Also new to the Planning Commission are several minor changes to the proposed Future Land Use Map use designations to better reflect current ownership and usage of the parcels. These are:

• Section 11: Open space in Tollgate Woods south of Steinbeck Glen from "Single Family Residential" to "Private Park."
• Section 22: Open space in Taft Knolls I and II from "Single Family Residential" to "Private Park."
• Section 23: City owned properties in the Rouge River floodplain east of the CSX Railroad and north of Ten Mile Road from "Private Park" to "Public."
• Section 29: Recently acquired by the City the "Heritage Shoppes" parcel from "Single Family Residential" to "Public Park."

An additional change is the removal of the words "that can add to the City’s tax base" on page 4 of the Executive Summary Chapter to eliminate the emphasis of this reason for creating the new "Suburban Low-Rise" land use designation. The Committee discussed those words and implications and found that there is enough other supporting data and there were no objections in removing those few words, if the Planning Commission as a whole goes along with that.

Planner Spencer concluded by saying, tonight the Commission is asked to discuss the proposed Master Plan Amendments. The Commission may approve a resolution to adopt the Master Plan amendments as presented, or as revised. After adoption, staff will merge the amendments into the current Master Plan for publication.

Chair Pehrson thanked Planner Spencer for all the hard work that he has put into this. He is to be commended and the Planning Commission thanks him for his help.

Chair Pehrson stated that this is a public hearing. If anyone would like to speak, please come forward.

Matthew Quinn stated that he was here tonight to talk about Special Planning Project Area Number 1 that is part of the proposed Master Plan. Mr. Quinn also congratulated the three Members of the Planning Commission who were reappointed and stated they have all done a good job in the past.

Mr. Quinn stated that Special Planning Project Area Number 1 concerns the property south of Ten Mile Road and east of Novi Road. It is west of the railroad tracks and is known as the old Erwin Orchard area. This entire parcel, going back to the southerly boundary, has been owned by Novi-Ten Associates and Mr. Weiss’s group for over 30 years. Mr. Quinn showed on the map: there is the Sports Club at the end of Arena Drive and the Novi Ice Arena, and the antenna facility on the Novi Ice Arena property. All of the rest of this property around the Ice Arena is designated as parkland on the City’s Master Plan. This entire parcel is important. In 2000 Mr. Weiss donated 18 acres of property to the City of Novi for Ice Arena purposes at the request of the City. Later, the City approached Mr. Weiss and wanted to put an antenna facility on this property. It was previously prohibited by the donation document. Mr. Weiss agreed to do that with the provision that the money be used to support the Novi Ice Arena. The value of that donation was $3.2 million.

In 1999, about the same time, the City initiated a Master Plan review. That Ten Mile Road frontage was designated as community commercial. That is the last time that this area on the Master Plan has been designated for any particular use. In 2004, and on the last two Master Plans, that area was designated as Special Study Area without a designation for an underlying use. Also in 2004, Mr. Weiss submitted a PRO, similar to what is pending now, and along the same lines with commercial on the frontage. At that time, there may have been some commercial on Novi Road. At that time, the Master Plan was decided to be looked at and it was made a Special Project Area.

Mr. Quinn said there is now another PRO pending that was submitted in 2009. Mr. Weiss is asking for the same thing - for the frontage to be community commercial, or whatever the newly designated term is under the Master Plan and OS-1 on the west side, along Novi Road.

Mr. Quinn said one of the reasons that the PRO did not go forward in 2004 was because the City said they were going to be planning on the reconstruction of the Ten Mile Road and Novi Road intersection. Mr. Weiss was told that the City did not think the project should go forward then because there would be too much traffic congestion without those intersection improvements. So, nothing went any further, just kind of sat and was withdrawn. All of that has been accomplished now and the City and the County have made the improvements at that intersection. An excess of $200,000 has been spent by Mr. Weiss and Kroger’s to develop this PRO that was submitted in 2009 and is pending in front of the Planning Commission. Mr. Quinn acknowledged some of the Planning Commissioners were absent from the meeting where this PRO was considered on June 23, 2010. At that the meeting, the PRO was tabled because there were three areas that needed to be addressed: dealing with detention on site, affected woodlands and wetlands. Those issues are being addressed and the PRO should be back on for the meeting on the 28^th of this month.

Mr. Quinn continued noting the commercial frontage on Ten Mile Road and the reason it got designated back in 1999 Master Plan was because the City performed a Market Study. The Market Study showed that grocery stores are needed in the area and also additional local commercial. Again, this was a City initiated Master Plan change.

