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1000 ‎Rochester Hills Dr‎. ‎

Rochester Hills, MI ‎

48309‎

(‎248‎) ‎656‎-‎4600‎

Home Page‎: ‎

www‎.‎rochesterhills‎.‎org‎

Rochester Hills

Minutes

Local Development Finance Authority

Brandy Boyd, Clarence Brantley, Michael Damone, Michael Ellis, Lois Golden, Darlene ‎

Janulis, Tammy Muczynski, William Mull, Cassie Patterson, Stephan Slavik, Owen Winnie‎

7:30 AM

1000 Rochester Hills Drive

Thursday, April 7, 2011

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Stephan Slavik called the Regular Meeting to order at ‎7‎:‎30 ‎

a‎.‎m‎. ‎in Conference Room ‎221‎.‎

ROLL CALL

Clarence Brantley, Michael Damone, Lois Golden, Stephan Slavik, Owen ‎

Winnie, Brandy Boyd and Darlene Janulis‎

Present

7 -

Michael Ellis, Tammy Muczynski, William Mull and Cassie Patterson

Absent

4 -

Also Present‎: ‎Ed Anzek, Director of Planning and Dev‎.‎

Kurt Dawson, Director of Assessing and Treasury‎

Keith Sawson, Director of Fiscal‎

Paul Shumejko, Traffic Engineer‎

James Breuckman, Project Manager, McKenna Associates‎

Maureen Gentry, Recording Secretary‎

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2011-0141

January ‎13‎, ‎2011 ‎Regular Meeting‎

A motion was made by Damone, seconded by Brantley, that this matter be ‎

Approved as Presented‎. ‎The motion carried unanimously‎.‎

COMMUNICATIONS

There were no Communications brought forward‎.‎

DISCUSSION

2010-0462

M‎-‎59 ‎Corridor Study Update; James Breuckman, McKenna Associates, ‎

Consultant‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek introduced the newest members, Ms‎. ‎Boyd and Ms‎. ‎Janulis, ‎

and he noted that Ms‎. ‎Janulis had been on the LDFA about nine years ‎

ago‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek then introduced Mr‎. ‎Breuckman, who compiled, and was ‎

present to give an update about, the M‎-‎59 ‎Corridor Study‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said ‎

that the intent of the Study was to create a vision for the Regional ‎

Employment Center identified in the Master Land Use Plan, and to ‎

develop the Master Infrastructure Plan‎. ‎When the LDFA first started in ‎

1994‎, there was a Master Plan done at that time to identify various ‎

improvements‎. ‎Most had been done, and several had been set aside‎. ‎

The LDFA had about ‎14 ‎remaining years of capture, and they wanted to ‎

make sure the monies were best spent‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman had brought a power point presentation, and first showed ‎

a slide of the Development Plan portion of the document‎. ‎That set forth ‎

what was to happen above ground‎. ‎Spalding DeDecker, an engineering ‎

firm in the City, was currently working on underground infrastructure ‎

information, and trying to determine if it was sufficient to support the ‎

above ground plan or if there would need to be more work done‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎

Breuckman stated that the purpose of the Plan was to provide a ‎

comprehensive future development vision for the study area‎. ‎As ‎

mentioned by Mr‎. ‎Anzek, the area was called out as a Regional ‎

Employment Center during the Master Land Use Plan update‎. ‎It was a ‎

complex area that had very definite character‎. ‎There were a lot of ‎1980‎’‎s ‎

and early ‎1990‎’‎s industrial parks‎. ‎If left to their own devices, they could ‎

start showing age, so providing a comprehensive vision was one of the ‎

driving forces behind the Plan‎. ‎Connected to that was a guide for future ‎

expenditures ‎- ‎what to plan to support and implement the development‎. ‎

They wanted to maximize the return on investment to quickly leverage ‎

private investment afterwards‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman noted that the area was about ‎1‎,‎500 ‎acres, and held ‎90‎% ‎

