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MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The Macomb Township Board of Trustees took the Planning Commission’s recommendation to rezone a commercial property, and in the process revealed it could be part of a gas station chain’s move into Michigan.
Trustees approved a township-initiated rezoning request of the former CVS Pharmacy on the southeast corner of North Avenue and 23 Mile Road, known as permanent parcel No. 08-24-101-016, to resolve the lot’s nonconforming status at its May 14 meeting. The lot, now zoned C-2 commercial, was zoned as C-3 commercial due to an agreement made in 2006 that set the zoning as C-3 in case the CVS closed. However, C-3 zoning is designed for larger retail uses on properties 5 acres and larger, thus creating a nonconforming lot.
“This was brought to our attention recently with an application that came into the township,” Township Land Development Director James Van Tiflin said. “We read through these agreements and staff believes it would be better suited to the township if this was zoned as C-2 as the other corners are.”
Not long after Van Tiflin’s remarks, Township Supervisor Frank Viviano confirmed that Pennsylvania-based convenience store and gas station chain Sheetz is interested in a location at that site. The supervisor was quick to distance Sheetz from the rezoning decision, even stating either C-3 or C-2 would work for a potential location.
“This rezoning really has nothing to do with Sheetz’s interests,” Viviano said. “As described by Mr. Van Tiflin and by Mr. (Josh) Bocks (planning director) at other meetings, this is to prevent a nonconforming piece of property in the township.”
Sheetz has been a hot topic of discussion around Macomb County and Michigan in the past six months. Initially opening in Romulus, the firm has moved to find footholds in Royal Oak, Shelby Township, Eastpointe, Warren and other communities around metro Detroit.
The moves have not come without controversy. Sheetz’s move into Fraser prompted residents to protest plans to demolish the historic State Bank of Fraser and build a gas station on its site, joining two other gas stations at the corner of 14 Mile and Utica roads. Sheetz’s plans to demolish Sacred Heart church in Roseville has also sparked community backlash, and the firm has been blocked from moving into Farmington Hills and Maddison Heights.
Sheetz has already been approved to operate at two locations in Macomb Township, both along Hall Road with one at the intersection of Garfield Road and the other at the intersection of Gratiot Avenue. A Sheetz location at the intersection of North Avenue and 23 Mile would be similar to the Hall/Gratiot and 14 Mile/Utica locations as it would join two other gas stations at the intersection. A Mobil gas station on the northwest corner recently completed renovations to add a quick-service restaurant to its convenience store, while a former BP station on the southwest corner is being replaced by a Chillbox convenience store and gas station.
While Sheetz may have designs on the former drug store, Van Tiflin reminded trustees — and, though them, the public at-large — that the Pennsylvanian firm’s third location was far from a done deal, bureaucratically speaking.
“We get lots of applications that come into the township,” Van Tiflin said. “We get lots of people who come in to talk to us about individual properties. They may even get site plan approval, but they’re never built. We don’t know what’s going to happen with this piece of property in the future. We’re just trying to put ourselves in the position where we don’t have something that goes in that content that is unintended; that is allowed in a C-3, but the property is not large enough for a C-3 and they’re coming in for variances using that as their practical difficulty.”
Sewer lining approval
On May 14, trustees also approved a plan for Insituform Technologies, USA to line a sanitary sewer at a cost of $73,930.
According to Department of Public Works Director Kevin Johnson, the request to line the sewer comes after a severe crack and joint leaks were discovered in a 70-foot segment of the 36-inch pipe servicing Pump Station 10.
The township has worked with Insituform on sewer lining projects in the past, including the lining of a sewer beneath Romeo Plank last year.
