[0:56] Vice Chairperson Brown, >> Commissioner Tuggate,

[1:02] » Commissioner Eiselman, >> Commissioner Cson, Commissioner Walters

[1:06] Gil, >> Commissioner Mlullen, Commissioner Tatch

[1:10] here, >> Commissioner Whitehead. We have quorum.

[1:28] So move.

[1:39] » Mr. Chair, the mics are not working.

[1:45] I can find. Ah, there we are.

[1:53] Love the hum.

[1:59] Am I the only one with the feedback? Moving on to approval of the We approved

[2:06] the agenda. Got that done. Approval of the minutes from the last

[2:11] meeting. So move

[2:14] » second. >> Are there any corrections?

[2:20] » Be there. No corrections. All in favor? >> I

[2:25] » I have it.

[2:31] Moving on to item 4 A planning commission.

[2:39] Oh, first I want to thank everybody for giving me the larger print. I really

[2:44] appreciate that. That facilitated me answering stuff much more quickly.

[3:03] I was trying to wait for the mayor to have a seat.

[3:07] Moving on to communication and correspondence.

[3:10] A extension of the site plan approval.

[3:24] Welcome, Madam Mayor. >> Thank you.

[3:30] » Excuse me. 5A extension of site plan approval.

[3:37] conversion of of offices to mixuse development

[3:46] 7 excuse me 21790 Koolage Highway. Want to take us through that?

[3:53] » Yes, thank you. Uh this is a request to extend the site plan approval for the

[3:58] conversion of the office building into a mixed use of residential and office

[4:03] building. The site plan approval is set to expire today. The applicant indicated

[4:09] that he has been awaiting potential awards from Meshda and Oakland County.

[4:14] They have a bank commitment up to 70% of the loan to value or loan to cost. We

[4:21] approved the extension of the site plan for an additional 12 months. The

[4:27] extension will expire on March 7, 2027, a year from today.

[4:34] one year from today. >> Yes.

[4:36] » And you're looking for an approval from us.

[4:40] » Uh we approved it just approved. >> No action required from Mr. Chair,

[4:48] » Madame Mayor. >> Um the bank is giving them 70% of the

[4:54] loan to cost. >> Yes. It's either loan to cost or loan to

[4:58] value. And uh the other 30% is supposed to come from the grants.

[5:03] » That's what he's hoping for. Yes. But he he also have the money like it depends

[5:09] on how much he receive grants. >> So he will cover the rest.

[5:14] » Oh >> yes.

[5:16] » Thank you. Thank

[5:21] » So you said that's been approved, correct?

[5:24] » Yes. >> So you need no action from us?

[5:27] » No. Moving on to 6A, public hearing to

[5:32] consider the proposed special land use. You submitted by PEA Group

[5:42] on behalf of YA Beth. You

[5:48] excuse me, pronounce it for me.

[5:52] » Yehuda. >> Yehuda.

[5:55] Thank you. Thank folks

[6:05] you on scope school at 14400 West 10M Road.

[6:14] » Yeah, thank you. This is a special land use request for a proposed addition to

[6:18] the Yeshiva Beth Yehuda School for Girls. The school historic historically

[6:24] served as a preschool uh and high school for girls. With the preschool program

[6:31] relocated to the new building, the applicant proposes to maintain the

[6:36] existing high school and construct a gymnasium. As indicated in the staff

[6:42] report, the project meets the zoning ordinance requirements with conditions.

[6:47] The special land use and site plan approval are contingent upon receiving

[6:52] variances from the zoning board of appeals for the north and west setback

[6:59] setbacks and off streetet parking spaces. We recommend approval of the

[7:04] special land use and site plan subject to the 11 conditions. Uh Amy Akerman um

[7:12] with PR group is available to answer any questions you may have.

[7:30] Good afternoon. There you go. My name is Amy Aman. I'm from PA Group and I'm

[7:34] happy to answer any questions. Do you Would you like me to give you a quick

[7:37] rundown after that was a pretty good assessment of of what's going on?

[7:41] » I got your name, but I need your address.

[7:43] » Oh, my address. 1849 uh Pondrun, Auburn Hills.

[7:48] » Thank you. >> Are there any questions? You want to

[7:51] give us a rundown? >> Sure, I'd love to. Thank you. We

[7:54] appreciate the opportunity to present our project. The school's been open for

[7:58] over 10 years. As Salam mentioned, um it was been it was used as a high school

[8:02] and a preschool. It's now going to just service high school uh females.