of the City‎’‎s industrial area‎. ‎He recalled the workshop held in November ‎

2009 ‎at Oakland University‎. ‎The results of that directly formed the ‎

recommendations in Chapter ‎5 ‎of the Study‎. ‎He summarized the rating ‎

results, beginning with development prioritization‎. ‎He talked about ‎

emerging sectors and the new medical school at Oakland University, ‎

which was rated four and five ‎(‎highest‎) ‎across the board‎. ‎Building ‎

appearance was also a high priority‎. ‎The top four were tapping into ‎

emerging sectors, building appearance, maintaining dedicated funding ‎

sources and expediting the permitting and approval processes‎. ‎He felt ‎

that it was interesting that the top four priorities actually had very little to ‎

do with infrastructure; it was more programming and process‎-‎oriented‎. ‎

Ordinances could help with the permitting process, and having a defined ‎

development vision in advance helped to expedite the approval process‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman noted that the fifth‎-‎ranked item was the first one involved ‎

with infrastructure ‎- ‎which was building new infrastructure necessary to ‎

attract new investment‎. ‎Next was the number of jobs created, businesses ‎

that could bring spin‎-‎offs, landscaping, attracting blue chip clients and ‎

district appearance from M‎-‎59 ‎was last‎. ‎All of those were process and ‎

policy oriented‎. ‎It was also interesting to him that infrastructure was only ‎

mentioned once in the development priorities‎.‎

He next showed where the LDFA could spend its money on physical ‎

projects‎. ‎The participants were asked to rate those‎. ‎Road maintenance ‎

was the highest priority‎. ‎Second were image improvements, such as ‎

gateway improvements and building improvements‎. ‎Road construction ‎

was third, then pursuing public and private partnerships, streetscape ‎

improvements, having a marketing plan and region marketing and street ‎

lighting‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman showed pictures of various buildings on which the ‎

participants voted‎. ‎He asked about new buildings on major roads, and it ‎

was consistent that people liked buildings closer to the street, without ‎

parking in front of the building, and those that were pedestrian friendly‎. ‎A ‎

lot of the preferred buildings were LEED compliant‎. ‎

He did a change analysis, to quantify where areas were likely to change, ‎

versus just evolve‎. ‎That was based on property values, how much of the ‎

parcels were already covered by buildings, what the land use was and the ‎

natural features limitations‎. ‎Some parcels were more likely to be ‎

reinvested in over time and to grow by addition, and some would ‎

experience some kind of wholesale change‎. ‎He showed a map with areas ‎

where radical change could occur‎. ‎A lot of those were residential, which ‎

would change over time ‎- ‎more of a ‎30‎-‎year process‎. ‎There were some ‎

large, vacant parcels, such as the former Suburban Softball site that were ‎

likely to be redeveloped‎. ‎There was land at the end of Devondale, where ‎

the connection to Austin was made‎. ‎He showed the potential areas to ‎

evolve, and said that they had to think about how to allow them to evolve ‎

so businesses would grow in place‎. ‎He showed the areas where there was ‎

the potential to intensify with major building additions‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman described the development areas in the Study‎. ‎First was ‎

workplace, which encompassed most of the existing industrial ‎

developments‎. ‎They wanted to provide additional flexibility in those ‎

areas‎. ‎He showed the technology and office image corridor, which was ‎

located along M‎-‎59 ‎and included taller buildings‎. ‎They had an ‎

opportunity to start building a better image for the M‎-‎59 ‎study area‎. ‎The ‎

Crooks Rd‎. ‎interchange was a major entrance, and it was now ‎

underutilized in terms of the land uses‎. ‎There was the opportunity for ‎

some taller, mixed‎-‎use buildings that were consistent with the technology ‎

and office image corridor‎. ‎He pointed out the regional commercial area ‎

along Adams, where the new marketplace center was‎. ‎He stated that the ‎

big box stores had a place, and he had heard it was a great benefit for the ‎

study area‎. ‎They had heard that the connection of Leach and ‎

Technology to Adams was a great benefit, because it was a lot easier for ‎

people to get to the new restaurants in the marketplace‎. ‎It had improved ‎

the quality of workplace life for people, and they had the opportunity to ‎

leverage that area further‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman showed future possible road connections‎. ‎One of the ‎

