VBT planners give preliminary approval for Taiwan company

There was some concern on the already problematic intersection of Belleville and Van Born roads and what the influx of new employees would bring there, but on April 26 the Van Buren Township Planning Commission unanimously gave preliminary site plan approval for TYC America’s Michigan Mobility Center.
The company is owned by by a firm based in Taiwan with 2,800 employees worldwide and this is its first building outside of Asia to combine engineering, design, and manufacturing of automotive equipment for new and used vehicles.
It will be built in three phases on about 15 acres on the north side of Van Born Road, just east of Sheldon Road. The engineering research and design office area, with lots of windows, is about 15,766 square feet in size and the manufacturing area 40,157 square feet in phase one. There will be associated parking and underground utility / stormwater infrastructure and future expansion including about 78,845 square feet more of manufacturing.
At the full finish of the project in 2025, they estimate 134 employees on the day shift and 109 on the evening shift.
Dan Power, director of planning and economic development, said the developers provided a preliminary traffic study by Stonefield Engineering that showed traffic would not significantly be impacted at that intersection and the issue at Van Born and Belleville roads was already existing. He said this will have to go to Wayne County for review.
“There will have to be a final traffic study to be reviewed by the planning commission and the township,” Director Power said. “This is a nod to the elephant in the room: the situation at that corner. Improvements may be required and I don’t know what the recommended changes would be.”
The applicant said they plan to operate 24 hours a day for five days a week.
There will be sidewalks on both Van Born and Sheldon roads, loading docks on the north side, and EV charging stations in the parking lot. They are considering to offer the EV charging as a service for employees, but will assess how to use them. They will wire the site for the stations and set them up, as determined by use. “The world is changing,” an applicant said.
The company will consult with Wayne County to work out details of a storm water retention or detention pond. There will be no outside storage of hazardous materials, Power said.
The 30’ lightpoles they proposed will be approved, although they are higher than the ordinance allows, and the developer agreed to reduce the illumination proposed.
Van Buren Township’s engineer from Fishbeck said the left turn lane on Van Born Road is causing a lot of stacking and delays as it is.
Commissioner Jeff Jahr asked about the spiked security fence being approved and he was told the spikes were curved and were “not the pretty impailing ones,” in the words of planning consultant Vidya Krishnan.
The applicant is Steve Graham of S.E. Graham Associates, Inc. of St. Clair Shores on behalf of prospective owner William Newman and W&W Real Property, a California Corporation.
Also at the one hour and 25-minute meeting, the commission approved a temporary land use permit for Phantom Fireworks to set up a tent in the Menards parking lot at 10010 Belleville Rd. to sell fireworks from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. from June 22 to July 4. This is the third year Phantom Fireworks has been at this site.