I'd like to call
to order a regular meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals for Wednesday, May
27th at 7:00 PM.
Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Roll call, Mr. Jersey.
Mr. Safaya?
Present.
Mr. Lindsey?
Present.
Mr. Perry?
Present.
Mr. Sessar?
Present.
Mr. Watts?
Present.
Mr. Green?
Present.
Mr. Clift is absent.
Mr. Jersey's present. Chairman Nystromvich?
Present.
Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to excuse Mr.
Clift-
Support
... tonight.
So we have a motion by Mr. Jersey, support by Mr.
Sessar, to excuse Mr. Clift tonight, due to
a conflicting-
Schedule
... schedule.
All in favor?
Aye.
Is anybody opposed?
Okay, that takes us to item number four, adoption of the agenda.
Do you want to make an announcement-
Yeah
... before we make--
Just wanted to make an announcement that we are down one board member today,
and there are two use variances on the agenda,
which instead of the normal five votes, you need to have six.
So if either of those
applicants would like to reschedule to the next meeting, please approach.
So that would be I Drive Auto, Ms. Purdy, and then there was
one, a Jeffrey Graham, Graham Polis.
I don't know if they're present or not.
What was that?
Oh. Jeffrey Graham? Yeah. Yes, he's here. Oh, he is?
He's coming right now. Okay. Because we're
offering... Oh, Ms. Purdy, you want to reschedule to the June
11th or June 10th?
June 10th.
June 10th
would be fine, thanks. Thank you. Okay.
We were just trying to find out if he wanted to reschedule since we're down one
board member.
But- He will be here. He just knew that. Okay. Hmm.
Well, we got off on the same curse-
Yeah, we will
... so we'll wait for a second.
Oh, there he is.
All right.
So-
It's okay
... just a quick question because you have a use variance today which requires six
yes votes.
Okay.
And we're down one board member, so we just wanted to ask and offer,
did you want to proceed today or did you want to reschedule to have-
June 10th
... a full board?
Since we're here, we would like to proceed.
Okay.
Okay. That's-
I do have to go find my client. He can't find the door.
Oh, you're fine. We just needed to know if you wanted to proceed.
It's like, yeah, because you're
at the end of the agenda. Okay.
Oh, we're done, yes.
Okay. So I guess
adoption of the agenda would be...
So yeah, Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to move item
six to the June 10th meeting and then keep the rest of the agenda as written.
Support.
So we have a motion by Mr. Jersey, and I heard support by Mr.
Sessar,
to reschedule item six to June 10th and keep the rest of
the agenda as is.
All in favor?
Aye.
Anybody opposed?
Okay. That passes. That takes us to approval of the minutes.
Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to postpone the approval of the
minutes of the regular meetings of April 8th, 2026, April
22nd, 2026, and May 13th,
2026 to the June 10th meeting.
Support.
Okay, we have a motion by Mr. Jersey, support by Mr.
Perry, to move the approval of the minutes to the June 10th
meeting. All in favor?
Aye.
Anybody opposed? The minutes have been rescheduled to June 10th.
Takes us to item number seven.
Item seven. Applicant, Susan Elliot, representative Melissa
Melancon.
Common description 8331 Christine.
Variance is requested permission to, one, allow a seven foot six inch
by seven foot 52.5 square foot shed located
19 feet eight inches from the detached garage.
Two, allow a total 774.5 square feet of accessory
structure floor area, which includes a 52.5 square foot shed,
120 square foot covered rear patio, and
572 square foot detached garage.
If you could just start by stating your name and address for the record and take us
through your request.
Susan Elliot.
And address? Melissa Melancon at 8331 Christine.
Okay. Same address for both? Yes. Okay.
Then if you could just take us through your request.
We're requesting that we be allowed to keep
our little shed. It's a seven and a half foot by seven foot
little maid shed.
And I used to be a residential contractor, and I have built probably
four garages that have burnt down because of gasoline and
other stuff inside of it. And so we would like to have that
little shed so we can store things like that inside of it and
keep it outside of our garage.
Okay. Thank you for that
explanation. This is a public hearing.
Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this item also?
Not seeing anybody, I close the public portion and turn it over to the board for
questions and discussion.
Mr. Chair.
Yes, Mr. Watts.
So,
a couple questions.
I usually drive by everything that we have on the agenda, but
because it's in the backyard, I can't
see what's going on there.
Yeah.
So is this all this work already completed?
The shed is there on a wooden platform.
It's not on a rat wall, so the rat wall is not built yet,
but we
will put it to code if we are allowed to have it.
Okay.
And the
patio structure, the accessory structure floor...
Wait, that's for the shed. The patio, that's already there, too?
Yes, sir.
Okay.
I have a question for our
zoning department.
My question is, how did we get here?
Was there a complaint? Did they went to pull a building permit?
What
happened here?
It was a complaint.
Yeah, it was a complaint.
Okay.
By your neighbor.
Okay.
And
if this gets approved, you guys will be following up for the rat wall
permit to get that off of wood structure. Is that correct?
Yes, sir.
Oh, with him.
Yes.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Yeah. There's an open enforcement.
Oh, okay. Thank you.
Yes, sir.