[8:07] The larger recreation that's being proposed tonight is to accommodate uh

[8:11] high school use. The addition to the building is a

[8:15] traditional ceiling, a more of a traditional ceiling height, a little

[8:18] higher and a little bit bigger uh to accommodate the high school students.

[8:23] Uh the gym will be used during the school day for uh recreation and for uh

[8:28] anticipated athlet no anticipated athletic competitions will be at the

[8:32] gym. So no evening or or use like that. Architecturally and aesthetically, it

[8:38] will match the school as it exists. So, it'll be the same color, the same

[8:42] materials. Um, we chose to locate the gym on the

[8:47] rear of the school because it made the most sense with the existing school and

[8:52] it'll visually won't impact 10 mile road.

[8:57] Uh, the height of the gym meets the code and any roof equipment will be screened

[9:02] per the code.

[9:09] the that's a quick overview of any addition of the addition. If you have

[9:13] any other questions, I'm happy to answer them.

[9:16] » Um, >> mayor,

[9:18] » thank you. Um, uh, is it it's not blocking Emanuel or any entrance to

[9:26] Emanuel? >> No, it will not. So, it's going to

[9:28] parallel that that ingress road that comes in from there

[9:33] » from 10 mile. >> Correct. Okay. And it's a little f

[9:36] That's a playground now and it will be a building.

[9:41] » Well, yeah. So, they have that outdoor patio area, but the the this is proposed

[9:47] on the back of the building. So, we're not eliminating any parking. The only

[9:52] area that it's taking that's going to take up right now is the circulation

[9:56] that that circulation that comes around for drop off. That's going to get a

[10:01] shortened a little bit, but other than that, that's the only change that really

[10:03] is is occurring. So, we're not losing any parking. We're not changing the

[10:07] circulation on site. Everything will stay the same, and we're allowing fire

[10:10] access to the north. >> So, the drop off will still be there.

[10:15] » Correct. The drop off will still exist. Mr. Chair,

[10:20] I have a comment and maybe a question. So, my comment is I just want to make

[10:24] sure I understand the where the building is going to go exactly. So, it's going

[10:28] to be the front Part of the frontage will be on church, right? No.

[10:34] » Yeah. Well, I guess so. Looking at the building from from 10mi road, the west

[10:40] the far west side of the building where that road comes up.

[10:43] » Okay. >> The building will be off the back of

[10:46] that. So, it you'll you'll Yes. You'll see it sort of fronts 10 Mile Road, but

[10:51] it's quite a ways away from 10 Mile Road.

[10:53] » Just a little >> or from church, excuse me.

[10:55] » Gotcha. >> Yeah.

[10:57] » Oh, yeah. I can I do I did bring a couple graphics if you want to. So, is

[11:03] it showing somewhere to me? >> Oh, okay.

[11:06] » There. Oh, thank you so much. So, the building proposed addition is right

[11:12] here. If you can see my cursor moving. >> Yeah. So, none of that was building

[11:17] before. >> Correct.

[11:20] It was some It was green space and a little bit of drive lane

[11:27] and to the to the west here's that because that's offsite. So that drive

[11:32] that driveway is off the west here. So we're not impacting that at all.

[11:36] » Quite a bit. Quite a bit. Yeah. >> Yeah.

[11:40] » Okay. And there's a little oval thing in the middle of the parking lot that

[11:44] you're rellandscaping. >> Correct. So yeah, we that has to shorten

[11:48] a little bit. Not too much. We're not going to change that too much, but we

[11:52] will Yeah, we'll we're going to clean that up and put some new landscaping in

[11:55] it.

[12:01] » Any other questions? >> Um, one for the staff. It's like less

[12:06] parking than a high school requires, but it works out okay. Can you explain that?

[12:12] Yes, it's with the parking because it's reduced the number of the students. Uh

[12:18] it will work out but they still have to get a variance from the zoning board of

[12:23] appeals. >> And why will it work out? Because the

[12:25] students get dropped off and they don't park cars there.

