MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
APRIL 13, 2010, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1.
Roll Call
PRESENT: Ballard,
Brown, Hanna, King, Mead, Pnacek, Senesac, Stewart and Young
ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Keith Baker,
Planning Director, Cheri King, Community Development Specialist, Cindy Winland,
Consultant Planner and 7 others.
2. Approval of
Minutes
Moved by Senesac, seconded by Hanna,
to approve the minutes of March 23, 2010 as written. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Public Hearing
a.
Site Plan No. 295
from Three Rivers Corporation on behalf of Community Mental Health for Central
Michigan for site plan review and approval of a 22,940 square foot mental health
clinic located at 218 Fast Ice Drive on 4. Acres.
Cindy Winland
showed an aerial photograph of the subject property. A rezoning petition for this parcel was
approved by City Council at its April 12th meeting so it is
officially zoned LCMR. The Midland County
Jail is to the east, the Apothecary Shoppe is to the southwest. The remainder of the property is vacant. The zoning map shows this parcel is zoned
LCMR. There is Agricultural to the north
and east, there is Community and LCMR to the south and Agricultural to the
west.
The site plan
shows a proposed 22,940 square foot facility.
The site plan is complete. The
design characteristics will not impede any of the surrounding properties. It meets all the landscaping
requirements. It shows now 57 trees and
189 shrubs. It meets all
the setback, height and other requirements of the LCMR district. The site is totally vacant
at this time. The emergency vehicle
access and vehicle access around the site has had a lot of attention. It is
anticipated that Dial-A-Ride will be making a significant number of trips to
this site. The fire department has also
approved access to this site. There are
two drives on this site plan. Generally
speaking, only one driveway is allowed but the road frontage far exceeds the
required 300 feet required to allow a second driveway to the parcel. The pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns
are separate. There is room for a
proposed future expansion. Parking for
this site plan exceeds the parking spaces allowed or permitted. The applicant has requested additional parking
be allowed. 74 spaces would be the
required number of spaces. In the
staff’s review of this use, they agreed they would support the applicant’s
request for additional parking spaces as they anticipate 40-50 clients per hour
to be served at this facility. The
utility plan is settled to the satisfaction of the city’s Engineering
Department. Screening is only required
for the outdoor refuse container. This
is adequately screened and located on an appropriate pad. This is a compatible use with the surrounding
parcels.
Contingency items:
No public comments
were received in favor or against the petition.
Mr. Senesac asked
about the 92 employees. They will be
full-time employees. Ms. Brown asked
about their hours of operation. Ms.
Winland does not know. Mr. Senesac asked
about the speed limit on Fast Ice Drive.
Mr. Baker stated it is 35 mph.
Mr. Senesac is concerned about the curve in the road and that could be a
traffic hazard as one of the access points to the site is on the curve. Mrs. Hanna asked if it would be possible to
make the driveway on the curve a one-way driveway. Mrs. Winland stated they would have to
negotiate that with the petitioner and then have the new location reviewed by
the city’s Engineering Department. Mr.
Mead asked about the proposed addition on the north end. Is that something that will be happening
quickly or is that something that is down the road a while? Ms. Winland stated that would be a question
for the petitioner. Mrs. Hanna asked
about a place for parking bicycles.
Keith Wirth,
Architect with Three Rivers Corp, Midland.
They have addressed the city’s Engineering Dept. issues as requested for
the lighting and landscaping. Mr. Wirth
showed the proposed exterior elevation of the proposed building. Their hours are 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. They do have a 24-hour on-call crisis
hotline. So far as the driveway on the
curve, Mr. Wirth stated it is quite a long curve. If they move the driveway, they would have to
go back to the city’s Engineering Department for further review.
Mr. Senesac asked
about the number of employees. Are the
92 employees based upon this configuration or based upon the expansion? Mr. Wirth stated he believed that is based on
the current number of employees. Mr.
Senesac stated if the parking lot is properly sized today, where will the
additional employees park following the proposed addition? Mr. Wirth stated he will go back and ask the
client. Mrs. Hanna asked where they
would put bike racks if they were required to install them. Mr. Wirth will take the request back to the
client.
The public hearing
was closed.
b.
