MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MIDLAND CITY PLANNING
COMMISSION
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
MAY 22, 2012, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1. Roll Call
PRESENT: Heying, McLaughlin, Mead, Pnacek, Senesac, Tanzini
and Young
ABSENT: Hanna and Stewart
OTHERS PRESENT: Brad Kaye, Director
of Planning and Community Development, Cheri King, Community Development
Specialist, and 8 others.
2. Approval
of Minutes
Moved by Senesac, seconded by Heying, to approve the minutes of the regular
meeting of May 8, 2012. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Public Hearings
None
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.
The petitioner is requesting
tentative and final preliminary plat review.
The proprietor is Midland Building Company. The site is 5.89 acres. The property is on the south side of Wheeler,
west of Waldo Avenue. The plat has a
single access point onto Wheeler Avenue.
There is one lot that will exceed the 1:2.5 ratio
because of the geometry that is necessary for this site.
The Engineering and Utility
Departments have reviewed the plat conceptually but have not yet signed
off. The Fire Department has requested
that no parking be allowed on the fire hydrant side of the street. There is existing fill on the perimeter of
the site that will be used to form a berm around the perimeter of the site or
to provide necessary fill on the building lots.
The applicant is asking for final preliminary
review of the plat. They have added
sidewalk locations, street lighting and grading for the street to respond to
deficiencies in the initial application.
There were a number of concerns
presented by the neighbors at the public hearing. In 2005, the area to the south was annexed to
the city and zoned to RA-4 in 2005. The
area to the west was originally in the city but was rezoned to RA-4 in 2005 at
the request of the petitioner. Each of
the three zoning applications was noticed in accordance with state law. There was concern by the neighbors about
2-family dwellings. They are permitted
by right in the RA-4 zoning district if the lot is 60 feet wide and 9,000 sq.
ft. in area. 10 of the 20 proposed lots
would meet the standards necessary to construct a duplex dwelling.
The staff recommendation is approval
with standard contingencies. A public
hearing was held on April 24, 2012. If
the Planning Commission makes a recommendation this evening, it could go to
City Council for consideration on June 11, 2012.
No one spoke either in favor of or
in opposition to this petition.
Motion by Senesac, seconded by Young,
to recommend to City Council the approval of Preliminary and Final 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 with the following contingencies:
1. Access
to Lots 1 and 20 are restricted to Trotter’s Pointe Circle.
2. Lot
4 is approved in excess of the depth-to-width ratio of 2.5 to 1.
3. On-street parking shall be prohibited
on the fire hydrant side of Trotter’s Pointe Circle and the cost of all on
street signs shall be the responsibility of the proprietor.
4. The storm water detention system shall
be designed and constructed in accordance with the City of Midland Engineering
Department specifications.
5. All exterior lighting shall comply with
Section 3.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.
6. All exterior signage shall comply with
Article 8 of the Zoning Ordinance.
7. The location, access and flow of any
proposed fire hydrants and water service shall be designed and constructed in
accordance with the City of Midland Fire Department and City of Midland Utility
Department specifications.
8. A subdivision contract for detention
access and maintenance is executed between the developer and the City.
Mr. Senesac stated that he feels the
applicant meet all the requirements. He
supports the Fire Chief and their staff recommendation that there not be
parking on the fire hydrant side of the road.
Mr. Heying thinks this is pretty straight forward. It meets all the requirements.
Mr. Mead stated that the petitioner
did say that even though two-family dwellings are permitted in this zoning
district, his intent is to build single-family homes. It looks like half of the lots are not
suitable for two-family dwellings. Mr.
Kaye clarified that the applicant has not offered to restrict the use of the
proposed lots to single family dwellings even though that is their intent.
Vote:
YEAS: Heying, McLaughlin, Mead, Pnacek,
Senesac, Tanzini and Young
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Hanna and Stewart
b. Site
Plan No. 312 – initiated by Rowe Professional
Services Company on behalf of Midland Downtown Partners, LLC for site plan
review and approval for a 224,255 square foot Stadium District Mixed-Use
Project, located at 215 State Street, 614 and 709 East Larkin Street and 608
East Ellsworth Street.
Mr.
Kaye reported that the applicant is Midland Downtown Partners, LLC. The location of this development is at 215
State Street, 709 East Larkin, 614 East Larkin, and
608 East Ellsworth Streets. The area is
5.72 acres. The zoning is Downtown and
is subject to the Northside Downtown Overlay district. The use is by right, subject to site plan
review. The building is approximately
224,255 square feet, spread over four stories in height. It will include offices, restaurants, a
wellness center and medical.
The
location is the site of the former McKay Press facility. It is across the street from Dow
Diamond. The building has just over a
50,000 sq. ft. footprint. An architectural
rendering was shown. There may be some
minor changes to this, however, the main design will
remain the same.
There
will be landscaping along the George Street and the Ellsworth Street
sides. It is also recommended as a
contingency, but it has already been agreed to by the applicant.
The
question of roofline treatments remains open, with the ordinance standard
reading, “Buildings with a flat roof appearance from the street shall have a
decorative cornice. Flat roofs shall be
enclosed by parapets.” This will require
additional discussion this evening. Partial
cornices are proposed, but there are areas of flat roofs where cornices are not
indicated on the elevations.
Lighting
fixtures include the front façade mounted lights. Staff’s recommendation is this lighting
fixture is not permitted by the ordinance at this time. Also, the mast, that protrudes
above the building, does not meet with the ordinance standards and staff
has recommended removal of this structure from the plan.
A
public hearing was held on May 8, 2012.
