MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING
COMMISSION
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 14, 2008, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1.
Roll Call
PRESENT: Brown,
Eyre, Gaynor, Hanna, Kozakiewicz, Mead, Senesac and Svenson
ABSENT: King
OTHERS PRESENT: Keith Baker,
Planning Director, Daryl Poprave, Deputy Planning
Director; Cheri King, Community Development Specialist and eleven others.
2. Approval of
Minutes
Moved by Gaynor, seconded by Brown,
to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 23, 2008. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Public Hearing
a. Conditional
Use Permit No. 32, the request of Brittany Real Estate Company, LLC for a
16,983 square foot building addition to an existing 52,078 square foot nursing home
located at 3615 East Ashman Street.
Mr.
Baker showed an aerial photograph of the subject property. It is located on the north
side of E. Ashman, approximately 10 acres in size, just to the east of Waldo
Avenue and further to the east is US-10.
This property is zoned RB, residential.
It is surrounded by RA-2 and RA-1 further to the west. Across the street to the south is LCMR,
Community and Agricultural zoning. The
existing land use map shows commercial use just to the west of this property,
single family uses to the north and west, and community and industrial uses to
the south. The future land use map shows
this area designated for multi-family use, with commercial on the corner, and
agricultural to the south. Collingwood
Court is the closest residential subdivision to the property.
The
request is for a conditional use permit.
There are both discretionary and non-discretionary standards for
conditional use permits. The conditional
land use permit has provided adequate information to make a determination
regarding the proposed use of the property.
The project does not pose any impediment to any future developments of
the property. The proposed landscaping
exceeds that which is required by the Zoning Ordinance. The closest point of the existing building to
the nearest property line is just over 21 feet, which is on the west side of
the property. The new building will be
25 feet from the nearest property line.
The highest point will be approximately 22 feet tall, in a one-story
structure. The north approximately half
of this property is wooded or has natural vegetation. The retention area is diagonal to the
properties on Collingwood Court.
Approximately 91 trees are designated for removal and 34 trees will be
retained. They plan to plant an
additional 100 trees. The building is
designed so as not to interfere with surrounding properties. The dumpster location is screened to the
requirements of the zoning ordinance.
There is some concern about parking on the site. Parking will be restricted and relocated to a
new parking lot. Landscaping is provided
along the east and west property lines where it abuts residential uses. There are two existing driveways accessing
this site. They are located on the east
and the west property lines. There are
no changes planned for the driveways. A
private sidewalk is provided between the building and the parking lot. Sidewalks are required as a commercial use
unless waived by the City Council, by recommendation of the Planning Commission. The driveway along the east property line
must be identified as a “Fire Lane,” per the Fire Department. There is ample turning radius for service
vehicles in the new parking lot. Total
parking after new site construction will be 117 stalls. The minimum requirement is 106 parking
stalls, so the 117 stalls are within the range permissible. There will be one storm water detention area
to the north of the site. The area will
outlet to the storm water detention system to the Ashman drain. Two existing lights will remain in
place. Two other lights will be
relocated and one additional light provided.
No photometric plan has been submitted.
This
is an addition to an existing building.
There is no additional signage proposed for this project. Access to the proposed development shall be
in accordance with city standards. The
existing driveways will remain as they are.
Adequate provision will be made for fire suppression on the site. The addition of one fire hydrant to the north
side of the building is shown and the fire lane on the south driveway shall be
marked as such. This plan has a positive
recommendation from staff 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 Section 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.
A five (5) foot wide public sidewalk shall be provided along Ashman Street.
8.
The under clearance for the canopy shall be a minimum 14’ high.
Mr.
Eyre asked what the maximum height is in this zoning district. Mr. Baker stated it is 28 feet. Mr. Mead
stated there are 100 parking spaces indicated in the existing drawing and 17
additional spaces are proposed. Mr.
Baker stated they will place the additional spaces to the north of the
site. One letter was received, from Mr.
David Vanderpool,
Al
Paas represented the petitioner. There
are currently 153 beds in the facility.
With the addition, there will remain 153 beds in this facility. There are several rooms with two beds in a
room and a few rooms with three beds in a room.
The beds will be removed and private rooms will result. There is an additional therapy room being
provided for the facility. The property
to the north of the new proposed fence line will remain in its natural
state. There is only one lot on
Collingwood that will be affected by this expansion and there will be three
rows of 10-foot high spruce trees that will be planted for screening in this
area. Mr. Paas stated there will be an
emphasis on rehabilitation and the ten rooms in the rear will be all private
rooms with private baths. The occupants
of these rooms will have extensive rehabilitation.
Chris
Raush, Administrator for Brittany Manor, stated people will come there for
extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc. They are looking at having people there for
short-term stays for up to perhaps 90 days.
