Planning commission approves Worth Venture LLC parking-lot paving at 1702 Standish with landscaping and driveway conditions

The Petoskey City Planning Commission on Sept. 17 approved a site plan for parking-lot paving and reconfiguration at 1702 Standish Avenue, a property owned by Worth Venture LLC.

The applicant, Wade Worth, and project engineer Wayne Seager described the proposal as primarily a paving and reorganization project intended to provide a paved 33-space parking lot to meet the city's ordinance-required parking for the site's uses. The property is in an I-2 industrial zone and contains multiple buildings and garage bays used for vehicle service and storage.

City staff and the project engineer identified several areas of concern on the submitted plan: the width of two existing curb cuts (one measured at about 50 feet, the other about 33 feet, where code allows a 24-foot maximum for commercial/industrial drive approaches), a nearly unbroken area of curb-front concrete with little landscaping, awkward angled parking in the northwest corner that could impede circulation and vehicle maneuvering, and a disrupted sidewalk near a large driveway.

Matt Miller, P.E., Petoskey city engineer, said he was comfortable allowing the existing driveways to remain in place if the south driveway apron were narrowed to 24 feet and the plan provided additional landscaping. Miller recommended converting a portion near the north curb cut to landscaping to improve curb appeal while retaining the practical access for the multiple garage doors on the north side of the property.

Owner Wade Worth and engineer Seager emphasized operational needs: the site serves multiple businesses with garage doors and occasional large trucks ("50 to 60 feet long between a truck and a trailer"), and they said maintaining two access points helps accommodate turning movements and operations. Worth said the back portion of the property was gravel and he had preferred to leave it gravel, but recognized ordinance requirements that parking spaces be hard-surfaced would require paving some additional area.

Commissioners discussed options to reduce pavement while meeting the required 33 parking spaces, including reassigning some spaces behind the building, cleaning and maintaining existing green areas, and using landscaping islands to improve stormwater and aesthetics. Members also noted the property's existing nonconforming elements'notably building locations within the front setback'that staff could not change during the site plan review.

After discussion, Commissioner Carolyn (Caroline) moved to approve the site plan to construct a parking lot at 1702 Standish Avenue with the following conditions: (1) modify the south driveway to 24 feet and add landscaping adjacent to the building; (2) add landscaping along the north property line and maintain/clean up the existing green area shown in the photo; (3) applicant submit revised plans showing those changes to the city planner (Lisa) and staff (John) for review before the chair signs the plan; and (4) maintain the north curb cut access into the garage area with proposed landscaping to improve curb appeal. The motion also included that Lisa and John review the revised plans and then forward them to Cynthia (for signature) once conditions are met.

The commission also discussed lighting: no photometric plan was submitted; existing pole-mounted fixtures remained and staff agreed to require any future lighting changes to meet the city's lighting rules. Staff asked the applicant to provide any required curb-cut permit from the engineering office after plan sign-off. The group clarified that the proposal meets the ordinance-required parking count of 33 spaces and that the applicant agreed to pave the portions necessary to meet that requirement.

Commissioner Darlene seconded the motion. The commission voted unanimously to approve the site plan with the conditions. Commissioners asked staff to review the revised plan once received and noted that the applicant would need standard permits (zoning permit and curb-cut permit) after plan approval. Owner Wade Worth said he would submit revised plans to staff promptly so work could proceed this year.

The approved conditions aim to balance operational needs for an industrial property with landscaping, pedestrian sidewalk function, and curb-cut widths that better match the city's site standards.