VBT signs 20-page agreement with Stellantis developer

On July 1, a 20-page development agreement on the Stellantis project was unanimously approved between Van Buren Township and YIP Ecorse BTS Partners Development, LLC, for the developer.
The project is a 2.1 million-square-foot warehouse on the 354-acre site on Ecorse Road between Denton and Beck roads. It is owned by Wayne County Airport Authority. Hillwood/Sterling Group, LLC of Rosemont, IL is the developer which has a long-term land lease.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara said a similar agreement was entered into in 2018 for the Subaru development on Michigan Ave.
The Stellantis agreement splits the project into two phases: site grading, stormwater detention pond, construction of the building footprint and shell, parking lot, and berms. The second phase will include all other items. There is a $100,000 performance guarantee.
There also is a provision for a tree agreement. The township shall accept a payment into the tree fund of $83.33 per tree for 1,200 trees for a total tree fund payment of $100,000. This fund shall be used by the township to support the development of a neighborhood park in the Denton Village area.
The board also approved a variance from the township’s engineering standards for the Stellantis project to allow a dry detention pond and to allow the development to meet the county discharge rate for the project.
Ron Akers, director municipal services, said the township’s engineering standards were last updated in 2014 and 2021. The project meets the county discharge rate.
He said the property has a large wetlands area that would need to be filled in if it attempted to meet the township rules. Akers said the township will be updating its engineering standards.
He said the project is adjacent to Willow Run Airport’s runway approach.
A special land use also was approved for 9.7 acres of industrial outdoor storage for Stellantis.
In other business at the 40-minute meeting on July 1, the board:
• Approved the 2024 annual audit of all township funds presented by Plante Moran. Supervisor McNamara said it showed $1.6 million surplus in the general fund and $1.3 million in the landfill fund and, “We did great. It’s a great audit”;
• Approved the first reading of a zoning ordinance amendment to create zoning regulations addressing Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). The second reading and adoption is expected at the next meeting of the board. The BESS containers, which are the size of a train car, must not be white, but painted neutral colors to blend in with its surroundings, and they will not be stacked. Sam Cusano of RWE, which plans a BESS site at the corner of Bemis and Rawsonville roads in the township, helped planners with details for the ordinance. Krishnan stressed the BESS ordinance is not just for his site but for use throughout the township. Cusano helped consultants craft the ordinance to be more stringent. Krishnan told them Cusano had said the federal government might require barbed wire on top of a BESS fence for security;
• Approved the first reading of a zoning ordinance amendment to require at least a quarter of a mile of spacing between motor vehicle fueling stations. The second reading and adoption is expected at the next meeting of the board. Akers said a moratorium on fueling stations had been in effect from January until June 21 while they studied the issue. Township planning consultant Vidya Krishnan of McKenna Associates told the planners that a study showed the township now has 14 gas stations and five more if you look at places just across the borders in the cities of Belleville and Romulus and Sumpter township, which makes 19 total. She said six township sites still have C-1 zoning and would qualify as potential gas station sites;
• Approved proposed fee increases for McKenna & Associates, planning consultants, which has had no fee increases since 2017. The first year the increase will be 9% and the next year will be 4.5%. The exact figures will be determined and brought back for approval at an upcoming meeting. McNamara said the increases are not unrealistic and the township has had a 20-year partnership with McKenna;
• Extended the deferment of the review of new applications pertaining to soil removal/mining and ponds until Jan. 1, 2026. A six-month moratorium on the issue was put into effect on Jan. 25. Director Akers said his department has been so tied up with other projects that it didn’t have time to address any changes that may be needed in the ordinance and needed more time. He said the township has received no new applications;
• Heard supervisor McNamara refer to a letter he received from State Represeentative Reggie Miller praising the fire fighters who answered the call of a disabled veteran to rescue a cat stuck in a tree for five days. McNamara also said there have been several community events over the past two weekends and there have been no incidents, that he has heard of. He then described the shooter on Bog Road who shot out of his house, but no one was injured and police were able to take him into custody without incident;
• Heard resident Reggie Ion say that a lot of people parked on Ecorse Road’s south service drive, which is a residential area, during the air show at Willow Run. He said there was a lot of trash left and his dogs barked for five hours on Saturday and Sunday. He said he approached police before that weekend to make sure they weren’t going to let people park in front of the homes to watch the air show for free and police assured him no one would be allowed to park there, but on Saturday people started parking there. Ion said he approached a police officer and told him people weren’t supposed to be parking there and the officer reportedly told Ion that, “It was just for a couple of days.” Ion said the officer wouldn’t tell him who was in charge. Ion said last year a man was setting up a barbecue in his driveway before he got him to stop and when he left, he left diapers in Ion’s yard. “We don’t want them parking on that road next year,” Ion told the board, adding, “Since when do they not have to tell us who’s in charge?” He also asked to see permits that allowed road closings for the show. McNamara said he would look into this.
Workshop session
Before the 6 p.m. regular meeting on July 1, a 4 p.m. workshop session was held to discuss policy updates regarding: travel, purchasing, credit cards, policies and procedures, and the salaried employee manual.