'A little bit underwhelmed': Royal Oak Kroger proposal tabled until next planning commission meeting
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Royal Oak Planning Commission postponed deciding on a conditional rezoning request from Kroger on Tuesday night to give the commission more time to decide if the proposal fits what they want to see in the area.
After hearing from the developers and several residents who were against building a Kroger store at 14 Mile and Coolidge, the commission voted to revisit the issue at its next meeting.
The backstory:
Kroger is requesting that the former Comau Industries be rezoned from general industrial to general business to pave the way for a new grocery store.
According to planning documents, Kroger wants to build a grocery store that will be roughly 103,000 square feet, along with a fuel center with room for up to 10 vehicles at a time.
In addition to the zoning request, the company is requesting variances of several zoning requirements in order to build the store and gas station. This includes being allowed to have light poles taller than 30 feet and exceeding the building height limit of 36 feet by a little over a foot and a half.
What happened at the meeting:
At Tuesday's planning commission meeting, commissioners asked questions about the development and expressed concerns about how the store would fit into the city's Master Plan. A representative with Atwell, Inc., the engineering firm behind the project, fielded these questions.
Mayor Michael Fournier asked why the business wants to build a store at an intersection that is only about a mile south of an existing Kroger in Troy. The Atwell representative said that store is about half the size of the proposed Royal Oak store and does not have room to expand to add amenities that would be at the 14 and Coolidge store.
Commissioners also expressed concerns about how the store would meet the city's community benefit guidelines, which include sustainability, green infrastructure, and public safety, among others.
"Looking at this for the first time, I was a little bit underwhelmed in terms of what we had envisioned for this area of the city," Fournier said.
Fournier said he would like to see whatever is built on the site serve as a potential achor for the area, adding that he wants to see a flagship development.
"The bar is going to be really high on this one," he said. "I think for me this has to be not a cookie-cutter Kroger."
Other commissioners echoed this, with one, Sharlan Douglas, noting that she did not want to have a large blank wall of a grocery store on a prime piece of real estate.
Dig deeper:
Fournier said he also wants to see a traffic study from the area because of concerns that the development could bring more traffic.
The site is nearby where a Sheetz gas station development plan was recently approved, a plan that received pushback from residents over traffic concerns.
Some said that the intersection is too busy for the gas station, which would be open 24/7. Those who have spoken at planning commission and city commission meetings said they were concerned about congestion and increased crashes in the area if a gas station is added.
The city said a traffic study was conducted, which included some changes to the intersection where Sheetz will be located, such as changing it from a three-right stop light to a four-way light.
What's next:
The planning commission will revisit the request and review any changes made by the developer at its Aug. 12 meeting. However, it is likely that a decision will take longer.
If the plan clears the planning commission, it will go on to the city commission.
The Source: FOX 2 watched the Royal Oak Planning Commission meeting to report this story. Other stories were also used in this report.