Livonia Planning Commission backs EV charging lot on Levan Road over neighbors' objections, rejects gravel truck yard on Amrhein

Commissioners also send a contractor yard on Rosati Avenue and a Chick-fil-A windscreen to City Council, and push back on a proposed moratorium ordinance, tabling it to Nov. 10.

Livonia Thrive · Planning Commission · 1,251st Public Hearing and Regular Meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026

The Livonia City Planning Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 13, recommended rezoning a narrow lot on Levan Road for an electric vehicle charging station despite a petition and testimony from residents of the neighboring Rennolds Ravines subdivision, voted to deny a proposed truck and trailer storage yard on Amrhein Road, and tabled a city-initiated ordinance that would set rules for zoning moratoriums.

Only four of the seven commissioners were present: Chair Ian Wilshaw, David Bongero, Peter Ventura and Patrick Droze, who served as acting secretary. Vice Chair Glen Long Jr., Secretary Sam Caramagno and Wafa Dinaro were absent. Assistant Planning Director Jacob Uhazie presented the staff reports. The meeting ran about two and a half hours and adjourned at 9:35 p.m.

Wilshaw reminded the audience that on zoning questions the commission only makes a recommendation; City Council holds its own hearing and makes the final call. A petitioner denied a waiver use or site plan has 10 days to appeal in writing to council.

At a glance: What was decided

EV charging lot on Levan advances despite neighborhood opposition

The most contested item of the night was a request to rezone 15150 Levan Road, a 0.29-acre parcel across Levan from the Trinity Health Livonia Hospital campus, from C-1 to C-2. Under Livonia's zoning ordinance, an EV charging station as a property's main use is a waiver use permitted only in C-2 and C-3 districts. That is why the rezoning is needed.

Uhazie said the city's future land use plan designates the site as corridor commercial, which fits the requested zoning. The parcel has 100 feet of frontage and is about 165 feet deep. It was zoned OS (office) before the Livonia Vision 21 zoning update moved all OS land to C-1. It is also covered by a 2007 consent judgment that split the property, with the city buying part of it. The judgment approved an office building and parking lot on the remainder, though neither was ever built. Vacant C-1 parcels sit to the north and east and a pharmacy to the south.

The preliminary plan shows two Level 3 fast chargers that could serve four vehicles at once, an EV service rack, a transformer, 13 double-striped spaces (two barrier-free) and a single 24-foot drive at the south end. Uhazie noted that the ordinance requires chargers to sit at least 10 feet from any public right-of-way, so the chargers shown along Levan would have to move in a final site plan.

City departments raised no objection to the rezoning itself. The Engineering Division noted that sanitary sewer does not reach the parcel and that any project must meet the Wayne County stormwater ordinance, with review by either the city or the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), depending on the outlet. The fire marshal's office said EV fires can require large amounts of water, so hydrant proximity and fire access are critical. The Inspection Department limited light spill to 0.5 foot-candles at the property line.

Wilshaw said the commission had received numerous written comments from residents, some running several pages, which will stay with the petition as it moves to council.

The petitioners

Moghul and a second representative of the project said they plan only the parking lot and chargers, with no building. Moghul said he approached EV charging companies about several properties he owns, and the petitioners said traffic data showed this one was the best fit. They said the extra parking spaces came from the old consent judgment layout and would likely be reduced, and that modular restroom and vending units could be added later.

Responding to Ventura, the petitioners said their other sites are open 24 hours and that would be the starting proposal. The chargers will have both CCS and NACS (Tesla-style) connectors, so all EV brands can charge. The electrical service would not support semi trucks or buses without major upgrades, and they are not pursuing that.

Bongero asked staff to explain the conditional rezoning the petitioner offered. Uhazie said it would limit the C-2 zoning to an EV charging lot under this ownership. If the use or owner changed, the zoning would revert to C-1 unless council amended the agreement.

Rennolds Ravines residents push back

A spokesman for the Rennolds Ravines civic association submitted a petition signed by 25 residents and a poster outlining his points. He called the plan an over-development and argued that C-2 zoning would hand the developer a "blank check" for more intense uses later, such as a 24-hour drive-thru or convenience store, without new public hearings. He said the city spent $30,000 in 2007 to settle a dispute over this property in order to preserve a neighborhood buffer.

Another subdivision resident focused on stormwater. She said paving the green lot would send runoff into the creek, which she identified as the Bell Branch, and speed bank erosion. She said five homeowners near the subdivision entrance were each specially assessed $20,000 in 2002 for a stream bank stabilization project. She also warned that an unstaffed 24-hour site could invite vandalism and loitering, and said the developer had sought multiple postponements.

A resident whose home backs up to the site said she has lived there 30 years and watched creek erosion carve away neighbors' yards, with one neighbor losing land up to his deck. A neighbor two doors down, a 38-year resident, said she has already lost six feet of property to erosion and is bothered by voices and a bright light from an expanded nearby car wash.