If the Planning Commission makes a recommendation tonight, it will
proceed on to City Council for consideration on June 11, 2012. Staff recommendation is that approval with
contingencies can be considered at this time.
One public comment (letter) was received in support of this petition.
Mr.
Senesac asked about the size of the building.
If approval as submitted was recommended tonight, he questioned if the
Planning Commission would have to go back and reviews lights, cornices and
parapets. Mr. Kaye stated that the
Planning Commission has the latitude to make a decision based on their
interpretation of the ordinance tonight and that administrative approval of any
minor changes could be granted by staff.
Scott
Bonney, Neuman Smith Architecture, stated the parapet height is about 24 inches
in their design. It is still below the
75 foot height limitation for the building.
After looking at the DNO guidelines, they feel the intent of those were
to provide for a variety of character in buildings along Main Street. They will eliminate the mast as it protrudes
too far above the building.
Mr.
Pnacek asked about the lighting. Is the
concern with the lighting proposed that the lighting will shine off site? Mr. Kaye stated this is soft lighting and
perhaps we can develop standards that would allow this type of fixture. Revised standards could address illumination
and where these might be appropriate and where they might not.
Motion
by Senesac, seconded by Pnacek, to recommend to City Council the approval of
Site Plan No. 312 initiated by Rowe Professional Services Company on behalf of
Midland Downtown Partners, LLC for site plan review and approval for a 224,255
square foot Stadium District Mixed-Use Project, located at 215 State Street,
614 and 709 East Larkin Street and 608 East Ellsworth Street with the following
contingencies.
1. Revised
building elevations that include cornices and parapets across the proposed
building roofline shall be provided in compliance with Section 21.04.A. 1 of
the Zoning Ordinance. This contingency
shall become null and void should Section 21.04.A.1 be amended by City Council
to permit partial cornices as shown on the current site plan.
2. Specific building elevations detailing
pedestrian entrances shall be submitted for administrative site plan
review.
3. A minimum of 50% of the ground floor
façade area shall be clear windows and doorways.
4. Outdoor seating within the public
right-of-way shall require review and approval by the Midland City
Council.
5. Individual awnings shall be subject to
administrative site plan review.
6. Street trees along Ellsworth Street and
Poseyville Road (George Street) shall be required in compliance with Section
21.04 C.1 of the Zoning Ordinance.
7. An updated site photometric plan shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 3.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.
8. Updated lighting fixtures shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 3.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.
9. The vertical mast light shall be
removed from the final site plans and shall not be approved.
10. All on-street parking spaces shall have
45 degree turnouts to allow for street cleaning and maintenance activities.
11. Sidewalk easements or right-of-way for
sidewalks shall be conveyed to the standards of the City of Midland Engineering
Department.
12. Final fire hydrant locations shall be
approved by the City of Midland Fire Department.
13. Servicing easements shall be conveyed to
the City of Midland in such locations and in such form as required by the City
of Midland Engineering, Water and Wastewater Departments.
14. Storm water management methods shall be
designed and constructed in accordance with the City of Midland Engineering
Department specifications.
15. All landscaping shall comply with Article
6 of the Zoning Ordinance.
16. All exterior signage shall comply with
Article 8 of the Zoning Ordinance.
17. A soil & sedimentation control plan
is required as the project is in excess of one acre in size.
Mr.
Mead talked about the purposes of cornices in the downtown area. You can actually see the differences the
cornices make. Mr. Pnacek stated there
are a lot of different textures and heights and that the building facade is
broken up enough. The drawing looks
good. Mr. Senesac stated they have to
look at what the ordinance says. When
the ordinance was written, we were not thinking about large buildings like
this. He does not think they can put new
meaning into the ordinance. We need to
go back and revisit that section of the ordinance. Mr. Mead asked if anyone had any problems
with the way this building is proposed.
Mr. Senesac stated that he thinks we should look at the issue of
cornices and not make a different interpretation of the ordinance tonight.
The
specific standards states, “Buildings with a flat roof appearance from the
street shall have a decorative cornice.
Flat roofs shall be enclosed by parapets.”
Mr.
Heying stated that he feels this development meets the intent of the
ordinance. It does not say how long, how
much, or how many. Mr. McLaughlin agrees
with Mr. Heying.
Mr.
Senesac stated he thinks the proper way to handle this would be to have staff
come back to the Commission with language that would clarify this issue and
approve language that would solve the discrepancy presented.
Karrie
Blundell, with Kramer Management Group, stated they do want to arrive at the
final schematic as soon as possible so they can prepare their budget. If it is not determined tonight, they would
have to proceed with an estimate based upon a full cornice for budgeting
purposes. The application does not
contain a petition for signs at this time.
Vote:
YEAS: Heying, McLaughlin, Mead, Pnacek,
Senesac, Tanzini and Young
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Hanna and Stewart
c. 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. (POSTPONED BY
PETITIONER)
5.
Public Comments (unrelated to
items on the agenda)
None
6. New
Business
None
7. Communications
None
8. Report of the Chairperson
None
9. Report
of the Planning Director
A planning intern, Lori Morgan, will be
working in the Planning Department again
this summer. She may
be presenting in front of the Planning Commission at a future
meeting.
10. Items for Next
Agenda – June 12, 2012
a. DNO
sign standards
b. Master
Plan – Chapters 3 (Natural Resources Inventory) and 5 (Future Land Use)
10. Adjourn
Adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
C. Bradley Kaye, AICP
Director of Planning and Community Development
MINUTES ARE NOT FINAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION