It is the purpose of this article to provide standards and requirements for site plan submissions for land uses and structures within the city and establish procedures for the submission and review of site plans. This article governs the processes and standards for all uses and structures for which site plan approval is required under other provisions of this ordinance. The planning commission shall have the sole power to approve or disapprove all special land uses, except for the planned unit development option. The city council shall make all final decisions regarding planned unit developments.

(Ord. of 5-31-22(2))

The required items of an application for site plan approval are as follows. The planning commission may waive any of the following required items at their discretion.

A.

The following required items shall be demonstrated on the site plan drawings, written narrative/submitted documentation, or both as indicated in the table below:

Site Plan Application Requirements

B.

The planning commission may waive any of the above required items at their discretion.

C.

The planning commission, building official, zoning administrator, city engineer or other party authorized by the city may request any additional information it deems necessary in the review of submitted site plan.

D.

Evidence the plan has been submitted for review to all affected jurisdictions, including but not limited to, Wayne County Department of Public Services, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment (EGLE), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If an applicable review is not submitted, statement of a date certain for submission or the reason why their review is not applicable must be provided.

E.

All site plan drawings shall be submitted as one set on sheets twenty-four (24) inches by thirty-six (36) inches and in digital PDF format.

The following criteria shall be used as a basis upon which site plans will be reviewed and approved:

A.

Adequacy of information. The site plan shall include all required information in sufficiently complete and understandable form to provide an accurate description of the proposed uses and structures.

B.

Site design characteristics. Elements of the site design shall be harmoniously and efficiently organized in relation to topography, the size and type of parcel, the character of adjoining land uses, and the type and size of buildings. The site shall be developed so as not to impede the normal and orderly development or improvement of surrounding property for uses permitted by these regulations.

C.

Site appearance. Landscaping, earth berms, fencing, signs, walls, structures and other site features shall be designed and located on the site so that the proposed development is aesthetically pleasing and harmonious with nearby existing or future developments.

D.

Compliance with district requirements. The site plan shall comply with the district requirements for minimum floor space, height of building, lot size, open space, density and all other requirements set forth in the article 3, Regulated Uses and Dimensions, unless otherwise provided in these regulations.

E.

Privacy. The site design shall provide reasonable visual and sound privacy. Fences, walls, barriers, and landscaping shall be used, as appropriate, for the protection and enhancement of property and the safety and privacy of occupants and uses.

F.

Emergency vehicle access. All buildings or groups of buildings shall be so arranged as to permit convenient and direct emergency vehicle access.

G.

Circulation. Every structure or dwelling unit shall be provided with adequate means of ingress and egress via public streets and walkways. The site plan shall provide a pedestrian circulation system that is insulated as completely as is reasonably possible from the vehicular circulation system. The arrangement of public and common ways for vehicular and pedestrian circulation shall respect the pattern of existing or planned streets or pedestrian ways in the vicinity of the site. The width of streets and drives shall be appropriate for the volume of traffic they will carry.

H.

Parking. The intended use shall provide sufficient parking facilities as specifically required by this ordinance.

I.

Drainage. Appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure that the removal or drainage of surface water will not adversely affect adjoining properties or the capacity of the public drainage system. Provisions shall be made for a feasible storm drainage system, the construction of storm water collection, storage and transportation facilities, and the prevention of erosion. Surface water on all paved areas shall be collected at intervals so that it will not obstruct vehicular or pedestrian traffic and will not create nuisance ponding in paved areas. Final grades may be required to conform to existing and future grades of adjacent properties. Grading and drainage plans shall be subject to review by the city engineer. All storm water management plans shall require approval and a permit issued by the applicable agency, including but not limited to the Michigan Department of Transportation, Wayne County and/or the City of Ecorse.

J.

Soil erosion and sedimentation. The proposed development shall include measures to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation during and upon completion of construction, in accordance with current Wayne County Roads and city engineering standards.

K.

Exterior lighting. Exterior lighting shall be designed so that it is deflected away from adjoining properties, visual glare is minimized, and so that it does not impede vision of drivers along adjacent streets.

L.

Public services. Adequate services and utilities, including water, sewage disposal, sanitary sewer, and storm water control services, shall be available or provided, and shall be designed with sufficient capacity and durability to properly serve the development.

M.

Screening. Off-street parking, loading and unloading areas, outside refuse storage areas, and other storage areas that are visible from adjacent homes or from public roads, shall be screened by walls or landscaping of adequate height. All walls must be solid and constructed of masonry and shall be subject to the approval of the code official and cannot be located in required setbacks without written authorization from the code official.

