MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING
COMMISSION
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
MAY 8, 2012, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1. Roll Call
PRESENT: Hanna, Heying, McLaughlin, Mead, Senesac, Stewart,
Tanzini and Young
ABSENT: Pnacek
OTHERS PRESENT: Brad Kaye, Director
of Planning and Community Development, Cheri King, Community Development
Specialist, and 12 others.
2. Approval
of Minutes
Moved by Young, seconded by Senesac, to approve the minutes of the
regular meeting of April 24, 2012. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Public Hearings
Mr. Mead announced that the action on the Preliminary Plat of Trotter’s
Pointe will be postponed until the May 22, 2012 meeting.
a. Site Plan No. 312 – initiated by Rowe
Professional Services Company on behalf of Midland Downtown Partners,
The
applicant for this site plan is Midland Downtown Partners, LLC. The proposed development will be at 215 State
Street, 709 East Larkin St., 614 East Larkin Street and 608 East Ellsworth
Street on 5.72 acres. It is zoned
Downtown and is subject to the Northside Downtown Overlay. It provides for a variety of uses in this
area. All of the uses that are contained
on this site plan are permitted uses by right.
We are dealing with 224,255 sq. ft. of floor space of four
stories in height. It will contain
offices, restaurants, a wellness center and medical.
The
location is to the west of Dow Diamond.
It is bordered by Putnam Park, Ellsworth Street, George Street Main
Street and State Street. There is a
proposed expansion of the Downtown Development Authority to extend the DDA to
include this development. This proposal
is before City Council at the present time.
The
plan, as proposed, shows the building in an “L” shape along State and Main Streets. Parking will be located predominantly in the
rear, with on-street parking in the front.
They are looking to provide some different architectural styles to the
building. There is proposed landscaping
including some small landscape islands in the parking lot to the rear. Landscaping will also be required on the
George Street and Ellsworth Street sides.
The
building façade will include relief in and out as you walk along the street so
it will not have the appearance of a solid wall. The developers are not quite sure of the
tenant mix but that is not required at this time.
Discussion
items recommended by staff include:
·
Building Scale and Design – it is a different scale
building than what has traditionally been built in downtown Midland. It is appropriate with the Dow Diamond across
the street.
·
Landscaping along Ellsworth and George Streets – By
standard, they are required to have one tree for every 40 lineal feet on each
side. The applicant should be questioned
about the landscaping along the two street frontages.
·
DNO Standards for flat roofed buildings – they are
required to have cornices and parapets.
We need to look at whether or not this would be considered a “flat roof
appearance” to determine ordinance requirements.
·
Pedestrian circulation – The sidewalk systems along
Main Street are being continued. They
are extending the streets and sidewalks from George Street, with additional
pedestrian walks along Ellsworth Street.
They are looking to use this site as a channel to Dow Diamond. There is a pedestrian walk-through from the
back of the building to Dow Diamond.
·
Lighting fixtures – Uplighting is allowed. They are using these lights as soft lighting
for the building and would seem to conform with the
ordinance standards. Unshielded lighting
is not currently permitted.
·
Signs – Staff is currently looking at sign standards
for the DNO district. The application
does not include a request for sign approval at this time.
Procedurally,
the Planning Commission could make a recommendation on May 22, 2012. City Council could consider the site plan on
June 11, 2012. Staff recommendation is
that further revisions are required at this time. No public comments have been received.
Kevin
McGraw, President of Midland Downtown Partners, stated the business partnership
was formed to do this project. They have
done lots of different developments together and were approached to bring some
vision to the Downtown and to the ballpark.
They are trying to make this look like it is a myopic building that does
not look like a doctor’s office or an office building. He is very pleased at what Neumann/Smith did
with their vision. The pedestrian arcade
is a big part of it. The Baseball
Foundation wanted it to tie in to the Dow Diamond. The parking lot will be vacant at night so it
will provide parking for the Dow Diamond.
They are trying to comply with the ordinance. They are trying to create a dynamic
downtown. They hope that, eventually,
this will continue further down Main Street.
They
have a number of corporate tenants that will be locating in this building
downtown. They already have commitments
from them, however, their identities are confidential
at this time. They purchased 608
Ellsworth Street today. The McKay Press
property will probably be closed on in August.
They anticipate starting development in August. It is currently a contaminated piece of
property so this will be a challenge for them.
A lot of the brownfield that was approved will go for parking. The baseball foundation is excited that there
will be significantly more parking that will be cheap and that will go to local
charities. They will comply with the
ordinance for landscaping.
They
agree that the one light Brad was talking about does
project out. They want the light to
glow. They want everyone to be
comfortable sitting there. It can’t be
glaring or distracting. They feel that
people leaving the stadium will want to see that soft glow on the ground floor
for safety purposes. They do not feel they
are setting a bad precedent about the signage they are proposing. They want that kind of signage to make this
development more exciting.
Scott
Bonney, Neumann/Smith Architects, stated they wanted this to look as “urban” as
possible. They want the building to hug
the street. The whole idea is to drive
through the parking lot so it feels like a street. They also wanted pedestrians to feel like
they can get to the building. The
building is designed to have the entrance on the curve. There are shops all along the building across
from the stadium. It gives more retail
space for the shops. The typical height
is 61 or 62 feet. The highest part of
the building is about 68 feet, which is well below that required in the
ordinance. They have looked at lighting
very carefully. They have tried their
best to avoid glare. A building like
this needs vitality at the base of the building. There are actually mini glowing sabres of
light that will match what is currently downtown. They are also planning to illuminate the
cornices to accent them and make them appear larger.