[12:28] » Because we have now less student than they used to have before. It used to be

[12:34] a high school and preschool and now it's going to be only high school uh for

[12:40] girls students and it's the same number of classrooms. They're not increasing

[12:44] the number of classrooms. >> So the real benefit is because preschool

[12:50] the teacher to student ratio is quite high and so all the teachers that would

[12:55] drive for the preschool are no longer going to be parking here. So there's

[12:59] probably where the biggest change will be. So, it actually reduces the use of

[13:02] cars that will be on there. >> Any other questions before I open the

[13:09] public hearing? I do need to do that. Okay. Like to open

[13:16] the public hearing. If there's anyone who would like to speak

[13:22] in favor of or oppose to, you have a fivem minute limit.

[13:32] major issue. >> Okay.

[13:37] I don't see any hands or bodies or anyone moving.

[13:44] So that may be a good thing. All right. I will close the public

[13:50] hearing.

[13:54] Let us now can I have you looking for a motion?

[13:59] » Yes. >> May I have a motion?

[14:02] » So move. >> Second.

[14:06] » It's been moved and second. May I have a roll call?

[14:12] » Commissioner Eelman? >> Yes.

[14:13] » Commissioner Selixson? >> Yes.

[14:15] » Commissioner Tungate? >> Absolutely. Yes.

[14:17] » Vice Chair Brown. >> Yes.

[14:19] » Commissioner Mlen, yes. >> Commissioner Tatch,

[14:23] » yes. Motion carry. >> Very good.

[14:30] Thank you. We look forward to

[14:34] how quickly do you think this is going to happen?

[14:41] » Jacob, >> is Jacob the one that's going to give

[14:45] that answer? Jacob, >> he needs to

[14:49] » come on up. Jacob, can we have your name?

[14:54] and your address. >> Uh Jacob Manando, uh 65 University

[14:57] Drive, Pontiac, Michigan. >> Okay.

[15:00] » So, right now we are in going through these reviews. We have zoning board at

[15:03] the end of this month. Um we're finalizing documents right now to go out

[15:07] to bid. So, some of the materials right now are going to be a little bit longer,

[15:11] but hopefully going to start end of summer, uh early fall to get this under

[15:15] construction, if not by the latest. And you are saying your construction period

[15:20] will be how long before it's completed >> depending on weather say 6 to 8 months

[15:26] but probably closer to six. >> Okay. Very good.

[15:29] » Mr. Chair. >> Yes.

[15:30] » I actually have a question for the executive director if he'd like to come

[15:33] to the podium please.

[15:39] » May we have your name? >> Uh Shragi Meyers 25800 Southwood Drive.

[15:44] » All right. >> Good evening sir.

[15:46] » Good evening. Do you intend on using the city's um resources to do the permit

[15:51] reviews >> building?

[15:57] Put a sales pitch in. We would love it if you would. That would be

[15:59] » I would love to entertain any pitches. So you have my email address. I'll send

[16:04] it over and um >> Sure.

[16:08] » Thank you.

[16:12] » Any more any more solicitations? Very

[16:20] good.

[16:25] » I guess I'm moving on to B.

[16:34] » We had our vote. So, everything is good on that.

[16:37] » Yes. >> Shake your head. Yes.

[16:39] » Okay. Just wanted to make sure. >> Moving on to B.

[16:44] planning commission regarding proposed special land use submitted by

[16:52] PEA group. >> Uh, no, we just did that.

[16:55] » I'm sorry. We just did that. >> Just to move to Yeah.

[17:03] » Well, then I'm Mr. Seven. >> Oh, I have different.

[17:11] » Yes, I am to seven. Item seven. Yeah, I have a defender.

[17:14] » Okay. I just want to make sure

[17:19] 7A new business site plan review for cultural center

[17:28] » MIVA >> Mikvah building

[17:32] 14850

[17:35] Lincoln Street. >> Yes.

[17:38] » Take us through that please. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh this is a site plan

[17:42] review for a cultural center Mikvah building. The applicant proposes to

[17:46] build a new twostory uh building which will include a small library and women's

[17:52] mikvah on the first floor, men's mikvah on the basement floor and the youth

[17:57] activity area and an off open office space on the second floor. The property

[18:03] is located immediately west of the congregation Dove Ben Noim property. The

[18:11] cultural center is intended to be used and to benefit the congregation. The

[18:16] site plan shows a significant improvement in landscaping as indicated

[18:21] in the staff report. The site plan meets the zoning ordinance requirements with

[18:27] conditions. The applicant also need to obtain variances from the zoning board

[18:32] of appeals to the north and rear setbacks the impre impervious surfaces

[18:38] off street parking spaces as well as the light intensity of one wall-mounted

[18:44] light. We recommend approval of the site plan subject to the eight conditions and

[18:50] we have Rabbi um Costeritz is available to answer any questions you may have.

