Allen Park City Manager Mark Kibby (left) and Allen Park Building Official Dave Boomer meet with the Melvindale City Council Dec. 26 to get approval for a site plan with an access road onto Outer Drive within the boundaries of Melvindale for the Baker College property Allen Park hopes to acquire for its new Department of Public Works site, as Council members Carl Louvet and Nicole Barnes, City Clerk Diana Zarazua, Mayor Stacy Bazman, City Attorney Larry Coogan, and Council members Wheeler Marsee, Michelle Said Land and Dave Cybulski listen.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – The City Council unanimously approved a site plan with an access road through Melvindale Dec. 26 for Allen Park’s proposed Baker College land purchase for a department of public works yard.
The council lacked a quorum at its Dec. 19 meeting, and rescheduled a session before the end of the calendar year to help facilitate Allen Park’s purchase.
Allen Park City Manager Mark Kibby, Building Official Dave Boomer and Finance Director Bob Cady received approval from the Melvindale Planning Commission Dec. 13 for an access road through Melvindale for a parcel of land it plans to buy from Baker College, which the college did not want to subdivide. The Allen Park portion of the property is landlocked, and access to Outer Drive through Melvindale is needed to provide vehicle access.
The land was once part of the St. Mary Magdalen parish athletic fields.
The Melvindale portion of the 12-acre site, about two acres, is green space, zoned residential. Any other usage in the future would need to be approved by a zoning board and the council.
The Allen Park City Council heard a proposal in its study session to consider using the green space as a dog park; however, the proposal was not brought before the Melvindale City Council, and Melvindale Building Official Brad Burns said any change from residential zoning would have to go before the council.
Allen Park officials said at the earlier planning commission meeting that the Allen Park city attorney advised them to obtain Melvindale officials’ approval before proceeding on the Baker College land purchase, which will allow Allen Park to eventually consolidate its two existing DPW sites into one.
Kibby and Boomer were at the Dec. 26 Melvindale City Council meeting where they addressed the body and answered questions.
Boomer said the proposed entrance and exit for the tentative DPW site would line up with Harman and Hanna streets.
“They would make it an easy passage way, but they would require county approval, because that is a county right-of-way,” Boomer said. “We found it was imperative to line up with Harman and Hanna streets to keep the traffic flowing there.”
Boomer said any buildings would be on the Allen Park portion of the site, and for now, the green space in Melvindale would remain undeveloped. Any future proposal for the Melvindale acreage, he said, would need to be approved by the Melvindale Planning Commission and City Council.
“So the only thing we are really asking for is the access roads to the property,” Boomer said.
Kibby said Hanna has an existing traffic light at its intersection with Outer Drive.
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at [email protected].)