Demolition of the Visteon Manufacturing Buildings located
at the Southeast Corner of 23 Mile and Mound Roads
in Shelby Twp., MI

NOTE: as of May 3, 2012, this page has been replaced by an updated web page that can be found here: http://grobbel.org/demo

On May 25, 2011, the Shelby Twp. Planning Commission approved the demolition permit based on the petitioner's agreement to follow 32 conditions, which can be read here: Page 1 | Page 2

The Visteon parcel is outlined in red. Building #16 (blue) is the only building on the parcel which will not be demolished.

My notes from the May 25th Planning Commission meeting

• Demolition work on the site had started earlier in May but the Twp. issued a "stop work order" until a public hearing could be scheduled because the existing Twp. regulations did not comprehend a demolition of this magnitude.

• The site contains buildings that total 1.87 million square feet, all of which will be torn down except for Building #16, which has 264,000 sq. ft. of floor space. It will be re-purposed as a food distribution warehouse. Click here to view the Commercial Real Estate brochure that describes the plant and acreage.

• At the May 25th public hearing, the Twp. building and planning officials recommended that the Planning Commission adopt a site plan review process for the demolition request that determines and approves a step-by-step demolition process and sets clear conditions for that approval.

• The Twp. building and planning officials recommended - and the Planning Commission agreed - that upon completion of building demolitions in any heavy-manufacturing zone such as this, the site must be left in a "development-ready" condition and "environmentally clean".

• The petitioner agreed that all building materials trucked from the site will proceed east on 23 Mile Rd. to the M-53 freeway and will not use any other roads in the Twp.

• All existing underground services to the demolished buildings will be removed.

• The petitioner stated that there will be no jackhammer type impact noises enamating from the site because they use excavators with "pulverizers" and "shears" on the end of their arms to crush concrete columns and cut steel I-beams

• Ford Motor Company remains responsible for remediation of contaminated soil

  • all contaminated soil will be removedby a different contractor after the demolition work is complete but before the site is given a final grade and hydroseeded.

  • Several monitoring test wells are located along the perimeter of the site and the Central Park community. The Ford Motor Co. and the Michigan DEQ have been regularly monitoring the underground water quality and no contamination has been detected. If test results continue to be good, the monitoring agreement will expire in Sept. 2012 and the test wells be then be removed.

• In addition to soil contamination, the subjects of asbestos and leaded paint were also addressed at the public hearing:

  • Asbestos abatement will be performed by a qualified subcontractor during the initial stages of the demolition project per all government regulations.  This work is performed in segments throughout the plant, with temporary barriers erected around the work area and the use of controlled air filtration.  Contaminated materials are sprayed with water as they are removed from the work area and placed in sealed containers for transport to a hazardous materials landfill.

  • Handling of leaded paint is only regulated in residential applications and thus they do not apply to this project.  Leaded paint chips are a hazard only if ingested and since they cannot become airborne, they pose no health hazard to nearby residents. 

• The railroad spur on the property will not be demolished since it can be an attractive selling point for certain industrial uses.

• One of the 32 conditions states that demolition work is limited to "the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Modifications to these hours of operation requires approval by the Township Board."

  • During the public hearing, the petitioner indicated that if he has to abide by the 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m hours of operation, it will take approximately 12 months to complete the entire demolition project.

  • The petitioner indicated that if they could operate on a two shift basis with extended hours of operation, they could complete the project and get the hydroseeding done by mid-October 2011, in time for it to germinate prior to the onset of cold weather.

  • It is likely that the petitioner will request approval from the Township Board to extend the hours of operation, sometime in the very near future. We will have to be observant to the noise levels and other detectable impacts the demolition operations have on our community while they are operating on a 12 hour daily basis so that we can decide whether to oppose or support any request for an extension of the hours of operation.

Mike Grobbel