Petitioner response and the vote

The petitioners said security cameras would be installed and that stormwater calculations and soil erosion permits would be handled during engineering review. Moghul described lighting he used at a Rochester Hills mosque next to a subdivision: timers, motion sensors and shielded fixtures that keep only two or three lights on when no one is present. He said EGLE would impose erosion protections.

Ventura asked how a 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. limit would affect the business. The petitioners said it was not their preference, but they did not think it would be detrimental and they would likely still build. Measuring on the map, Uhazie said the parcel's rear line is about 120 feet from the nearest residential property, and the planned parking area would be just over 200 feet away.

Uhazie also noted that the 2007 consent judgment already allows the parking lot to be built without new planning review, though environmental rules would still apply. A petitioner added that the building approved under that judgment would have covered much more of the site than the charging lot.

Bongero moved to recommend approval, citing compatibility with surrounding zoning, consistency with the future land use plan and the voluntary conditional rezoning agreement under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. During discussion, Ventura asked whether the commission could require the conditional agreement. Uhazie said it cannot be required, and the petitioner could withdraw it at any point before council approves it. Droze noted that lighting and hours would be better addressed at the waiver use and site plan stage.

The motion passed 3–1, with Ventura voting no. Wilshaw explained that council will hold a first reading, then typically wait on the second reading until the site plan and waiver use have gone through both bodies.

Rosati Avenue contractor yard approved over neighbors' objections

Rino Soave of Novi-based Infinity Homes & Co. is seeking to use a new building at 34426 Rosati Avenue as an equipment and storage hub for his real estate company and a landscaping business it acquired in recent years. The 16-lot Rosati Industrial Park is zoned M-1, sits south of the CSX rail line and includes one lot set aside for stormwater. The nearest residential district is about 275 feet south, and the nearest home is about 400 feet away.

The 70-by-87-foot building is nearly 27 feet tall. The site plan places fueling and storage for small dump trucks, pickups and trailers along the north line, heavy equipment along the east, and pallets of salt, mulch, topsoil and other materials around the north and west sides of the building. The ordinance limits outdoor stockpiles to eight feet. The lot would be enclosed by a six-foot black aluminum fence with a decorative wood sliding gate opened by employee access cards.

Soave said no employees would be based at the site. The landscaping business has about eight to 10 employees, and Soave said three or four vehicles a day would come and go, with crews picking up equipment around 7 a.m. and returning it later. He said bulk material would be stored only temporarily for specific jobs and that landscaping is about 10% of the business. The building has been unfinished for months while waiting on DTE to connect power.

The owner of buildings on both sides of the site asked the commission to table or deny the request. He said the park's owners have turned away landscapers before, that Soave is already operating there without a certificate of occupancy, and that employees park on the street. He said several other owners oppose it and that the park's original developer told him the use was not what he envisioned. The owner of two other buildings on Rosati said he has a good relationship with Soave but warned that allowing outdoor racking on the side of a building would set a precedent; storage behind a fence would be fine.

Soave said there is no power on the site, so the business cannot be operating there. He noted that the neighboring buildings include a marijuana facility and that a crematorium nearby emits smoke, calling the area heavy industrial. (The park is zoned M-1, Livonia's light industrial district.)

Wilshaw asked if the city had ever approved outdoor racking like this. Uhazie said he could not recall approving it for a special trades contractor. Ventura nonetheless moved to recommend approval, tied to the Oct. 6 site plan, and the motion carried.

Amrhein truck yard denied for lack of detail and paving

The general counsel for the property's owner, a Farmington Hills developer and contractor, said the firm bought the roughly 13-acre property at 36555 Amrhein Road in mid-August. It is spending more than $10 million to renovate the 140,000-square-foot former Contractors Steel building for Beaver Aerospace & Defense.

The plan would split the property. The building and the east parking area (about 7 acres) would go to Beaver. A new 5-acre middle parcel with its own Amrhein driveway would be leased to a single company for about 55 trucks and empty trailers, stored for weeks at a time. A 1.8-acre western parcel would be leased to Roush for about 44 tractors, connected through a 15-foot opening in the fence to Roush's lot to the south and out to Globe Street. The site sits beside an asphalt plant to the north and Roush facilities to the east.

The company wants City Council to waive the hard-surface requirement and use fine-graded 21AA crushed concrete instead. The attorney said bringing the site up to 100-year storm standards would make the project too costly.

The fire marshal's letter said the plan set was hard to read and asked whether unpaved areas could hold fire apparatus, how long vehicles would stay, whether trailers would carry cargo, and where hydrants are. It noted that lithium-ion batteries may not be stored in trailers. The Inspection Department's letter said the parking area must be hard-surfaced unless council grants a waiver with a dust control plan. A $346.45 unpaid water and sewer bill was paid before the meeting.

