Planning commission approves site plan for 603 Columbus Ave convenience store

The Bay City Planning Commission on June 18, 2025, approved site plan SPR24-06 to redevelop 603 Columbus Avenue into a 1,500-square-foot retail convenience store, with conditions for refuse placement, lighting and signage.

City planning staff told the commission the applicant revised the site plan after an earlier postponement. Changes shown to the commission included reversing refuse and unloading locations, adding shrubs, reducing interior reach-in coolers and the beer cave to create a clearer front-door entrance, and providing entrances on both the Columbus Avenue side and the parking-lot side.

Commissioners and staff focused on three implementation items. First, staff noted a 10-foot clearance requirement for dumpster enclosures in the city’s refuse/refuge section; the proposed enclosure appears closer than 10 feet to the property line on the submitted plan and could require a variance to the Zoning Board of Appeals if the setback cannot be met. Second, staff corrected an earlier report entry to confirm eight off-street parking spaces are shown on the site plan. Third, the commission requested a lighting plan (a "lighting matrix") and directional signage to enforce the site’s one-way vehicular circulation; staff will review and approve lighting and signage administratively as conditions of approval.

During its review commissioners also discussed fence heights and a stepped transition required along the north property line adjacent to residential property, and staff noted the five-foot sidewalk and a short ramp area shown provide pedestrian access to the Columbus Avenue entrance.

The motion to approve SPR24-06 included the staff findings and the conditions noted above; the commission adopted the motion and approved the site plan with the stipulations that unresolved code setbacks or clearances (including the dumpster setback) be resolved administratively where possible or referred to the Zoning Board of Appeals if a variance is required, and that staff approve final lighting and signage details.

Next steps include the applicant obtaining required building and electrical permits, submitting any necessary as-built or revised drawings, and either implementing the administrative corrections or pursuing a formal variance if the 10-foot dumpster clearance cannot be achieved.

Speakers listed in the record who participated on this item include: Terry Moltain (planning staff, City of Bay City), Lee Austin (Austin and Associates Architects, applicant), Douglas Reis (Commissioner, Bay City Planning Commission), and Dennis Banacek (Commissioner, Bay City Planning Commission).