Engineering and planning dominate Macomb Twp. board discussions

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — For those interested in the nitty gritty of township planning, the Sept. 25 Macomb Township Board of Trustees was a cornucopia of future development.

On the planning side, trustees approved a planned unit development agreement for the former BP gas station at the corner of 23 Mile Road and North Avenue.

“There is a plan to redevelop that site with a new gas station as well as a small commercial plaza,” Macomb Township Planning Director Josh Bocks said. “There was actually a PUD approved I believe in 2018; however, as they are getting close with their engineering and getting ready to get started with construction, it became evident that when it was approved in 2018 the PUD didn’t include a PUD agreement. So, the applicant was asked to go back through the process and include an agreement this time.”

According to the PUD documents, the site will be expanded from its current gas pumps and convenience store into a “service station/carryout restaurant with a drive through window and a retail center.” Additional parking, walkways, landscaping and detention ponds will be built for the property. It is expected that construction of the site will take place in a single phase.

 

21 and Heydenreich TIP project
Trustees also approved a plan to expand the scope of 21 Mile Road and Heydenreich Road intersection improvements pending the award of a transportation improvement program grant. Already backed by $3 million in state funds secured through the office of state Sen. Veronica Klinefelt, the proposed additions would support the goal of making the intersection safer.

“The project will now include the resurfacing of Heydenreich Road all the way up to 22 Mile, as well as from Romeo Plank over to Heydenreich,” Macomb Township Land Development Director James Van Tiflin said. “There will be additional left turn lanes both east toward the main entrance into Dakota (High School) as well the entrance into the entire school complex off of Heydenreich and then up to the half mile, as well as right turn lanes at the intersections, new lights at the entrance to the schools as well as the intersection. That area will have new pavement within a mile of the intersection and will operate a lot better than it has up to this point.”

The grant project selection is anticipated to take place in November. Should the grant be received, the township will provide about $3.3 million in matching funds for the project.

 

Engineering plan revisions
As the township continues to build out, a full revision of the engineering standards approved at the Sept. 25 meeting will set new developments up for success. While many changes are minor, Van Tiflin highlighted some changes to stormwater management standards.

First, the minimum detention pond storage volume was increased. The volume formula originally multiplied the area of the site by 2 inches to determine detention pond volume. The new standards multiply the area of the site by 2.4 inches. This increase sets the volume standards to where they were in the 1990s in response to the increasing volume and frequency of rain events. Van Tiflin said the volume could be increased in the future.

Newly built sites will be required to pretreat stormwater before it is discharged into a detention facility, allowing sediment and oils picked up by stormwater to be removed before they put wear on stormwater management infrastructure. Underground stormwater detention facilities are now being permitted in “commercial-type” sites.

“We’re finding that there are a lot of smaller sites where there’s not enough room for an open detention basin and all the parking that’s necessary (to) make a viable development,” Van Tiflin said.

To aid in the management of stormwater detention facilities, the new standards require maintenance plans to be designed by project developers and provided to future owners or a homeowners association, depending on the type of development.

“Right now, these stormwater facilities are being turned over to homeowners associations and they have no idea how to maintain them,” Van Tiflin said. “What we’re trying to do is put the burden on the developer and their engineer to come up with a specific manual for the homeowners association to use.”

Information in the manuals include maintenance periods and procedures as well as information about who should be contacted for maintenance issues. The engineering department will approve each management plan and maintain a record of each plan developed.