Planning commission approves preliminary site plan for daycare at 775 West Big Beaver with waivers

The Troy City Planning Commission on June 9 approved a preliminary site plan for a 10,000-square-foot childcare facility on the east side of Troy Center Drive, south of West Big Beaver, granting waivers for parking, the build-to line and loading spaces.

Planning consultant Mr. Carile told commissioners the revised proposal includes a new Troy Center Drive entrance and vestibule, an expanded south-side transparency to meet the 30% standard, a redesigned, more colorful facade and removal of a privacy fence along Troy Center Drive. "The facility will front on Troy Center Drive," he said, adding the applicant has addressed the four items the commission requested at the April hearing.

The project site is an outlot of the PNC campus and is zoned Big Beaver; Mr. Carile said the building would hold up to 163 children and noted the parcel is approximately 0.91 acres. The applicant requested three waivers: a build-to-line waiver, a parking-space waiver (the campus-wide ordinance totals under-park the PNC site), and a loading-space waiver.

Developer representative Chris Kajin of Kajjoin Companies said the revisions respond directly to commission feedback: "We added that Troy Center Drive vestibule. . . so it's still an access control where they can get inside of the building," he said, and described facade panels and branded block-column elements intended to make the entrance more inviting.

Commissioners pressed the applicant about child safety with the removal of the Troy Center Drive fence. Kajin said children would use an internal hallway to reach the play area and the operator will plan operations (for example, adjusting nap schedules) around those circulation patterns. Materials and maintenance were discussed; the applicant said the facade uses large-format panels and the decorative block columns are painted and sealed and will be maintained.

Questions about parking were addressed during the hearing. The applicant said the ordinance requires 23 spaces for the daycare use and that the site shows 42 on site; staff and the applicant explained that the parking waiver is limited to the PNC campus calculation, which is under the ordinance totals for all combined uses. A civil engineer for the applicant, John Hower of PA Group, said two ADA spaces required for this application are provided and that other accessible spaces on the campus are existing and not part of this application.

A motion to grant preliminary site plan approval pursuant to Article 8 of the zoning ordinance and to grant the requested waivers passed on a unanimous vote. Commissioners praised the applicant for addressing prior comments: "I think it's a great improvement over what was presented last time," said one commissioner, noting durability of the proposed materials.

Next steps include the final site plan and any building-permit review required before construction. The commission’s approval was limited to the preliminary site plan and waivers recorded at the June 9 meeting; any changes to the design or operations will return to staff and the commission as required.