One quick question while you're still there. Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Green.
So rubber shed, rat walls, it's
just everything's the same as any shed?
Yeah. All sheds-
All right
... required to be on a slab, whether they have-
But, I mean, a rubber doesn't make any difference.
No.
Okay, thanks.
Perfect.
Mr. Chairman?
Yes, Mr. Lindsey. Oh, yeah, Mr. Safaya.
If there aren't any other comments, I'd like to make a motion.
Okay.
I make a motion to grant permission to allow a 7 foot 6 inch
by 7 foot 52.5 square foot shed located
19
feet 8 inches from the detached garage, and allow a total of
774.5 square feet of accessory structure floor
area, which includes a 52.5 square foot shed,
120 square foot covered rear patio, and 572
square foot detached garage. Due to the size and shape of the lot, it's not a
detriment to the area.
Support.
And that's it.
Support.
So we have a motion by Mr. Safaya, support by Mr. Jersey.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Green.
Do we need a condition that says a rat wall?
Because it's not on here anywhere.
No, because it's part of the needed permit.
Yeah. So, no?
No.
And support by Mr. Jersey for the reasons stated in the motion. Roll call.
Mr. Safaya?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Jersey votes yes for the reasons stated in the motion. Mr. Perry?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Assessor?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Watts? Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion. Mr. Green?
Yes.
Mr. Lindsey?
Yes, for the reasons stated.
Chairman Stovitch?
Yes, for reasons stated in the motion. Your request is approved.
Thank you very much.
Takes us to item number eight.
Item eight. Applicant, Paul Bay. Representative, Paul Bay.
Cabin description, 27676 Milton.
Variance has requested permission to
store an RV in the front yard of the property.
So if you could start with your name and address and then take us through your
request.
Yes, my name is Paul Bay.
I live at 27676 Milton.
I have an RV in front of my house.
Size and shape of the lot,
plus being landlocked by my house, I cannot
get it in the backyard.
Personally, the
back of the RV is 100 feet off the road.
I have no issues with my neighbors.
None of my neighbors within 500 feet have any problem with my RV.
I have one of my neighbors across the street right here with me.
Like I said, I'm doing the best I can with what I got.
It's on concrete, looks good. I keep my yard good.
I've been a citizen
of Warren for my whole life. I've lived at this address
probably 45 years.
This is the first time I've actually had some trouble with the city with something
like this, and it's actually been there for quite some time.
But somebody spotted it and yeah, here I am.
So
I'm looking for the variance of code, like I say, size and shape of the lot.
Okay.
Thank you for that explanation.
This is a public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this
item?
I am the neighbor across the street.
You can approach the podium and start with your name and address-
Okay
... and then your comments.
Lynn B. Genie, 27679
Milton Avenue. I live directly across the street.
It's not like the RV's in the middle of the yard. It's off to the side.
It's not a rust bucket or anything. It looks fine.
Don't even notice it's there.
Okay.
There's been no problem.
Okay. Thank you for those comments.
Yeah, I just wanted to ask, I had actually put
probably every neighbor within 500 feet of that RV.
I have all the signatures of everybody.
Yeah, we do have that.
Within 500.
That was provided to us.
Yeah, I took a picture of it and stuff like that for everybody to see, I guess.
Yeah.
Like I say, I'm just kind of
bewildered, I guess, why I'm being harassed by it, but it's up to you
people, I guess, to decide one way or another.
Okay. Thank you. I will-
Mr. Chair
... close the public portion of the meeting and turn it over to the
board. You had a comment-
Yeah
... Mr. Jersey?
Yeah.
Good evening, sir. So first thing is when I got
the material
I was kind of taken back that you
didn't explain any of your conditions on why
this is an unreasonable impact, why it's not
self-imposed. The property's unique. This whole sheet's blank.
So
that to me, you've not really
exhibited any one of these criterias basically because
the sheet's blank. But based off what you've just told
me, the property isn't unique.
To me,
maybe not in your immediate area, but if we grant this, it's going to be a problem
going forward with anybody in the city.
So to me,
maybe not necessarily in your case, but I could see this being a detriment to
the area
going forward. I don't think you've exhibited it to be
a necessary thing, and I don't believe that you've
also completed the personal or
economic
impact of it. So,
I can appreciate all your neighbors getting behind you and all that, but
unfortunately, that's not a way to grant a
variance
through this board. You have to prove
all six of these criterias. That you're unreasonably
impacted or burdened, that it's not self-imposed.
It is self-imposed
because it's parked there. The property is not unique,
in my eyes. You'd have to exhibit that the property is unique to the
point where you can't put it anywhere else,
and also exhibit that it's not a detriment to the neighbors.
Obviously, it is to somebody because you're here.
So somebody turned you in somewhere along the way.
I don't have a question yet, sir.
And then
you haven't exhibited it being not personal or economic,
but you have exhibited that it's necessary based off the
square footage of your lot, the way your lot's set up.
So I'll give you probably one of the
six. So that's my
argument. I'll probably be voting no, just for the simple
fact that if we start doing this
with this property, which goes with the property
forevermore. So every decision we make up here goes with the property
indefinitely. So the next person who comes behind
you
might want to put an RV or something there, they can do that.
