VBT planners table action on Chips All Gone tent in Belleville Square

At its March 22 regular meeting, the Van Buren Township Planning Commission discussed for more than an hour the temporary land use request of Chips All Gone before tabling action to an upcoming meeting.
Township Treasurer Sharry Budd, who sits on the commission as board liaison, was the only one voting not to table. She said she was against the proposed tent in Belleville Square and tabling the item was a waste of the applicant’s time.
Treasurer Budd said the Downtown Development Authority worked to get a Belleville Road Overlay District to keep that area looking good. She said she didn’t think the DDA would look kindly on having a tent set up at the entrance to the shopping center.
“The DDA ought to be notified,” Budd said. “They are awful funny about things like this.”
The applicant, Peter Burgard, was asked to determine the minimum amount of time he could be at the site and make it worth his wile. He had asked for nine months and the township staff had recommended six months.
The motion by Jeff Jahr, seconded by Medina Atchinson, also stated that the staff should alert the DDA and obtain feedback. This can be discussed when the request is brought back.
Dan Power, director of planning and economic development, said he will discuss a more suitable location with the DDA director and the applicant and get feedback from the DDA.
There had been discussion on temporary land use or if special land use should be used in a case like this. Chuck Friese, who was present for a request for TNT fireworks to have a tent in the Walmart parking lot, got up to ask about the discussion on the temporary vs. special land use. He said he is on the planning commission and the zoning board of appeals in his community and wanted to understand.
Vidya Krishnan, the township’s planning consultant from McKenna Associates, said the request is too long for temporary land use and the request should be special land use. She said this will be precedent-setting and, “If later on you have regrets, there is no taking that back.”
Burgard would like to run his business from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from March until the end of November. He said he would have a tent to operate out of and would use a resin adhesive to repair chips on windshields. He said it takes five to 15 minutes and this guarantees the window would not break.
Mark Canvasser, owner of the shopping center, joined in by Zoom to say he doesn’t let other tents or food trucks use the property. He said there are a few vacancies in the shopping center and he wants to generate more traffic there and this is a good business.
Commissioner Bernie Grant asked why they don’t have tents and Canvasser said fireworks are dangerous and they don’t allow food trucks because they use power and generate trash. He said chips are less than a quarter in size.
When Budd criticized having a tent, Burgard said the tent is optional and he could put the few supplies in his pocket and do the work.
Budd said he would be walking around with pockets full of resin, a chair to sit, trash can.
Commissioner Medina Atchinson asked how he would advertise and asked if there is a known need for this in the towship.
He replied he would advertise on Facebook and flyers, but he wouldn’t put the flyers on cars.
He said he’s been doing this all over the country for 14 years, but he was down a couple of years. He said they do it this way in Ann Arbor and Adrian. He said he could carry supplies on his belt.
Commissioner Atchinson said she has seen the tent at Arborland in Ann Arbor, but this is the first time here. “Is there a need here?” she asked.
Krishnan said fireworks are just for the Fourth of July and six months is a long time to have something up. She asked what if they want three months for the next thing? She said most municipalities limit temporary use to 10 days or two weeks.
“I’ve found temporary land use holds its own water … for the approval process,” Director Power said.
When asked what procedure he uses, he said he wipes the glass with a clean rag, applies the resin and then at the end he cleans it with Windex. It keeps people from throwing away windshields which can’t be recycled.
He said he leaves the tent up and has no security guards. He said they’ve never had a problem. All he leaves inside is a table and the cart.
In other business at the March 22 meeting, the commission:
• Approved temporary land use for a hydrogen mobile refueling station for Ricardo, Inc. at 4000 Ricardo Dr. on the east side of Haggerty, north of Tyler Roard, from April through June. Applicant was Theodore Byrne, who has been with Ricardo for 30 years and lives in the township. He said he has been the company’s Quality Health & Safety Environmental Manager for more than 20 years. This is the third time Ricardo has done the process, Power said;
• Approved temporary land use for TNT Fireworks from June 22 to July 5 at the Walmart parking lot. Friese said this is the tenth year TNT has been there;
• Discussed text amendments to the residential zoning ordinance regarding the allowed building height. It now is 30 feet in height and 2 stories. A proposed change is for 2.5 stories. The proposal was sent to the staff for more information on what other communities do. The request to look at the height came from the Board of Zoning Appeals; and
• Removed from the agenda the public hearing on a request by Cameron Smyth to rezone 16355 Haggerty Rd. from R-1B – Single Family Residential District to AG – Agricultural and Estates at the request of the applicant. The project has been temporarily suspended, Power said.