Zoning Petition
No. 566, initiated by the City of Midland, to zone property at 7550 Eastman Avenue
from Township zoning to Regional Commercial zoning.
Mr. Baker showed an
aerial photograph of the subject property.
It is located on the east side of Eastman, to the north of the Meijer’s
property. The fairgrounds and the
airport property are located to the west.
The properties to the west are zoned Community and the properties to the
north and south and zoned Regional Commercial.
There is LCMR further to the east of this property. The parcels immediately to the north and to
the east remain in the township. The
future land use map shows this entire area suitable for commercial purposes,
with public and institutional zoning to the west. The request this evening is to rezone the
property at 7550 Eastman to Regional Commercial from its current township
zoning classification. The parcel was
annexed to the city from Larkin Township in 2008. Presently there exists a pet food processing
plant on this property. There is no
other industrial zoning directly abutting this property. The current use would be allowed in this
zoning district by special use permit so it is not totally non-conforming.
Mr. Senesac asked
if there were any of these petitions where the owner was in disagreement with
the proposed zoning. Mr. Baker stated
there was no opposition from the property owners on any of these petitions.
No public comments
were received in favor or against the petition.
The public hearing
was closed.
c.
Zoning Petition
No. 567, initiated by the City of Midland, to zone property at 4594(A) East Wheeler
Street from Township zoning to Agricultural zoning.
Mr. Baker stated
this is a parcel owned by the City of Midland.
This parcel was purchased for the expansion and buffer of the city’s
landfill. The buildings on the site have
been demolished. There are some
residential uses still in Midland Township to the west. The Waldo Avenue/US-10 interchange is to the
west. There is city owned property to
the east and south side of Wheeler. The
zoning of the landfill is Agricultural, which is a permitted use in that district. The future land use plan shows this area
designated for light industrial purposes, with medium density residential to
the north. In the event the Waldo Avenue
interchange became a full interchange, the north side of Wheeler is proposed as
commercial and the south side as industrial.
No public comments
were received in favor or against the petition.
The public hearing
was closed.
d.
Zoning Petition
No. 568, initiated by the City of Midland, to zone property at 4594(B) East Wheeler
Street from Township zoning to Agricultural zoning.
This parcel
adjoins the previous parcel to the east.
The building on this parcel has also been demolished. As the properties have been acquired and
vacated, the landfill staff has taken ownership of these properties.
No public comments
were received in favor or against the petition.
The public hearing
was closed.
e.
Zoning Petition
No. 569, initiated by the City of Midland, to zone property at 4574 East Wheeler
Street from Township zoning to Agricultural zoning.
This is the third
of the three parcels owned by the City of Midland, adjacent to the previous two
discussed. This parcel is adjacent on
the west and south to the city’s landfill.
On the future land use map, properties to the south are proposed to be
industrial and properties to the north are proposed to be zoned medium density
residential and commercial.
No public comments
were received in favor or against the petition.
The public hearing
was closed.
f.
Zoning Petition
No. 570, initiated by the City of Midland, to zone property at 5217 Isabella Street
from Township zoning to Residential A-1 zoning.
Mr. Baker stated
this property was annexed in 2009 from Homer Township. The property is located just west of Sandow
Road. It is presently used for a
single-family residence. Parcels to the
east, west and south are still in Homer Township. The property to the north and the rear of
this property to the east are contiguous to property already in the city. The property owner was seeking access to
public utilities. As it currently
exists, the city is seeking to zone this parcel RA-1. The Future Land Use Plan shows this property
as identified as being commercial for three corners of Isabella and Sandow Road
and office service on the corner nearest this property.
Dirk Vogel, 70 Lee Allen Drive,
asked if the strip was wide enough to allow a house to be built there. He
stated the people in the front square that is still in Homer Township ride
their 4-wheelers around there. If they
are not in the city, they shouldn’t be riding around this property.
Mr. Baker stated if there is already
a residence on the parcel, they would not be allowed under the city ordinance
to build a second residence on the lot.
He stated he will clarify that in preparation for the next meeting.
No further public
comments were received in favor or against the petition.
The public hearing
was closed.
g.
Zoning Petition
No. 571, initiated by the City of Midland, to zone property at 7412 Perrine Road from
Township zoning to Residential A-4 zoning.