And I just think it's a bad precedent for the city
to start going down that road where we have RVs parked in the front yard.
So I'll yield the floor on that.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Watts.
So,
question to our zoning department.
This is a complaint because there's nothing in our packet.
There was a complaint turned over to the department.
I'm not sure if it was a neighbor complaint.
I believe it may have come from the property maintenance department from the city.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
And turned over to zoning.
Thank you.
So,
I grant you, the yards are big and your house is at the back,
but that doesn't differentiate from anybody else in the city.
I personally have a 35-foot RV myself,
and I can't
have it at my house like that. I've gotten in
trouble just for bringing it home to load.
So,
it's dangerous precedent for us to set because if we approve
yours,
everybody that owns a camper in the city's going to want to put their camper in
their front driveway
and what have you. And we've had these problems throughout
the city. The
other thing is, like my counterpart here said, it
goes with the property. The variance goes with the property.
So if the next guy that moves into your property drives a semi-tractor
trailer, he could back a semi-tractor trailer in there, and we're having problems
with that already, too. So,
I'm going to be a no vote. I don't think it's unreasonable.
I personally pay to store three trailers, and there's a lot of storage
lots around, so I don't think it's a
burden or anything like that. So I'll be a no vote.
Well, can I-
Mr. Chair?
Mr. Chair, is there a question? If there's-
No, I have no questions.
Okay.
Mr. Chair?
Yeah. Yes, Mr. Green.
I'll be a no vote also. It doesn't meet the practical difficulty standard and
denying it is not going to cause or create any unreasonable impact on
you. It's actually caused by your own
actions, and the property is not unique.
And granting a variance will have a negative impact on the area in
the long run, and it's economically motivated.
Obviously, nobody wants to spend money to store stuff, but the situation
in the city of Warren's not there for that.
And it's not necessary to avoid a hardship, so it doesn't meet any of the hardship
criteria. So I'll be a no vote.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Green. Any other comments or any
motions?
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Watts.
If there's no others, I'll make a motion to deny
permission to store an RV in the front yard of the property based on
it is not a burden.
It's self-imposed.
The property is unique, but that doesn't allow for an RV to be stored in the
front yard.
It is a detriment to the neighborhood,
and there's no personal or economic situation there.
So
that's it.
Support?
Support.
Okay. So we have a motion to deny by Mr.
Watts and it was-
Can I
speak on my behalf?
Well, there wasn't any question from the board at this
point, so unfortunately
not.Look, we have support by Mr.
Assessor.
Mr. Green.
Mr. Green, sorry.
Roll call, please.
What?
Roll call.
Yeah, roll call.
Mr. Watts.
Yes to deny for the reasons stated in motion.
Mr. Green.
Yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Perry.
Yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Assessor.
Yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Lindsay.
Yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Safaya.
Yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Jersey votes yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Chairman Stovitch.
I also vote yes to deny for the reasons stated in the motion.
Unfortunately, your request has been denied by the board.
So if you have any questions, I guess you'd approach the
zoning/building department and see what next steps-
Well,
you guys have already voted against this and stuff like that.
I would put this in my backyard, which is part of your code.
I do not have a typical Warren
residence with 60 by 120.
I have over half an acre. I would put it in the backyard on concrete, it would be
no problem. But you guys have already denied me. I get that.
And like I said, I have all my neighbors that say they don't have a problem with
this. It's not setting a precedent.
We understand, but it does set a precedent.
It is a unique part because-
Mr. Chair, point of order
... everyone on that street has-
I know, but-
Point of order
... has a large lot
... we're re-arguing the-
I know. But we have-
... thing that we denied
... voted, and unfortunately, you have been denied.
So at this point, there's nothing else that we can do on this item.
Well, like I say, thanks for letting me rebuttal on some of these comments
that you guys made.
Okay, it's time for the next item.
Next item.
So unfortunately, we do need to move on to item number nine.
Item nine. Applicant, Mohammed Hassan.
Representative,
Kasir Nada. Account description 23008
Dequindre.
Variance is requested permission to
reduce the size of the front yard setback of eight feet.
Good evening, everyone. My name is Nada.
We have Life Architect company. We're working in this project
and representing the owner for
23008 Dequindre Road.
We are requesting approval for the
existing parking lot and then the escaping
certification. The revised site plan was
updated per planning department comments,
including the concrete curb,
slab dimension, and escaping improvement.
Parking updates and size notes.
No building expansion is proposed.
And if you would like, I can explain what happened
before this owner, the previous owner, what he did.
So the previous owner removed a part of the
required front landscaping and replaced
it with concrete
to widen the parking display area.
This is created as a
zoning and landscaping setback violation
because the approval site plan require
landscaping area along Nine Mile
and Dequindre Road.
So we updated the site plan to reflect the existing
field condition and are now correcting
the site by adding back a landscaping area,
shrubs, and concrete curbing as requested by
the planning department
and the zoning board. The new two
concrete curbs, slab, and landscaping island
are being added to separate the parking area
from the sidewalk and improve the site
safety and appearance. No building
expansion is
proposed.
