Inkster planning commission approves site plan, recommends special land use for John Daly pump station

The Inkster Planning Commission on Monday approved a preliminary site plan and voted to recommend that the City Council grant a special land use permit for a new utility building at 3700 John Daly Road.

City staff and consultants described the project as a one-story, 2,016-square-foot structure that will enclose equipment now located outdoors and place most infrastructure below grade. Mister Dowdell, who presented the proposal to the commission, said the building is intended to be sympathetic to the surrounding single-family neighborhood and to replace an existing outdoor pump station.

The project includes a below-grade basin about 30 feet deep with four pumps. Consultant Carrie Smalley described the basin and operations: "This is a 30 foot deep basin. There are 4 pumps down there. There are 2 small pumps that will probably be operating on a regular basis" and larger pumps that run during heavy rain events. Staff said the system, when complete with subsequent phases, is expected to move water for roughly 5,000 to 8,000 homes, reducing basement flooding in the served area.

Neighbors raised concerns about noise, construction impacts and property access. Pauline Colston, who lives four houses from the existing station, said the current facility "can be very, very noisy" and asked whether the new building would reduce sound. Jerome Bivens, director of the Department of Public Service for the City of Inkster, and the consultant replied that enclosing equipment and adding masonry screening would mitigate noise, with the generator running only during power outages and for weekly testing.

Staff noted a design issue that will require follow-up: the proposed masonry screening wall around the generator is nine feet high but the zoning ordinance allows a six-foot wall, meaning the applicant will either need to revise the wall height or seek a variance. Commissioners asked for security and monitoring details; staff said perimeter fencing, gates and lighting are planned and that camera requirements were used on other recent DPS site plans.

On construction timing, staff and consultants said most of the work is below grade and estimated the build-out at roughly 18 months, with pipe installation along Carlisle and John Daly occurring later in the schedule. The team also committed to neighborhood outreach: a resident meeting within about two weeks, door‑to‑door flyers and City notifications via the CodeRED system and the city app.

A motion to approve the preliminary site plan (SP24-05) was moved, seconded and approved by the commission. A separate motion to recommend that the City Council approve the special land use for case 01-253700JohnDalyRoad was similarly moved, seconded and passed. Commissioners noted outstanding administrative items for staff to track — security specifications and the wall-height variance among them — before the item proceeds to the council.

The commission also explained that similar conversions of outdoor pump stations exist at other City locations and that the current project is one of several phases for the eastern outfall work intended to reduce combined-sewer overflows and neighborhood flooding.

Documentation and next steps: staff said they will hold a neighborhood meeting to review staging and expected impacts before construction begins and will publish updates through the city's CodeRED notifications and app.