Planning Commission

STERLING HEIGHTS PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING CITY HALL JUNE 12, 2014 LOCATION: City Council Chambers, 40555 Utica Road, Sterling Heights, MI. SUBJECT: Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Planning Commission held June 12, 2014. Chairman Rowe called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present at roll call: Benjamin Ancona, Al Kollmorgen, Edward Kopp, Stefano Militello, Donald Miller, Jeffrey Norgrove, Leonard Reinowski, Gerald Rowe. Members absent at roll call: Paul Jaboro (arrived 7:02 p.m.). Also in attendance: Donald Mende, City Planner Clark Andrews, City Attorney Renee Bayer, Recording Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Moved by Militello, supported by Kopp, to approve the agenda as presented. Ayes: Militello, Kopp, Ancona, Jaboro, Kollmorgen, Miller, Norgrove, Reinowski Rowe. Nays: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. CORRESPONDENCE There was no correspondence. PPCM-1135 – CAPITAL TELECOM ACQUISITION (AT&T) Requesting Special Approval Land Use for a wireless communication tower. Location: West side of Van Dyke between Metropolitan Parkway and Fifteen Mile Road in Section 28. Property Address: 36797 Van Dyke. This case was postponed from the Planning Commission regular meeting of April 10, 2014. The postponement was intended to provide the petitioner additional time to revise the site plan and indicate a paved access to the cell tower equipment enclosure. Further, the owner of the property had code issues that needed to be resolved as well. The site plan and property have been reviewed by the appropriate city departments and is in general compliance with the site plan standards and ordinances. The petitioner must complete the site plan review process as noted in the suggested action below. The petitioner has revised the site plan to reflect a paved access drive as requested and agreed upon at the April meeting. The Sterling Heights Zoning Ordinance permits Wireless Communication Towers as a Special Approval Land Use (SALU) in the Commercial zoning district (Section 13.02 M). This parcel is zoned C-3 (General Business) and is developed with a 6000 sq. ft. Firestone Tire & Automobile Repair building. The approximate parcel dimensions are 151’ x 546’. The petitioner intends to construct a 120’ tall monopole for cellular antennas at the west end of the property, roughly 460’ setback from Van Dyke. Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting of June 12, 2014 Page 2 Cellular towers are regulated from a number of other sources including: 1. Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996; 2. Federal Sequestration Act of 2012; 3. Michigan Zoning Enabling Act as amended by PA 143 of 2012. Generally speaking, these statutes prohibit the discrimination between different providers, limits local government regulation which results in prohibiting wireless services, and requires most applications to be treated as permitted uses by right. Special approval land uses may be permitted by the Planning Commission subject to the General Standards of Section 25.02 and the specific conditions imposed for each use, and the concurring vote of five members of the Planning Commission shall be necessary to approve any special approval land use. Mr. Mende stated that the plans have been revised to show hard surface paving back to the tower. Regarding the code violations, the dumpster outside of the enclosure and the outside storage of tires leaning against the building, have all been taken care of. The one item remaining is the trailer that is on site that is being used for tire storage. We have been in contact with the landlord, and City Attorney, Clark Andrews, has spoken to their legal counsel. Mr. Scott VonRein who represents Capitol Telecom, 1500 Mt. Kemble Ave., Morristown, NJ 47960, requested the Planning Commission approve this case but make the approval subject to withholding building permits until the trailer issue can be resolved. This way the petitioner can keep moving forward on the plan review for the tower. Mr. Rowe opened the Public Hearing. There was no one present. Mr. Mende added that he did receive a phone call from the owner of the crushed concrete facility that is on the west side of Van Dyke and that they are opposed to the tower. Mr. Reinowski asked the petitioner if he had been in touch with the landlord in regard to clearing up the final violation. Mr. VonRein stated he had and that the landlord has agreed to what we discussed here and would take care of it immediately and if it requires going in front of the Zoning Board, that is what he will do. Mr. Andrews, City Attorney, stated that he did receive a phone call from an attorney from Madden Hauser advising that she had been contacted by the property owner in order to resolve this and she felt committed that the owner will resolve this one way or another to the city’s satisfaction. Mr. Rowe stated that we do have a memo from Mr. Andrews to Mr. Mende with regard to what Mr. Andrews just described. Brian