N.

Danger from fire and hazards. The level of vulnerability to injury or loss from incidents involving fire and hazardous materials or processes shall not exceed the capability of the city to respond to such incidents so as to prevent injury and loss of life and property. In making such an evaluation, the city shall consider the location, type, characteristics, quantities, and use of materials or processes in relation to the personnel, training, equipment and materials, and emergency response plans and capabilities of the city. Sites that include significant storage of flammable or hazardous materials or waste, fuels, salt, or chemicals shall be designed to prevent spills and discharges of polluting materials to the surface of the ground, groundwater, and public sewer system.

O.

Health and safety concerns. Any use in any zoning district shall comply with applicable federal, state, county, and local health and pollution laws and regulations with respect to noise; dust, smoke and other air pollutants; vibration; glare and heat; fire and explosive hazards; gases; electromagnetic radiation; radioactive materials; and, toxic and hazardous materials.

P.

Phases. All development phases shall be designed in logical sequence to ensure that each phase will independently function in a safe, convenient and efficient manner without being dependent upon subsequent improvements in a later phase or on other sites.

The planning commission shall review the application and make a determination to approve the application, require any conditions it may find necessary, or deny the application.

The city shall keep a record of decisions on all site plans on file in the clerk's office. The record shall include the following information:

A previously approved site plan may be modified subject to the following procedures:

Fees and performance guarantees associated with the review and approval of a site plan review application shall be consistent with the requirements in article 12.

Site plans are required for the following uses:

A.

Any development that would, if approved, provide for the establishment of more than one principal use on a parcel, such as, a single-family site condominium or similar project where a single parcel is developed to include two (2) or more sites for detached single-family dwellings, excluding accessory dwelling units.

B.

Development of nonresidential uses or multiple families uses in a single-family district.

C.

Residential developments that will include five (5) or more dwelling units.

D.

The development or construction of any accessory uses or structures, except for uses or structures that are accessory to a residential use in the SFR, and FR districts.

E.

Any use or construction for which submission of a site plan is required by any provision of these regulations.

F.

Establishment of any regulated use unless expressly exempted in this article.

Site plan approval is not required for the following activities, however, payment of any or all applicable bonds is required for issuance of a building permit.

A.

Construction, moving, relocating or structurally altering a principal residential structure in the SFT, SFC and FR districts, including any customarily incidental accessory structures.

B.

Excavating, filling, or otherwise removing soil, provided that such activity is normally and customarily incidental to single-family uses described in this subsection for which site plan approval is not required.

C.

A change in the ownership of land or a structure.

D.

A change in the use of a structure to a similar use allowed by right in the zoning district in which it is located, provided that no modification to the site is proposed or required by the standards of the regulations and that the site maintains full and continuing compliance with these regulations.

E.

Residential developments that will include four (4) or fewer dwelling units.

F.

Permitted home occupations.

An applicant shall be required to hold a pre-application conference with the building official, zoning administrator and/or city planner to discuss in general the substantive requirements for the application prior to submittal.

After a pre-application conference, an applicant may submit an application for conceptual review before the planning commission prior to formal submittal of a site plan review application. The purpose is to gather feedback on the proposed land use and potential requirements of the planning commission. Feedback provided by the planning commission under a conceptual review is non-binding, subject to change, and is not to be construed as a guarantee for approval. A conceptual review does not include a completeness or technical review by the building official, zoning administrator, and/or city planner.

All required application materials shall be presented to the building department by the property owner of their designated agent at least fourteen (14) days prior to the planning commission meeting where the site plan will be considered. The building department staff shall review the application for completeness in order to determine if the application has been properly submitted and the applicant has corrected all deficiencies. Completeness reviews are solely for the purpose of determining whether the preliminary information required for submission of the application is sufficient to allow further processing and shall not constitute a decision as to whether an application complies with the provisions of this ordinance. Once deemed complete, the application will be placed on the next regularly scheduled planning commission meeting.

An application determined to be complete will undergo a technical review by the building department to determine compliance with applicable standards. This review may include distributing the plan to other local agencies or departments with jurisdiction for comment on any problems the plans might pose and shall result in a report submitted to the planning commission with the site plan review application. Once the technical review is complete, the application will be placed on the next regularly scheduled planning commission meeting.

The zoning administrator or planner may review and make a decision on a qualifying site plan review application. The zoning administration or planner shall perform the duties of the planning commission prescribed in this article when conducting an administrative review. No part of this subsection shall prohibit the zoning administrator, Planner or Applicant from requesting the site plan be submitted to the planning commission for review and approval. A site plan review application qualifying for administrative review shall meet the following criteria:

A.