limitations of the study area was that there were a lot of streets that went off ‎

of Auburn but did not connect to each other‎. ‎It limited business clustering ‎

and other strategies‎. ‎It also required everyone to drive down to Auburn ‎

and over to Crooks or Adams and back to M‎-‎59‎. ‎Providing the secondary ‎

cross connection to the east and west would help them support a little ‎

more intense development‎. ‎If they started adding more cars and people ‎

to Auburn, they would need a secondary access‎. ‎That could be ‎

accomplished through public action or over time as development ‎

occurred‎. ‎The City could ask for right‎-‎of‎-‎way more opportunistically‎. ‎He ‎

gave some recommendations for development standards ‎(‎lot ‎

dimensions, building setbacks, building height, etc‎.). ‎He noted a general ‎

description of what types of uses were appropriate and what kind of ‎

character the buildings should have‎. ‎All this would provide a basis for the ‎

zoning amendment and also help create a shared vision for the ‎

development area‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman referred to page ‎66‎, which listed some basic building ‎

design guidelines‎. ‎Those would be further flushed out in the zoning ‎

amendment, but they wanted to keep the guidelines basic, so as to not ‎

dictate architectural style‎. ‎They wanted to allow creativity and freedom of ‎

expression without defaulting to the lowest common denominator‎. ‎There ‎

was a parking analysis included with parking recommendations‎. ‎There ‎

were now older buildings built to an industrial standard, and new ‎

standards would allow flexible or hybrid‎-‎type uses, where there would be ‎

more office‎. ‎Parking would be a challenge in those areas‎. ‎They ‎

recommended on‎-‎street parking for at least one side of the street to ‎

create a parking supply‎. ‎They would have to provide flexibility in the ‎

ordinance‎. ‎He had included a non‎-‎motorized circulation plan with street ‎

guidelines that moved toward the complete streets look, rather than the ‎

unfinished, industrial‎-‎parked street look‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman referred to street design guidelines on page ‎69‎, which ‎

showed attractive streets in the study area‎. ‎They were important for ‎

people entering the area‎. ‎Even if a lot of people did not walk on them ‎

everyday, the improvements would send a message that it was a quality ‎

place that people cared about and invested in‎. ‎On page ‎70‎, there was a ‎

small example of how an existing street could be upgraded‎. ‎Buildings ‎

were brought closer to the street to allow for expansion‎. ‎There were fairly ‎

large setbacks in the area now‎. ‎They added sidewalks, street trees and ‎

on‎-‎street parking to show how the streets could be evolved over time‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman talked about gateway improvements, which could create ‎

an awareness driving into the research corridor‎. ‎He included three ‎

examples of potential gateway signage, including one that was directly ‎

based off of some of the elements of the City‎’‎s new logo with a more ‎

industrial and modern look appropriate for the study area‎.‎

The next steps would include the Regional Employment Center zoning ‎

amendment and the Infrastructure Improvement Plan and the project list ‎

to be implemented over the next ‎14 ‎years‎. ‎There would be some cost ‎

estimates so they could start thinking about what the LDFA wanted to take ‎

on over time‎. ‎He commented that the list of projects would be bigger than ‎

the money available to do them all‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Damone alluded to command and control elements in the study‎. ‎He ‎

asked Mr‎. ‎Breuckman if he ever considered how the City competed with ‎

its neighboring communities‎. ‎He maintained that Rochester Hills ‎

ultimately had standards and requirements that made it uncompetitive ‎

with surrounding communities‎. ‎He felt that there were a lot of esoteric ‎

concepts in the study‎. ‎They wanted to control building materials, but he ‎

was not sure that was constitutional‎. ‎It could be put in the ordinance, and ‎

a lot of people might not challenge that, but he was not sure it was legal‎. ‎

Economically, the study might not enhance, but make it more difficult to ‎

locate businesses here‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman said that the idea was to actually remove impediments‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Damone said he was not sure it was doing that‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Breuckman said ‎

