MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING
COMMISSION
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 9, 2008, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1.
Roll Call
PRESENT: Eyre,
Hanna, King, Kozakiewicz, Mead, Senesac and Svenson
ABSENT: Brown and
Gaynor
OTHERS PRESENT: Keith Baker,
Planning Director, Daryl Poprave, Deputy Planning Director, Cheri King, Community
Development Specialist and seven others.
2. Approval of
Minutes
Moved by Mead, seconded by Hanna,
to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of August 26, 2008. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Public Hearing
a. Zoning
Petition No. 554 initiated by Weckesser Joint Trust for property located at 806
Rodd Street from
Industrial a zoning to Regional Commercial.
Mr. Baker
showed the property is located at 806 Rodd Street, just south and west of Hines
Street, between Hines and Pine Streets.
It is approximately mid-block on Townsend Street. It is adjacent to Grove Park just west of
the property, Dan Dan the Mattress Man to the north, and Cohoons Elevator to
the south. The property is currently
zoned Light Industrial. It is proposed
to be rezoned Regional Commercial. There
is Regional Commercial across Rodd Street and Regional Commercial and
Industrial across Townsend Street. The
site is currently vacant, but was previously a lumber yard. It is in the area of a former railroad
depot. The future land use map shows
this parcel being identified for future commercial activity.
There
are ten questions we seek to answer with a zoning petition. The proposed amendment is consistent with the
city’s Master Plan according to staff’s opinion. The proposed amendment will be in accordance
with the intent and purpose of the Zoning Ordinance. Conditions have changed since the Zoning
Ordinance was adopted. The business next
door has closed and the master plan was adopted since this property was
zoned. The amendment will not grant
special privileges to this specific property.
The amendment will not result in unlawful exclusionary zoning. Regional Commercial is provided on both sides
adjacent to this property. The amendment
will not set an inappropriate precedent.
It would meet the proposed intent of the Master Plan through the
rezoning to commercial. The proposed
zoning is consistent with the existing zoning classification of the surrounding
land. All requirements in the proposed
zoning classification can be complied with on the subject parcel. It is of sufficient size and can accommodate
the permitted uses in the Regional Commercial zoning district. The proposed zoning is consistent with the
trends in land development in the general vicinity of the land in
question. There are commercial entities
to the northwest and the south and west, and residential to the south and east. Staff recommendation is for a positive vote
on this rezoning petition.
Bryan
Plummer, 1616 W. Olson Road, Sanford, is the potential purchaser of this
property. He is representing the
petitioner at this time. Ms. Hanna asked
Mr. Plummer whether or not he anticipates that any hazardous materials will be
found on the site. Mr. Plummer stated
that they are researching this at this time.
There were no further questions for the petitioner.
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
review and approval for a 49,752 square foot
building located at 102 Fast Ice Drive.
Mr.
Baker showed an aerial photograph of the parcel at the northwest corner of the intersection
of Rockwell Drive and Fast Ice Drive.
The proposed jail site is located across the street to the south of this
site. The approved proposed Apothecary
Shoppe will be to the west of this site.
The site is to the south of Bay City Road and just west of a
manufactured home park. There is a
rezoning petition before City Council at this time to rezone this parcel from
Agricultural and Regional Commercial to LCMR.
The approval of this site plan will be contingent upon the rezoning of
this property by City Council.
The
site plan meets all the requirements for lighting, storm water detention and
landscaping. They have made an adjustment
to include an ADA ramp at the corner of Rockwell Drive and Fast Ice Drive. At the last Planning Commission meeting,
there was a discussion of whether or not sidewalks should be required in this
area. There is a letter from the
Engineering Department in the Commission’s packet stating why they were not
requiring sidewalks in this area, as they are not requiring curb and gutter
streets. Should conditions change and the
city area install curb and gutter streets, sidewalks could be required at that
time.
Ms.
Hanna asked if a contingency should be added at this time to require sidewalks
if curb and gutters were added to the streets in this area. Mr. Baker stated that it was not needed at
this time as a contingency.
Pete
Lorenz, 3229 W. Beale City Road, Wademan, Michigan, is the civil engineer on
this project. They have made revisions
to the curb and gutter on the east side and widened the entrance on the east
side of the site plan.
Mr.
Kozakiewicz stated it looks like a straight forward plan and he is in favor of
the plan. He does not feel sidewalks
should be required for the nature of the development that is there. He does not see who would be there to use
them. Mr. Eyre agreed with Mr.
Kozakiewicz. He also cannot imagine who
will be there to use the sidewalks. Mr.
Senesac stated it would be difficult to require sidewalks there now, based upon
the comments from the Engineering Department.
There may be businesses who locate here in the future, but he does not
see the necessity for sidewalks at this time.
Mr. Mead is in agreement with Mr. Senesac. Ms. Hanna is also in agreement with what has
been said. Mr. King stated that 20 years
from now this part of town will be much more developed than it is now. He thinks that sidewalks will be desirable at
that point in time and he would not question the Engineering’s recommendations
at this time.
