MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING COMMISSION

WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,

AUGUST 26, 2008, 7:00 P.M.,

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN

 

1.   Roll Call

PRESENT:  Brown, Eyre, Gaynor, Hanna, King, Kozakiewicz, Mead, Senesac and Svenson

ABSENT:    None

OTHERS PRESENT: Keith Baker, Planning Director, Daryl Poprave, Deputy Planning Director, Cheri King, Community Development Specialist and 7 others.

 

2.   Approval of Minutes

Moved by Senesac, seconded by Hanna, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of August 12, 2008. Motion passed unanimously.

 

3.   Public Hearing

 

      a.   Site Plan No. 285 from JBS Contracting on behalf of Columbia Pipe

for site plan review and approval for a 49,752 square foot building located at 102 Fast Ice Drive. 

 

Mr. Baker showed an aerial photograph of the subject property.  It is located at the northwest corner of Fast Ice Drive, which runs

east and west, and Rockwell Drive, which runs north and south.  It is south of Bay City Road.  The city’s ice arena is located to the west. 

The property is currently zoned Agricultural and Regional Commercial and has been petitioned to be zoned LCMR.  This will be before

City Council on September 15th for their consideration.  The property is currently vacant.  The area is designated for light industrial and general commercial in the Future Land Use map.

 

All required application materials have been provided.  The proposed project does not impede on the surrounding properties.  The property tothe west is currently vacant.  There is a mobile home park located to the east and there is additional vacant property to the north.  The proposed landscaping meets the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.  Staff applied the LCMR development requirements to this site plan and it meets all the criteria required.  This property is currently used as agricultural property.  It has been farmed for a number of years.  The building and site development are planned in such a way as to not interfere with the surrounding properties.  The dumpster will be on the north side of the property and will be enclosed.  The Fire Department has reviewed the site plan and they have required an access drive to the north of the building, to provide access to the northwest corner of the building.  This will be a fire lane.  Two drive approaches are proposed, one on Fast Ice Drive and one on Rockwell Drive.  They will both be wide enough to accommodate the turning radius of delivery trucks.  Sidewalks have been required for the county jail, the Apothecary Shoppe, the Ice Arena, and sidewalks will be required for this development.  Based upon the square footage of the building, Table 5.3 describes the number of parking spaces that will be required.  The maximum number of allowed parking spaces is 27.  They have provided 27 stalls.  They are proposing a single detention pond with an outlet to the city’s storm water system along the Rockwell Drive right-of-way.  They have provided a photometric plan for lighting.  All new sight lighting must meet the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance and their plan shows that they do meet the requirements.  Due to the low water pressure in this area of the city, the building will be built with a booster pump.  Staff has not identified any health or safety concerns.  There are no off-site issues relative to the development of adjacent sites.  They have proposed a ground mounted sign as well as a wall mounted sign.  The Fire Department has identified the need for three fire hydrants and these will be located on the south, east and north sides of the site.  The water main shall be ductile iron and this development will require a permit from the MDEQ. 

 

Staff has listed nine contingencies including:

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.

3.   All exterior lighting shall comply with Section 3.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.

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.   The location, access and flow of the proposed fire hydrants and water service shall be in accordance with the City of Midland Fire Department and City of Midland Utility Department specifications.

7.   ADA sidewalk ramp on Fast Ice Drive.

8.   Widen Rockwell Drive to 16.5 ft. at entrance drive.

9.   Adoption of Zoning Petition No. 553 by the City Council.

 

Mr. Gaynor asked why sidewalks will not be required on this parcel.  Mr. Baker stated that it is being considered a county road and will be maintained by Midland County.  Sidewalks are not being required for the jail.  Sturgeon Road, north of the airport does not have sidewalks, nor does Airport Road.  Letts Road, off of Sturgeon, does not have sidewalks.  City Forest Estates does not have sidewalks.   

 

The petitioner, Pete Lorenz, 3229 W. Beale City Road, Wademan, MI  48893, stated he is the civil engineer and he prepared the drawings.  There are two overhead doors on the east side of the building.  The property will be owned by Columbia Pipe.  They are primarily a warehouse operation, but they will have some wholesale sales.  The road is going to be controlled by Midland County Road Commission.  They do not even know at this point if they would allow sidewalk to be placed in there.  Mr. Senesac asked where the booster pump is located.  Mr. Lorenz stated that will be designed by the building architect and will probably be inside the building.  Mr. Senesac stated that, if there is a fire and the electricity is cut off to the building, the Fire Department will lose the pressure they need to fight the fire.  Mr. Poprave stated that all the development in this area will be required to have this type of apparatus.  They will probably be self-powered.

