At its Sept. 13 meeting, the Belleville Planning Commission approved the site plan for the BYC to construct a two-level club house on vacant property at 430 N. Liberty Street.
Belleville architect Wade Hoppe, Steve Davenport of Davenport Brothers Construction, and BYC member presented the plans.
The clubhouse will feature the ground level at 4,300 square feet and a lower walk out level towards the lake at 3,000 square feet. The previous submitted site plan that was approved in November 2011 consisted of only 4,300 square feet.
The new plan nearly doubles the square footage. The number of boat slips is the same as proposed on the prior plan at 20.
The project will feature 18 parking spaces based on a maximum of 90 club members. The clubhouse structure will be a maximum of three stories or 35 feet.
The applicant met all the setback requirements on the total area of .66 acre. The proposed use for the R-M Multiple-Family Residential zoned parcel is a permitted use in the zoning district, since the facility will not be let for commercial purposes, like being rented or marketed out for the non-member public. The club will have no liquor license.
A combination of masonry and obscuring wood will make the screening of the parking lot, and all sides where the neighboring residential zoning exists, located to the east and west side of the parcel.
The parking lot will feature two 17.5 foot high light pole fixtures located near Liberty Street. A 6-foot masonry wall will enclose the dumpster.
The club’s sign application, which was part of the site plan, was not approved by the commissioners and was deferred for further review.
The BYC will work with city officials to adjust the sign location and will consider a reduction in the overall size of it. It was planned to be almost 7 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide. but the message part measures within the sign ordinance at 31.8 square feet, since 36 square feet is permitted.
The proposed location of the sign may be adjusted, too, because of its proximity to the sidewalk and the two, one-way drives that enter and exit the premises.
Commissioner Mike Renaud said he thought the proposed sign might be overwhelming to the adjacent residential area.
The walk-out level of the clubhouse is incidentally within the new FEMA flood plane district recently released. City officials and the applicant will work together administratively to meet those requirements.
Minor details that will be corrected on the site plan include adjustments to the location of the sidewalk, turning radius of the one-way entrance, and the location of a 5-foot wooden fence that would screen the parking area from Liberty Street.
When asked about whether or not the BYC was looking at a location to build at the Belleville Moose, Davenport held up a letter he received from the lodge on Huron River Drive stating that it was an invitation to consider and nothing more than that.
The BYC is often referred to as the Belleville Yacht Club, but that yacht club name is legally owned by the owner of Johnny’s Grill.
In other commission business, Planning Commission chairperson Steve Jones said that he and the sign subcommittee are in the final steps of the sign ordinance update and will have that document for the commission to consider sometime soon.