Home turned into office, turned into home again finally may get OK

William Ellis of Van Buren Township said he didn’t realize that asking for approval to sell a house as a residence, as it once had been, would lead to everything it did.
Before the Sept. 28 regular meeting of the Van Buren Township Planning Commission, Ellis and his partner Jim Mitte said they saw the building at 1166 Sumpter Rd. empty for eight to ten years. Willis said his son lived down the block and he and his neighbors were concerned about the vacant building on the corner.
Ellis said they bought the building and redid the whole outside. Then, they came up with the problem that it had been rezoned commercial when it was turned into an insurance office.
Mitte said they tried marketing it as a commercial site, but there was zero interest in that and other commercial buildings along Sumpter Road were also vacant.
Then the whole Sumpter Road Corridor Plan project started up and at those public meetings several neighbors spoke up in support of letting that building be residential again. The neighbors said they were glad the building had been upgraded.
At the Sept. 28 meeting, Commissioner Brian Cullin said that this rezoning is the first trial of what they had been working on for Sumpter Road. This building now can be developed in some way and occupied.
Ellis said the plan was to sell it.
At the beginning of the meeting, Director of Planning and Economic Development Dan Power explained that this is the first rezoning under the Sumpter Road Mixed Use zoning ordinance for the Sumpter Road Corridor Plan.
Ellis and Mitte on behalf of owner EHM were asking for rezoning of the 0.26 acre site, located on the west side of Sumpter Road between Chaney and Montague streets, from C-Local Business District to Sumpter Road Mixed Use (SRMU).
Approval of this would allow residential, plus several other uses.
Director Power explained that the new ordinance is on the books as of Oct. 6 and the township board wouldn’t be able to consider the commission’s rezoning request until mid-October.
Commissioner Traci Barr made the motion to recommend rezoning to the board and Commissioner Cullin seconded the motion. It was passed by the commission and sent on to the township board. Absent from the Sept. 28 meeting were Commissioners Bernard Grant and Jeff Jahr.
According to Power, the 922-square-foot building was constructed in 1930 and in 1974 was rezoned C-Local Commercial. It was converted into a small insurance building in the mid-2000s until its vacancy some time prior to 2019.
In other business at the meeting, the commission granted extension of preliminary site plan approval for Burger King, 11550 Belleville Rd. Approval originally was granted on Oct. 13, 2021, for a preliminary site plan to construct a secondary drive-thru lane along with landscaping and architectural improvements associated with the remodeling of Burger King.
A letter from Burger King’s architect Louise Craver said the extension was needed for one year was because of:
• Cost escalations due to supply and labor shortage.
• Experiencing pricing escalations in the neighborhood of 40% as compared to the pre-COVID era.
• Supply is very unstable as General Contractors are unable to hold pricing for more than 7 days.
• Being unable to procure kitchen equipment and other remodel enhancements to the General Contractor as part of the overall remodel scope of work.
• Operational issues with closing sites for an extended remodel with the industry-wide restaurant labor shortage.
Under the General Discussion and Updates part of the agenda, Power gave an update on the Camping World project.
He said Camping World had presented an updated site plan, called the “West Wing,” which was postponed on May 11.
Prior to that, Camping World’s Dec. 9, 2020 original plan was approved and the east wing demolished.
Following the postponement of the new plan on May 11, Camping World said it would revert to the original plan on the footprint that is at the site now.
Power said he would keep the planning commission up to date and would hope to bring an official West Wing withdrawal letter.
Treasurer Sharry Budd, who sits on the planning commission, asked when Camping World would go back to work on the project and Power said they are waiting for pricing from contractors.
Also, Power said the commission very likely will not have an Oct. 12 meeting because there may be a quorum problem, since three of the seven members are going for training, so far. He said the commission will definitely meet on Oct. 26.
Power said there is a training session on Oct. 10 on “Exclusive to Inclusive” put on by Michigan State University Extension Service.
Budd made the motion to adjourn at 6:14 p.m. and the meeting was adjourned, with Commissioner Medina Atchinson saying she votes “nay” to adjournment.