The use is permitted by right in the established zoning district.

B.

Will result in less than one thousand (1,000) square feet of new development or construction.

C.

Will generate less than five hundred (500) trip ends per day as determined by the proposed land use activity based on the most recent edition of the Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

All other uses requiring a site plan shall be reviewed and decided upon by the planning commission.

The site plan shall be approved upon determination that it is in compliance with the standards of this ordinance, other city planning documents, other applicable ordinances, and state and federal statutes.

The planning commission may approve a site plan, subject to any conditions to address necessary modifications, obtain variances, or approvals from other agencies. Conditions imposed shall meet each of the following objectives:

A.

Be designed to protect natural resources, the health, safety, and welfare, as well as the social and economic well-being, of those who will use the land use or activity under consideration, residents and landowners immediately adjacent to the proposed land use or activity, and the community as a whole;

B.

Be related to the valid exercise of the police power and purposes which are affected by the proposed use or activity;

C.

Be necessary to meet the intent and purpose of the zoning requirements, be related to the standards established in the zoning ordinance for the land use or activity under consideration, and be necessary to ensure compliance with those standards.

If the planning commission determines that a proposed site plan does not meet the standards of this ordinance, or otherwise will tend to be injurious to the public health, safety, welfare or orderly development of the city, it shall deny the application by a written endorsement which clearly sets forth the reason for such denial.

All minutes from any meeting where the site plan was considered.

The decision on a site plan review shall be incorporated in a finding of fact relative to the land use under consideration and shall specify the basis for the decision and any conditions imposed.

An electronic pdf version and a full size print set (twenty-four (24) inches by thirty-six (36) inches) of the final site plans stamped by a licensed architect, landscape architect, or civil engineer.

A.

Approved site plans shall include any required revisions and the date of the revisions. The print set shall be marked "approved" and signed and dated by the applicant and planning commission chair if approved by the planning commission, or the zoning administrator if administratively approved.

B.

Denied site plans shall be marked "denied" and signed and dated by planning commission chair if denied by the planning commission, or the zoning administrator if administratively denied.

An approved site plan shall include a site plan development agreement outlining the approved use, any applicable conditions, and procedural process. The development agreement shall be signed and notarized by the applicant and planning commission chair.

A site plan review approved under this article shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of approval. If the applicant fails to submit an application for a building permit to the city for the approved site plan review in that time period, then the site plan review approval shall automatically expire. The applicant may request an extension of the permit by submitting a written request for consideration to the planning commission before the expiration date. The planning commission may grant an extension for a period of up to one year.

If a violation of any of the conditions or standards imposed on an approved site plan review is found to exist following inspection, the zoning administrator or building official shall notify the owner of the premises, the applicant of the site plan review, and the planning commission that such violation exists and that the site plan review approval will be revoked within fifteen (15) days of such notification. If said violation is not corrected within fifteen (15) days, the planning commission may revoke the permit. Furthermore, such a violation is hereby declared a violation of this ordinance, subject to all the remedies and penalties provided for within this ordinance.

No application for a site plan review approval which has been denied wholly or in part by the planning commission shall be resubmitted until the expiration of one year or more from the date of such denial, except on the ground of newly discovered evidence or proof of changed conditions.

The building official may authorize insignificant deviations in an approved site plan if the resulting use will still meet all applicable standards and requirements of this ordinance, and any conditions imposed. A deviation is insignificant if the building official determines it will result in no discernible changes to or impact on neighboring properties, the general public, or those intended to occupy or use the proposed development and will not noticeably change or relocate the proposed improvements to the property.

The planning commission may permit minor amendments to an approved site plan if the resulting use will still meet all applicable standards and requirements of this ordinance, and any conditions imposed unless otherwise requested to be modified, and do not substantially affect the character or intensity of the use, vehicular or pedestrian circulation, drainage patterns, demand for public services, or vulnerability to hazards. The planning commission may make a decision on minor amendments upon receipt of an application. Minor amendments are those modifications the zoning administrator determines will have no substantial impact on neighboring properties, the general public, or those intended to occupy or use the proposed development, but exceed the extent to which can be approved as an insignificant deviation.

All other requests for amendments to an approved site plan shall be processed in the same manner as a new site plan review application. The planning commission may impose new conditions on the approval of an amendment request if such conditions are warranted as described in this article. The holder of the special land use permit may reject such additional conditions by withdrawing the request for an amendment and proceeding under the existing special land use permit.