that it talked mostly about things that were already regulated‎. ‎They were ‎

trying to move forward with a vision for how buildings should look, but the ‎

intent was that the ordinance amendment would allow for more things to ‎

happen than it currently did‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone suggested that if they put ‎

things in the ordinance like streetscaping and building materials, they ‎

might not end up with the result they were trying to achieve‎. ‎They were ‎

ignoring the economics of business ‎- ‎building and operating a building‎. ‎

He suggested that unless they took that into consideration, they might ‎

end up with unintended consequences‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman said they would take that into consideration‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone ‎

observed that a lot of it was not fundamental for people building and ‎

operating‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Breuckman asked him to give an example‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone ‎

said that if they required building materials that were more expensive ‎

than the neighboring community, which raised occupancy costs, ‎

someone would go to a neighboring community‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman looked up the suggested building materials‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone ‎

noted that block was excluded, which he did not think should be‎. ‎

Regarding metal siding, he stated that some people liked it for heat ‎

transfer reasons‎. ‎The building envelope had to meet certain energy ‎

requirements‎. ‎He reviewed the ordinance requirements for parking, and ‎

asked what a typical parking space size was‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that the ‎

ordinance now required ‎9 ‎x ‎18 ‎for employee concentrated developments‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Damone suggested that some of the older places could re‎-‎stripe and ‎

pick up additional parking‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Breuckman agreed, and said that they ‎

based parking on ‎9‎-‎foot spaces‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman acknowledged that there would be different tastes ‎

regarding building materials‎. ‎Foreign companies might like something ‎

very different than what people were used to here‎. ‎He did not want ‎

building materials to be the thing they got hung on‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek indicated ‎

that if someone came and put up expensive materials, he would not want ‎

the building next to it to be unattractive‎. ‎They wanted to create a theme ‎

and to strongly encourage a certain look‎. ‎The Planning Commission ‎

encouraged all developments to be high quality, with brick and stone‎. ‎He ‎

said that Mr‎. ‎Damone and Mr‎. ‎Breuckman were both right; they did not ‎

want to put in any impediments to redevelopment‎. ‎He thought the ‎

materials were there only as guidelines‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone commented that he ‎

was not sure that government had the right to regulate aesthetics‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Winne disagreed somewhat‎. ‎As a former Planning Director, he was ‎

aware that the development of a project was steered through ordinance ‎

requirements and the site plan review process of negotiation‎. ‎He felt that ‎

the guidelines were critical to that process‎. ‎He recalled that Oak Tech ‎

Park was an extremely well designed, well done park‎. ‎There were a lot of ‎

things done that went beyond what could normally be required through ‎

ordinance, and they used negotiation‎. ‎He felt that a lot of what Mr‎. ‎

Damone was saying was covered by building regulations and permitting‎. ‎

For the aesthetics, there were a lot of things that should be built into the ‎

process, but they were guidelines that allowed flexibility‎.‎

Ms‎. ‎Golden stated that they key thing to remember was that they were ‎

working with a plan and recommendations‎. ‎The study did not say ‎

someone could not do something‎. ‎Just like dealing with historic districts ‎

ordinances or a PUD, there were ways to inspire good design‎. ‎The City ‎

might offer a fa‎ç‎ade improvement grant, which would inspire ‎

improvements without requiring them‎. ‎She felt that what the competition ‎

was doing was a good point‎. ‎She thought that there were a lot of good ‎

things in the study, for example, building height that could spur ‎

investment in the area‎. ‎A lot of the office parks now did not look very ‎

good and had single‎-‎story buildings‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Damone asked Mr‎. ‎Dawson if he would be willing to lower the ‎

assessed value and get less tax dollars‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Dawson said properties ‎

