The meeting was called to order at or about 7:00 PM.

Present:  Members John Avdoulos, Brian Burke, Victor Cassis, Michael Lynch, Mark Pehrson, Wayne Wrobel

Absent:  Members David Lipski, Michael Meyer (excused), Andrew Gutman (excused)

Also Present:  Barbara McBeth, Deputy Director of Community Development, Tim Schmitt, Planner; David Beschke, Landscape Architect; Ben Croy, Engineer; Tom Schultz, City Attorney

Member Pehrson led the meeting in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Moved by Member Pehrson, seconded by Member Wrobel:

No one from the audience wished to speak.

There was no correspondence to share.

There were no Committee Reports.

Deputy Director of Community Development Barbara McBeth gave the Planning Commission an update of recent City Council events. The first reading of the Parking Lot End Island Text Amendment was approved. Ms. McBeth reminded the Master Plan and Zoning Committee members that they have a meeting on April 12, 2007. There will be an environmental workshop in May that the Environmental Committee members may wish to attend. It is sponsored by the Oakland County Drain Commissioner’s Office.

There was no Consent Agenda.

The Public Hearing was opened on the request of A. J. Bartoletto, of Temperform Corp., for Preliminary Site Plan, Stormwater Management Plan, Woodland Permit, and Wetland Permit approval.  The subject property is located in Section 23, east of Novi Road, south of Trans-X Drive, in the I-2, General Industrial District.  The subject property is 4.884 acres and the Applicant is proposing to construct two additions to the existing Temperform Corporation buildings.

Planner Tim Schmitt described the project. Main Street Village 2 Apartments are across the street. There is a DTE substation in the area. Rainbow Coatings is near the subject parcel. The railroad tracks abut the property, and on the other side are the Michigan Cat property and vacant land.

There are regulated woodlands and wetlands along the railroad tracks. There is also the Applicant’s detention basin outletting into the stream.

The Master Plan calls for Light Industrial uses for the property, consistent with the properties to the south and west. To the north and east is the Town Center designation. The property is zoned I-2, as are the properties to the north, south and west. To the east is TC-1. The apartments are zoned RM-2.

The Applicant is proposing a foundry addition for the back building. The front building will receive the warehouse addition, which also has a small amount of office space. The Applicant will also build a new parking lot on the south end of the site. The detention basin will be modified.

The wetland and woodland reviews can recommend approval subject to minor items being addressed at the time of Final Site Plan submittal. The Landscape Review, Traffic Review and Engineering Review all indicate that there are items to be addressed on the next submittal. The Applicant must get a landbanked parking plan approved to receive a positive recommendation from the Planning Review. The Applicant’s proposal for landbanking is acceptable and the Planning Commission is asked to consider it.

The Fire Marshal has rejected the plan based on a March 7, 2007 letter. The access along the south side of the building is near a substantial grade change. The pavement does not match up. The solution proposed by the Applicant, and since agreed to by the Fire Marshal, is to slide the building forward in order to provide a direct connection on the same grade around the rear of the building. Now a ZBA variance is required for the lack of front yard setback – 100 feet is required and the Applicant is deficient by about thirty feet. Other options include reducing the warehouse space, which may render the plan unusable. The Applicant is choosing to seek the variance, and the Fire Marshal can support this request. The Planning Commission should stipulate "Alternative A" in an approving motion.

George Thomas, Director of Product Assurance, Temperform, offered to answer any questions that the Planning Commission might have. He described the site for the Planning Commission. He explained the setback request. He said the change would provide an "architectural step." He stated that the proposal will match the existing warehouse and the same look will be used on the new façade. He said that the design of the site has quite a bit of greenery and most people don’t even realize there is a plant on this site. Mr. Thomas said that none of the design solutions completely answer the Fire Marshal’s request. The only way to give him all-around access is to move the building forward and the Fire Marshal said he supported that concept. He said that the detention pond was enlarged to address the City’s drainage needs, and that is what has caused this "trap."

Member Pehrson read the correspondence into the record:

Joseph Evangelista, 46850 Grand River: Approved of the addition.

Chair Cassis closed the Public Hearing.

Member Avdoulos felt comfortable with the plan, noting that the Applicant has stated that he would address the outstanding issues. He did not have an issue with the ZBA granting the variance for the setback issue. The building as proposed in Alternative A provides safety to the site. The building will be in line with the existing building.

Member Avdoulos likes it when Applicants utilize the parking that they need, and he doesn’t have a problem with landbanking requests. He thought this plan was acceptable.

Member Avdoulos understood Mr. Schmitt’s woodland comment to mean that the plan could be recommended for approval if the changes were made on the next submittal. Mr. Schmitt responded that lately there have been a number of applicants who have been trying to get on their sites immediately after the preliminary site plan phase. The Woodland Consultant used this method of denial to grab this Applicant’s attention. There is not a major concern with the plan, it is just important that the details of the plan are forthcoming – before the environmental pre-construction meeting.

Moved by Member Avdoulos, seconded by Member Pehrson:

Member Burke asked about outdoor storage. Mr. Schmitt said it is allowed in the Light Industrial district. The chemicals stored outside their building would not likely be allowed to be stored inside. They are considered volatile organics. They are fairly highly flammable. The City is going to look into having the Applicant clean the back side of the building up a bit. The City will keep an eye on this throughout construction.

Member Burke asked about the most southeasterly drive. Mr. Schmitt said that this is the area of the parking lot expansion and that the debris in this area will indeed be cleaned up.

Member Burke asked about the silt fence erected near the forklift and loading dock area. He said that they recycle their sand, and then it is removed. That is the area where the foundry sand is stored until the removal service arrives. Member Burke supported the project.

Member Pehrson asked how many employees work at Temperform. Mr. Thomas said there were 48 employees. There are sixty parking spaces planned. There will be 59 once the alternative design in approved. Member Pehrson supported the project.

Chair Cassis asked what the foundry manufactures. Mr. Thomas said they manufacture engineered products made of stainless steel for the mining, cement and petrol-chemical industries. They are considered an engineered castings operation. All of their jobs are custom, small runs. Their product is resistant to high temperatures and corrosion. Their customers are all over the United States. They also have customers in the Caribbean and Canada. They are very well known in the industries and have been a business for over 37 years.

Moved by Member Avdoulos, seconded by Member Pehrson:

Moved by Member Avdoulos, seconded by Member Pehrson:

Moved by Member Avdoulos, seconded by Member Pehrson:

The Public Hearing was opened on the request of Bruce Brickman of General Development for Planning Commission’s recommendation to City Council for rezoning of property in Section 9, east of West Park Drive, north of Twelve Mile, from I-2, General Industrial, to I-1, Light Industrial District.  The subject property is .83 acres.

Planner Tim Schmitt described the small piece of land just east of the existing Novi Corporate Campus building. There are no woodlands and wetlands on this site, though there is a wetland nearby that was previously approved to be filled in. The property is master planned for Light Industrial, as are the properties in all directions. The subject property is zoned I-2, adjacent properties are zoned both I-1 and OST. On the south side of Twelve Mile the Keystone property is master planned for Office and zoned for Office. Other south side properties are zoned R-A.

This proposal is intended to accommodate a small parking lot expansion for Toyota Boshoku. They are currently in the Bridge Street Industrial Park, and are planning to relocate to this site. The Staff supports this rezoning request. There is a negligible impact to the infrastructure. The developer of this site is encouraged to make his mind up regarding the zoning of this entire park. This is the fourth rezoning for the property.

Section 2516 allows for administrative approval of the proposed parking lot.

Member Pehrson read the Public Hearing correspondence into the record:

Edwin Bozian, Managing Partner, Marleon Associates, 3775 Terrybrook, West Bloomfield: Approved of the request.

Chair Cassis closed the Public Hearing.

Member Pehrson would also like the developer to determine the appropriate zoning for his office park.

Moved by Member Pehrson, seconded by Member Wrobel:

Planning Commission legal training is slated for Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 7:30 PM in a Parks and Recreation Conference Room.

Planner Tim Schmitt asked the Planning Commission to set the Public Hearing date.

Member Avdoulos asked Mr. Schmitt whether the term "instructional center" meant something similar to the Sylvan Learning Center. Mr. Schmitt thought that was the case. If this change is made it would have an effect on that type of use.

Moved by Member Pehrson, seconded by Member Avdoulos:

Moved by Member Pehrson, seconded by Member Lynch:

Moved by Member Pehrson, seconded by Member Lynch:

There were no Consent Agenda removals.

Deputy Director of Community Development Barbara McBeth presented the updated Office Service Technology Report prepared by Mark Spencer.  She explained that this is an update that has been presented to the Planning Commission several times over the last several years. There are 1,100 OST-zoned acres, of which 338 acres are developed and 150 acres are under review. 650 acres are vacant and available, which represents about 61% of the OST-zoned land.

There are 2.5 million square feet of OST floor area representing about $200,000,000 in assessed value. There are 1.2 million square feet under review (ITC, Ryder, Meadowbrook Corporate Park, etc.).

There are medical and general offices, as well as some manufacturing and wholesale establishments. Recent developments include some medical uses, whereas originally most OST uses were just general office in nature.

Ms. McBeth told the Planning Commission that Mr. Spencer was able to keep this report updated through the use of the Plan Review Center Annual Report and the help of other departments.

Member Avdoulos thanked Mr. Spencer for his work, and found that the document was very valuable.

Member Pehrson thanked Ms. McBeth for responding to a citizen who wrote a letter regarding the Singh proposal for the Legacy Parc property.

No one from the audience wished to speak.

Moved by Member Wrobel, seconded by Member Pehrson:

The meeting adjourned at 7:51 PM.

THU                  04/12/07            MASTER PLAN AND ZONING COMMITTEE             6:30 PM

MON                 04/16/07            CITY COUNCIL MEETING                                                 7:00 PM

WED                04/25/07            PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING                               7:00 PM

TUE                  05/01/07            CITY COUNCIL MEETING                                                 7:00 PM

TUE                  05/08/07            ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS                                        7:30 PM

WED                05/09/07            PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING                                7:00 PM

MON                 05/14/07            CITY COUNCIL MEETING                                                 7:00 PM

WED                05/23/07            PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING                                7:00 PM

MON                 05/28/07            CITY OFFICES CLOSED

MON                 06/04/07            CITY COUNCIL MEETING                                                 7:00 PM

TUE                  06/05/07            ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS                                        7:30 PM

WED                06/13/07            PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING                                 7:00 PM

MON                 06/18/07            CITY COUNCIL MEETING                                                  7:00 PM

WED                06/27/07            PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING                                 7:00 PM

Transcribed by Jane L. Schimpf, April 20, 2007 Signature on File

Date Approved: April 25, 2007 Angela Pawlowski, Planning Assistant Date