Mr.
Paas stated the ridge of the building will be approximately 26 feet, but the
average height of the building will be 22 feet.
The height of the building will be approximately the same as it is
now. There is an existing fence on the west
line that will remain. There is also an
existing fence on the east line, which will remain, so the entire property will
be fenced except for the front of the property.
Lynn
Glenn, of 3414 Collingwood Dr., stated she is probably the lot that is behind
the new development. She wondered if
there will be a berm or will the new addition come right up to the property
line? In the spring time there is a lot
of water that sits back there. She
stated that right now, they can hear the intercom system when they are sitting
on their deck. She asked if they could
turn down the intercom system. She
wanted to know if the fence will have landscaping around it and wondered if the
city will check if there are wetlands in this area.
Dan
Moore, 3418 Collingwood Drive, is the next house to the north. In the spring and through much of the summer,
there is standing water in the woods. He
is concerned that there will be standing water all the time and whether or not
this area will be able to be mowed. He
also stated they can hear the paging of people at the nursing home.
Ms.
Svenson reminded the public that the Planning Commission does not make a
determination on wetlands. Mr. Paas
stated they have a pipe drainage system that will cause the water from this
area to drain away much faster than a normal drainage pond. The existing vegetative area will be left as
it is. Ms. Hanna asked if they had
contacted the MDEQ regarding the existence of wetlands in this area. Mr. Paas stated they had, and there are no wetlands
in this area.
Bill
Johnson, 3545 East Ashman Street, stated the nursing home has been a very good
neighbor. They have no objection to
their expansion. They do have a big
objection to the requirement of a sidewalk in this area. It would go nowhere. He has no sidewalk on his property and he
contacted Rapanos’ and they do not need the sidewalk on their property either
at this time. There is no need for a
sidewalk in this area. There is sidewalk
on the other side of the street.
Dan
Moore, 3418 Collingwood Drive, asked about the area to the north on this
site. Is there any plan for future
expansion of the nursing home into this area or had they thought about selling
it to some of the neighbors on Collingwood Drive.
Mr.
Paas stated there will be three rows of spruce trees and he feels this will
provide an adequate buffer from the single-family development to the
north. The Administrator is here and has
taken note of the sounds from the intercom that disturbs the surrounding
property owners.
Mr.
Eyre asked Mr. Baker about the external speaker system. Is there a time frame specifying what hours
it can be used? Mr. Baker stated there
is a noise ordinance and it could come under that ordinance. It could also fall into the discretionary
standards that the Planning Commission must consider in making their decision
about this use.
Ms.
Raush stated they have an internal speaker system but it does page outside in
case employees are outside at the time.
She had no idea that it was so loud and that it disturbed the neighbors. There are other devices that can be used and,
as they are now aware of the problem, they will do something to alleviate this
problem.
Sue
Steffen, 3816 Collingwood Street, asked who owns the property to the
north. Mr. Paas stated Brittany Manor
owns that property.
Lynn
Glenn, 3414 Collingwood Court, asked about the lighting to the site. She stated that currently the lighting spills
over from the site onto her property.
The
public hearing was closed.
4. Public Comments
None
5. New Business
None
6.
Old
Business
None
7. Communications
Commissioners
received their Planning and Zoning News and a transmittal letter from the
Spicer Group.
8. Report of the Chairperson
Between the last two Planning
Commission meetings, the MAP Conference was held in Kalamazoo. Commissioners Svenson and Senesac
attended. Mr. Senesac stated this
conference seemed to put more emphasis on planning for walking and activity
within the community. Another aspect of
the conference was “Form Based Zoning”.
We have zoning and look at permitted uses within those zones. The “Form Based Zoning” described buildings
and their design being described in particular areas of the community. There is no enabling legislation on this
subject at the present time.
9. Report of the
Planning Director
Senesac asked staff to look into the aspect of
conditional zoning. This legislation was
enacted about two years ago. He would
like to know how many conditional zonings we have had and how many rezoning
requests we have had that might lead someone to ask for a conditional rezoning
during that same time period. He would
also like to know how many changed between the time the Planning Commission
received the request and the time it went to City Council. The Planning Commission received a memo from
the City Attorney that they are not permitted to negotiate with the petitioner
on the conditional rezoning requests.
Commissioners would like some clarification from the City Attorney on
the ability to discuss aspects of conditional rezoning requests. Mr. Senesac would also like to see what was
finally approved by City Council after the Planning Commission makes their
recommendation. He would like to know
what was removed following the Planning Commission recommendation and prior to
presentation to the City Council.
Mrs. Hanna asked how long approval exists
following approval by the City Council.
Petitioners are given two years to begin development or construction of
a plan following approval by City Council.
10. Adjourn
Adjournment at 8:15 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