It
was moved by Eyre, and seconded by Hanna, to recommend to City Council approval
of Site Plan No. 285 without sidewalks at this time on the Rockwell Drive side
of the parcel, 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.
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. There are three hydrants shown on the site.
7. ADA
sidewalk ramp on Fast Ice Drive.
8. Widen Rockwell Drive to 16.5 ft. at entrance
drive.
9. That the requirement for public sidewalk be
waived until deemed necessary in the
future or upon
the installation of curb and gutter along the Rockwell Drive frontage.
10.
Adoption of Zoning Petition No. 553 by the City Council.
Vote
on the motion:
YEAS: Eyre, Hanna, King, Kozakiewicz,
Mead, Senesac and Svenson
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Brown and Gaynor
The
motion was approved 7-0.
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. It is located west of T Moore Drive and north
of Joe Mann Boulevard. The Springhill
Suites is located across the street and southeast of the property, Wal-Mart is
to the west and Midland Evangelical Free Church is to the north. The future land use map shows this property
is intended for commercial purposes.
This
will be a 3-story Residence Inn extended stay hotel. Sidewalk has been added to the west side of T
Moore Drive. Fire hydrants have been
added to the site plan. Landscaping to
the north side of the property has been added, as landscaping is required when
the property is adjacent to residentially zoned property. The plan met all of the other contingencies
as listed. There is no storm water
detention required on site because the storm water detention was already
provided for by the current owner of the property. The landscaping shall comply with Article 6
of the Zoning Ordinance. The dumpster
shall be screened in accordance with Section 3.15. Lighting shall comply with Section 3.12. The sidewalk has been added along the east
side of the property. Easements for
sanitary sewer and water have been added to the plan.
Michael
Smith, 5225 E. Pickard, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, is representing the petitioner,
Residence Inn by Marriott. They own the
property in front of the proposed hotel and their intent is to bring in a
couple of restaurants and make it more of a campus setting.
Mr.
Senesac stated he is pleased to see the shared detention ponds. The site plan has the intent to connect to
other property. Mr. Mead agreed with Mr.
Senesac. He stated the planning
principles are met very well. He likes
the idea of the restaurants and the needs of the different hotels in the
area. Ms. Hanna stated she thinks this
is very well planned.
It
was moved by Hanna, and seconded by Eyre, to recommend to City Council approval
of Site Plan No. 286 with the following
contingencies:
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.
Vote
on the motion:
YEAS: Eyre, Hanna, King, Kozakiewicz,
Mead, Senesac and Svenson
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Brown and Gaynor
The
motion was approved 7-0.
7. Communications
None
8. Report of the Chairperson
None
9. Report of the
Planning Director
Staff is seeking
areas where the Planning Commission might like to address issues in the Zoning Ordinance
or other areas of their authority. Mr.
Mead spoke about the issues Saginaw is addressing right now about the
notification of people further than the 300 feet required by state law.
August 11th
a.
Conditional Use
Permit No. 30, the request of Joan Dukarski for a group child day care home
located at 809 E. Sugnet Road. (Approved)
b. Conditional Use Permit No. 31, the request of Midland
Country Club
for a new clubhouse and a new pool/cabana building to be located at 1120 W. St.
Andrews. (Approved)
August 25th
a.
Site Plan No. 284
from Three Rivers Corporation on behalf of Senior Services – Midland County
Council on Aging
for site plan review and approval for an 11,132 square foot building located at
5000 North Saginaw Road. (Approved)
September 8th
None
September 15th
a. Zoning Petition No. 553 initiated by Nicolaos Rapanos for property
located at 102 Fast Ice Drive from Agricultural zoning to Limited Commercial
Manufacturing and Research (LCMR).
b. 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.
c. 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.
September
23rd
ACTION ITEMS
Zoning
Petition No. 554 initiated by
Weckesser Joint Trust
for property located at 806 Rodd Street from Industrial “A” zoning to Regional
Commercial.
August 19th meeting
No. 08-10 – Cris Weckesser for an area/dimension variance
to allow reconstruction of a fire destroyed building at Tek Circle located at
2903 Ronan Street. (Denied)
September 16th Meeting – Cancelled
No. 43 Bierlein Properties – 4,619 office
addition to existing facility
September 23, 2008 is the next regularly scheduled Planning
Commission meeting.
Michigan
Association of Planning
fall conference October 1-4, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Please have proposed changes for the city’s Zoning Ordinance to
Planning Department staff by the October 14th Planning Commission
meeting for the annual code review and revision process. Planning staff would like to initiate the
review process at the November 11th meeting.
Planning Commission packets are available on-line at the City of
Midland’s web site. Meeting agenda items
are highlighted and residents can “click” on the link to view all of the
supporting documentation. The city’s web
site address is www.midland-mi.org.
10. Adjourn
Adjournment at 7:59 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