VBT planners OK conditional rezoning for EV battery plan

At a two-hour meeting on Oct. 26, the Van Buren Township Planning Commission held a public hearing and then approved a conditional rezoning for Ashley Capital’s Building #6 on Ecorse Road.
This makes way for the highly publicized lithium ion phosphate battery manufacturing business in the 660,000-square-foot building that is already in place, but had zoning for a warehouse.
The conditional rezoning from M-T – Industrial Transportation to M-2 – General Industrial with conditions now goes to the township board of trustees for the final decision.
The Ashley Crossroads North Building 6 site is located at 42060 Ecorse Rd. and is located on a 46.15-acre parcel. This is west of Haggerty Road and north of Ecorse. All access is from Ecorse Road.
The Our Next Energy business, based in Novi, is expected to bring 2,112 new jobs to Van Buren Township. It will begin production in 2024 and increase capacity and expand into other buildings Ashley Capital has, according to ONE founder and CEO Mujeeb Ijaz.
He told the planning commission there are more than 110 docks on the building and they will just use 16, which will be a reduction in truck traffic from the warehouse use it would have had under the present zoning.
Tony Drum of CEO said when fully operational they will run 24/7 and have four, 12-hour shifts, about 500 per shift.
Planning and Economic Development Director Dan Power said the widening of Haggerty Road, mainly paid by Wayne County with some funds from Van Buren Township is a big part of this project. Also, the new water and sewer lines that the township will put in along that part of Haggerty is also important to this project.
The conditions that are a part of the rezoning include that there must be a 10-year lease with the battery developer and the business must begin operations within six months.
The new Building 5 on the site is occupied by FedEx.
In other business at the Oct. 26 meeting, the commission:
• Approved amending the Planned Residential Development agreement for Country Walk Phase III to allow one new, revised model at 42482 Cumberland Dr., noting the Homeowners Association 3 must approve the colors and materials. The developer said he would like to get started soon so it can be capped off before the weather turns bad; and
• Discussed, again, amendments to the zoning ordinances concerning side- and rear-entry garages in residential developments and the setback required between homes in Planned Residential Developments. The commission decided to have staff set up a public hearing for input from the public on proposed changes.