[18:57] Would you come forward, Reba?

[19:04] » Would you give us your name?

[19:09] » Do we have any questions for the rabbi?

[19:14] » You mean we made him walk up and you have no questions for him? Um,

[19:19] » Madame Mayor, >> having nothing to do with the vote,

[19:24] just curious, does this mikvah service only this one congregation

[19:31] » primarily? But anyone, you know, we it's like the synagogue. It's mainly serviced

[19:35] by Okupak by the residents who's close by, but it's open to anyone who wants to

[19:40] who wants to come. >> So, the answer is both. But, you know,

[19:43] Saturdays, for example, holidays when you can't drive, it's only going to be

[19:46] servicing this area. only servicing but mostly probably but

[19:51] it's open to anyone who wants to come. >> Okay, thank you.

[19:57] » Any other questions for the rabbi?

[20:01] Thank you for your quickly walking up here and

[20:04] » thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you for your kind service. We need people

[20:06] like you in our community. Together we both have the same goals to make the

[20:10] community a better for all the residents and it's a pleasure to be here. Thank

[20:13] you everyone. >> Thank you.

[20:16] What do you need from us? Do we need a vote?

[20:19] » May I have a roll call, please? >> You need a motion.

[20:23] » I need a motion. Excuse me. >> So, so moved. Second.

[20:28] » It's been moved and second. May I have a roll call now?

[20:32] » Who?

[20:37] » Yes. >> Yes.

[20:42] » Yes. >> Yes.

[20:46] Yes. >> Moving on to site plan review for Glow

[20:52] Works Wholesale

[20:55] 2116 Greenfield Road.

[21:00] Could you take us through it? >> Yes, thank you. Uh this is a site plan

[21:04] review for Glow Works. Glow Works sells uh toys, gifts, closeout sport apparel

[21:10] and hot market items to the public and smaller uh resellers. Currently, Office

[21:17] Depot occupies the front portion of the building while Glow Works occupies the

[21:24] remaining space. Glow Works received site plan approval in March 2022. The

[21:30] original original approval included the development of the vacant property to

[21:36] the north with a warehouse building. The vacant parcel was not developed as

[21:41] approved and Glow Works commenced operation without complying with the

[21:46] conditions of the approval. The applicant indicated that they don't

[21:50] intend to proceed with the development of the vacant parcel due to financial

[21:56] constraints. the site plan does not uh meet the off- streetet parking

[22:01] requirements. The applicant submitted a parking study which found that uh the

[22:08] observed peak parking demand for the overall development was 24 spaces uh

[22:15] which is significantly lower than the 173 spaces required by the zoning

[22:21] ordinance. The site currently provides 90 spaces. The planning commission has

[22:27] the authority to approve reduction to the off of the off- streetet parking

[22:32] spaces up to 50% of the required uh spaces with the provision of a parking

[22:39] study. The staff finds that the site meets the zoning ordinance requirements

[22:45] with conditions. We recommend approval of the site plan

[22:50] uh subject to the K 10 conditions specified in the staff report and we

[22:57] have Robin Robin Razak also she's the office manager is available to answer

[23:02] any questions you may have. >> May I ask a question of you? Why was the

[23:09] parking so high that we we needed to bring it down? Uh so that's uh based on

[23:16] what we have on the zoning ordinance but sometimes it's good to have a parking

[23:21] study because the parking study could show the exactly what is the need for uh

[23:27] this specific use of the office depot and glow works. So that's how they

[23:33] observe the parking and they see the the demand. Other retails may have more

[23:38] parking spaces, may require more parking spaces, but this specific

[23:44] um use uses with the Office Depot and Glow Works shows that they need less

[23:50] parking spaces. >> All right. Very good.

[23:53] » Any other questions? >> Of course,

[23:57] » Mayor, >> Mr. Chair, um

[24:00] it's an awful two to three retail customers a day. They have toys, gifts,

[24:06] and closeout items, and they only get a couple. How do they stay in business?

[24:10] » Uh, that's Goen, if you want to answer. >> Hi.