When the PRO was submitted this time Mr. Weiss actually hired the same company that Novi had used to do the prior Market Study. Strategic Edge also did a survey of residents. That was gone over at the last meeting.

The current Draft of the Master Plan would leave this study area as industrial. Currently, the industrial vacancy rates in the City of Novi are 16-21% and that is of the buildings built. Also, within one mile of this site, there is over 350,000 square feet of vacant industrial buildings. In fact, next door there is 107,000 square feet of industrial space across from the railroad tracks that has been vacant for about five years. Yet, the draft Master plan says to leave this study area industrial. The City of Novi has 8.3 million square feet of industrial buildings right now and the City staff has reported that there is a supply of the existing industrial land for the next 19 – 48 years. The City staff also did a study on retail vacancy rates and showed ten percent in the retail area. The staff also reported that there is an eight year supply of vacant land zoned for retail within the City. So, the City has 8 years of retail and 48 years of industrial. What will the City need sooner? Obviously, the answer is retail.

Mr. Quinn stated a report done by Mr. Weiss’s group showed the consumer research for neighborhood shopping patterns and references that over 78% of Novi resident’s were very likely, or somewhat likely to shop at a new supermarket at Ten Mile Road and Novi Road. The Market Study established that there is market support for a grocery anchored center with ancillary retail uses at Ten Mile Road and Novi Road for between 140,000 and 190,000 square feet.

The industrial component and vacancy rate in the City is out of sight. There is enough supply forever, so why would the City want more. The retail needs are greater and more urgently needed in the commercial grocery area and ancillary uses. The facts of reality bear that out.

Mr. Quinn indicated tonight the Planning Commission is being asked to adopt a Master Plan. Is there really any hurry to adopt all or any portion of the Master Plan? The pending PRO is going to be back in front of the Planning Commission in two weeks and then go to City Council. Hopefully that will get a favorable recommendation from the Planning Commission and then City Council makes a final decision. If the City Council grants the PRO, what sense would it make to have a separate industrial designation in this area? If the City Council does turn it down, then the Planning Commission still has time to designate this area.

Mr. Quinn’s first option would be for the Planning Commission to postpone action on Special Project Area 1 and let it sit for awhile and go ahead and approve the balance of the Master Plan.

The second option would be to go ahead and take the step, make the change, amend the land use for Special Project Area 1 so that the area along Ten Mile Road, and the frontage that combines with the PRO Application would be designated for Community Commercial and the balance would stay as proposed, which would be OS-1, or Office in the Master Plan.

Mr. Quinn would obviously prefer the Planning Commission just go ahead and adopt the Master Plan with this change and modification making the area Community Commercial. However, if the Planning Commission doesn’t feel like they want to make that decision, wait until the City Council decides and then just postpone the action on Special Project Area 1. There is no harm in that. The Planning Commission can adopt it next month or after the City takes its final action. It is important for the City to pay special attention to the PRO that is pending.

Chair Pehrson asked if anyone else in the audience would like to address the Planning Commission. No one from the audience wished to speak

Member Greco summarized the letter received from Oakland County by indicating the County supported the Master Plan Amendments and also provided some minor comments on specific items in the Master Plan Amendments.

Member Greco stated the Planning Commission has received letters of support for the Master Plan Amendments from West Bloomfield Township, Salem Township and the Road Commission for Oakland County.

Chair Pehrson closed the audience participation and turned it over to the Planning Commission for their deliberations and comments.

Chair Pehrson asked Planner Spencer about the Figure 20. A, the Green Infrastructure Map and could he please explain what that is because he is seeing things like hub, site, link and other restoration link and those are things new to him.

Planner Spencer answered that Oakland County asked the City to participate as a City in the Green Infrastructure Project and this is a depiction of the Green Infrastructure findings. Oakland County has a whole Green Infrastructure Plan that this is connected with. The hubs are major ecological areas that the County feels are worth trying to preserve. The sites are the next level and then there are two different types of connections. It is meant to be a guide for planning purposes to help identify sensitive areas in the City and to look for opportunities for balancing development.

Member Baratta then said he had a couple of questions for Mr. Quinn. Member Baratta asked what the size of the Kroger was.

Mr. Quinn answered that it was 64,000 square feet.

Member Baratta asked how many jobs would this create.

Mr. Quinn answered in saying 125 jobs would be created.

Member Baratta also asked what the total cost of the project will be when it is totally built out.

Mr. Quinn answered Member Baratta in saying 20 million dollars.

Member Baratta stated that he prefers personally to have the natural look of the real estate and trees without development and likes running and being able to go through the natural preserves in the parks. Member Baratta has also run by an area on Eleven Mile Road that is going to be designated as a Suburban Low-Rise area. When someone owns a piece of property they do have to right to develop it.

Member Baratta explained that over the last week he had the opportunity to really look at this Novi Road and Ten Mile Road area and looked at it from an industrial perspective and warehousing perspective. Member Baratta went into a few neighborhoods around there and basically concluded that one, this is obviously an expensive piece of real estate but on the other hand it could be inexpensive because of its proximity to the adjacent railroad track.

Member Baratta is looking for very good locations that have great access to major arterials or intermodal, where the railroad takes the containers off the trains and puts them on trucks that deliver to the customer or major highways. This location does not fit that bill. It is not immediately adjacent to a highway and it does have a railroad track and it is not cheap real estate. There is a retailer that is looking at this location and retailers pay more than industrial or the warehouses. The frontage of this property should be retail. There is a group that wants to develop a Kroger store and they have been persistent. The character of that property is a retail property and it is not industrial. It does have the advantage of being adjacent to a railroad track, but companies generally do not use spurs anymore because of the expense. They use intermodal, container shipping. Spurs are too expensive. This should be retail.

Mr. Quinn and Mr. Ragsdale indicated that they want to build a 64,000 square foot unit here as well creating 125 jobs. In terms of tax base, this would be an improvement from what is currently on the books today. That would help the City. It also helps the City with providing a non-intrusive, but an allowed use and it won’t increase the pollution, where industrial could. The frontage there could be a community retail area.

Member Cassis addressed Planner Spencer and complimented him on his chart and it seems the most prevalent color in that chart is yellow. That designates 30 miles per hour. A lot of municipalities have been revising some of their speed limits and some have been accused of making speed limit changes just to increase revenue from fines. I think that certain areas in yellow should change to green.

Member Meyer stated that it was an honor to serve on the Master Plan for Land Use Sub-Committee and to be able to meet and discuss the Special Project Area 1 and the other two areas. Member Meyer has listened to the various thoughts from Mr. Quinn and Member Cassis regarding this and Member Baratta stated very clearly that it certainly would appear to serve to the best interest of the community to at least have a portion of that piece that is east of Novi Road and west of the railroad tracks designated for Community Commercial. The Committee voted and made an effort to come up with a clear and precise new Master Plan for Land Use

Member Gutman commended the staff, Planner Spencer, and the Committee for all of the hard work and the impressive work that was put in to trying to find different uses and different ways to use the real estate in Novi. The Planning Commission also discussed at the last meeting that sometimes it is okay to say that there is another alternative even after discussions have been finalized. Staff is trying to get the PRO on the next meeting agenda. It is important to hear that presentation and there were questions that were associated with that that still need to be answered before things can move along. It is important that the Planning Commission hear the PRO request and the applicant’s response to the previous questions in full before committing to deviating from the Master Plan. The suggestion was made tonight to postpone a land use decision on that particular Special Project Area 1 until this has been considered and Member Gutman believes that is an acceptable thing to do.

Member Gutman would like to make a motion specifically withholding any kind of approvals for Special Project Area 1.

Planner Spencer addressed Member Gutman and said he would like to give a suggestion that would help. Maybe the current designation could stay in place until such time that the Planning Commission elects to change that. It would stay Special Project Area 1 and areas of the study area that are currently Office and Industrial and keep those designations.

Member Gutman thought that was a reasonable thing to do.

Motion by Member Gutman, seconded by Member Greco:

Motion to approve a resolution adopting the proposed 2010 Master Plan for Land Use Amendments with the changes proposed by the Master Plan and Zoning Committee on July 7, 2010, including the proposed Future Land Use Map, subject to the following revisions: the area currently designated Special Planning Project Area 1 on the Future Land Use Map shall keep this designation for further study. This motion is made for the following reasons: (1) The Master Plan & Zoning Committee and the Planning Commission, with the assistance of the Community Development Department Planning Staff, reviewed the current Master Plan for Land Use’s goals, objectives, and implementation strategies, and the Future Land Use Map use designations for the entire City, and evaluated each of the three Master Plan Study Areas in detail; (2) Public comments regarding the future land uses in the study areas and City at large were solicited and people provided input through answering questionnaires, written comments and in person at City Hall, public meetings and public open houses; (3) The proposed Master Plan for Land Use amendments reflect the desires of the City’s citizens, promote natural feature protection, foster quality development, encourage investment in the City, and provide design guidance for future transportation improvements; and (4) The proposed amendments foster sound land use planning by including the following new land use goals: (a) Provide for planned development areas that provide a transition between high intensity office, industrial and commercial uses and one-family residential uses; (b) Develop the Grand River Avenue and Beck Road Study Area in a manner that supports and complements neighboring areas; (c) Create, preserve, and enhance quality residential areas in the City; and (d) Continue to promote active living and healthy lifestyles in the City of Novi and continue to achieve a high level of recognition under the State of Michigan’s "Promoting Active Communities Program."

