By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance amendment allowing the rezoning of a property at 6906 Kingsley for a proposed elder care center development with multiple-family housing.
The property was rezoned from the current Industrial A, Industrial B and vehicular parking lot to Residential E, multiple family residential district.
With the council’s approval Sept. 24, the Zoning Board of Appeals was next to unanimously approve variances for parking, density and setbacks.
The variances unanimously approved Sept. 26 were to waive the required lot minimum of 1,500 square feet needed per unit with 1,373 square feet planned; the required maximum density of 29.04 units per acre for the planned 33.56 units; the required front yard setback of 25 feet with 10 feet planned; and waive the required rear yard setback of 30 feet for the 21 feet proposed.
According to city code, 129 parking spaces would have been required compared to the developers planned 75 spaces.
The proposed site sits on 1.5 acres on Kingsley just south of Warren Avenue at Blesser Avenue where the current vacant structure will be demolished.
Under the plans, a 54,019-square-foot, four-story mixed-use building will be constructed with an adult day care and community space on the first floor and senior apartments on all four floors.
“The proposed building contains 49 two-bedroom senior apartments that are approximately 797 square feet per unit,” the Planning Division staff report read.
During the Aug. 12 Planning Commission meeting, a request for special land use and site plan for the project were approved, contingent on rezoning and variances approval.
After reviewing 10 standards for granting the special land use, a recommendation was made to approve the land use, and site plan was made with the condition that the required variances are granted by the ZBA.
As for the “waive the general site landscaping” and “waive the required landscaped screening or wall” variances, the staff report said the planning commission may waive both of those items in its review of the site plan if it was determined that the plan would produce basically the same results.
One of those variances was impact on traffic, but the proposed vehicle circulation will help minimize any traffic flow issues that could potentially occur, according to the report.
“There are two proposed access points into the site, one is via a curb cut along Kingsley Street, and the other utilizes the public alley along Blesser Avenue,” the report said. “The public alley extends 140 feet into the site and the remainder of the alley is vacated, eliminating any potential for through traffic. The proposed 16-foot-wide dropoff location for the adult day care is located on the eastern side of the building. Those who attend the daycare will either be dropped off or brought in via a small bus.”
Senior Planner Jeffery Polkowski said the project would be a “great use of the property to fill the huge need for a senior citizen housing and adult care center serving Dearborn’s aging population.”
The center will be owned by Rod Issa and have MHT Housing Inc. as the developer. Dearborn Town Center Senior, 4550 Calhoun opened last year with 77 apartments and MHT Housing Inc. as a partner on the project.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])