Residents demonstrate against Mack rezoning in Woods

GROSSE POINTE WOODS — Even the Grosse Pointe Woods City Council appears to be divided over whether or not to rezone a portion of Mack Avenue.

Council members debated a proposal to rezone 20160 Mack Ave. from restricted office, or RO-1, to commercial business, or C, during a packed Aug. 18 meeting whose more than 200 attendees were largely residents against rezoning. While some city leaders said the community needs new development like this, opponents argue that the redevelopment on the table now will impact the surrounding neighborhood in negative ways.

Prior to the meeting, dozens of residents carrying signs showing their opposition to rezoning picketed outside Woods City Hall.

Residents have voiced strong opposition in recent months to rezoning 20160 Mack Ave. — currently home to a single-story medical building. Buccellato Development is looking to redevelop the site to possibly include a national restaurant, up to three retailers or a combination of these uses, among other potential tenants.

Residents say they fear a proposed new development on the site will result in increased traffic, reduced safety for children and pedestrians, overflow business parking on residential streets, increased noise, trash, pests like rats, loss of green space and negative impact on property values, among other concerns. At press time, more than 625 people — most from the Woods, but some from outside the city as well — had signed a petition against rezoning.

After the Woods Planning Commission voted unanimously July 22 to reaffirm its prior vote in favor of recommending rezoning approval by the City Council, the council took up the matter with a public hearing and first reading of the rezoning Aug. 18.

Developer Justin Buccellato, a resident of the Grosse Pointes who owns 14 properties along the Mack Avenue corridor, eight of which are in the Woods, said he’s brought in retailers such as Beyond Juice and Subway.

“I really have invested a lot of time and resources into the city of Grosse Pointe Woods in the last eight years,” Buccellato said. “(The new development) will be beautiful. … I don’t know what’s going to go there, but it will be beautiful.”

Residents responded with boos when Buccellato said he had listened to them and was still listening.

They have expressed some of their greatest concerns about a bar or restaurant coming to that site. When one resident asked Buccellato during public comment if he wanted to put a restaurant on the property, Buccellato didn’t respond.

“There are no tenants yet,” said Bruce Nichols, Buccellato’s attorney, earlier in the meeting.

Nichols said his client wasn’t seeking approval for a liquor store or a fast-food restaurant.

“We’re not asking for (any) kind of use that would be offensive to the neighborhood,” Nichols said.

The problem with the existing building, said Nichols, is that “there’s no market” for the 70-year-old structure.

“It’s designed for a doctor’s office,” Nichols said. “It can’t be rehabbed for other office use.”

Doctors now are moving into larger medical buildings instead of small practices, and remote work “has killed the office space market,” Nichols said. He said the Planning Commission “worked hard to modify” the developer’s design and proposal to make it more palatable to the neighborhood. Those changes included reducing the square footage by almost 2,000 square feet and increasing green space and landscaping.

“The goal is to make Mack Avenue a mixed-use corridor … with more amenities for residents,” Nichols said.

Oxford Road resident Steve Lawrence said the developer knew the property was zoned for office when he acquired it.

“He bought a piece of property that was zoned office, and that’s what it should remain,” Lawrence said. “Consider the rights of the people who live around here.”

Melinda Billingsley, who lives on Doyle Court and serves on the Woods Citizens’ Recreation Commission, was one of the people to voice support for the proposal.

“Right now, it does not seem there is any use for (this building),” said Billingsley, who said young people like her are looking for stores, restaurants and other places to go in their community. “I’m in favor of putting something in the space. … Otherwise, it’s just empty land.”

Residents said they didn’t feel like city leaders had been listening to them or following protocol — all of which officials deny.

“I think what we have here is a lack of trust,” said Oxford Road resident Diane Karabetsos. “We expect you (the council) to listen and inform the public.”

Christina Pitts, a Woods resident who lives near the proposed development, said the zoning ordinance doesn’t require residents to show proof of harm but does say it will protect the people who use the land.

“Rezoning in Grosse Pointe Woods has been a mess,” Pitts said.

Some residents have said they moved to their neighborhoods because they preferred to be adjacent to the less commercial side of Mack Avenue, which they said was more tranquil. City Councilman Todd McConaghy, an attorney, said that wasn’t a legal argument that would allow the council to deny the rezoning, however.

“To date, I don’t think there’s been a legally compelling argument to deny the property owners east of Mack the same rights enjoyed by property owners west of Mack,” McConaghy said. “Respectfully, there’s been some fearmongering, some speculation. … Legally speaking, that is not enough (to reject the rezoning).”

But Ford Court resident Tambre Tedesco said the business districts east of Mack and west of Mack are “apples and oranges” and shouldn’t be zoned the same.

City Councilwoman Angela Coletti Brown said changing the zoning “does not mean we’re losing our small-town charm.”

“We all want what’s best for the city,” Coletti Brown said. “After comprehensive analysis, I’ve concluded doing nothing is not (the right course of action). … I believe (rezoning) is the next best step to keep our city vibrant.”

Planning Commissioner Donna O’Keefe, a real estate agent, said young homeowners want to be able to walk to businesses.

“Mack needs new development to stay vibrant and vital,” O’Keefe said.

Residents opposed to rezoning said that the community is already attractive to young homeowners the way it is.

Woods resident Patrick Turnbull, who said his family has been in the community for 100 years, said he wants to eventually raise a family there, and he wants the city to retain its family-oriented nature.

“It’s not like young families aren’t moving to Grosse Pointe,” Turnbull said. “All of my friends are moving to Grosse Pointe.”

Renaud Road resident Robert Musial likened the council meeting to “performance theater.”

“I believe largely a lot of this is an act,” Musial told the council. “You’ve already made up your minds. … The developer will get what he wants. … It’s all about money.”

Mark Supal, a resident of S. Renaud Road, said rezoning to commercial would “generate significantly more traffic” than office use.

“I see that there are plenty of properties zoned commercial (in the Woods) … that are sitting vacant,” Supal said. “Why is there a need for more commercial property when there are plenty of commercial properties available?”

City Councilwoman Vicki Granger said she remembers the controversy surrounding the Kroger grocery store development on Mack about 25 years ago. Because it was next to a church, she said the council was able to place restrictions on concerns such as hours of operation and truck traffic. She said that’s not the case here.

“We don’t have conditional rezoning in our toolbox,” Granger said.

City Councilman Michael Koester said he would be voting no to commercial rezoning to allow time for a different type of development instead. If nothing happens in the next 18 months, he said he would be willing to reconsider.

“I need to weigh the benefit of the doubt,” Koester said.

The council voted 4-3 in favor of scheduling a second reading and adoption of the rezoning Sept. 8, with McConaghy, Coletti Brown, City Councilman Kenneth Gafa and Mayor Arthur Bryant voting in favor of this and Granger, Koester and City Councilman Jim Motschall Jr. voting against it.

At press time, the City Council was slated to hold a second — and final — reading of the rezoning proposal and vote during a meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 8. An agenda hadn’t been drafted at press time but will be posted on the city’s website, gpwmi.us.