Huntington Woods planning commission tables Bigby Coffee site plan, advances 2025 priorities focused on 11 Mile pedestrian safety

HUNTINGTON WOODS — The Huntington Woods Planning Commission on a March 2025 meeting tabled the site-plan and special-land-use review for Bigby Coffee at 2602 Coolidge and spent the bulk of the session reviewing a staff-drafted 2025 priority list that highlights pedestrian-safety projects on 11 Mile Road and a slate of zoning and sustainability updates.

Staff told commissioners the Bigby Coffee application is not ready for final review and moved to postpone the site plan and patio-related special-land-use questions until the next regular meeting. The motion to table was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

A staff presenter addressed the commission and outlined the priority list, asking commissioners to rate each item high, medium or low and return their rankings to staff within about a week so staff could finalize the list by April. "Being that this is one of the few meetings where we actually don't have site plan reviews, we get to actually do some planning," the presenter said while introducing the list and the request for ranked input.

Pedestrian safety on 11 Mile was the highest-detailed section of the presentation. Staff described a financed project to add midblock pedestrian crossings near Scotia and Meadowcrest, and said the city plans to install a HAWK beacon (a push-button pedestrian-activated signal that can be configured as full-time if needed). "There will be a push button and there will be a walkway for the kids to go through," the presenter said, and added the crossing is expected to be completed in the fall after delays in component delivery.

Staff said the crossing design and related work have been reviewed by the traffic improvement authority (TIA), the city public-safety department (including Director Pasachowski), the city manager (Wilson), the DPW director (Rocco Furtura) and outside consultants Nowak and Fraus. The presenter emphasized the work must meet MDOT standards, Oakland County Road Commission requirements and ADA compliance.

Commissioners also discussed coordinating with the city of Berkeley on a study to test a 4-to-3 lane reconfiguration on segments of 11 Mile Road to improve pedestrian crossings and evaluate green infrastructure; staff recommended a pilot project using existing traffic-flow counts to test designs before permanent changes.

Other priority items described by staff included a needs assessment for the city campus area (11 Mile corridor), a partnership with a vendor (Verigee) for street lighting, HVAC upgrades and solar installations on city buildings, a city signage plan that includes Hill Historic District markers, and sustainability-oriented zoning updates to strengthen stormwater-management standards. Staff cited a proposed threshold that would require more rigorous stormwater controls where parking areas exceed 20% of required spaces and suggested first‑flush retention requirements for certain residential additions.

On the vacant Rite Aid property adjacent to the Bigby Coffee site, staff said the building is owned by a third party (Rite Aid had been a triple-net lessee) and that no formal redevelopment application had been submitted. "We don't know what's going in there," staff said, noting the parcel currently has on the order of 45 parking spaces and that different tenant mixes (retail, professional office, dentist) would have different parking impacts. Staff recommended Bigby locate early if they plan an outdoor patio so remaining tenant plans can be informed by the initial occupancy.

The presenter also noted a medium-priority consideration to rezone the southwest corner at 11 Mile and Woodward to transitional zoning to align with the Woodward Avenue corridor and said whether that item advances this year depends on the commission's prioritized rankings.

Next steps: staff asked commissioners to submit their ranked priority sheets within roughly a week; staff said it would assemble a final priority list for approval at the next meeting. The commission opened and closed public participation and then adjourned by voice vote.

Actions recorded: the commission approved the meeting agenda by voice vote, approved minutes from the Feb. 24, 2025 meeting by voice vote (with at least one voiced opposition during the minutes item), and tabled the site-plan/special-land-use review for Bigby Coffee (motion moved and seconded, approved by voice vote).