City Council Study Session

City Council Study Session Minutes Monday, July 15, 2024 at 6:00 PM 27400 Southfield Road, Lathrup Village, Michigan 48076 1. Call to Order by Mayor Garrett at 6:00 pm 2. Discussion Items A. Referendum Petitions Attorney Baker talked about the Referendum of Charter Proposed by the Initiative Petition, regarding the prohibition of Cannabis businesses in Lathrup Village, and that the Initiative Petition, to change the Ordinance, was also received at City Hall. The Referendum of Charter and Initiative Petitions has been looked at to make sure the signatures that were verified, met the guidelines of registered voters. The next step is for the Referendum of Charter Petition to be transmitted to the state, after a resolution of the City Council. The wording has already been stated in the petition, the Council could add an explanatory caption, but Attorney Baker did not believe that it was necessary. Once the Attorney General’s Office and Governor’s office sign off, it will be transmitted to the county, for residents to vote on, in the November 2024 election. The Initiative Petition regarding the City Ordinance does not have to go to the Governor’s and Attorney General’s office, it has to be published and posted in both precincts. The Charter supersedes the Ordinance. B. Nuisance Ordinance Lt. Zang and Attorney Baker spoke on the Nuisance Ordinance, and that it allows, the responding Officers to have more power, when they come out for noise and nuisance complaints, to enforce the City Ordinance without, a resident needing to be a complainant. The property owner is culpable and the attendees of the gatherings can be cited. C. 27680 Lathrup Blvd – Encroachment License This is for a person to be able to use this land, for their personal use, it does not transfer with the house sale. The prior owner used the land in the same way. The new owner did obtain insurance. The former resident did add value to the land and maintained it for years. There are several similar streets, and there will be an Encroachment inventory to review. 3. Public Comments Resident Ruth B., spoke on the responsibility as residents to keep the culverts clear, and that she keeps her culvert area clean, and others don’t, so it does no good. She has a “lake” on City property between the street and her home, and her lawn company can’t cut the grass. Other communities have this situation and the City can help vet the contractors, for the needed work, acknowledging that It is the resident's responsibility, but we 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org  can get a better deal, as a group if the City helps direct residents to a contractor, who can fix this and we have a project to help us solve this problem. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor talked about the three-year infrastructure plan and said maybe Mike Greene, can put together a list of Contractors. Gwen S. said that the person who did her driveway, years ago, said something about the pipes, to help fix the culvert back-ups. Mr. Wisz suggested that the City does what the county does, to clear out the ditches with a backhoe or a front- end loader. 4. Mayor and Council Comments Mayor Garrett read a letter submitted by email. This is a statement for the upcoming City Planning Session on Monday, 7/15. Sorry, I’m unable to attend on that date. My name is Kim Hodge and I live at 27580 California Dr. SE. I am writing today to ask Council not to allow loud music and noise in the rental agreement for the pavilion and gazebo area. I am a huge music lover and supporter, but sometimes it just gets way too loud. Just to be clear, I am not talking about music during the Wednesday night concerts or the Lathrup Village music festival or other Lathrup Village events. I’m talking about rentals here. I understand that the current decibel limit is set at 65 and you are considering raising it to 85 or some similar number. That is probably a reasonable limit. However, that limit is not adhered to. I am sometimes unable to sit in our own backyard or even in our house with the windows open without getting blasted with loud music (and pounding deep bass). Last summer I had had enough after listening to loud music for 4 hours. I walked over to the gazebo and saw that speakers were pointed away from the pavilion, into my direction and very, very loud music was being played. Same thing happened within the last 2 months, with loud music for hours. This was, I’m sure, way above the allowed decibel limit and I should’ve called the police at that time, but I didn’t. I’d like to avoid such situations in the future. Could you please make sure that City staff emphasize the decibel limit to the person renting when you rent the outside space? And make sure that the police are aware of and enforcing the limits? We should not have to go inside our houses or close the windows in order to live comfortably when someone is renting the facilities. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Kim Hodge and Tom Brodzik In support are the following neighbors: •Gary W. Roberts & Kevin Bryant, 27474 California Dr SE “Our issues are with the private rental parties in the Park which is right across the street. In many instances the music far exceeds the volume of the City organized Music in the Park and City events. Both the music and in between voice broadcasts at private events in the Park are extremely loud. Also 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org some of these private parties have gone on past 10 pm, which is a very long duration of their intrusively loud music. I recommend NOT raising the volume on private rental parties. Also I think the LV Police should have the equipment to measure the volume and check it randomly (at least twice) to confirm it is within the terms of the rental contract.” •Brian Margosian, 27560 California SE “I echo all of the above. We love our proximity to the park for LV live music where sound levels seem to be better controlled, however during some of these private events we have also noticed similar issues to our neighbors’ above. I will remind others as well that the decibel scale is logarithmic, so an increase from 65 to 85dB is a 10x increase in perceived sound pressure level.” •Phyllis Windham, 27530 Sunset Blvd E “I agree. I live right across the street from the park (across from the Children’s Garden) and I should not have to close my windows during the rentals. I’ve also heard loud swearing on the microphone. People in attendance often block my mailbox and park on the edge of my lawn.” •Chris Smith, 27460 California SE It also bothers him when people park on the berm in front of their house, leaving tire marks. •Shannon Burke, 27411 Lathrup Blvd. “I second the request to publicize and enforce the decibel limits, and to encourage groups renting the gazebo to avoid pointing their speakers at homes. If I can identify the song from half a yard away and sing along, it's probably too loud.” •Resident from Lathrup Blvd “Lathrup Boulevard is typically a quiet street, but over the past three years we have often heard loud parties put on at the park. We often wondered if it was a community event due to the noise. We would investigate only to find out they were private parties. We can hear the music well into the evening, which can be disruptive to a young family with a toddler. As a wedding and event planner who works with venues much less residential than our pavilion (Cushing field house & shepherds hollow) these venues currently have noise ordinances set at no higher than 99 decibels and are strongly adhered to. I feel that the current sound limit of 65 decibels has not been adhered to and we request that you do not increase the allowed sound decibels before monitoring more closely to see what parties are currently playing music at before making a final decision.” •Sandy Schwartz, 27610 California SE Sandy thinks the loudness is noise pollution and she is very sensitive to loud noises. •Sabrina, 27561 California SE Please let me know what action is taken regarding this issue. Thank you, in advance. 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org  Kim Hodge Park rules ordinance is up tonight for a 2nd reading. Councilmember Hammond, wanted the City Office staff to emphasize the park noise compliance rules when we rent it out. Mayor Garrett questioned why sound system speakers were facing the neighbors, and said that they should face the Police Station. Mayor Garrett said we should reinforce the speaker's direction when people are signing up to rent the park, and put it in our newsletter, and mentioned that for house parties, the people giving the party can go, house to house to let them know that they will be having a party. Mayor Garrett spoke about when cars are parked on both sides of the street, especially for little streets, and mentioned that it would be hard for emergency vehicles to get through. She asked if we could have parking on one side of the street and she mentioned Roseland and Sunset streets. Resident Grace, said they parked on her grass, and she had to make improvements. Lt. Zang said the Chief can issue a traffic control order, and then move to make it permanent. Mayor Garrett, mentioned that down Pierce, towards 12 Mile Roads, they have speed bumps, can we put them down Lathrup Blvd.? Lt. Zang said that the decoy car was placed to help slow down cars and that the agency wouldn’t have any objection, but there is a cost for DPS, to install them, and they can’t put them in isolation, they have to be part of a comprehensive plan. Mayor Garrett was also concerned about how fast people drive on Bloomfield and Santa Barbara roads, and she is concerned that there are no yield or stop signs at Sunset and San Diego roads. Mayor Garrott, also reminded people of the Tree Committee meeting tomorrow at 7:30 pm. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor asked the City Administrator about some wording in the Financial packet on page 54. City Administrator, Mike Greene, reported that Thrill Share is up and running, he is trained, and some other staff members are trained, and updating the live feed. Councilmember Hammond said that the Planning Commission meeting was canceled for July 16, 2024, but there will be one on August 20, 2024. 5. Adjourn 7:08 pm 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org