MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
MAY 11, 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, and 7 others.
2. Approval of
Minutes
Moved by Hanna, seconded by King,
to approve the minutes of April 27, 2010 as written. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Public
Hearings
None
4. New Business
a. “Complete
Streets” policy presentation – Non Motorized Transportation Advisory
Committee
In
July of 2009, the City Council adopted the City of Midland’s Non-Motorized
Transportation (NMT) Plan. One of the
goals of the plan is to develop a “Complete Streets” policy that would be
utilized when designing proposed infrastructure projects. The guiding policy consideration for a
Complete Streets policy is to design, operate and maintain designated city
streets to promote safe and convenient access for all users. The policy does not bind the city to a
prescribed set of design standards or financial investment for any future road
improvements. It does set forth the
intent that all future projects take NMT alternatives into consideration during
the design process.
The
Review Process for this policy is as follows:
·
Outlined in NMT Plan
·
Drafted with assistance from
Engineering Dept.
·
Reviewed by City Attorney’s office
·
NMT Committee review and adoption –
April 15th
·
Referral by City Council to Planning
Commission for review on April 26th.
·
It is now awaiting Planning Commission
recommendation to City Council for final adoption.
·
City Council will approve the policy
and it will be implemented.
Requested
Planning Commission action includes approving the resolution recommending the
draft policy to the City Council for adoption.
Dave
Waite, 6030 Emerson Court, stated part of the confusion with the policy is that
it was written by a lawyer. Similar
policies have been adopted by nine other communities in Michigan. There are a number of varieties. The policy sets out the intent – it is not
for every street that is designed. They
took a number of examples of policies from throughout the state, and built a
document which was submitted to the Planning Director and Engineering
Department. The intent has not
changed. It will not be easy to re-write
this document in terms that everyone can understand. Mr. Senesac stated he is in favor of this
document but it is difficult to read.
Mr. Waite stated they would be willing to take another look at this
document but it would not change the document.
He thinks they will have a difficult time changing the structure of the
sentences due to the legal language used in the document.
Mr.
Baker indicated the Planning Department can take a look at the document and see
if they can make it more readable. Staff
will bring it back at the next Planning Commission meeting with some
restructured language that will make it more readable. No one on the Planning Commission stated they
have a problem with what is trying to be accomplished. It just needs to be written more clearly.
5. Public
Comments (unrelated to items on the agenda)
None
6. Old
Business
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. (Tabled
at the April 27, 2010 meeting.)
Motion
by Hanna, seconded by Senesac, to remove the petition from the table. Motion carried 9-0.
Mr. Baker reviewed
the site plan. Its location at 218 Fast
Ice Drive. It encompasses 22,940 sq. ft.
on four acres. The zoning is LCMR. The Planning Commission held a public hearing
on April 13, 2010. The site is located
on the northeast corner of Fast Ice Drive, with Rockwell Drive to the east, Bay
City Road to the north, and the US-10 interchange further to the east. The city’s ice arena is just to the northwest
of this site. There is Midland County
property which encompasses the jail to the south.
Questions raised
at the public hearing included that the visibility is poor at the proposed
driveway location. Recommendations were provided
from the traffic engineering consultants.
The applicant has redesigned the driveway and detention area to reflect
the recommendations of the traffic consultant and the city. City departments have approved the new alignment
for fire and transit vehicles.
The city’s largest
fire suppression vehicle can now maneuver the turn around, along with the
Dial-A-Ride buses. The drive approach is
located on the south side of the parcel. All the items recommended by the Planning
Commission at prior meetings have been addressed. The recommendation this evening is to
recommend approval of Site Plan No. 295, for the proposed development of a
22,940 sq. ft. facility at 218 Fast Ice Drive.
As the driveway is being proposed, the driveway would not be right-turn
only. The intent of the petitioners is
to alleviate the need to do a right-turn-in and right-turn-out. This is one of the two alternatives
recommended by the city’s traffic engineer.
Three parking spaces were lost when the turn-around was
re-designed. Mr. Senesac asked if there
were to be a number of accidents in the future, could access be restricted to
right-turn-in and right-turn-out. Mr.
Baker stated he would have to check on this issue.
George Roman, Mt.
Pleasant, Michigan, is on the Mental Health Facilities board. They have a large building with only one
entrance and it is in a residential area with a lot of traffic in Mt.
Pleasant. They have not had any
problems. If there were to be an
accident, they would voluntarily take action because they do not want accidents
around their building.
There were no
public comments either in support of or in opposition to this petition.
Motion by Mead, seconded by Ballard,
to recommend to City Council the approval of
Site Plan No. 295
from Three Rivers Corporation on behalf of Community Mental health for Central
Michigan for approval of a 22,940 square foot mental health clinic located at
218 Fast Ice Drive on 4 acres with the following contingencies:
Mr. Senesac stated
the site plan we are looking at now is the best they will be able to do with
the curve in the road. He is comfortable
that, if there is a traffic problem there, the petitioners will take action on their own. Mr.
Mead stated he is pleased that the petitioner has been so responsive in making
recommended changes and he plans to support the petition.
Vote:
YEAS: Ballard, Brown, Hanna, King, Mead, Pnacek, Senesac,
Stewart and Young
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
Motion carried 9-0.
7. Communications
None
8.
Report of the Chairperson
None
9. Report
of the Planning Director
Planning
Commissioners received a flyer that the Center City Authority Board is hosting
an open house on Tuesday, May 25th, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in
City Council Chambers, just prior to the Planning Commission meeting scheduled
for that evening. They are notifying the
200+ business owners in the area by letter of this meeting.
The work
session minutes have been provided for review.
They will be formally adopted at the next meeting. No other work sessions are planned at this
point.
10. Adjourn
Adjournment at 7:46 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