As
you come in from the downtown, there is another style of building on the
end. There should be some canopies on
the first floor and space for outdoor dining.
They
are proposing to use some brick and some stone on the building, along with some
metal. They are trying to create
something that complies with the DNO District.
The building will be LEED Silver certified. They can prohibit moving or flashing
signs.
Mrs.
Hanna asked about the parking. She only
sees a few handicap spaces. She does not
see any bike racks. Stacie, with Rowe
Professional Services, stated there are bike racks provided. They will use the downtown standard bike
racks so they conform to the surrounding areas.
It is more important to have trees along Ellsworth Street than along
George Street. Are there other areas of
the city where a building like this might go?
Not really. It belongs near a
stadium and in a downtown district.
No
one spoke either in favor of or in opposition to this petition.
Public
hearing is now closed.
b. Site Plan No. 310 – initiated by Central Michigan Surveying
& Development Company on behalf of P & P Opportunities, LLC for site
plan review and approval of Olive Garden Restaurant and retail, located at 6803
Eastman Avenue.
Mr. Kaye stated this is
the second advertised public hearing.
The property is located at 6801 Eastman Avenue on 4.41 acres of
property. It is zoned Regional
Commercial. It includes the proposed
Olive Garden at 7,500 sq. ft., a small building addition with a commercial
drive-through, and a future development area.
The fairgrounds are to the west, the Midland Mall is to the east. The former Damon’s is to the south and the
existing plaza is to the north. Access
will be onto Eastman Avenue. At the
prior public hearing, staff had some concerns about the cross access through
the site and the other sites along that side of Eastman Avenue. All the detail is provided for site plan
approval. The Olive Garden site plan was
approved back in January of this year.
The only outstanding
details are lighting and landscaping details.
Written authorization from Midland Lodging LLC (Hampton Inn) has not
been provided. A cross site access agreement
has not been secured. These agreements
are currently in progress. Everything
indicates that they are continuing to move forward with the agreements but they
have not come forward with them.
If the agreements are
submitted to the city in time, the Planning Commission could make a
recommendation on May 22, 2012 and could go to City Council for consideration
on June 11, 2012. Staff recommendation
is that the application is incomplete at this time. One public comment was received. There is a garage and a house on the back of
the site that is owned by the developer.
This garage and house will be removed.
Mr. Mead stated he is
not clear where we go with this. We
still have to have site plan approval for the parking area and the new access
onto Eastman Avenue. The Olive Garden
site plan actually was approved back in January and they could start building
at the present time, based upon the site plan that was approved back then.
The petitioner, Tim
Beebe, Central Michigan Surveying and Development, stated they did a mad
scramble to get the engineering drawings done.
They are still working on the cross access agreements. One of the property owners has Saylor Drive,
which is a 24 foot strip drive. Until
all the details are worked out, the parties have been recommended by their
attorneys not to sign the agreements. It
is progressing, but not as fast as the engineering plans.
Sheila
Messler, 2049 N. Dublin Road, project manager for this site. She worked for the original developer of this
site and is now working with the current developers to transform it. When Damon’s closed, it gave the opportunity
to change the site. The site needed a
good face lift. There were discussions
with the city about access to Eastman Road.
The stumbling block is now trying to get the cross access and joining
the parcels together. She believes the
Fair Board is meeting tonight to discuss the cross access from their
driveways. The tenants are all happy in
the existing mall there.
No one spoke either in
favor of or in opposition to the petition.
The public
hearing is now closed.
4. Old
Business
a. Preliminary Plat of Trotter’s Pointe – a
residential subdivision of 20 lots on 6.21 acres east of Swede Avenue and south
of East Wheeler Street. The developer is
Midland Building Company. (POSTPONED UNTIL MAY 22, 2012)
5.
Public Comments (unrelated to
items on the agenda)
None
6. New
Business
Information
was provided for the Master Plan, Chapters 3 and 5. Staff will bring them forward for discussion
at a future meeting.
7. Communications
Commissioners
received a current issue of “Planning and Zoning News” in their packets.
8. Report of the Chairperson
Mrs. Hanna, as the representative of the non-motorized transportation
committee, stated that the committee now has a program on MGTV. One of the big plans is the “bike to work”
that is coming next week. They are
working closely with Dow and Dow Corning.
The idea is to either walk or bike to work that week. They are having a little problem with the
“safe ride to school” or the “safe walk to school”. Adams School is really trying to get people
in that area to walk or bike to school.
They are concerned about bike safety.
There have been a lot of people riding bikes, especially at night-time,
without appropriate lighting. They have
tried to work with the power chairs.
That is a little more challenging.
They are making progress, even if it is slower than other people would
like.
9. Report
of the Planning Director
We are going to start
making a few changes, very slowly. Staff
will try to start putting on the agenda the coming items for the next
agenda. Staff will try to revise the
report format that will require Commissioners to do a little less reading and
will require staff to do a little less writing.
10. Adjourn
Adjourned at 8:28 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
C. Bradley Kaye, AICP
Director of Planning and Community Development
MINUTES ARE NOT FINAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION