City Council asks planning commission to look at Chapter 66

Belleville Mayor Kerreen Conley told the city council Aug. 15 that she thinks the city’s requirement for two-story buildings in the downtown may be prohibitive to development.
She explained her concerns to the council and council members agreed and voted to ask the planning commission to look at the one provision in Chapter 66 of the zoning ordinance that requires two-story construction downtown.
The planning consultant is expected to attend the planning commission meeting on Sept. 8 and the planner will be asked to estimate the amount of money it will take to revisit this requirement.
City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said it costs $400 every time a planner comes to a meeting.
Mayor Conley said the city hasn’t had a lot of development in the downtown area. She said they want people to walk around in the downtown area and visit retail shops. It just can’t be all services. Retail is needed, she said.
“Maybe it’s time for the planning commission to sit down and talk about it,” Conley said, adding they can ask the consultant to come in and tell the city what other communities are doing.
The council also discussed the 50% retail required block by block downtown.
“We really want to get retail in the downtown area,” Conley said, adding with Chapter 66 they really haven’t seen that happening.
Building Official Rick Rutherford said, “We have such a unique set of circumstances in Belleville. We’ve had a hard time trying to keep commercial on the ground floor.”
Councilwoman Kim Tindall said she didn’t think the requirement to have retail at 50% per block is so complicated, as some have said.
“This was brought to us as a recommendation by our planners,” she recalled.
“We can ask the planners if there is something else we could be doing to make that happen,” Conley said.
Rutherford said a lot of businesses on Main Street, who say they are retail, are not really retail, like the tracker plan and the pharmacy.
“We absolutely would agree with you,” Conley said.
“It all was done with the best of intentions,” Councilwoman Tindall said. “All we wanted was a walkable downtown … The implementation has been challenging.” When asked, she estimated the requirement was added within the last seven years she’s been on the council.
Conley said services don’t need to be on Main Street because people will go to the doctor’s office, for example, wherever they are located.
She said she doesn’t know if the lack of development downtown is because of the economic downturn or something else.
In other business at the 50-minute meeting on Aug. 15, the council:
• Approved amendments to the Sign Ordinance as recommended by the planning commission, which had held a public hearing. Most of the changes are required by a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court;
• Approved the request from the Belleville Area Council for the Arts to coordinate the citywide yard sale at Victory Park on Sept. 10 and 11. Becky Hasen said people do not have to sign up in advance, but just show up at the park as early as 7 a.m. on Saturday and can stay until 5 p.m.; and to set up as early at 9 a.m. on Sunday and can stay until 4 p.m. Cost per day is $15 or $25 for both days. Participants provide their own tables and clean up after themselves, she said. Hasen asked the city to make sure there is toilet paper in the rest rooms at Victory Station. For more information, call Hasen at (734) 347-0430 or email [email protected];
• Approved closing Fourth Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 8 for Harvest Fest events, which start at 11 a.m., and to allow the Central Business Community to use Fourth Street Square for a Harvest Market, which would run 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
• Approved accounts payable in the amount of $287,760.40 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to SLC Meters, $3,870 for a maintenance agreement, water/sewer fund; to BS&A Software, $2,997, annual service contract, general fund; to MIOSHA, $1,250 for inspection, from general fund/DPS; to Split Second Tacticals, $1,500 for utility vests for officers, general fundWpolice; to Emergency Reporting, $1,668 for annual software contract, general fund/fire; to Osborne Concrete, $863 for cemetery footings, cemetery fund; to Wise Technologies, $699.24 for computers / maintenance, general fund / various funds; to Superior Auto & Truck, $648.89 for street sweeper repair, major/local street funds; and to B&R Janitorial, $623.50 for cleaning supplies, from general fund/DPS;
• Was introduced to the newest police officers in the department: full-time officers Craig Lewis and Tim Trombley and part-time officer Sean Templeton;
• Was advised the new police car has been ordered and will be delivered in a couple of weeks. Police Chief Hal Berriman has prepared a bid package for the equipment to be installed on the car and those bids are due Aug. 29. Also, Rutherford is working at financing for his new truck;
• After Rutherford reported the roadwork on West Columbia Avenue is still slated for completion in October, Kollmeyer asked him to have Wayne County communicate that information to the schools;
• Heard Berriman say there is some concern about the blast of the gun on the tank that will be on Main Street on Aug. 19 for the Battle of Belleville. He said last year a smaller weapon blast rattled the windows on Main Street. He said perhaps they will shoot near the vacant lot at Third Street to try to deaden the blast some; and
• Heard Councilman Tom Fielder tell of his work with a group discussing how to keep drug deaths from occurring. He said there were 506 drug deaths in Wayne County last year and 342 for the first six months of this year. He said Fentanyl, a substance that gives an extra kick, is being added to drugs and is one of the main causes of these deaths. He said over the last four years the highest number of deaths from Fentanyl over a 12-month period has been 148 in Wayne County. This year for the first six months the number is 168. He distributed some biodegradable Deterra packages, which allow people to put unused liquid and solid prescription medicine inside and to just throw them in the trash. He said he will get more of the free packages for distribution.