City Council Recap: Rezoning Approved, Street Projects Move Forward

Lowell City Council met for 90 minutes last night in what was the final council meeting of Department of Public Works Director Dan Czarnecki’s career. After 33 years in public service, Czarnecki is retiring at the end of the week.

While the agenda had 11 pieces of business listed, most did not require much time or discussion. All councilmembers were present, and City Manager Mike Burns joined the meeting via the Zoom videoconferencing platform.

Before starting on old business, councilmembers heard from Shannon Kennedy, executive director of the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce. She spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting. She thanked city staff and councilmembers for their support of the Riverwalk Festival and noted that the event was a success.

Rezoning Approved for Development on East Side

CopperRock Construction has proposed a mixed use development for the east side of town. They would like to have Horatio Street vacated so they can combine 112 Horatio Street with the former Rollaway Fun Center property. Then, they propose constructing a building that would house 44 one- and two-bedroom apartments along with 3,800 square feet of commercial space which is expected to include a restaurant.

At its meeting last week, the Planning Commission recommended that Lowell City Council rezone the properties as requested. Once rezoned, the development would be allowed by right.

Resident Dennis Kent, who lives in the Valley Vista neighborhood, asked if the city would have enough water capacity to support the 44 units. Currently, city residents are required to limit lawn irrigation because of increased demand from new housing developments in the township.

Another Valley Vista resident, Tyler Kent, echoed that concern and also noted that he was not in favor of having additional cars parked on Main Street. The CopperRock plan calls for at least 17 on-street parking spaces to be used by its residents.

Loretta Riley, who lives on Main Street across from the proposed development, said she was worried about water as well. She noted that the water pressure at her home is so low that she can’t run her dishwasher and run a sprinkler on her lawn at the same time. She has also needed to leave her water running during the winter to keep pipes from freezing.

Beyond the water issues, Riley was concerned with the addition of more parking on Main Street. She explained that she has to back out of her driveway, and visibility is limited when cars are parked on the road. At least one vehicle parked along the road has been totaled and another sideswiped. Her neighbor was also hit when trying to pull out onto the road one day. The speed limit by her house is 40 mph.

Riley noted that the CopperRock parking estimates are for one vehicle per one-bedroom apartment, but she thought it was likely that residents of those apartments could be couples with two vehicles. There was also limited space for restaurant patrons, and she envisioned people might try parking on the south side of Main Street. The road has low lighting and no crosswalk for pedestrians.

“That’s just going to create a dangerous situation,” according to Riley.

Burns felt the city would come to an agreement with Lowell Charter Township “relatively soon” about how to expand the water plant’s capacity. He also thought water pressure issues in the area lay in the lateral lines which are the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain.

After these public comments, there was no discussion or response from councilmembers. A vote to approve the rezoning request passed 4-1 with Mayor Mike DeVore being the no vote.

When casting his yes vote, Councilmember Cliff Yankovich said development-specific issues such as parking and water were not applicable to the question of whether the property should be rezoned. “I want to see something go ahead there, and the Planning Commission will iron out the details,” he said. Councilmember Leah Groves said she was voting yes for the same reason.

After the vote, Councilmember Marty Chambers asked if he could say a few words. Appearing to address Riley, he said, “If a development went into that site, I would almost hope that we would take Avery Street and move it ahead.”

He added that doing so would allow the city to address the water and sewer issues in the area. Avery Street is not currently on the city’s seven-year plan for road projects, and Riley lives on Main Street.

Chambers also believed that allowing the development to proceed “almost forces MDOT to take a hard look at that speed limit and possibly, now that we’re going to call it a high-density neighborhood, put it back down to 25.” He also thought that perhaps MDOT would add a stoplight as well.

Tyler Kent noted that MDOT doesn’t dictate speed limits and that they are set in conjunction with the Michigan State Police at the request of local units of government. He added that those requests often result in higher speed limits because speed limits in Michigan are based on how fast people are actually driving.

Last week, Planning Commission Chair Bruce Barker asked to table the CopperRock site plan until September because “There’s a lot to go through and a lot to be looked at.” He noted commissioners had only recently received plans for the development. Barker also implied that CopperRock might want some time to make changes based on the public comment and concerns raised during the meeting.

However, Chambers was concerned that CopperRock might be losing money and thought Lowell City Council should ask the Planning Commission to review the site plan next month. “Bruce [Barker] tabled it until September, and I don’t quite understand why,” Chambers said, later mentioning, “CopperRock’s got financing, money sitting; they’re paying interest on it.”

Councilmembers agreed to ask Barker to bring the site plan before the Planning Commission in August.

Multiple Street Projects Move Forward

Four agenda items were related to street projects, and all four passed unanimously. All the following were approved at last night’s meeting:

• $457,528.50 to be paid to Michigan Paving and Materials for resurfacing and improvements to Grindle Dr. and Shepherd Blvd. The work is expected to improve drainage from Shepherd Blvd. Michigan Paving and Materials, which submitted the low bid, did work on Gee Drive last year which needed to be repaired this year. However, Czarnecki said the company was responsive in that situation and had successfully completed other projects for the city.
• $45,600 to be paid to Williams & Works for construction engineering services related to the Grindle Dr. and Shepherd Blvd. project. This work will be completed this year.
• $19,800 to be paid to Williams & Works for design engineering for construction work on Ottawa and Brooks Streets that is slated for 2024. The Downtown Development Authority will pay $11,500 of the cost.
• $82,000 to be paid to Williams & Works for design engineering services for a 2024 project that will resurface Lafayette Street along with cross streets in the neighborhood from High Street to Sherman Street.

Other Meeting Items

The council also did the following last night:

• Unanimously approved an amendment to the sign ordinance to bring it in line with requirements set forth by a Supreme Court decision. The new ordinance will regulate the placement and size of signs but not their content.
• Unanimously approved the establishment of a local harassment ordinance.
• Heard an update on the tree ordinance from Czarnecki and Arbor Board Chair Jim Reagan.
• Unanimously approved a resolution that would allow Love Wines to participate in the social district. Love Wines operates out of Red Barn Mercantile, and Chambers, who co-owns the latter business, abstained from the vote.
• Unanimously approved a third street sweeping to take place this year at a cost of $10,600. MDOT will reimburse the city $1,100 of that amount for work done on Main Street.
• Unanimously approved the purchase and outfitting of a new police vehicle at a total cost of $67,189.71. The 2022 vehicle will replace a 2016 model with more than 87,000 miles on it. Police Chief Chris Hurst said it would take about 30 weeks for delivery, and while the department was ordering a blue vehicle, they may switch to black if there would be a delay in getting that color.

Farewell from Dan Czarnecki

At the end of the meeting, Czarnecki took to the podium to make remarks prior to his retirement. He noted that he turned 62 at the start of the week and will retire on Friday.

Evoking some laughs, Czarnecki outlined what he loved – and didn’t love – about public service. He said he appreciated his time working in Lowell for the past four years and acknowledged the many city staff members who had worked alongside him. Czarnecki became emotional when thanking his wife for her support throughout his career.

During their final comments of the evening, councilmembers thanked Czarnecki for his service to the community. Burns will act as interim DPW director until the position is filled.

At the end of the meeting, DeVore alluded to the recent, unexpected death of his father and said, “The last three weeks have been an unmitigated nightmare for me.” However, he appreciated all the support he had received and said “there isn’t a better place to live” when tragedy strikes.

Chambers noted that DeVore’s father was a good friend, and a moment of silence was held in his honor.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm. The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, August 7, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.