State Street Center Project Postponed

Ann Arbor planning commissioners have postponed action on a proposed site plan for State Street Center, near the intersection of State and Ellsworth. The unanimous vote took place at the commission’s March 19, 2013 meeting.

The plan calls for demolishing a vacant 840-square-foot house on this site. In its place, the developer plans a one-story, 1,700-square-foot drive-thru restaurant facing South State Street and a one-story, 6,790-square-foot retail building behind the restaurant. The driveway off South State Street would be relocated and widened. The site would include 39 parking spaces, as well as covered bicycle parking between the buildings.

The project, estimated to cost $900,000, would also require rezoning the site from O (office) to C3 (fringe commercial).

The development is located adjacent to a new Tim Hortons restaurant, which opened last year. There is no driveway connection between the two sites, however. Planning staff indicated that such a connection was encouraged, but the two property owners would not agree to it.

The planning staff recommended postponement after discovering that the city’s official zoning map had been incorrectly labeled. It showed the site as zoned C3. The developer had made plans based on that erroneous labeling. But during background research for this proposal, planning staff discovered that the site actually had been zoned as O (office) in 2003. The postponement is intended to allow the developer to submit a rezoning request. The proposal will likely be taken up again at the commission’s April 2 meeting.

The property is owned by Jack Schwarcz of Oak Park, Mich.

This brief was filed from the second-floor council chambers at city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link]