[24:15] » Here comes Here comes a tough question. >> Yeah, really tough question. So, we've

[24:19] actually been in business for 25 years. Um, we were in Warren for most of those

[24:26] years. And, uh, our main source of business isn't retail, it's wholesale.

[24:33] We wholesale to Cedar Point, SeaWorld, Busushch Gardens, all of the theme parks

[24:39] coast to coast, as well as all of the zoos. Um,

[24:44] and then we also have like a showroom if people wanted to come in and buy ones

[24:50] and twos. We have a ton of people um locally that do come in and buy stuff

[24:55] for their kids uh bat mitzvah um

[24:58] » parties, >> birthday parties, all of those little

[25:02] novelties that you would buy. >> So people can come in and buy

[25:06] » Yeah, absolutely. Yep. >> Okay. Thank you. Um

[25:12] uh question for the staff. Isn't Office Depot going out and do we know what's

[25:16] going in? >> Uh not so. I know. I know that they are

[25:21] still there, but no, >> Office Depot is They just resigned their

[25:25] 5-year lease. >> They did.

[25:27] » So, yeah, they're not going anywhere. >> Oh,

[25:29] » yeah. >> I'll be. Huh?

[25:32] » Yeah. >> Thank you.

[25:34] » You're welcome. >> So, everything is stable the way it is.

[25:37] Thank you. >> That's it.

[25:41] » Any other questions?

[25:47] » May I have a motion? Second.

[25:51] » Mayor Ro call.

[25:56] » Commissioner TK. >> Yes.

[25:58] » Commissioner. >> Yes.

[26:00] » Commissioner. >> Yes.

[26:02] » Vice Chair Brown. >> Yes.

[26:04] » Commissioner Tate. >> Yes.

[26:05] » Commissioner Eisen. >> Yes.

[26:07] » Motion carried. >> Motion carried. Thank you for giving us

[26:10] that information. We really appreciate the fact that you're there.

[26:17] Moving on to item eight, planning commission

[26:22] matters for discussion. >> Mr. Chair, I don't have a question, but

[26:27] I do have a comment I I want to um give to Salam. I want to say welcome back.

[26:32] Welcome home. Salam just returned from overseas. We were worried about you, so

[26:37] we're glad you're back. >> Why don't you send a jet to get her?

[26:41] » I say why don't you send a jet to get her?

[26:44] We could send a city jet. >> Oh, well that's what I'm saying.

[26:47] » I I did send a jet. It's an invisible one, but I did send it.

[26:50] » Oh, so she flew with her wings. >> Okay.

[26:57] Uh I have a comment. I enjoyed uh the discipline of the

[27:03] firemen and the police officers. We had a fire

[27:09] over on Burton in one of the larger houses.

[27:14] It is a scary thought that when you're laying there taking a nap and the smoke

[27:19] starts coming into your house and you believe that your house is on fire and

[27:25] when you jump up and you realize that you have your alarm on and the fire

[27:30] engine is in your driveway. So, you believe it's your house

[27:36] » that is having a problem. But they were very good and they knocked

[27:41] it down early. Uh it was an event for that day and they were completely

[27:49] professional and I was standing out there in no shoes and my neighbors more

[27:53] worried about me standing there with no clothes on. I said, "Hey, I had the

[27:58] smoke was in the house. What can I tell you?" But they did a very professional

[28:02] job. And it was good to see how

[28:06] professionally they moved, how good they were, and how quickly they extinguished

[28:12] the fire. So we didn't lose the house because the winds were blowing rather

[28:17] hard. And that's why most of the houses east of there were filling with smoke.

[28:23] So, but my commendation to them. >> Question about your comment.

[28:29] » Yes. What was what caused the fire? >> Who knows?

[28:34] » Well, they were more concerned about me catching cold because I was out there in

[28:37] a t-shirt. >> Mr. Brown, don't you think you need to

[28:40] go inside? We haven't discovered what the cause of the fire was. So, that's

[28:46] something that we'll do. I'm quite sure they are reporting to the city on the

[28:51] fact that we had one, but I wanted to give them accommodation for what they

[28:55] did because it was quick and it really was silent.

[29:01] But thank you. Any other comments?

[29:06] No, Sullivson, we're done. >> You know, with all we have tonight, I

[29:12] can't even get on your face. >> No, you can.

[29:17] » Yeah, that's right.

3/9/2026 Oak Park Planning Commission Meeting (LIVE)

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