The Farmington Hills Planning Commission voted to recommend that city council approve amendments to a 2014 planned unit development to permit a standalone Culver's with a drive-through at the shopping center near 12 Mile Road and Orchard Lake Avenue.

City planning staff told commissioners the application requires three specific PUD changes: permission for a standalone drive-through restaurant in the B-4 district, approval for a standalone fast-food building, and relief from the front setback requirement. Staff said the applicant's building is sited at 44.7 feet from the right-of-way where the ordinance standard is 120 feet and that design-standard relief would also be needed for building materials and ground-floor window coverage per the Giffels Webster review dated 11/12/2025.

Planning staff said the applicant's parking calculation (110 spaces) differed from the city's standalone calculation (53 spaces), but that when the center is evaluated as a whole under the shopping-center standard, the city found the post-construction parking supply will meet the ordinance without an exception. Staff also noted absent pedestrian sidewalk detail on the 12 Mile frontage and flagged that order-confirmation boards shown on the south side of the building face 12 Mile, which the standards generally prohibit in the front yard.

Traffic modeling by AECOM's Luke Liu showed a morning-peak additional queue of about 49 feet (roughly two to three cars) and an afternoon increase of about 34 feet (about two cars). Liu said the study was prepared by AECOM and reviewed by city engineering; engineering will circulate consultant comments and follow up on any questions.

Randy Carron, owner of Scramblers restaurant adjacent to the proposed outlot, said the project threatens his business's survival. "That place will put us out of business a 100%," Carron said, urging the commission to consider the effect on existing tenants and parking demand.

The applicant's owner, Ronald Sessy, told the commission site selection is constrained by the company's requirement to search within an approximate five-mile radius, explaining why this lot was chosen.

Commissioners were divided over whether the site is too tight and whether stacking and vehicular circulation are adequate. The motion to recommend approval (as moved on the record) included findings that the plans are consistent with the master plan and the zoning ordinance and attached conditions: all outstanding items in the Giffels Webster review (11/12/2025), city engineering correspondence (11/06/2025), and the fire marshal's correspondence (10/31/2025) must be addressed to the reasonable satisfaction of the appropriate city staff. The motion also asked staff to work with the proponent on a revised landscaping plan for the 12 Mile frontage to provide greater screening.

The commission's chair announced the motion passed and said the item will go forward to city council; staff indicated the earliest City Council meeting likely to receive the item is in January and that the landscaping issue should be resolved with staff before submittal. (Transcript note: the commission chair announced that there were nays; the roll-call replies in the transcript contain inconsistent counts—see audit.)

Next steps: the application will be forwarded to Farmington Hills City Council for final action; planning staff and the applicant are to resolve the outstanding engineering, fire, materials, and landscaping items before council review.