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View Agenda for this meeting
REGULAR MEETING - ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Proceedings had and Testimony taken in the matters of the ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS, at City of Novi, 45175 West Ten Mile Road, Novi, Michigan, on Tuesday, February 8, 2011. BOARD MEMBERS ALSO PRESENT: REPORTED BY: 1 Novi, Michigan 2 Tuesday, February 8, 2011 3 7:00 p.m. 4 - - - 5 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Good 6 evening, everybody. I want to call to 7 order the February 8, 2011, Zoning Board 8 of Appeals Meeting. We can all start by 9 saying the Pledge of Allegiance. 10 (The Pledge of Allegiance was 11 recited.) 12 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Thank you. 13 Just as a reminder to our audience 14 here, please turn off all pagers and 15 cell phones during our meeting. 16 When your case is called, 17 applicants or their representatives 18 will be asked to come forth, state 19 their names and addresses, and be sworn 20 by our secretary. They will be allowed 21 five minutes to address the board, and 22 extensions may be granted. 23 Audience -- members of the 24 audience will be given an opportunity
1 to raise their hands and be recognized 2 to make comments on the cases. 3 This evening we have four 4 board members here out of seven. Any 5 applicants who wish to have their cases 6 heard tonight must have four out of 7 four votes to have their requests 8 granted by the board. 9 And before we call roll, I 10 will give -- well, let me have the roll 11 called first, and then I will give the 12 opportunity for anybody who wants their 13 case adjourned to come and be heard. 14 So, if you could call the 15 roll, please. 16 MS. MARTIN: Member Ibe? 17 MEMBER IBE: Present. 18 MS. MARTIN: Member Krieger? 19 MEMBER KRIEGER: Present. 20 MS. MARTIN: Chairman 21 Ghannam? 22 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Here. 23 MS. MARTIN: Member Gedeon? 24 MEMBER GEDEON: Here.
1 MS. MARTIN: Member Cassis 2 will be absent and Member Sanghvi and 3 Member Skelcy. 4 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: As I was 5 indicating earlier, for those 6 applicants who are going to be heard 7 tonight, there are four members here. 8 You need all four out of four votes to 9 get an approval of your request. If 10 there is anybody here at the moment who 11 wishes the board to adjourn or delay 12 their hearing, you can step forward 13 now. 14 Seeing none, let's go over 15 the approval of the agenda. 16 Ms. Martin, are there any changes to 17 the agenda tonight? 18 MS. MARTIN: Yes. The first 19 case for 41107 Jo Drive has asked to be 20 tabled to the March 8, 2011 Zoning 21 Board meeting. And the case on number 22 five, for 42355 Grand River and 42235 23 Grand River, the Kia Dealership, they 24 asked to be tabled to the March 8th
1 meeting. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: And those 3 requests were in writing, correct? 4 MS. MARTIN: Yes. 5 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. And 6 number two has been withdrawn? 7 MS. MARTIN: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: So we are 9 dealing tonight with cases number three 10 and four, correct? 11 MS. MARTIN: Yes. 12 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any other 13 issues regarding the agenda? If not, I 14 will entertain a motion to approve the 15 agenda, as amended. 16 MEMBER KRIEGER: So move. 17 MEMBER IBE: Second. 18 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any other 19 discussion? All in favor, say aye. 20 THE BOARD: Aye. 21 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All 22 opposed? Seeing none, we have an 23 agenda. 24 Next is the approval of the
1 minutes. Are any other -- are there 2 any issues or corrections or 3 modifications to the minutes for 4 January 11, 2011? Anything? Seeing 5 none, I will entertain a motion to 6 approve the January 11, 2011 minutes. 7 MEMBER KRIEGER: So move. 8 MEMBER IBE: Second. 9 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 10 discussion? Seeing none, all in favor 11 say aye. 12 THE BOARD: Aye. 13 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All 14 opposed? Seeing none, the January 11, 15 2011 minutes are approved. 16 At this time, it's the public 17 remarks section of this evening. If 18 anybody wants to make a remark about a 19 case not on the agenda, please step 20 forward at this time. Seeing nobody in 21 the audience at this time, I will close 22 that public remarks section. 23 The first case that we have 24 here tonight is item number three, Case
1 No. 10-069, for 27754 Novi Road, 2 Suithouse. Is the petitioner here? Do 3 you see a petitioner? 4 MS. MARTIN: No, not that I 5 remember. 6 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. 7 We'll pass this for the moment, since 8 the petitioner apparently is not 9 present. 10 Going to the next case, item 11 number four, Case No. 10-070, for 27475 12 Huron Circle, Waltonwoods. 13 Is the petitioner here? 14 MR. RANKIN: Yes. 15 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Could you 16 please step forward, sir. State your 17 name and your address. And if you are 18 not an attorney, be sworn by our 19 secretary. 20 MR. RANKIN: My name is Todd 21 Rankin; I'm with Singh Development 22 Company, 7125 Orchard Lake, 23 West Bloomfield. 24 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: You are
1 not an attorney? 2 MR. RANKIN: I am not. 3 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. Can 4 you swear the witness, please. 5 MEMBER IBE: Yes, sir. In 6 this particular case, do you swear or 7 affirm to tell the truth? 8 MR. RANKIN: I do. 9 MEMBER IBE: Thank you. 10 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Go ahead, 11 sir. 12 MR. RANKIN: Good evening. 13 I'm here tonight to request an 14 extension for the off-premise 15 directional sign for the Waltonwood 16 project. It is currently located on 17 Twelve Mile Road on property that Singh 18 Development also owns. It's a vacant 19 piece of property. 20 Two years ago, we were in 21 front of the board here and had the 22 off-premise sign approved, and that was 23 approved for a two-year period, which 24 has expired. So we are here tonight to
1 ask for another two-year extension. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Is there 3 anybody in the public who wishes to 4 make a comment on this particular case 5 at this time? Seeing none, I will 6 close the public remarks section and 7 ask our secretary to read any notices 8 or responses that we've got. 9 MEMBER IBE: Thank you, 10 Mr. Chair. There were 14 notices 11 mailed, zero responses, zero mail 12 returned. 13 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. Any 14 comments from the city regarding this 15 particular matter? 16 MS. KUDLA: No. 17 MR. BOULARD: Nothing to add. 18 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. 19 It's now open for discussion by the 20 board. Anybody like to ask any 21 questions? Ms. Krieger. 22 MEMBER KRIEGER: For this 23 case, the sign has been there previous 24 times, and economical times are not
1 something we can consider. So what 2 practical difficulty would be that -- 3 besides that to allow that sign for 4 another two years? 5 MR. RANKIN: Well, the sign 6 is intended to provide some exposure to 7 the Waltonwood project. As you know, 8 it's located off of the ring road on 9 the mall, so it does not have any 10 exposure to Twelve Mile. So this sign 11 is primarily for directional purposes, 12 to direct people coming to the 13 community from Twelve Mile as to go 14 down to that finger road and then, 15 hopefully, they find the building from 16 there. Because there is no -- they 17 would have to make a left-hand turn off 18 that finger road onto the ring road and 19 then see the entrance. 20 MEMBER KRIEGER: What other 21 avenues have been pursued in -- as 22 another option besides this sign? 23 MR. RANKIN: What other 24 avenues?
1 MEMBER KRIEGER: Yes. 2 MR. RANKIN: As far as 3 getting people into the community, this 4 has really been the only way that we 5 have been able to direct people from 6 say drive-by traffic or somebody pulls 7 up the address. It's a way to direct 8 them in. Otherwise, they end up 9 finding their way through other 10 sources. And it's just a source of 11 confusion that we would like to try to 12 avoid. 13 MEMBER KRIEGER: I'm having 14 difficulty, and then for the two years, 15 as well, I am, so I will listen to my 16 other board members. 17 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Yeah, I 18 just have a couple questions. After 19 two years, what happens then? Won't 20 you always need that directional sign? 21 MR. RANKIN: We would always 22 like a directional sign, but -- and I 23 know that economic times is something 24 you can't consider, but it's something
1 that does affect us tremendously. 2 Things have been relatively slow over 3 the last several years in the 4 community, and having directional 5 signage for passer-bys (sic) and 6 getting people into the site is very 7 important to us. 8 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: That I 9 understand, and you had it for a while 10 and, hopefully, exposed your property 11 to people who were passing by. But I 12 guess the question becomes, when is 13 enough? 14 MR. RANKIN: Well, it's been 15 there for two years, and that was the 16 original agreement. So we are just 17 looking for an extension to that 18 original agreement, hoping to survive 19 the economic downturn. And, hopefully, 20 when things rebound and those things 21 come back, things get better, and we 22 would no longer need the directional 23 signage. But, right now, it's all 24 marketing and exposure to try to keep
1 things stable in the community. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All right. 3 I don't have any other questions. 4 Anybody else have any questions for the 5 applicant? 6 MEMBER GEDEON: I guess, 7 along the same lines, temporary versus 8 permanent. I mean, it seems to be 9 trending towards permanent signs as so 10 many other signs around the community 11 are. 12 Have you investigated or 13 looked into what options you might have 14 for a permanent sign? 15 MR. RANKIN: Well, being that 16 we do own that property, there has been 17 plans to develop that piece of 18 property. And at that time, we would 19 investigate doing some additional 20 signage out there that would direct 21 people in towards the Waltonwood. But, 22 again, sorry to repeat it, but because 23 of economic times, those plans have 24 been put on hold. So, we think that
1 even for another two years, that this 2 is a short-term solution to something 3 that could become a permanent thing for 4 the future, in another means, not the 5 means that you see today. 6 MEMBER GEDEON: I guess to 7 the other board members, I would -- I 8 would be concerned about being 9 consistent with our decisions from last 10 month, too. You know, I wouldn't want 11 to be seen as going back and forth. I 12 mean, it's not exactly the same 13 identical factual situation, but we 14 should at least have a reason if we 15 decide differently. 16 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. Any 17 other comments by the board members? 18 Anybody like to make any type of 19 motion? 20 MEMBER GEDEON: I'm going to 21 go ahead and offer a motion in Case 22 11-070, (sic) 27475 Huron Circle, 23 Waltonwood, that the requested variance 24 be denied because the applicant has not
1 shown any practical difficulty other 2 than economic factors, which are being 3 felt by all members and all property 4 owners in the community. 5 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 6 second? 7 MEMBER KRIEGER: Second. 8 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 9 further discussion? 10 Okay. Ms. Martin, can you 11 please call the roll? 12 MS. MARTIN: Member Krieger? 13 MEMBER KRIEGER: Yes. 14 MS. MARTIN: Member Ibe? 15 MEMBER IBE: Yes. 16 MS. MARTIN: Chairman 17 Ghannam? 18 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Yes. 19 MS. MARTIN: Member Gedeon? 20 MEMBER GEDEON: Yes. 21 MS. MARTIN: Motion passes, 22 four to zero to be denied. 23 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Your motion 24 has been denied, sir.
1 MR. RANKIN: Thank you. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Being that 3 that is the only case, the next issue 4 is or next item on the agenda would be 5 other matters. Are there any other 6 matters before we get to election of 7 officers that needs to be brought to 8 the attention of the board? 9 MR. BOULARD: I'm not sure if 10 you want to do a motion to table the 11 other cases, all of them, or how it 12 would be best to handle that. 13 MS. KUDLA: You might want to 14 consider whether you want to table the 15 one that has not appeared yet. 16 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Oh, I see. 17 That's true. 18 MS. KUDLA: You might want to 19 see what you want to do with that one. 20 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Right. At 21 the present time, I will recall 22 Case No. 10- -- not that one. Item 23 number three, Case No. 10-069, 27754 24 Novi Road, Suithouse. Apparently,
1 there is no one in the audience at this 2 time, but, apparently, they have not 3 shown -- you haven't received idea type 4 of reason why they didn't show? 5 MS. MARTIN: No, I have not. 6 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. So, 7 out of courtesy, I don't have a problem 8 that we move or adjourn item number 9 three to the March 8, 2011 Zoning Board 10 of Appeals meeting. 11 MEMBER GEDEON: So move. 12 MEMBER KRIEGER: Second. 13 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 14 further discussion on that? All in 15 favor, say aye. 16 THE BOARD: Aye. 17 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 18 opposed? Seeing none, that has been 19 moved to the March 8th meeting. 20 But the other ones, do we 21 need to make a motion to adjourn them, 22 too? 23 MS. KUDLA: You might as 24 well.
1 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. 2 Then, next was item number -- actually, 3 items -- we'll do both the other items, 4 one and five? 5 MS. KUDLA: That's fine. 6 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. So, 7 items number one and five, Case No. 8 10-061 and Case No. 10-071, even though 9 they have requested in writing to be 10 adjourned, can I hear a motion to 11 adjourn these two matters to the March 12 8, 2011 meeting? 13 MEMBER IBE: So move. 14 MEMBER KRIEGER: Second. 15 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All in 16 favor, say aye. 17 THE BOARD: Aye. 18 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 19 opposed? Seeing none, they have been 20 moved. 21 And then next would be other 22 matters. Are there any other matters 23 before we get to the elections? 24 MEMBER GEDEON: I have one
1 thought. I was looking at some of the 2 materials from the training session a 3 couple months ago, and the city council 4 provided us with -- council provided us 5 with these proposed motion outlines, 6 kind of fill-in-the-blank motions. And 7 I was wondering what the thought -- if 8 anyone had any thought about whether or 9 not they should be provided to 10 applicants for providing the board for 11 proposed motions, along with their 12 application materials? 13 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 14 discussion on that? 15 MEMBER KRIEGER: I believe in 16 the past there was a packet. Somebody 17 had -- you mean they have been 18 appointed, or they are just applying? 19 MEMBER GEDEON: No, I'm 20 saying of -- an applicant for a 21 variance, if the city were to provide 22 them with this fill-in-the-blank motion 23 to provide to the board along with 24 their request.
1 Similarly, you know, if you 2 go to court, a judge will often request 3 that the attorney provide a proposed 4 order, which saves the board some time, 5 if it's something that, you know, we 6 would be able to agree on. 7 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Go ahead. 8 MR. BOULARD: In a little 9 different vein, you know, planning 10 commission, there is a motion for -- to 11 approve and deny that's provided in the 12 packet in the past. Even on that 13 suggestion, some of the board members 14 have said that as a quasi-judicial 15 board, they were interested in that, 16 but that would be another opportunity 17 to -- staff could provide that. 18 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: I mean, 19 just as a personal opinion, I mean, the 20 applicants need to know the standards 21 they must meet in order for us to grant 22 or really to grant their motions. And 23 I don't have any problem maybe if the 24 city could provide some kind of --
1 really, the standards that we go by 2 to -- when they are making these 3 applications. If they are provided 4 those things, whether we give them full 5 motions, or not, I don't know that 6 that's necessarily a good idea. 7 Really, the motions provide 8 the basis upon which they have to prove 9 to, you know, grant their motions. I 10 don't have a problem, you know, maybe 11 approving something like that in the 12 future to provide to the applicants. 13 MS. MARTIN: Mr. Chair. 14 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Yes. 15 MS. MARTIN: There is the 16 motion guidelines for each type of 17 variance in that ZBA packet. 18 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. 19 MS. MARTIN: It's just 20 whether people keep returning and they 21 don't, you know -- 22 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Does it 23 give them the standards upon which we 24 look at?
1 MS. MARTIN: Yes, it does. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. I 3 think that's important. 4 Any other discussions? Any 5 other matters that need to be 6 discussed? Okay, nothing? 7 MEMBER KRIEGER: Nothing. 8 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Next is 9 The election of officers, which is I 10 think by rule is required by February 11 of each year. I know we only have four 12 members tonight. 13 We can do a couple things. 14 Number one, we can elect officers, if 15 you'd like. Or a suggestion would be 16 to elect the same temporary officers 17 that we have for the next meeting until 18 we have hopefully a full board. 19 Counsel? 20 MS. KUDLA: Either option 21 would work. I just think the 22 consideration was the practical side of 23 it is if you were going to elect or 24 seek to vote for ZBA members that are
1 not here, whether or not they would 2 want to accept those positions. And 3 then what the response would be if they 4 wanted to decline that. So, it might 5 be better to take the avenue of the 6 temporary appointment until you have 7 everyone here to express their desire 8 to be appointed. 9 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: No, and I 10 personally agree. I offered the two 11 options, but I would want someone to 12 accept a nomination if they are 13 interested in serving as an officer. 14 So, any other discussions on 15 election -- we have no problem, 16 obviously, adjourning that particular 17 event that we have to take care of in 18 February, correct? 19 MS. KUDLA: Sure. You can 20 elect -- you can continue -- make a 21 motion to continue the temporary 22 officers and adjourn this matter until 23 the next meeting. 24 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. Any
1 further discussion on that? Can I hear 2 a motion to adjourn then? 3 MEMBER IBE: So move. 4 MEMBER KRIEGER: Second. 5 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 6 further discussion on that? Is that a 7 sufficient motion for you? 8 MS. KUDLA: Sure. 9 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All in 10 favor, say aye. 11 THE BOARD: Aye. 12 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 13 opposed? Seeing none, then we will 14 move the item of election of officers 15 to the March 8, 2011 meeting. 16 Anything else for tonight? I 17 think that would be it. 18 MS. KUDLA: I would just say 19 a motion to extend the election of the 20 temporary officers as previously voted. 21 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Say that 22 again. 23 MS. KUDLA: To extend the 24 election of the temporary officers, as
1 you previously appointed. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: You want a 3 motion to that effect? 4 MS. KUDLA: Were they 5 appointed at the last meeting? 6 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: I think it 7 was two meetings ago. 8 MS. MARTIN: Two. 9 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Two 10 meetings ago. I mean, because Member 11 Wrobel, having gone to city council -- 12 MS. KUDLA: Right. 13 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: -- I was 14 automatic chair, temporary chair, I 15 should say. And we elected Member Ibe 16 as secretary? 17 MS. MARTIN: No, he was 18 already -- 19 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: He was 20 already secretary, I'm sorry. 21 Member Krieger as vice chair. 22 MS. KUDLA: Okay. So is it 23 just Member Krieger? Maybe just extend 24 the temporary appointment through the
1 next meeting. 2 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Would you 3 need that for myself, also, or I 4 automatically -- 5 MR. BOULARD: You would need 6 it for everybody. 7 MS. KUDLA: That's true, 8 because everybody is supposed to be 9 re-elected. 10 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Plus there 11 is (inaudible) okay. 12 MS. KUDLA: Yeah, so a motion 13 to extend everybody's appointments 14 through the next meeting. 15 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: So can you 16 state that specifically? 17 MEMBER IBE: I move that 18 everyone -- all the officers' positions 19 be extended for -- to the March 20 meeting. 21 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: March 8, 22 2011. 23 MEMBER IBE: March 8, 2011 24 meeting.
1 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Okay. 2 MEMBER GEDEON: Second. 3 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All in 4 favor? 5 THE BOARD: Aye. 6 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 7 opposed? Seeing none, we will have 8 again the officers being elected at the 9 March 8, 2011 meeting. 10 Any other issues for our 11 agenda tonight? If there are none, I 12 will entertain a motion to adjourn. 13 MEMBER IBE: I move that we 14 adjourn this meeting to the March 8, 15 2011 meeting. 16 MEMBER KRIEGER: Second. 17 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: All in 18 favor, say aye. 19 THE BOARD: Aye. 20 CHAIRMAN GHANNAM: Any 21 opposed? Seeing none, we are 22 adjourned. 23 (The meeting was 24 adjourned at 7:22 p.m.)
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