This parcel was
annexed in 2009. It is located at the
corner of Letts Road and Perrine Road.
It annexed for the purposes of obtaining municipal utilities. The property in question has RA-4 residential
to the north, RD, Alpine Mobile Home Park to the east and south, and RA-1,
single family residential to the west.
Some of the surrounding parcels remain in the township. The future land use map shows this area as
medium density residential. The property
to the north is designated medium density, and property in the mobile home park
is shown as being utilized for a mobile home park. The land use map shows low density
residential to the west. Staff is
recommending RA-4 in keeping with the master land use plan.
No public comments
were received in favor or against the petition.
The public hearing
was closed.
4. Public
Comments (unrelated to items on the agenda)
None
5. Old
Business
Chairperson Brown
noted that Commissioner Pnacek had been excused from discussion of this
petition due to a conflict of interest at the March 9th
meeting.
Motion by Hanna,
seconded by Senesac, to remove the item, which was tabled at the
March
23, 2010 meeting.
The property is located on the east
side of Waldo Avenue, south of Bay City Road.
Centennial Drive is just to the north of this. It comes south across the rail line to
Contractor Court, which also provides access to the new Alloy Steel facility. The property encompasses a significant amount
of property to the east and the north along the rail line. There are some provisions for access to the
oddly shaped portions of this site. The
parcel is zoned Heavy Industrial. This
is a permitted use within that district.
To the north is Light Industrial zoning.
There are commercial and residential uses further to the north and
east.
Two items were identified at the
last meeting including verification of the distances from the corner to the
first driveway and from the first driveway to the next driveway. City staff verified they met the criteria of
the ordinance. There is an additional
detention facility in the gravel yard to the north. There is regular asphalt pavement for the
customer and employee entrance. There is
a gravel and asphalt driveway to the east for heavier truck traffic. All of the criteria for site plan review have
been met.
Mrs. Hanna stated the employee
parking lot is pervious surface. Steve
O’Mara, Essexville, stated they have done this type of pavement at CMU and they
are excited about trying this type of pavement in this area. Mrs. Hanna also asked about the depth of the
detention pond. Mr. O’Mara stated the
side slopes are 1:6. It is designed to
be a pond and to have water in it.
Rich Fosgitt, Wilcox Professional
Services, stated the pond is designed to have about two feet of water in
it. They have provided for bike racks on
the site.
Motion by Senesac, seconded by Mead,
to recommend to City Council the approval of Site Plan No. 294 from Fisher
Contracting Company for a 20,932 square foot contractor office, shop and yard
located at 94 Waldo Avenue 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 any 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. All
irrigation systems will comply with the City of Midland Water Department
specifications.
8. That
three driveways are permitted in accordance with Section 3.10 of the Zoning
Ordinance.
Mr. Senesac stated he believes it
meets all the criteria and he is in support of it. Mr. Mead stated he is also in support of
this.
At the previous Planning Commission
meeting, they approved the allowance of Mr. Pnacek to abstain from voting and
discussion on this item as he works directly with this project.
Vote:
YEAS: Ballard, Brown, Hanna, King, Mead, Senesac,
Stewart and Young
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: Pnacek
Motion carried 8-0.
6. New Business
None
7. Communications
None
8.
Report of the Chairperson
The
work session previously scheduled for March 23rd was rescheduled to
April 27th at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Overflow conference room on
the first floor of City Hall.
9. Report
of the Planning Director
City
Council approved on April 12, 2010 Zoning Petition No. 564 at 218 Fast Ice
Drive from Agricultural zoning to LCMR zoning and they also approved Zoning
Petition No. 565 at 1321 East Wackerly Road from township zoning to Industrial
A. They approved the 2010 Zoning
Ordinance updates as well. Finally, they
also approved the tentative and final preliminary plat for Countryside Estates
No. 3 and No. 4. The first two steps of
that plat. Within the next month they
will see the final plat once they have received the necessary sign offs.
The
Planning Commission will be getting an entire new copy of the Zoning Ordinance
with the recent amendments.
10. Adjourn
Adjournment at 8:25 p.m. was unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Keith Baker, AICP, CFM
Director of Planning & Community Development
MINUTES ARE NOT FINAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PLANNING
COMMISSION