Okay. Thank you very much for that explanation. This is a public hearing.
Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this item?
Not seeing any, I close the public portion and turn it over to the board for-
Impact statement.
Oh, there's an impact statement, yes, sir. Okay.
Per Ron Worth of the planning department, after review of the request, no issues
were found to impact the abutting local or general public.
The petitioner received planning commission approval for a minor amendment with
conditions for parking lot and landscaping modifications to existing gas station on
March 23rd, 2026.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Green.
Just clarification of the reason.
Petitioner seeks variance to reduce the size of two eight-foot
green belts.
Reduce the size to something, to an-
Yeah, to 5.7 feet.
And where was that? How did I miss it?
Is it on the site plan itself?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
It's along the Dequindre property line.
So they're going to reduce it from eight to 5.7. Okay, thank you.
That answers the question.
So,
good evening, ma'am.
Good evening.
I just have one quick question. So I'm guessing that this got red
flagged when you purchased the property, right?
When-
Yeah
... the gas station was purchased-
So, yeah
... you guys had no idea that this was changed?
No, we had no idea about zoning and the-
So basically you're going to kind of keep it as is,
as it is right now currently. You just need the variance to get it up to speed,
is my understanding correct?
Yes. But we try to fix as we
can-
Sure
... with the city, and we meet with them many times, and
we come with this as a final thing. It's between
us and city.
I can appreciate the plan.
And I can appreciate the hardship too that you
didn't really know about when
purchasing the propertyNobody knows that that
wasn't with the site plan when you go to
bat a property.
So I don't see this being anything crazy other
than trying to right a past wrong,
and I don't think it's the
petitioner's fault that this was incurred.
Definitely wasn't by her doing or their doing.
So
unless I'm missing something, I think I can get behind this, so I'll yield the
floor on that.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Watts.
So question to our zoning department.
Sorry to keep calling you up.
No problem.
So I'm looking at the
open violation stuff here. Does this correct all of
that?
Yes, it would.
Okay.
All right. Thank you very much. I think I would agree.
I think it's reasonable. There's only so much
you can do on that corner to straighten that out.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman?
Yes, Mr. Safaya.
If there's no other comments, I move to make a motion.
All right.
I'd like to grant permission to reduce the
size of the front yard setback of eight feet due to the size and shape of the
lot. It's not a detriment to the area and it's necessary.
Support.
Okay. We have a motion by Mr. Safaya, and I heard support from Mr.
Jersey to approve the request for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Safaya?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Jersey votes yes for the reasons stated in the motion. Mr. Perry?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Sesser?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Watts?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Green?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Lindsey?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
And Chairman Stavich.
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion. Your request is approved.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.
You're welcome. Takes us to item number 10.
Item 10, the applicant, Matthew Caruso. Representative Matthew Caruso.
Common description 24200 Dequindre.
Variances requested permission to, one, allow 35,180 square feet
of gravel area in the rear yard for the purposes of open storage and
maneuvering. Two,
allow a total of 9,169 square feet of open storage exceeding the
allowed 5,830 square feet.
Three, retain 26 parking spaces to within five feet of the south
property line.
You can start with your name and address, and then take us through your request.
Sure. Thank you. Good evening. My name's Matt Caruso, and I'm the
applicant for 24200 Dequindre Road.
The property is zoned M-2 industrial, and the planning commission has
already approved the site plan subject to the requested
variances. The property currently consists of an
existing building that was a bar for many years.
It has a parking lot and a large grass area.
The improvements we are proposing include a new 7,500 square foot maintenance
building, a gravel storage area, and organized concrete
storage bins to support the industrial operation of the site.
The requested variances were for allowing the
proposal gravel storage area, allowing the open
storage associated with the industrial use of the property, and to retain
the existing parking spaces along Center Wood Drive.
As it relates to the existing parking along Center Wood Drive, they already
exist and have functioned safely as a part of the site for many years.
Removing these spaces would reduce operational parking capacity
without creating a meaningful impact or practical benefit to the site
or surrounding area. The proposed gravel area is
intended to support our normal contractor and industrial operations,
including our storage of materials, equipment, and vehicles typical for
our type of operation and this type of property.
The rear portion of the property is currently grass, and the
proposal is intended to improve and organize the site in a functional and
controlled manner.
The open storage areas and concrete bins are a part of the normal operation
needs
of the business and are consistent with industrial
uses in the zoning district. The site plan also
includes screening and landscaping improvements to improve the overall appearance
and organization of the property.
We'll have a fencing and the screening appropriate
with that as well.
So we don't believe that the requested variances will negatively impact the
surrounding areas.
The property is located within an industrial area, and the proposed
improvements are intended to create a more organized and functional
industrial site while remaining compatible with the surrounding
areas.
So in closing, I'd like to thank you for your time and consideration, and I'd be
happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you very much for that. This is a public hearing.
Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this item?
Not seeing any, I
close the public portion. There is an impact statement to read
in.
Yes, Mr. Chair.
As Mr. Caruso said,
per groundwork of the planning department, after review of the request, no issues
were found to impact the abutting local or general public.
Petitioner
received site plan approval with
conditions for a new maintenance building, addition of gravel area
with bin blocks, outdoor storage, a new driveway to
the side street, and a
AA six foot tall screen fence on March 23rd,
2026.
So the public portion of the meeting is closed, and I turn it over to the
board for any questions or discussion.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Watts.
So
I like the
prints. Very detailed, very organized.
Thank you.
That might tell me something about the operation.
I assume this is going to be a commercial landscape operation.
Yes. It's a
landscape operation, yes, in commercial and residential installations.
So-
We provide a service of installations
... I see the mulch and soil bins and all that.
Is that open to the public, or is it just-
No.
It's just private.
Private.
Okay.
All right.
That's all I have. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman?
Yes, Mr. Safaya.
I don't have a problem with the item three regarding the south
property line. I think it makes sense to keep that as is.
Anytime I hear open storage, I get nervous,
just because it's easy to abuse. But given the detailed site plan,
I don't see any problems or issues with it.
I think it's going to be a very neat operation considering
it is a lot of open storage, but pursuant to the site
plan, there's a lot of room just for maneuvering and open space, which is
always a good thing.
I did have, well, one question.
So with the parking in front, is that just where your employees are going to park
their cars or?
Correct.
Just want to make sure it's not going to be work trucks and anything else.
No, those will be in the back, and we've outlined those on the site plan as well.
Okay.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Jersey.
I think this is a really good detailed site plan.
I don't think it's going to be
absolutely impactful to anybody because it's in,
like the gentleman said, it's in a commercial corridor.
We're turning a blighted property into a good use, too.
I know that
parcel's been a couple of different things, and it's been vacant for a little bit.
So,
thank you for taking the time to put thought into and rehab a
good property. And
the one thing I have for you, Mr. Caruso, is I
know this is kind of off the beaten path a little bit, but
signage for the property.
All the variances that currently exist on the property, is that going to fall into
your signage package for-
I believe so. The signage is indicated on the plans-
Section 75 foot
... and I believe that it does conform.
Okay.
So I didn't know if we could...
Whenever we try to have a changeover or something like that, try to eliminate
older variances that have gone with the property that-
Yeah
... maybe you don't necessarily need.
Right.
Immediately,
nothing really stood out, so that's why I wanted to ask you the question.
So I guess-
Appreciate it
... we'll just leave everything as is.
Okay. Thank you.
For the time being. If you come for signage, maybe we could discuss, or additional
signage, we could have that discussion at a later date, but I
think this is a good project.
It'll probably look a lot cleaner than it does now.
I think the site plan also lends to
strict enforcement, too, for him to maintain his
property in such an organized manner.
So I think it's a win-win for both parties.
So thank you for your presentation, and-
Yep, my pleasure
... I think that's something I could get behind.
Thank you.
So I'll yield the floor.
Mr. Chair?
Yes, Mr. Lindsey.
Yeah, I have one quick, I guess, comment to the board.
So I would agree with everything that's said.
I think this is a wonderful design.
I'm agreeable with the site plan. If I'm thinking longer term,
the gravel has a little bit of concern of mine.
If we allow open storage and gravel, I think for the current site plan, it
makes a lot of sense. But maybe the next company that comes in, it's not
mulch, it's not rock, it's
vehicles.
I don't know if it's an issue,
but that could be an environmental thing later on,
if we have cars leaking and draining into the gravel, rather than on a hard
surface. So I think as it exists today, the site plan makes a
ton of sense. I'm fine with the gravel.
But if you were to move out, and then we have another company come in and
start using that gravel lot that we've approved for something else, that would be
my concern.
Well, when a motion is made, we could actually limit it
to landscape
type of storage.
Landscaping material.
Yeah. I can get behind that. I'm thinking like if this petitioner
moves out of the lot and we've allowed gravel on this lot, and then all of a
sudden, it's a used car lot and an industrial-
Well, that's why the motion could actually state that the outdoor storage-
Yeah
... can only be landscape-related material, so
therefore, we won't have somebody storing tires out there.
Brian, you want to add something?
Yeah. If there were a future resident there that wanted
open storage at that property, they would still have to go through site plan
approval.
That's what I thought too, yeah.
So if it were to change,
they could deny the site plan for
the reason of what it is that they would be storing on gravel and
ask that it be hard surfaced at that time.
That's true, too. Yep.
Okay. Thank you for that.
I yield the floor.
Any other questions or discussion?
Mr. Chair.
Mr. Watts.
If there's nothing further, I'm prepared to make a motion.
My motion would be to approve variances, number one, allow
35,180 square foot of gravel area in the rear
yard for the purpose of open storage and maneuvering.
Number two, allow a total of 9,169 square foot of open
storage exceeding the allowed 5,830 square foot.
And three, retain 26 parking spaces to within five foot of the
south property line.
Reason for it is,
I don't think any of this is unreasonable. It's not self-imposed.
It's a good fit to the area.
Support.
Quick discussion. So Mr. Watts, do we want to add in the condition that
the storage is for landscape
items?
I'd be happy to add that, yes.
For the current operation, yes, I'll add that.
Okay.
So Mr. Chair, I'd like to amend the motion-
Okay
... to only include landscaping materials
and supplies on the property.