would be assessed according to value‎. ‎He remarked that if someone ‎

wanted to do a cheap development, they could go to another city‎. ‎

Ms‎. ‎Janulis referred to page ‎66‎, and said that it was very well written‎. ‎It ‎

said ‎“‎non‎-‎recommended‎.‎” ‎If people wanted to move to Rochester Hills ‎

and something was a sticking point, they could show the plans they ‎

wanted to do and ask for an exemption‎. ‎She said they could not regulate ‎

bad taste, but people did have to provide a plan‎. ‎Her homeowner‎’‎s ‎

association laws stated what building materials could be used in her ‎

subdivision, and it was enforced through the By‎-‎laws‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone ‎

agreed a homeowner‎’‎s association could regulate, but he noted that it was ‎

private‎. ‎Ms‎. ‎Janulis believed that the way the study was written, it was not ‎

prohibitive‎. ‎It was not too restrictive, and it was setting guidelines‎. ‎If ‎

people wanted to break with that, they would have to talk to the City and ‎

they could negotiate‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Winnie reminded that they were attempting to develop a character ‎

and a destination point for the M‎-‎59 ‎corridor‎. ‎It was what was seen from ‎

the street that drew people into a development‎. ‎He did not see anything ‎

in the study about being prohibitive‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Damone said that when he developed, they recorded covenants and ‎

private deed restrictions, so he was not against aesthetics‎. ‎He did not ‎

think the City could do something like that under the current enabling ‎

legislation‎. ‎They wanted to be sure they ended up with the desired result ‎

and not something that was economically discouraging‎.‎

Ms‎. ‎Golden said she felt everyone agreed with that, but the plan should ‎

be viewed as a guide‎. ‎She agreed that circulation was very important‎. ‎

She asked how far McKenna would take the plan, or whether it would be ‎

left up to Staff‎. ‎She said she was excited about it, and she added that she ‎

was happy about the connections of Leach and Technology‎. ‎She said it ‎

would be nice to prioritize in their budgeting, and she wondered if Staff ‎

would give them an infrastructure field analysis‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman said there would be cost estimates on a per‎-‎foot basis‎. ‎

He noted that the road connection locations were conceptual and the land ‎

acquisition costs would be the wild card‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that subsequent ‎

to the ‎1998 ‎Master Land Use Plan effort, there were five focus areas, and ‎

one was the Austin Ave‎. ‎extension‎. ‎It was a way to get access into an ‎

area prime for industrial and light manufacturing development‎. ‎They ‎

tried for several years to get that built, but the land owner would not ‎

cooperate‎. ‎Then a new company, Rayconnect, saw the site, fell in love ‎

with it and built a building‎. ‎The City had the impetus to build the road ‎

because of the tax dollars that would be coming‎. ‎If they got the road ‎

connections in a plan and the opportunity presented itself, they would ‎

have priorities‎. ‎The road concept was critical to get movement in the ‎

area‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Slavik said that he would like to see the Clinton River Trail woven into ‎

the plan for pedestrian traffic and employees‎. ‎There was a huge lineal ‎

park down the trail‎. ‎Everyone that came to the area wanted their ‎

employees to be able to tie into the Trail‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek agreed‎. ‎He said that the general manager of KOSTAL ‎

Kontakt, which was coming into the Tower Automotive building on Hamlin, ‎

was a bicyclist and pedestrian, and he really liked the Trail‎. ‎It was a big ‎

selling point‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman noted the circulation plan on page ‎68‎, and said that it ‎

designated major, non‎-‎motorized routes to get people to the Trail‎. ‎There ‎

were major intersection routes at Hamlin, and they envisioned Leach, ‎

Austin, Devondale and other major roads which could include on‎-‎street ‎

bike lanes or wider sidewalks‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Slavik said that if they were trying to purchase right‎-‎of‎-‎ways for streets, ‎

