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Livonia study session sets Jan. 14 agenda: sidewalk waivers, business waivers, contracts and public concerns
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Summary
At a January 2026 study session, Livonia City Council previewed items for its Jan. 14 regular meeting, scheduling multiple sidewalk-waiver petitions, business waiver requests (including an Outback SDM liquor-waiver request and a site-plan change for Cava), several contract approvals and renewals, and discussed public concerns about facility access and sidewalk hazards.
Livonia’s City Council met in a January study session to preview items it will consider at its Jan. 14 regular (voting) meeting, placing dozens of consent and regular items on the agenda and hearing public comments about access to city facilities and sidewalk safety.
Erica Smith, the city’s new director of government affairs, introduced herself and asked council members to route information requests through her office (asmith@livonia.gov) or the mayor’s staff email to ensure consistent responses. Council set a 30-minute audience-communication block (three minutes per speaker) for the meeting.
Key items scheduled for the Jan. 14 meeting include sidewalk-waiver petitions from Livonia Builders G2 LLC and Infinity Homes & Co., both recommended for consent because the neighborhoods lack connecting sidewalks. Planning staff explained that ordinance rules allow waivers where no adjacent sidewalk network exists.
Planning also recommended amending the site plan for a proposed Cava restaurant to eliminate a prior condition requiring an access connection to Chippewa Drive after developers failed to reach agreement with the private property owner. Staff said the planning commission recommended approval conditioned on improved directional signage to prevent unauthorized left turns; council asked for additional traffic-flow information before final action.
Other items placed for Jan. 14 consent or regular consideration include: - Outback Steakhouse’s request for a specially designated merchant (SDM) waiver to allow limited packaged beer, wine and certain mixed-spirit products for off-premises sale; planning approved 4–2 and recommended the council consider restricting the waiver’s transferability to another business. Council asked for additional input from the police chief about underage-purchase risk. - A waiver to add two oil-change bays to an existing coin-operated car wash on Joy Road; staff recommended hour limits apply to the oil-change operation only and that parking-lot lighting be dimmed or shielded to reduce glare toward residential properties. - A banquet-facility waiver for a proposed event space at 28370 Joy Road (planning reduced the requested capacity from 125 to 100); council noted neighbor concerns about noise, hours and trash and asked for clearer hours and trash-management terms in the resolution. - Procurement and contract items brought by public works and communications: a printing contract for the city’s Connections magazine (AccuForm, $71,736 for three 64-page issues), donation of television equipment to Clarenceville High School, a Trinity Livonia sublease and health-services renewal at Jackie Kirksey Recreation Center ($60,000/year lease payment), a waiver to extend Rotondo Construction unit prices for repaving (rec center entrance, NTE $129,935.50), a $26,500 upgrade for a self-contained leaf vacuum, a MISDIG subscription ($26,450.48), a three-year fire-panel maintenance contract ($52,584), a one-year extension for Sod Solutions tree trimming (request to increase the NTE to $375,000), restoration of year-round household hazardous-waste service via ERG, CityWorks online licensing ($105,952.20) and authorization of a $300,000 vendor budget for outside heavy-equipment maintenance.
Public commenters raised local issues during audience communication. Steve King said he had been banned from both the recreation center and the senior wellness center after criticizing construction spending and asked council to investigate. Noah Joseph Wojciech flagged multiple sidewalk trip hazards near 5 Mile Farmington and requested the city mark or protect hazardous areas until repairs can be made; another resident asked the council to display packet materials during regular meetings to improve transparency.
Council members generally supported placing the items on the Jan. 14 agenda, with several requesting clarified packet language or additional information from staff on specific topics (traffic flow for the Cava site-plan amendment; police input on the Outback SDM request; spending detail for tree-trimming contract increases).
Next steps: council will take formal votes at its Jan. 14 regular meeting; several items were specifically placed on that agenda for either consent approval or fuller consideration with amended resolution language.
