David Veselenak

hometownlife.com

A recent request to rezone the property with the old Cloverlanes bowling alley won’t be taking place.

Instead, the Livonia Planning Commission plans to talk through what other ways the property can be zoned to fit a potential plan brought by a developer.

The commission voted Tuesday unanimously to recommend denying the rezoning request made to change the zoning from C-2 general business to M-1 light manufacturing, requested by Michigan Property Group, LLC.

Developer Ernie D’ascenzo said the plan is to demolish the old bowling alley at 28900 Schoolcraft and replace it with a 116,000 square-foot climate-controlled self-storage facility. Additionally, the proposal also called for some outside storage of recreational vehicles. The building itself was only discussed lightly, as the specifics would require more approval in the form of a site plan petition that would need to come back before the city.

“We believe the concept we have works really well for the community,” he said. “It meets the criteria of a nice building in Livonia.”

But several commissioners believed another look needed to be done on the zoning, with some saying the M-1 designation didn’t fit that area.

“I think the site plan, the conceptual use we see for this property is ideal for this particular site,” said commissioner Ian Wilshaw. “A manufacturing zoning, while being the only option currently available ... is not the appropriate zoning for this site.”

The commission voted after it denied the rezoning recommendation to hold a public hearing to determine the appropriate way to designate the property for future use going forward. It’s expected to be discussed further at the commission’s next meeting. The city council has the final say on zoning changes.

Future of the site

Cloverlanes closed down last spring after being open since 1962. Since then, the building has remained vacant and unused with a real estate sign facing the I-96 corridor.

The proposed self-storage facility D’ascenzo wants to bring to the site is a good option for the area, he said, as it would be a low-impact site that would see only a few dozen cars coming in and out of it a day.

He said the current building isn’t suitable for use as a storage facility, thus the reason his team would come in and develop a new structure, one he said would look more like an office building that would house the self-storage units.

“In today's standard, there's no way to redevelop this building the way it's structurally engineered and the way it is,” D’ascenzo said.

Security cameras would also be installed to monitor the site all throughout the day.

Several residents who live just north of the property spoke at the planning commission meeting, mostly to express support for the project, saying it would be a better use than the bowling alley had been in recent years. Some said they wanted to see more improvements done in the area, including the wall that separates the homes from the lot.

Martin Vandevelde, who lives north of the bowling alley, said the height of the wall varies in several areas and would like to see that addressed.

“At some spots, the wall might be 4 feet tall, it might be 8 feet tall. We’ve had people enter people's houses coming over that wall,” he said. “I know it’s slanted at certain points where the height is much different at other places. That's my big concern.”

Shannon Randazzo said she hoped the project moving forward to keep away some of the issues she’s seen in the area, including finding illicit items in her backyard in recent years that have required calls to law enforcement officials.

“It has been very difficult living behind Cloverlanes with syringes being found in my backyard,” she said.

dveselenak@hometownlife.com | 734-678-6728 Twitter: @DavidVeselenak

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