easements to the Trail were very doable‎. ‎

Ms‎. ‎Golden said that she completely agreed with Mr‎. ‎Slavik‎. ‎She had ‎

previously suggested that they send information to the Oakland Trails ‎

Advisory Council‎. ‎Since they had so much potential within the corridor ‎

and there might be the potential for revenue grants for a pathway system ‎

connection, she felt it would be a good idea if they had more of a formal ‎

dialogue between the LDFA and the Council‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that all the comments were excellent and tied into the ‎

public‎-‎private partnership to incentivize people to do things‎. ‎There was ‎

some work going on with the Friends of the Clinton River Trail to try and ‎

create an identity‎. ‎The Parks and Forestry Department had put a project ‎

in the Capital Improvement Plan to try to put some City money towards it ‎

in the hopes of getting grants for signage or way finding‎. ‎It would identify ‎

that to the right a quarter mile was a certain restaurant, for example‎. ‎He ‎

thought they should go after private sponsorships to create the ‎

connection Mr‎. ‎Slavik mentioned‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Winnie thought that Mr‎. ‎Slavik had a very good point‎. ‎He would like ‎

to see the Trail somehow integrated into the process in more detail‎. ‎As ‎

the City began to negotiate with builders and developers in the corridor ‎

that backed up to the Trail, they should have some wiggle room to ‎

negotiate resting stops on people‎’‎s property‎. ‎He could visualize that ‎

some employees might want to ride a bike to work in the summertime‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman referred to recommendations on page ‎67 ‎for bicycle ‎

parking‎. ‎Companies could even think about having showers for ‎

employees‎. ‎One of the things they heard from stakeholders was that ‎

Rochester Hills did not have a terribly advantaged location within the ‎

regional economy‎. ‎The epicenter was moving toward the airport and the ‎

M‎-‎14 ‎corridor‎. ‎People came here because of the quality of life benefits‎. ‎

He agreed that leveraging the Trail was important‎. ‎People came not for a ‎

purely economic decision but because of the things the City had to offer‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Winnie noted the parcel on the northeast corner of Hamlin and ‎

Adams, and he asked how big it was and what it was zoned‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek ‎

replied that there had been a consent judgment agreed to for mixed‎-‎use ‎

office and retail‎. ‎It was a highly contaminated site‎. ‎There was money ‎

spent to try to clean it, but the work stopped‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that Staff was ‎

working with the owner, trying to find a user for office, because of the ‎

medical school at Oakland University‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Winnie wondered if the study would require any amendments to the ‎

City‎’‎s existing Master Plan‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek advised that the Master Plan ‎

called the area out as the Regional Employment Center to be further ‎

studied when developed‎. ‎They tried at the time to tie development ‎

standards to it with form based zoning, but they decided to do the M‎-‎59 ‎

Corridor Study first‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Winnie said his concern was the land use ‎

aspects being consistent with the study‎. ‎If they had to get involved with ‎

zoning changes that were inconsistent with the Master Plan, he felt that ‎

there should be comments in the plan about timing issues‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that was a very strategic concern‎. ‎They questioned ‎

whether the City would initiate a rezoning as the carrot for redevelopment ‎

or wait for a plan and support it‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Winnie suggested that the plan had ‎

to make comments to that process‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that if a resident of ‎

the area looked at the street concept in the plan, it could be concerning‎. ‎

The City was cutting a road right through the manufactured housing ‎

complex, but people had to know it was just a strategy‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman said that he thought about how they should go forward ‎

tactically‎. ‎The Master Land Use Plan did have recommendations about ‎

the area being the Regional Employment Center ‎(‎REC‎). ‎When the ‎

development plan was implemented, it would be one zoning district ‎

(‎REC‎). ‎The zoning district would relate to the Master Plan, and the ‎

standards in the REC district would accomplish the development plan‎. ‎It ‎

was consistent with the Master Plan and at adoption of the new REC ‎

district, they would leave in place the industrial and other appropriate ‎

non‎-‎residential zonings‎. ‎They would leave the residential parcels zoned ‎

the way they were‎. ‎An owner would have to request a rezoning‎. ‎The ‎

Master Plan had some specifications that an area should not be rezoned ‎

unless there was a significant assemblage of land in the residential ‎

areas‎. ‎It was somewhat discretionary, and the Master Plan did recognize ‎

that there could be an issue if it did not go all at once‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Winnie asked ‎

