On June 11, after holding two public hearings on the Stellantis-Mopar auto parts distribution mega-hub planned for Van Buren Township, the planning commission recommended special land use and granted preliminary site plan approval.
The only input at the public hearings on special land use was a written statement from Christopher Girdwood, director of Detroit Region Aerotropolis who recommended the project. He said it has a minimum use of sewer and water and all the truck drivers are employees of the company and they will follow directions as to routes.
The construction is being called Project Venture on the township paperwork.
Under township ordinance, the 9.71 acres of outdoor storage requires the public hearing for special land use. Maximum height for outdoor storage is 14 feet, she said.
The project will be constructed on property owned by Wayne County Airport Authority on the north side of Ecorse Road, south of Van Born Road and the railroad, east of Denton Road and west of Beck Road. It is in the airport’s runway protection zone.
The applicant is HIP VI Enterprises on behalf of the owner to construct a 2,111,200-square-foot warehouse building to house Stellantis-Mopar, where some 187,000 auto parts will be stored and distributed nationwide.
Vidya Krishnan, planning consultant from McKenna Inc., produced the site plan that showed the facility across Ecorse Road from a runway at Willow Run Airport.
She said the property is already zoned M-2 which is the most intense industrial category. The project will use only 180 acres of the 350-acre site, with the rest filled with trees and wetlands. Just 2.5% of the wetlands will be disturbed, she said.
Krishnan said because of the distance back on the property planned for the construction and all the vegetation, old and new, whatever noise generated by the beeping as trucks back up should not disturb residents on the other side of Beck Road, whose properties are zoned M-1.
She said she is working with the company on its tree listings, which number 2,403, and how to replace the 1,708 trees that must be removed. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is working with developers on the wetlands, she said.
Applicant Danny Sampson of Sterling Development Group said they had a meeting with neighbors on May 1 and it was good to meet them and hear their concerns. The traffic route to and from the site is to stay on Ecorse Road to Michigan Avenue to I-94 to keep trucks from their homes.
Fishbeck engineers, consultants to the township, and Wayne County have determined no signal is needed at the entryway on Ecorse Road. A Michigan Left might be considered on Ecorse, said Paul Kammer of Fishbeck, noting the Michigan Left at Ecorse and Belleville roads is not working very well.
“I can’t promise a truck won’t make a wrong turn,” Sampson said, noting the truck drivers work for Stellantis and have GIS and know to go west on Ecorse. “We have the three-strike rule.”
He said they plan to start work on the site during the Third Quarter.
Krishnan said the nearest home is 1,000 feet away from the outside storage area.
When asked about hours, Sampson said it is a 24-hour facility with two shifts. He said there will be no noise from the site as loud as a train on the tracks to the north or an airplane taking off to the south.
When asked what is stored outdoors, Sampson replied it was mostly vehicle frames and they will not be stacked more than 14 feet high.
After the commission voted unanimously to send a recommendation to the township board to approve the special land use, it moved on to the request for a preliminary site plan for Project Venture.
Krishnan said the project is identified as a “truck terminal.” It has a water tank on the northwest side to provide water for the fire loop. There also is a guard house to check trucks into the secure facility, she said. Employees enter the northwest entrance with cards.
Developers had presented a May 2025 traffic study and Krishnan said in the future, Wayne County could put a light at the Ecorse/Denton intersection.
She said they probably will need a deceleration lane for the turn into the site since Ecorse is a “fast road.” She stated the eastbound truck turns would block Ecorse on both sides of the boulevard, since the trucks are 75 feet long.
The fire department asked that emergency access be put in at the northwest and northeast parts of the project. Also, the fire department required a bypass lane east of the guardhouse so fire apparatus could get to the site in an emergency.
Treasurer Sharry Budd, who sits on the commission, suggested that the service drive along the north side of Ecorse at the site should be abandoned by the county since it will serve no purpose and it is ugly.
Sampson agreed and said he and the township will talk to the county about that.
After much more discussion, the preliminary site plan was unanimously approved with 15 conditions. Project Venture will go to the Board of Zoning Appeals to seek variances for a second monument sign for the employee entrance, a larger sign than allowed, and a 10-foot security fence.
Sampson said the 10-foot fence is the height globally for the business to protect the millions of dollars of auto parts inside.
The necessity of sidewalks that “go to nowhere” will be reviewed for deferral before the final site plan.
Gas Station Ordinance
After a public hearing on proposed amendments to a gas station ordinance, during which nobody spoke, the commission unanimously approved sending the ordinance on to the township board for final action.
A moratorium on new gas stations was in effect to give the township time to work on the amendments.
There were updates to the ordinance to keep multiple gas stations from the same intersection. Stations must be separated by a quarter of a mile, “gasoline station” wording is changed to “motor vehicle fueling,” and the wording is applicable to every zoning.
Battery Energy Storage System
The commission also voted to send on to the township board for final action on zoning amendments to address Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). This is the fourth time BESS had been before the commission for consideration. Recent changes include measuring the noise produced at the property line of the BESS and not at a homeowner’s wall. Noise allowed dropped from 60 dpi to 55 dpi. Also the commission can require an acoustical wall, depending on the site.
The containers, which are the size of a train car, must not be white, but painted neutral colors to blend in with its surroundings. They will not be stacked.
Krishnan said Sam Cusano of RWE, which plans a BESS site at the corner of Bemis and Rawsonville roads in the township, helped planners with details for the ordinance.
She said the BESS ordinance is not just for his site but for use throughout the township. He helped them craft the ordinance to be more stringent, she said.
Treasurer Budd noted that the ordinance said barbed wire could be used on the fence and they just told Stellantis it couldn’t use barbed wire. Krishnan said Stellantis took out the barbed wire themselves.
She said Cusano said the federal government might require barbed wire on BESS locations for security. The commission directed her to remove approval of barbed wire in the ordinance and if the federal government requires it they will deal with it.
The site at Bemis/Rawsonville is zoned M-1 and has access to water, but not sewer unless from Washtenaw County across the road.
Joint Planning Commission Meeting
Ron Akers, director of municipal services, announced that a joint planning commission meeting with the city of Belleville and Sumpter Township will be at 5 p.m., Wednesday, July 30, at the Belleville High School cafeteria.
He said there is nothing on the agenda yet for the June 25 commission meeting and it could be canceled.