Nettleingham, an attorney from Madden Hauser, representing the landlord, stated it is his clients’ intention to address this matter as promptly as possible, possibly through the application for a variance from the ZBA. Mr. Norgrove asked what kept the property owner from taking care of the trailer for the tire storage? Mr. VonRein stated that as far as he knew everything had been resolved. The interpretation by the landlord was that it was a licensing issue that the trailer had to be licensed to be there. I think there was a miscommunication and misunderstanding. Mr. Nettleingham stated that his client thought it was a license issue and his client now understands the issue and will address the trailer on the property immediately. Mr. Miller asked Mr. Mende what the fire marshal thought of tire storage in a trailer. Mr. Mende replied that he knows it has been done in other locations that he was aware of. Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting of June 12, 2014 Page 3 Mr. Kollmorgen agrees with Mr. Norgrove as to why they have not taken care of the trailer yet and it looks like the easiest way to deal with it is to get a variance. Mr. Reinowski stated that it’s obviously to someone’s financial benefit to get this taken care because the cell phone people are not going to be paying until the tower is up. So there is incentive for these people to get this taken care of. Motion by Militello, supported by Reinowski, in the case of PPCM-1135, Capital Telecom Acquisition (AT&T), 36797 Van Dyke, I move to APPROVE the Special Approval Land Use based upon the facts and plans presented in public hearing, subject to the following conditions: 1. That the size and nature of the use shall conform to the activity described in the petition and reflected on the plot plan revised May 1, 2014; 2. That the petitioner complete all site plan review requirements of the City of Sterling Heights, County of Macomb, State of Michigan, and any other lawful governing agency, and that all necessary permits be obtained through the Building Office; 3. That the petitioner comply with all codes and ordinances of the City of Sterling Heights, County of Macomb, State of Michigan, and any other lawful governing agency; 4. That the petitioner file a Notice of Approval with the Macomb County Register of Deeds within sixty (60) days following the approval of minutes of this meeting. Failure to file this notice will serve as grounds to revoke the Special Approval Land Use; 5. The decision of the Planning Commission shall remain valid and in force only as long as the facts and information presented to the Commission in the public hearing are found to be correct and the conditions upon which this motion is based are forever maintained as presented to the Commission 6. No permits for the tower will be issued until the violation with respect to the outdoor storage is taken care of by either obtaining a variance from the ZBA or eliminating the violation. Motion to amend the motion to add condition #6 was made by Militello, supported by Reinowski, with all in favor of the motion to amend. Motion by Kollmorgen, supported by Miller, in the case of PPCM-1135, Capital Telecom Acquisition (AT&T), 36797 Van Dyke to POSTPONE the case to July 10, 2014. Ayes: Kollmorgen, Miller, Ancona, Norgrove Nays: Jaboro, Kopp, Militello, Reinowski, Rowe Absent: None. Motion failed. Roll call vote on the amended motion to approve. Ayes: Militello, Reinowski, Jaboro, Kollmorgen, Kopp, Miller, Norgrove, Rowe Nays: Ancona Absent: None Motion carried. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION There was no citizen participation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – APRIL 10, 2014 Moved by Militello, supported by Norgrove, to approve the April 10, 2014 meeting minutes. Ayes: Militello, Norgrove, Reinowski, Ancona, Jaboro, Kollmorgen, Kopp Nays: None Abstain: Jaboro, Rowe Absent: None Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting of June 12, 2014 Page 4 CORRESPONDENCE There was no correspondence. OLD BUSINESS There was no Old Business NEW BUSINESS Mr. Norgrove asked Mr. Mende when the new Master Plan will be presented to the Commission for discussion and approval. Mr. Mende stated that it is a lengthy process and could take 6-8 months. The city is currently working on the Visioning 2030 report that is going to tie in a lot of different departments and different master plans. Once those shake out, so to speak, then we will be able to consider the Master Land Use update that will be required by December 2015. Mr. Rowe asked if anyone from the Planning Commission was represented or is it a staff initiative. Mr. Ancona stated that he was invited and did attend and it was all very informative. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Militello, supported by Jaboro to adjourn at 7:27 pm. Ayes: Militello, Jaboro, Ancona, Kollmorgen, Kopp, Miller, Norgrove, Reinowski, Rowe Nays: None Absent: None Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Benjamin Ancona, Secretary Planning Commission