Subdivision sidewalk along Menard’s to Belleville Road?

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Some of the residents of The Meadows of Van Buren condominiums on Tyler Road aren’t crazy about the idea of having a sidewalk from the back of their neighborhood, through a woody buffer zone, along a 14’ fence at the proposed Menard’s, and out to Belleville Road.
But, Van Buren Township planning officials are requiring it.
During the Nov. 24 meeting between about 50 people and Scott Nuttleman of Menard’s Real Estate, the subject of the fence came up.
The Menard’s store, proposed for a 30-acre site just north of Walmart on Belleville Road, got off to a rocky start in VBT.
Two years ago, Menard’s told the township it was backing out of the site it had been seeking to develop on the North I-94 Service Drive. There were too many drainage problems, they said.
Last summer, Menards came back with a second site that it is now seeking to develop. In August it came before the planning commission and then went to the Board of Zoning Appeals, where it got stonewalled. The BZA refused to vote on the variances needed to build in the township.
There was a lot of resistance from the neighbors to having a big box store right next door, fearing a loss of property values.
Menards went back to the drawing board and came up with revised plans, hoping to get a better response.
It set up a meeting for the public, with refreshments, on Nov. 24 and that’s when the new issue of the sidewalk came up.
At the VBT Downtown Development Authority meeting the next day, VBT planning consultant Sally Hodges reported: “We required them to put in sidewalks. People are concerned about keeping their property, their property. But, we’re not giving up on the sidewalks.”
The DDA approved a new Walkability Audit for the Belleville Road downtown area.
Menard’s north property line adjoins the Meadows’ south property line and Menard had changed its plans to allow more buffering with untouched brush and trees and the planting of 28 more spruce trees.
He showed a picture of the view from Sage Circle where a stub of a sidewalk in the development ends at the edge of the development’s property.
Nuttleman said the sidewalk would go from Sage Circle south through a hole cut in the existing vegetation and then left and continue to the front of the store.
“I’d rather have trees than concrete,” said one lady in the audience.
Another woman said the residents don’t want people coming into their residential area from Belleville Road.
“I’d be happy not to do it,” Nuttleman said. “We’re being told it was planned. A stub is there because it was intended to be extended.
“I have to do it,” he said. “It will go 200’ into the wooded area and pop out at the front of our store.”
A member of the audience asked if VBT Public Safety Director Greg Laurain would comment on the safety of this proposed sidewalk.
Director Laurain asked about lights and Nuttleman said no lights have been planned, but maybe they could put in path lights.
“Walmart had a mess in back,” said a woman in the back of the meeting room.
Nuttleman said the township was very upfront. It didn’t like the way it worked in the back when Walmart was put in.
But, Nuttleman said, Walmart is open 24 hours and it’s “a different animal.”
He said the township told him what Walmart did wasn’t enough.
A woman asked if there weren’t other sites in Wayne County for a Menard store.
“There are lots of sites,” Nuttleman said. “There are constraints at how close our stores can be from each other. Another site wouldn’t be in Van Buren Township and you’d lose 200 jobs.
“We tried the site by Farmer Jack and there were engineering problems and flood plain issues. That was our preferred site,” Nuttleman said.
He said the 30 acres zoned commercial will be developed eventually and the new traffic light will be used by Menard or someone else.
“We did a traffic study and it was approved by Wayne County,” he said.
“We are a contract purchaser,” Nuttleman said, when someone asked if Menard has purchased the property. “We don’t want to spend a million dollars on land we can’t build on. I’d lose my job.”
After much discussion, Nuttleman said what VBT is asking them to do is far more than they’ve ever done for any other residential neighborhoods.
“I hope this goes through,” said a woman from Belleville. “I’d rather see Menards than a Costco warehouse going in.”
“This affects so many people. It makes my head spin,” said a man.
Nuttleman wound the public discussion down after an hour and a half and invited people to look at the maps and pictures on display and ask any questions they had of him personally.
“And, I really appreciate you being respectful of me,” he told the crowd.
The Menard site plan has already had a public hearing. It is expected to be back before the planning commission at its Dec. 10 meeting. The site plan also will require some variances from the BZA.