Belleville planners approve site plan for new building on Main

A 4,800-square-foot, single-story, commercial building to be used for a possible restaurant, retail, or office space was approved by the Belleville Planning Commission for 310 Main Street.
The site plan approval was unanimous at the commission’s Oct. 11 meeting. There were three stipulations: addition of a bike rack, moving the handicapped parking area closer to Third Street, and a band of colored block and an overhang on the back of the building to make it more attractive.
Applicant was Harlan Davenport of Davenport Construction, which will construct the building. The property owner is Woodrow Sloan of Novi, who was not present at the meeting.
Architect Wayde Hoppe, representing Davenport and Sloan, presented the plans for the building on lots 112 and 113 to the commission. The location is at the northwest corner of Main and Third, part of a large vacant area all owned by Sloan.
Hoppe said the 4,800-square-foot building will be able to be divided into one, two, or three units of 1,600-square-feet each. He said there will be 12 parking spaces in the back ending at the alley, along with delivery space and green space with new trees.
He said they will request a new curb cut on Third Street. There will be three building entries on Main and three in the back. Hoppe said the building will be all brick and limestone, with glass and aluminum. He said the glass wraps around the corner of the building.
The corner unit is designed to be a restaurant with café seating outside. He said a wall of glass could be pulled up and allow the restaurant to spill out onto the sidewalk or the people on the sidewalk to spill into the restaurant.
Commissioner John Juriga asked if the tanks were gone from the previous gas station on the site.
“It’s a closed site. Check with DEQ,” Davenport said. “I was one of the ones who pulled the tanks out and we trucked a few loads of contaminated soil.
“Woody says he has paperwork proving it is a closed site,” Davenport said. “All he has to do is produce it. I don’t want to mislead you. I just want to say Woody Sloan said it’s a closed site.”
“If we run into anything, it will be taken care of,” Hoppe said of the site.
Commissioner Juriga asked if the building will have quarried limestone and Hoppe said it would. Juriga asked him if he ever heard of “rising damp” when limestone pulls up the moisture from the ground which stains the surface.
Hoppe said it has been used at Atchinson Ford, Quick Lane, Davenport Plaza and Davenport Suites and there have been no problems, so far.
Commissioner Matt Wagner noted there was no bicycle parking. He read from ordinance 3-22 “parking for bicycles shall be provided.”
Hoppe said he would have to cut the green space back to fit it into the tight parking area or he could put it behind the transformer.
Then, the parking was discussed. Hoppe said he has a sufficient amount on site if all three spaces are offices, but it doesn’t have enough if one is a restaurant, which requires more parking.
Commission Chairman Steve Jones said 50% of the parking required can be on the street within a 500-foot circle from the site.
Hoppe said all the signage will be wall mounted and they will apply for signs later for each tenant. He said no tenants are yet signed for the units.
“Would the city entertain diagonal parking along Third?” Hoppe asked. “It’s wider than regular secondary streets.”
City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said that would be a “city council call.”
Davenport said the city could put a parking lot at the corner of Main and Third, next to the Chamber of Commerce building, but Kollmeyer said the city does not own that lot. It is privately owned, she said.
Davenport said Sloan will develop his other two lots adjoining the planned building on the corner once this is successful. The two new buildings will be built onto the wall of the previous building.
Commissioner Juriga asked if the city had a liquor license available because that would be necessary for a successful restaurant.
Carol Thompson, Coordinator of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority, said they have determined there is a liquor license from the former party store next to city hall that was acquired by the city. That license was for “not on-premise consumption” and Thompson said maybe LARA could make a deal. No other licenses are available in the city.
Hoppe said they don’t know what will be in the building, so talk of a liquor license is premature.
Hoppe said the large trees on the vacant lot are not a part of this project, but would have to be removed for the next phase.
Hoppe said the building is single story with 14-foot ceilings part way into the building. He said it is 25-feet tall in the front.
Commissioner Juriga asked about snow removal.
Hoppe said it would have to be trucked away because there is not room to store it. It’s like the Davenport Suites, he said. He said the people involved have a lot of trucks, so it’s not a problem.
Hoppe said he could put in a bollard for a bicycle rack to solve that problem.
After the decision was made to approve, Commission Chairman Jones suggested that Davenport get a Brew Pub for the building. He said Romulus recently got a Brew Pub.
Downtown Walkaround results
In other business at the one-hour-and-43-minute meeting, the commission heard a presentation by Thompson on the results of the Planning Commission and DDA Downtown Walkaround.
She said 68 surveys were turned in and they generally reviewed most of Main Street. She said there were a lot of positive comments. She said the city looks good and the businesses look open for business.
She said it was noted there are not a lot of evening and weekend hours for businesses, but that has been changing over the last five years. Thompson said there is only a handful of vacancies, except for the 500 block which has a big block of vacancies.
While talking about things that need to be cleaned up, Commissioner Randy Priest said the city could clean up the building next to it that it just acquired. City Manager Kollmeyer said she needs a deed for the property before they do anything. She said she got an emailed deed, but the official deed is yet to arrive.
Thompson presented a copy of the letter being sent to businesses with a report on the results of the “Belleville Walk Thru.” It suggests business owners walk across the street and look back at their own property to see if there is anything that should be done to improve it. The DDA Façade Improvement Program is available to help commercial property owners with a part loan, part grant available for up to $10,000.
Mansard roofs
Building Official Rick Rutherford was not at the Oct. 11 meeting, but he sent a request for the planning commission to clarify some language of the current Sign Ordinance.
Rutherford said the owner of Crafted Modern Handmade is preparing her new location at 381 Main St. and is interested in putting a sign on the roof as well as keeping the old Belle’s sign on the ground with a changed face.
He said she has yet to make an official request, but he wants this clarified in case she does.
Rutherford said he needed clarification on wording in the ordinance on “Mansard Roof” and “Roof” and the “Prohibited Signs” category. The question is whether the sign on a mansard roof is prohibited, or not.
After much discussion, and looking up the definition of “mansard” on the internet, the commission decided to ask planner Giffels Webster, who wrote the ordinance, to clarify the situation.
Subcommittee report
Commission Vice Chairman Michael Hawkins gave a report on the one subcommittee meeting held on B-2 Zoning. He said, first of all, you shouldn’t appoint someone to the subcommittee who isn’t there when you appoint. The commission appointed Commissioner Henry Kurczewski and Kurczewski told Hawkins later that he won’t be at the November and December commission meetings and will be gone in January.
“Henry’s wife screens his email and she didn’t think this was important,” Hawkins said of the story from the Detroit Free Press on Robert Gibbs, a well-known urban planner, that he sent to him.
Hawkins said although Gibbs used to recommend requiring retail establishments, he has now changed his mind and is “in favor of not putting restriction to have retail 50%.”
Commissioner Priest, the other member of the subcommittee, concurred with removing the restrictions.
Although having a very busy schedule, Commissioner Wagner agreed to volunteer to be on the subcommittee to continue research on the ordinance.
Commission Chairman Jones said he would like the subcommittee to compose a statement, as concise as possible, recommending changes.