 

            No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to this request.

 

            The public hearing was closed.

 

      b.   Site Plan No. 286 from R I Hospitality LLC on behalf of Midland Residence Inn for site plan review and approval for a 74,889 square foot building located at 6295 T Moore Drive.

           

            Mr. Poprave showed an aerial photograph of the subject property.  The property is located west of T Moore Drive and north of Joe Mann Boulevard.  Springhill Suites is located just to the southeast of this site, with Wal-Mart to the west of this site and the Midland Evangelical Free Church to the north.  The property is zoned Residential B to the north, otherwise it is surrounded by Regional Commercial.  The future land use plan shows this property as commercial.  This hotel is located on 3.33 acres of land.  Adequate information has been provided by the petitioner.  The landscaping criteria are met.  This property is zoned Regional Commercial.  This building will exceed all the required setbacks.  The site is relatively flat and void of vegetation.  Our ordinance states that, if it is located adjacent to residential property, it has to be screened.  They will be required to screen the north side in accordance with 6.02(e) of the Zoning Ordinance.  That will involve a staggered row of pine trees to screen that residential side.  The Fire Department requested a second curb cut to the north to provide for emergency vehicle access and so they could get a ladder up to the roof in case of emergency.  One contingency is that they post this as a fire lane so there will be no parking allowed on the north entrance to the site.  There are two driveways on T Moore Drive and they are more than 300 feet apart.  Sidewalks will be required on T Moore Drive.  Off street parking is based on one space per unit plus one space for each shift of employees.  The parking designated on the site plan meets the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.

 

            No storm water detention is required as the property owner built a large detention pond to take care of all the storm water from properties in this area.  The petitioner has submitted a soil erosion plan and a photometric plan.  Adequate public utilities exist to serve this site.  The dumpsters will be screened in accordance with Section 6.15.  All the mechanical equipment must be screened from public view and this will be one of the contingencies required for this site plan.  Staff has not identified any health or safety concerns with this project.  Wall signage is identified on the elevation drawings and must comply with Article 8 of the Zoning Ordinance.  Public utility easements must be provided for all water and sewer mains.  If they choose to provide landscaping irrigation, they must install a separate water supply tap.  All landscaping must comply with Article 6.  The mechanical equipment and dumpsters must be screened.  There are 10 criteria proposed for this site plan including:

           

      1.   The stormwater detention and conveyance systems are designed and constructed in accordance with Engineering Department specifications and standards.

      2.   All landscaping shall comply with Article 6 of the Zoning Ordinance

            a.   Additional screening shall be provided on the north side of the property per Section 6.02(E).

            b.   All mechanical equipment shall be screened in accordance with Section 6.02(E)2.

      3.   The dumpster shall be screen in accordance with Section 3.15 of the Zoning Ordinance.  Dumpster screening details shall be provided.

      4.   All exterior lighting shall comply with Section 3.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.

      5.   All exterior signage shall comply with Article 8 of the Zoning Ordinance.

      6.   All parking spaces shall comply with Section 5.01(D) of the Zoning Ordinance and shall be delineated by the “box” style striping.

      7.   “No Parking” signs shall be installed along the north side fire lane.

      8.   Five foot wide, concrete public sidewalks shall be installed along the entire east side of the parcel within the road right of way.

      9.   Public easement shall be created to maintain the public water and sanitary sewer mains.

      10. Total building square footage needs to be labeled on future site plan drawings.

 

            The petitioner, Daryl Holbrook, 5225 E. Pickard, Mt. Pleasant, stated they are already doing business here in Midland as they own Springhill Suites and the Hampton Inn.  The utilities will be brought in from the north.  Mr. Holbrook showed a detailed landscape plan.  The petitioner showed a drawing of the proposed building.  It will have a pitched roof with soft colors.  The dumpster will be on the northeast corner of the property. 

 

            No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to this request. 

 

            The public hearing was closed. 

 

4.  Public Comments

     

      None

 

5.   New Business

 

      None

 

6.    Old Business

 

      None

 

7.   Communications

 

      Planning Commissioners received the current copy of the    

      Planning and Zoning News, and updated Planning and Zoning

      Guides, published by Michigan State University Extension.

 

8.  Report of the Chairperson  

 

     None

 

9.    Report of the Planning Director

 

Michigan Zoning Guidebooks for Citizens and Local Officials were handed out for reference and they reflect changes in state law that has taken place in the last couple of years.

 

10.  Adjourn

Adjournment at 8:01 p.m. was unanimously approved.

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Keith Baker, AICP

Director of Planning & Community Development

 

MINUTES ARE NOT FINAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION