"Ciena - Shelby Township" Rezoning Request

This proposal would affect an 8.44 acre parcel (property assessment information) that is located on the north side of 22 Mile Rd. adjacent to the southeast portion of the Gardens subdivision. The petitioner is proposing to have the zoning on this parcel changed from the existing "HM-Heavy Manufacturing" to "RM-6 Multiple Family, Low Rise".

The parcel under consideration for rezoning is shaded in red
on this map of the entire Central Park community.

If the petitioner's rezoning request is granted by the Township, they intend to build a 120 bed "Skilled Nursing Facility" on this parcel. The petitioner (Ciena Healthcare Management) has submitted a Cover Letter and Preliminary Concept Plan to the Shelby Twp. Planning Department that describes the facility they intend to build if they receive the rezoning.

Several Board Members of the Gardens and Central Park Master Associations met with the petitioner's representatives on Feb. 17, 2010. The Board Members are supportive of this proposed rezoning, which would restrict development on this parcel to the less intense multiple family residential land use.

A successful rezoning does not legally commit the petitioner to build what is shown on their Preliminary Concept Plan - they could modify it or build any kind of multiple family development that is allowed under the RM-6 zoning. When the Board Members mentioned this at the Feb. 17th meeting, the petitioner's representatives re-iterated that once they receive the rezoning, it is the petitioner's intent to submit detailed site plans based on the Preliminary Concept Plan to the Township for approval. Their stated intent is supported by the fact that the petitioner already:

a) owns this parcel
b) has an approved Certificate of Need from the State of Michigan Department of Community Health to add skilled nursing facility beds within this geographical area.

Updated Feb. 24, 2010: According to Glenn Wynn (the Shelby Twp. Planning Director), a nursing home cannot be developed on a HM zoned parcel, either as a permitted or as a special land use. Therefore a rezoning is required on this parcel in order to develop the proposed skilled nursing facility, which may be allowed as a special land use in any of the ten multiple family zoning districts and also within the office service zoning district. The Planning Dept. suggested - and the petitioner agreed - that the appropriate rezoning request for this parcel should be the RM-6 district, which has a density maximum of 6 units per acre (the Shelby Twp. multiple family districts have maximum densities ranging from 3 to 12 units per acre). Should the proposed skilled nursing facility fail to be developed, any owner of this RM-6 parcel would be principally permitted to develop it with multiple family dwellings at a density similar to these existing developments:

• Mill Creek and Heritage on 22 Mile Road between Schoenherr and Hayes

• Thunder Bay on Schoenherr Road south of 22 Mile Road.

Under an approved special land use, the number of beds in a skilled nursing facility are not related to the underlying density requirements of the multiple family zoning district.

At the Feb. 17th meeting, the Board Members identified and discussed with the petitioner two issues they have with the Preliminary Concept Plan. Since they are dependent on the detailed site plans, the petitioner and Board members agreed to work together to resolve them once the rezoning has been approved. The two issues are:

1) the location and types of landscaping that will be planted by the petitioner to provide additional visual screening between the existing single family residences and their proposed structure (the Site Plan contained in their Preliminary Concept Plan only shows the existing trees that would remain after construction is complete)
2) modifications that need to be made to the existing legal agreement between the Central Park Master Association and the owner of this parcel regarding the detention pond maintenance responsibilities and access.

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission listened as the petitioner's architect presented the Preliminary Concept Plan at the Feb. 22, 2010 meeting (agenda). He also mentioned that a skilled nursing facility like this typically draws its patients from a four mile radius surrounding the facility and that their intent is to design a facility that appears residential, not institutional. Questions asked by the Planning Commissioners focused on the number of employees who would work there (approximately 100, spread across three shifts per day, seven days per week) and the Certificate of Need process. Also at that meeting, the Planning Director announced that the petitioner has formally submitted their rezoning application and that the Public Hearing is tentatively scheduled for the Planning Commission meeting of March 10, 2010, during which the residents will have the opportunity to comment on this proposed rezoning. The Planning Director also indicated that once the rezoning is approved, the petitioner must then receive site plan and special land use approvals before construction can begin. The petitioner would like to be able to start construction during the 3rd quarter of 2010.

Above is an aerial photo which the webmaster has marked up to show the parcel's property lines
(the bold, solid red line) and the locations of the sections shown in the petitioner's illustration below.

These are the petitioner's scale drawings showing the typical relative distance between the building shown on their Preliminary Concept Plan
and the existing residential structures on the adjacent lots of the Gardens subdivision (click on the image to enlarge it).

Update - March 10, 2010 - Rezoning Public Hearing

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission held a public hearing on Wed. March 7, 2010 to consider the petitioner's request to rezone their property to RM-6 (Multiple-Family, Low Rise). The petitoner's representatives presented their case for the less-intense use and they were followerd by four residents (including Mike Malone and Mike Grobbel), who all spoke in support of the rezoning request.

