City OKs building new single-story buildings downtown

The Belleville City Council approved new wording in an amendment to the zoning ordinance that will allow developers to build single-story buildings in the B-2 district downtown.
The vote to approve the wording and send it to the planning consultant to put it in final format was passed unanimously by the council at its Jan. 3 meeting.
The amended ordinance is expected to return to the council agenda on Jan. 17 for the final approval.
Rick Rutherford, director of the city’s department of public services, presented a memo to the council that noted the planning commission held a public hearing on the proposed amendment on Dec. 8 and then voted unanimously to send it to the city council for action.
The changes will revise Section 3.1.7-D.2: Building Height along Primary/Secondary Roads by adding an additional category for one-story structures to include the following specifications: 18-foot minimum height, with a 14-foot clear interior ceiling height proceeding at least 15 feet back from the main entrance.
This means a 14-foot interior would have a parapet of at least 4 feet required in the front to make it look taller than it really is.
Planning Commission chairman Steve Jones explained how the ordinance change came to be, following the request of Davenport Brothers to build a one-story office/retail building on the vacant lot at 337 Main Street. Then, the council directed the commission to review the two-story height requirement. The commission set up a three-person subcommittee to look into the requirement and the subcommittee recommended the amendment.
Phil Miller asked from the audience about the retail component of the zoning ordinance that required 50% retail per block. This, too, was a problem for the Davenport building.
Mayor Kerreen Conley and Councilman Tom Fielder said the five-year review of the city’s Master Plan is coming up and they decided to make review of the retail requirement a part of the Master Plan.
Miller said he is interested because of his mother’s law office at 321 Main Street. He said that if a vacancy occurs there, she would be required to put in retail and it is not possible with the layout of her building.
He said since it would be noncompliant under the new ordinance and, “A member of the planning commission said we should just knock it down. I can identify the person, if you want. I’m just telling you to be careful who you appoint [to the planning commission].”
Miller said the requirement of a 14’ ceiling for 15’ back into the building is not efficient and developers would have to build a lot of empty space to heat.
“You are mandating inefficiency in the building design,” Miller said.
Mayor Conley said the amendment would “keep the look and feel you want in downtown … We chose to do it now and it’s not just for one person … Multiple persons have asked.”
Councilman Fielder then spoke about the person hired to appraise city hall who said the value to the building is as a one-story structure.
“It’s not a single issue,” Fielder said. “It’s a 10-year evaluation and maybe we need to do something different.”
He said earlier that if the amended zoning ordinance was approved it would enhance the sale-ability of this property and the city could find out if any business wants to build there.
“We’ve been putting money in a building not useable by anyone but us,” Fielder said of city hall.
Jeff Vernon said from the audience that every December for the past three years, Fielder mentions selling this building.
“Do you have a place to move?” Vernon asked and Mayor Conley replied, “We own property,” without further comment.
In other business at the Jan. 3 meeting, the council:
• Approved the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce request to hold Winter Fest from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, and from noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 in downtown Belleville. Requested street closings on Saturday were Main Street from Roys to Third from noon to 8 p.m. and the parade route beginning at 6 p.m. at the high school, opening up the road after the parade passes, to 9 p.m. downtown. They also approved a tent on or near the Fourth Street Square, performances of Animal Magic at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, and carriage rides at Main and Roys. Also planned is ice skating on the vacant lot at Third and Main and a yet-to- be-determined musical guest on Friday. In addition for Saturday there is a Kids Fun Zone with bouncy house at Third and Main and at the Chamber office, a Soup Crawl from 2 to 4 p.m., and fireworks at 8 p.m. When asked why the chamber was seeking approval almost a year in advance, Paul Henning said, “We want to get ahead of the ball instead of be behind it.” Mayor Conley asked if there was a theme yet for the parade, so they could start planning the city float. Henning said there wasn’t;
• Approved a pay increase of 2% effective January-December 2017 and a pay increase of 1% effective January-December 2018 to city employees in the Governmental Employees Labor Council. This was a wage reopener in the 2015-18 GELC agreement. Fielder said they have been without raises for 8-10 years and this is long overdue;
• Heard Miller ask why yard sale permits are so high during Strawberry Festival and Mayor Conley replied, “We don’t want them. We have free citywide garage sales.” Miller said he worked in a city that had free yard sales every month and Mayor Conley replied, “Aargh!” Miller said the price of a permit is supposed to reflect the cost of the service and Conley said during Strawberry Festival officials are all busy and so the cost would be high for permits. She said the high-priced permits for Strawberry Festival came “long before I got here.” Fielder said heavy traffic during festival makes yard sales difficult. Miller said, “But, people need the money”;
• Heard Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria say that during the holidays the offices of other municipalities were closed and, “When other places are closed, we’re open.” He said residents can always find someone to talk to at city hall;
• Heard Police Chief Hal Berriman announce that Mary Talaga, who was sitting next to him in the audience, was going in for heart surgery the next day and would be off her crossing guard job for a month. Also, Officer Tim Trombley’s father was rushed to University of Michigan Hospital, the chief said;
• Heard Chief Berriman say that two police officers have left for other jobs and a Civil Service Commission meeting is set for Jan. 18 to interview candidates. He said police officers now are hard to find;
• Heard Miller complain about Van Buren Township police officers making traffic stops in the city of Belleville, with VBT getting the traffic fines instead of the city. Most of the tickets were written around Hayward’s where drivers illegally cut over from the right lane to the left coming into the city. He said the township officers are writing tickets on their township ordinance for impeding traffic. Chief Berriman said when Columbia Avenue was being fixed he gave permission to VBT to help out with traffic because the city didn’t have enough officers. “I thanked the chief for setting that up,” said Fielder. “We do not have the manpower to enforce,” the chief said. Mayor Conley said the council is leaving the decision up to the police chief “as long as tickets are legitimately written…”; and
• Approved accounts payable of $185,961.87 and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: to Blue Ribbon Contractor, for sewer repair on Potter Drive, $3,898, and for sewer repair on Second Street, $3,754.50, both from the sewer budget; and to Morton Salt, $1,697.75, salt for winter maintenance from the street budget.