Perfect.
Okay, so
go ahead. So we had a motion by Mr. Watts-
Support by Mr. Perry
... and Mr. Perry,
with the motion amended to state that
outdoor storage is for landscape
supplies and items-
Materials
... and materials. Okay, roll call.
Mr. Watts?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Perry?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Sessar?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Green?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Lindsey?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Safaya?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion.
Mr. Jersey votes yes for the reasons stated in the motion. Chairman Bastovitch?
Yes, for the reasons stated in the motion. Your request has been approved.
Awesome. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Takes us to item 11.
Takes us to item 11. Applicant,
Polles Randy,
Representative Jeffrey Graham. Account description 21730
Shanor. Variances requested permission to, one, allow storage of
storage pads 1,800 square feet in an
R1P zone. Two, allow a 10-foot wall for
60.7 feet along the east property line.
You want to start?
Yeah.
Well, the other thing, too. You want to be
in the public. My name is Jeffrey-
Share his name and address, and then what your request is.
My name is Jeffrey Graham, project architect.
My address is 589
Pemberton, Grosse Pointe Park. I'm here representing the client.
Randy Polles is also here, who can answer any questions you might
have. I'd like to just point out that we've already
been before the planning commission, and we've received
site plan approval, as long as we meet the conditions of the variances.
I just wanted to point out that on this site, there are three businesses on this
site, and
one of them already has a variance.
It was given to them years ago for open storage on the
R1P lot,
a portion of their property. The property is a little bit
unique in the sense that we've got this strip of R1P on the back, which
normal businesses wouldn't have, but we're stuck with
it.
The only neighbor
we have, I think may even be here, and he's
fully in support of this. He's given us letters fully in support of
this.
Just to keep in mind that the reason why we're asking for one of the variances to
raise the existing masonry block is to
shield the storage pods from his view.
And the owner was willing to pay for that.
The other thing is that the new open storage that we're asking
for is for storage pods. So there's not going to be any
stacks of tires or
automotive parts. And these storage pods are for the
third business. The third business, which has the
building on the corner, is vending machine
products. They're warehousing, they supply all the vending machines in the
area with products. And they've outgrown their
facility, and so they would like to have a secured
storage behind their building that would be
only containing their products that they will be using.
So it's strictly for the vending machine company.
One
of the last things I wanted to mention was that the
site's been
like it has been for decades. We're adding, though,
to match the setback requirements, a opaque wire fence
on both sides facing both streets.
So we're trying to make the
whole site look a lot tidier,
especially by keeping all the products in containers and adding the
opaque fencing. I hope that you will consider our request,
and I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Appreciate your time.
Thank you for that explanation. This is a public hearing.
Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this item?
If you could just
start with your name and address, and then your comments.
Hi, everyone. My name is David Draper.
I live at 13650 Ida.
My family owns the house directly behind Randy's property.
His property and our property share the adjoining wall together.
I'm here today in full support of Randy in asking the city for
permission to allow the requested variances.
For context, where we're located, we're on Shanor Road between
8 and 9 Mile,
a block north of Topher. For those who may be
unfamiliar, it's a mix of commercial and residential in
the area,
with businesses along Shanor Road and homes tucked behind them.
Where we're at is a high-traffic area.
We have people coming up and down Shanor Road all day and
nights,
as well as people walking on foot.
Since living in the house, it hasn't always felt like the safest place to live.
Our neighborhood has seen its fair share of crime,
people robbing local businesses, break-ins of people homes,
cars being broken into and stolen, even a drive-by shooting we
had a couple of years ago.We've had such
occurrences happen near and on our own property, which has led
me to the wall we're here to talk about today.
As it stands, the existing wall we have now is too short.
When you're standing outside on either side of the property, you can see right
over the wall.
It doesn't offer much security at all.
People can easily jump over it, and they do.
There have been several occasions of criminals jumping over this wall,
fleeing from the police, trespassing onto Randy's property,
jumping our wall that's way too short,
and jumping into our backyards, into our adjoining neighbors' backyards.
There's been times where I've had police officers in my backyard searching for
criminals in my trash cans, hiding out.
One time I had a police officer show up at my front door at night
with a K9 unit who was asking for permission to search my
backyard for a gun that was thrown over the wall that they suspected from someone
they were chasing.
So as you can see, this existing wall isn't providing enough
security. This wall needs to be higher.
It should be 10 feet, just like Randy would like to build it.
There's a 10-foot wall there that's going to be high enough to where it's going to
keep people out from jumping into our yards, potentially trying to
force themselves into the neighbors' houses in the community.
If we had a taller wall, it would eliminate these problems.
It would make it more safe for the residents in the community, who wouldn't have to
worry about,
again, people trying to force their way in.
I'd also like to say that it's been a blessing to have Randy next door as a
neighbor.
He's night and day comparison to the previous owner.
The previous owner neglected the property, was never around,
didn't maintain it, barely even cut the grass.
Since Randy has moved in, he's cleaned it up.
He's brought it back to life.
He's kept it well-maintained. He's there every day, working hard,
providing a good service to all of his customers in
the community.