The Planning Director pointed out that the existing zoning on this parcel was an artifact of its previous inclusion in the much larger Packard Proving Grounds parcel and that this request was clearly in line with the Township's Master Land Use Plan for future uses in that area. Given that fact, he suggested that it would be appropriate for the Planning Commission to combine the rezoning and special land use/site plan approval processes so that they could be considered and acted upon at the same meetings in the future. This would also enable the petitioner to receive their final approvals approximately 30 days earlier than if the rezoning and special land use requests were reviewed separately. Both the petitioner and the Commission agreed to do so and the Planning Commission moved to postpone the rezoning public hearing.

The rezoning public hearing will be continued at a future Planning Commission meeting once the petitioner's representatives have completed and submitted their site plans for the special land use. Assuming that the rezoning and site plans receive approval at that Planning Commission meeting, the two requests will be forwarded to the Township Board of Trustees and a public hearing for both of them will be scheduled for the same night.

Update - April 4, 2010 - Continuation of the Rezoning Public Hearing

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission will resume the public hearing on Wed. April 14, 2010 to consider the petitioner's request to rezone their property to RM-6 (Multiple-Family, Low Rise). At this meeting, the Planning Commission will also review the petitioner's request for special land use approval to operate a nursing home on this parcel, conditional on receiving the requested rezoning. The public hearing will be held during the Planning Commission's meeting, which begins at 7:00 PM in the Board Room of the Shelby Township Municipal Building, 52700 Van Dyke, just south of 24 Mile Road.

The petitioner has submitted their site plan drawing (Page 1 of this PDF file) which is required for the special land use approval. It is basically a slightly modified version of their Preliminary Concept Plan, which was shown on Page 2 of this PDF file. Unlike their Preliminary Concept Plan, their site plan drawing shows both existing and proposed landscaping. Also, the site plan drawing shows the building located 20 feet closer to 22 Mile Road. It was moved to allow enlargement of the detention pond at the rear of the building. The image below shows the site plan at the top with the preliminary concept plan aligned underneath it.

Update - April 23, 2010 - Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Rezoning and Special Land Use Request

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission resumed the public hearing on Wed. April 14, 2010 and at the conclusion of the public hearing they recommended approval of the petitioner's Rezoning and Special Land Use Request. Their recommendation has been forwarded to the Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees who will make the final decision at their meeting on Tuesday, May 4, 2010.

Two members of the Central Park Master Association Board of Directors spoke during the April 14th public hearing. They both pointed out their concerns with the existing legal agreement that obligates the Central Park Master Association to maintain the retention pond that is located on this parcel of property. They presented the following background information and issues:

In 2002, prior to the start of construction of the Central Park Planned Unit Development, Grand/Sakwa (the original developer of Central Park) entered into a legal agreement with the previous owner of this parcel (UAW Ford Family Service & Learning Center) that permitted Grand/Sakwa to build this retention pond on the UAW Ford property to collect storm water runoff from portions of the Central Park property. The agreement also allowed the property owner to use the retention pond when they developed their property. The retention pond was designed to meet the estimated storm water runoff from both properties, 56% of which comes from the Central Park property and 44% from the parcel where the pond is located.

In exchange for the granting of the easement for the retention pond, Grand/Sakwa agreed to maintain the pond and provide liability insurance. As the successor to Grand/Sakwa, the Central Park Master Association is legally obligated to assume the maintenance obligations for this retention pond, which costs us approximately $1,700 per year. When the current parcel owner (Ciena) recently provided the Board of Directors with a copy of the maintenance agreement, we learned that Grand/Sakwa had not lived up to the terms of the liability insurance requirement and that it would cost the Association an additional $1,200 per year to increase our policy coverage to the limits called out in the agreement.

At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Planning Commission recommended approval of Ciena's request, with the added condition that the petitioner's representatives meet with the Central Park Master Association Board of Directors and attempt to resolve our maintenance responsibility and cost concerns prior to the Board of Trustees public hearing. That meeting was held on April 22, 2010 at the Shelby Twp. Municipal offices.

During that meeting, the petitioner's attorney presented a proposal that would change the retention pond responsibilities as shown below:

The Association's Board has verbally agreed to the proposed changes listed above. A new agreement incorporating the proposed responsibilities listed above will be drafted to replace the existing agreement prior to the start of construction.

The Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees at their meeting on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 will hold a final public hearing on the petitioner's request for the rezoning and special land use. The Central Park Master Association's Board of Directors are in support of the petitioner's requests and feel that our pond maintenance issues have been equitably resolved. All residents are invited to attend and offer comments during the public hearing on this matter.

This web page will be updated with any new information that becomes available as the petitioner proceeds through the rezoning and the special land use/site plan approval processes.

The URL for this page is: http://grobbel.org/condo/master/22_mile_rezoning.htm

Created: 22 Feb 2010; Last updated: 23 April 2010

Webmaster: Mike Grobbel