Member Cassis asked if the Planning Commission was adopting the idea of postponing action on Special Area Project 1.

Member Gutman and Chair Pehrson stated that the proposed motion would leave that area as it is for now.

Member Cassis stated the Planning Commission has been deliberating on this Master Plan for over one year. Now someone wants to change what has been proposed and recommended by the Committee in all these past weeks and months. Member Cassis has indicated in the past that he does not think a Kroger should be in this location and most recently heard a Walmart is proposed for the City. Member Cassis has no objection to having this property commercial but the Planning Commission does not know if Kroger will close the Grand River and Beck Road store. Member Cassis appreciates what Mr. Weiss has done for the City.

Member Greco stated that he appreciated Member Cassis’s comments as well as the other Commissioner’s comments. Member Baratta had a very reasoned logical statement. Member Greco’s understanding of what the Planning Commission is doing right now and Member Gutman’s proposal on this is to adopt the proposed Master Plan Amendments but put off one small section that does not need to be dealt with while dealing with a parallel and crossing situation that is being brought to a head by the parties involved. With all of the arguments presented and the statements by Mr. Quinn and the Commission Members, Member Greco is not convinced that a Kroger store needs to go there. Member Greco would probably be closer to that store than the other store and would use it if it was there. But, it doesn’t mean it needs to be there. Member Greco needs some convincing both ways and Member Baratta’s points seem very logical and sound and Member Cassis’s arguments and passionate statement about moving forward was also very persuasive. Member Greco does not mind considering the options and taking the extra steps and that would be the reason for his support of the motion as it is set forward and to really look at these issues that are coming to a head.

Member Gutman wanted to reiterate that this is not a pro Kroger statement and certainly has nothing to do with Walmart as it is not even a party to the issue at hand. The motion is simply to hear out that issue before the Planning Commission makes a decision on that one piece. Member Gutman does not want it to be construed as a pro Kroger or pro anything. The Planning Commission would like to have all the facts before a decision is made. All of the members of the Planning Commission are all trying to do the right thing whether we agree or disagree on the issues and Member Gutman respects everyone’s comments on this.

Member Meyer asked if the Planning Commission votes on this tonight, will this be forwarded to the City Council.

Planner Spencer stated that if the Planning Commission passes the motion that they have right now, the Planning Commission will be adopting the Master Plan with this Resolution. Staff will take and make the change to leave that area Special Project Area 1. Staff will keep that definition in there and will publish the document and it will be the adopted Master Plan.

Motion to approve a resolution adopting the proposed 2010 Master Plan for Land Use Amendments with the changes proposed by the Master Plan and Zoning Committee on July 7, 2010, including the proposed Future Land Use Map, subject to the following revisions: the area currently designated Special Planning Project Area 1 on the Future Land Use Map shall keep this designation for further study. This motion is made for the following reasons: (1) The Master Plan & Zoning Committee and the Planning Commission, with the assistance of the Community Development Department Planning Staff, reviewed the current Master Plan for Land Use’s goals, objectives, and implementation strategies, and the Future Land Use Map use designations for the entire City, and evaluated each of the three Master Plan Study Areas in detail; (2) Public comments regarding the future land uses in the study areas and City at large were solicited and people provided input through answering questionnaires, written comments and in person at City Hall, public meetings and public open houses; (3) The proposed Master Plan for Land Use amendments reflect the desires of the City’s citizens, promote natural feature protection, foster quality development, encourage investment in the City, and provide design guidance for future transportation improvements; and (4) The proposed amendments foster sound land use planning by including the following new land use goals: (a) Provide for planned development areas that provide a transition between high intensity office, industrial and commercial uses and one-family residential uses; (b) Develop the Grand River Avenue and Beck Road Study Area in a manner that supports and complements neighboring areas; (c) Create, preserve, and enhance quality residential areas in the City; and (d) Continue to promote active living and healthy lifestyles in the City of Novi and continue to achieve a high level of recognition under the State of Michigan’s "Promoting Active Communities Program." Motion carried 7-1 (Nay – Cassis)