I've had no problems with him operating his business next door,
and couldn't ask for a better neighbor.
I'm here to show full support in approving both of these
variances. Thank you.
Thank you for those comments.
With that, I'll close the public portion of the meeting and turn it over to the
board for-
Mr. Chair.
Yes, Mr. Watts.
Hold on.
Oh.
Real quick.
There's another... Oh.
Sorry.
Real quick. Sorry, Mr. Watts.
It's all right.
So,
per groundwork of the planning department.
Yes.
Per groundwork of the planning department, after review of the request, no issues
were found to impact the abutting local or general public.
Petitioner received site plan approval
with conditions for open storage of vehicles and storage pads on February
9th, 2026.
Okay, I'll close the public portion and turn it over to the board. And Mr.
Watts, you've got a comment.
Okay, thank you.
I've been by this property a couple times in the last week
trying to absorb all of this.
So I guess my first question would be to Brian from zoning.
I'm seeing on BS&A that we have some court
action down there.
And on one of them I show it says, "Failure to appear."
Can you give me any insight on what's going on there with these
problems?
I don't have any information on that on this address.
All right, because I show open enforcement, and I show failure to appear for
court,
in December.
Said failure to appear. Nope, I'm sorry.
Yeah, 12/3 of '25.
Then there was a ticket issued.
They had disapproval on a follow-up. Then again, not ready.
The plumbing was approved. Follow-up was disapproved.
Not ready, not ready, and still scheduled.
Personally,
it's a blighted mess down there, in my opinion.
That may be on the certificate of compliance inspection-
Yeah.
That that was raised.
Yeah. I mean, there's just
unlicensed cars piled everywhere in the back that I could see.
Of course, I can't get in to see what's going on, but the
place is a mess. And then I watched the planning commission meeting...
I'm all set. Thank you.
I watched the planning commission meeting when this went through,
and it said that the pods were going to be used
for candy.
And then when I read this packet, it says the pods were going to be used for
storage of tires or auto parts.
And then tonight,
the gentleman says it's going to be used for vending machine items, for
the
vend items.
Now,
I mean...
Which is probably where the candy portion came from because of the vending
machines and-
Oh, well.
I think they acquired permission.
So this is where I'm at. I mean, this plays into the
whole picture, okay? I don't know what the truth is
here. One time it's tires, one time it's candy.
And personally, who would store candy in a pod in the
back
in 90-degree weather? Makes no sense to me.
Makes no sense to me at all. And then it's going to be you're going to have that
stuff in a pod,
that's going to be a attraction for rodents and what have you.
So I have a problem with that.
There's cars all over the place. I read
the impact statement, and it says there was no issues found.
Well-I don't recall ever, as long as I've ever been involved in
anything in the city, where we allowed even an eight-foot fence, let alone a
10-foot concrete wall. That is just a
detriment to the neighborhood, in my opinion.
I'm familiar with this area. I used to work down the road.
And honestly, this property has never looked this bad, ever.
It needs a lot of cleanup. I know one of the other buildings is not the one that
he's using.
I don't know what the deal is there, but it says here the zoning
is only 60
wide, I think it says. It can be used for a lot of things.
It's been used for things for years and years and years.
I don't know what the big deal is here.
It says the configuration has been this way for decades.
Yeah, but they self-imposed it by overfilling it with
junk cars.
The site is too small to configure.
Well, yeah, that's because you're trying to put too much stuff
into the property.
Yes, it is a detriment to the area.
So I
can't get behind this in any way, shape, or form.
The pods are going to be a detriment to the area.
The 10-foot high wall, I can't imagine having a 10-foot
wall down the side of my house. It just doesn't make any sense at all to me.
So I'm going to be a no vote on this, and
I'll leave it at that. Thank you.
Mr. Chair.
Yes, Mr. Green.
So looking at this, it's
complicated. I did drive by the property.
It's not your best-looking property.
I think as far as a use variance goes, this property can be used
as zoned.
And I think you answered
part of the problem when you gave your presentation, and the
fact is that you've outgrown the facility.
As a result of outgrowing the facility,
like any business, you're trying to look for solutions to
solve outgrowing your building. And I
personally don't believe that
the way you're going with the storage pods is the answer.
And as long as I've been on the ZBA, six-foot fences are six-foot
fences. That's just the way we do it.
And I did do a little bit of research on the fences.
Nowhere did it say anywhere in any of the stuff that I've read for the city
of Warren that
business fences, I'm trying to say this right, business fences
are for neighborhood security.
Business fences are to
block people from seeing in for, number one, the
security of the business, whatever they have stored there, and number
two,
for the aesthetic look around the building.
But we've never approved anything over six foot.
Maybe I'd like you to remember, but six foot's always been the standard.
And the 10-foot fence for security reasons is
completely another issue, I think.
And they're trying to solve the issue with a 10-foot fence.
I don't think that works. So that's my feelings on this particular piece of
property. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for those comments, Mr. Green.
Mr. Chairman?
Yes, Mr. Safaya.
I have similar comments. I have a problem with the pods in the rear of the
building. I think there's already a security concern there, and that's going to
just attract more nuisance.
