office Service zoning.
d. Zoning Text Amendment No. 147A, initiated by Midland
Circle Business Association, Inc., to consider the maximum wall and roof signs
to change from 40 square foot to 100 square feet in the Circle zoning district
in the City of Midland Zoning Ordinance.
July 8th
PUBLIC HEARINGS
None.
ACTION ITEMS
Site Plan No. 283 from Three Rivers Corporation on behalf
of Midland Equities, LLC for site plan review and approval for a 43,975 square foot
building located at 215 Fast Ice Drive