The managing member of a company that has owned two adjacent buildings for 30 years filed a formal objection and asked for a postponement. She said she received two notices on Sept. 23 that TCE above EGLE limits is in the site's soil and groundwater and migrating toward her property, creating a vapor intrusion risk. She argued that heavy truck traffic could disturb the soil and monitoring wells and said renovation digging is already happening before zoning approval.

The company's attorney said contamination is common on older industrial sites. The company completed Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments with AKT Peerless and recently submitted a baseline environmental assessment to the state, which requires the migration notices. He said the notice does not mean pollution is actively moving into her property and that all renovation work is permitted. He said the middle lot would be gated with card or code access, while the Roush lot would be open to Roush's property. Existing lighting would get new bulbs, a photometric plan has been submitted, and no drivers would rest or sleep there. Lease terms would bar cargo.

Droze said the plan lacked basics such as fence types and locations, and that requiring paving would bring stormwater changes that significantly alter the plan. Ventura asked how fire lanes could be kept clear on an unmarked gravel lot. Uhazie said that would need discussion with the fire marshal. Wilshaw agreed the plan was preliminary, and one commissioner said he would not support the request unless the lot is paved.

Droze moved to recommend denial. The motion cited the petitioner's failure to show compliance with waiver use standards or that the site can handle the use, and found outdoor storage would harm the area's long-term stability and nearby properties. It carried, with Bongero, Ventura and Wilshaw voting in favor.

Moratorium ordinance gets a cool reception

At City Council's referral and on the Law Department's advice, planning staff drafted a new Section 13.16 that sets a legal framework for zoning moratoriums. Uhazie stressed that the ordinance does not impose any moratorium. It would let council pause approvals for a specific use for up to one year, with one six-month extension, while the city studies it. The use would have to threaten public health, safety or welfare in a way current ordinances do not already address. The language has not changed since the commission last discussed it.

Droze asked that the draft drop the word "acceptance" so applicants could still file and move through planning review during a moratorium. He questioned whether a full year is needed. Uhazie acknowledged the data center ordinance took far less than a year to write, but said the longer window allows time for outside data to emerge.

Ventura said he was "not in favor of this at all," arguing that Livonia's low taxes rest on being open to business and that new uses have always come through planning staff, not out of nowhere. He questioned how council could find a use "potentially threatens" the public without study, and how the Law Department could judge a scientific question. He said the kind of large data center seen in Saline Township could not be built in Livonia. Another commissioner agreed, saying he saw no need to "reinvent the wheel." Later, a commissioner suggested a three-month moratorium with a three-month extension.

Uhazie said the framework would actually limit future councils by requiring a defensible health or safety reason, rather than letting them block uses they simply dislike. Wilshaw added that council can already pass a moratorium by resolution, but it would stand on weaker legal ground, pointing to Saline Township, which he said tried to block a data center and lost in court.

In extended remarks, Wilshaw contrasted the appointed commission with the elected council, which he said can face political pressure, especially in election years. He said residents earlier this year had called for moratoriums on car washes, gas stations and auto repair shops as well as data centers. He said he does not want the city enacting moratoriums but that the question before the commission was whether to give council a firmer process if it chooses to.

Two residents spoke. One supported the ordinance, saying uses such as data centers are more complex and controversial than in the past and that a pause is a sound risk management tool. Another asked whether this was related to the data center ordinance tabled Sept. 22. Wilshaw said it is separate and not specific to data centers.

Ventura moved to table the item to Nov. 10, when the data center ordinance is also expected back, with directions to clarify how a threat would be determined and to shorten the time limits. The motion carried.

Chick-fil-A windscreen approved

Returning from an earlier tabling, Chick-fil-A's Middlebelt and Plymouth Road restaurant replaced its proposed vinyl curtains with a permanent windscreen along the drive-thru. A representative for Chick-fil-A said the dark bronze, perforated aluminum panels were chosen to match the canopy. The screen would be about 76.5 feet long and 8 feet tall in 18 sections that can be replaced one at a time.

The screen would sit on its own reinforced concrete footing in the grass about two feet from the curb, not on the canopy columns. A structural engineer evaluated it under the 2021 Michigan Building Code and ASCE 7-16 at 108 mph gusts. The Chick-fil-A representative said the powder-coated aluminum resists road salt and the perforations let daylight through without hurting lighting under the canopy.

Ventura confirmed both the panels and frame are powder-coated. Another commissioner praised the engineering detail, including free-body diagrams. The recommendation passed 4–0, with approval valid for one year after council acts unless a building permit is obtained.

What's next

• 15150 Levan Road goes to City Council for a first reading on the rezoning. A site plan and waiver use for the charging lot must still come back to the commission.
• 34426 Rosati Avenue and the Chick-fil-A windscreen go to City Council with approving recommendations.
• 36555 Amrhein Road was denied; the petitioner has 10 days to appeal in writing to City Council.
• The moratorium ordinance and the data center ordinance are expected back before the Planning Commission on Nov. 10.