As far as the wall goes, I think the wall could be a little bit higher.
I don't know. I think 10 feet's overkill, but perhaps eight
feet. We've seen that occasionally in certain circumstances.
My problem is we're taking this property and trying to accommodate a
business. We've already issued a variance in
2021 to allow open storage of the vehicles,
and now we're asking for additional open
storage. And I want to see
the property accommodating a business within the ordinance.
It seems like we're trying to take a business and
force it into this zoning designation that just doesn't fit.
So I'm unfortunately not going to be able to get behind this
tonight.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Safaya.
Mr. Chair.
Yes, Mr. Rogers.
If there's no other comments, I have one more comment.
I know we've discussed this before, but the way
I read
the comments on BS&A,
there's open enforcement on the property.
A failure to appear on a ticket is a problem for me,
and that tells me that he's in default to the city
by not following the code and not fixing things or showing up in court.
Now,
if you go to get a building permit,
you can't get a building permit if you're in default on your water or your taxes.
And I would consider this the same situation.
So,
Brian, did you have a comment? I seen you walking this way.
I did look that up. It was for not completing a certificate of compliance in the
time allotted for it.
Okay.
So-
Mr. Chair
... there you have it in a situation there, and I'll
defer to Mr. Green, but I have a motion to be made.
So this might be a discussion item for us also as we discuss some of these other
ordinances.
Go ahead.
I did notice that some cities do have ordinances that
say if there's,
I want to say pending, or there's,
what is it? The-
Default
... default, yeah, default or whatever, that it doesn't proceed.
So that might be something for us to look at
if that's something that we want to do too.
So
just to
point.
Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to withdraw our application.
With withdraw it? Yeah, we can do that.
Is that fine for him to do that way? Okay.
Yeah.
We don't need a vote or anything, do we?
No.
Okay. Just wanted to make sure we didn't need a vote on that.
Okay.
So you want to withdraw the application?
Yeah. We're going to re-meet with the planning department and see if
we can't work some other things out.
Okay.
All right.
So should we share what withdraw mean, what it means?
Because that means they have another year, right, before they can...
Am I wrong, Jennifer?
If we don't vote, yeah, they could bring it back, yes.
So I'm just trying to...
Okay, so we have a motion on the floor.
So does that need to be
voted on?
Well, we didn't vote.
Oh, there wasn't a motion.
Oh, there was no motion on the floor?
I'm prepared to make a motion either way.
I
still have a problem with this. He can withdraw his application, I guess,
but
we come here, we got all this stuff, and we have enforcement issues.
I don't get it, but whatever.
Well, he can withdraw-
So, Mr. Chair, I'm going to defer to the-
I was going to say-
... city attorney.
You understand what I'm trying to say, Ms. Spears?
Yeah. So no motion has been made yet.
The
petitioner can withdraw,
but he could-
At any time
... bring it back. But I think that would be silly knowing what
the board's feelings are on this. So, I-
Yeah, we would change the design.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So I would-
Okay.
I would make a motion to withdraw item 11 for a
date to be determined.
No,
it's just-
Don't need it?
... it's gone away.
Then it's gone away.
Yeah.
We don't need a vote.
Correct.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Yep.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Okay. Item 12 is new business. I don't know if everybody had a chance
since our last meeting to review the
changes for the bylaws that we...
I know I haven't yet.
I haven't had a chance to-
I have not
... to digest it all.
Okay.
Or move it to the next meeting, but hopefully everybody could take a look at those
between now and then-
Yes
... so we can actually have a discussion-
I agree
... and move forward on that. Because I know there are some concerns on some of the
wording and such, and I think we need to do that.
The other item was about a letter to council
regarding
the driveway issue.
It was a letter to the-
Or-
... zoning board of appeals.
Okay.
Did everyone get it?
What is it?
The letter from the planning department.
Oh, the one that was discussed?
Yes.
Yeah, that was the one from back in April.
Okay, and because, well, last meeting,
members were claiming they'd never seen it and-
Yeah.
Okay.
I didn't realize that there's not a new letter.
Okay.
I thought it was a new letter.
Okay. Got it.
Okay.
So-
But I do have a copy of the letter.
Okay.
Here.
Can we actually... Oh.
I was going to say, can we get a copy of that for, is that what that is?
Yeah.
Okay.
It was written, back in April, but this is a new one.
One more.
I've got one.
Well, you go for yourself.
They just
put it out on May.
Is it like that one?
Something
like
that.
Oh, no, this is regarding that one
item. I was thinking, during at the last meeting, I thought we talked about
the driveways.
Yeah. Having-
Having a letter.
Oh, yes. That's been sent.
It's been sent.
Yes.
That's been sent. They just-
Okay
... don't have it not yet.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
Okay. Yeah.
Lot of letters.
Okay.
I've got a new copy. I don't know.
Okay. Is that right? Okay.
Okay. So,
then
I have no other new business for today. Does anybody have any new business?
Otherwise, we'll go to adjournment.
Motion to adjourn.
We have a motion by Mr. Jersey.
Support.
Support by Mr. Safaya to adjourn. All in favor?
Aye.
Anybody opposed?
Meeting adjourned at 7:59.