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Council advances Northpointe’s Romulus Trade Center North rezoning to first reading
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Summary
Council concurred with the Planning Commission and approved first reading of a conditional rezoning for Romulus Trade Center North, a 108-acre industrial-retail project Northpointe says will preserve buffers, impact about 3.9 acres of wetlands and generate jobs and tax revenue.
The Romulus City Council on April 26 voted to concur with the Planning Commission and approve first reading of conditional rezoning RZ2025-001 for the Romulus Trade Center North, a Northpointe-backed mixed industrial and retail proposal covering roughly 108.48 acres.
Mark Warner of Northpointe told the council the project includes two industrial buildings, about 4.5 acres of retail at the south end and a “donut” layout that keeps buildings set back behind extensive buffers. Warner said the developer has committed to substantial tree preservation (conservation easement), a 727-foot setback from Beverly Road in parts of the site, extensive plantings and berming to screen truck docks from nearby homes.
Warner cited community outreach and a March 16 planning commission hearing, noting a door-knock campaign and a town meeting at which the developer addressed resident concerns. He said a sound study shows maximum anticipated hourly dBA at the nearest home would be about 50 dBA and that wetlands impacts are limited to roughly 3.9 acres of the site’s 23 acres of wetlands; he said mitigation is planned.
Northpointe projected about $41.5 million in tax revenue over 20 years and some 300 full-time positions plus roughly 500 construction jobs. The conditional rezoning agreement includes design and dock-count limits intended to reduce truck-terminal impacts, and traffic access will be concentrated on ECourse Road with internal circulation and queuing roads to avoid backups.
Councilwoman Roscoe moved to approve the introduction and first reading; the council voted to concur with the Planning Commission’s findings and advance the rezoning.
The first-reading approval does not finalize site approvals; final ordinances, the conditional rezoning agreement and engineering approvals remain subject to later council action and execution of the development agreement by the city attorney.