and received confirmation that the Zoning Plan was consistent with the ‎

Land Use Plan‎. ‎

Discussed

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Mr‎. ‎Shumejko discussed the ‎2011 ‎concrete program, noting that the work ‎

would start next month for the areas in the Tan and Northfield Industrial ‎

Parks‎. ‎They would work on five concrete slab replacements along ‎

Product and Commerce Drives‎. ‎The Crooks Rd‎./‎M‎-‎59 ‎interchange ‎

should be completed by November‎. ‎It will include a new bridge over ‎

M‎-‎59 ‎and widening Crooks to five lanes up to Star Batt‎. ‎The Road ‎

Commission recently received word from MDOT that the funding was ‎

approved to continue the Crooks Rd‎. ‎improvement up to Hamlin‎. ‎Council ‎

approved the cost for the design last week‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek added that the City ‎

could not have qualified for a grant unless it had new jobs‎. ‎Once ‎

KOSTAL Kontakt signed the lease on Hamlin, the grant was pursued and ‎

the City was awarded‎. ‎They were bringing almost ‎300 ‎jobs‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Shumejko advised that M‎-‎59 ‎would be resurfaced from Opdyke to ‎

Crooks, which should last until November‎. ‎He also advised that the ‎

sound wall barriers on M‎-‎59 ‎were approved by MDOT‎. ‎The contract had ‎

been awarded; however, the installation would not begin until July‎. ‎He ‎

noted that Adams Rd would be resurfaced from South Boulevard to ‎

Auburn this summer, and that they would install three‎-‎foot, paved ‎

shoulders along that corridor and extend the existing left turn lane south ‎

from Auburn‎. ‎He added that the Walton Blvd‎. ‎project was scheduled to ‎

begin April ‎15 ‎for resurfacing east of Adams to Crittenton and would last ‎

through August‎. ‎He explained that the road would be down to one lane in ‎

each direction, and there would be a turnaround added in front of ‎

Bootlegger‎’‎s‎. ‎At the high school, there were a lot of cars that stacked on ‎

eastbound Walton, so they were going to install a dedicated right turn ‎

lane to the entrance of the parking lot to relieve traffic congestion‎.‎

Mr‎. ‎Shumejko advised that Dequindre would be improved from South ‎

Boulevard to Auburn‎. ‎It was scheduled for ‎2013‎, but the Road ‎

Commission was going to make a request to move it to this year, and it ‎

could start in late summer‎. ‎City Council approved the contract to share ‎

the design for the Avon and Livernois bridge work‎. ‎Ms‎. ‎Janulis asked if ‎

anyone had contacted the County Commissioners about the Road ‎

Commission not reimbursing the City for its ‎50‎% ‎contribution for design ‎

in ‎2011‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Sawdon said that Council made it clear to the Road ‎

Commission that the City was not happy it had to share on a project that ‎

was not the City‎’‎s, but in reality, if they did not share, it would not get fixed‎. ‎

Ms‎. ‎Janulis wondered if they would get reimbursed when it became that ‎

year‎’‎s budget item‎. ‎That made sense to her, but the answer would still no‎. ‎

She stated that the County Commission was responsible to the ‎

electorate, and the Road Commissioners were appointed by the County ‎

Commissioners, which was why she asked the question‎. ‎Ms‎. ‎Golden said ‎

they also received benefits such as cars and other things, and the ‎

Commissioners tried to find out about that and were not informed‎. ‎Ms‎. ‎

Janulis said it was interesting that Macomb just abolished its ‎

Commission‎. ‎

Upon questioning, Mr‎. ‎Shumejko said that the construction for the ‎

Tienken Rd‎. ‎widening had been pushed back to ‎2013‎. ‎They needed ‎

about a year‎’‎s worth of right‎-‎of‎-‎way acquisition, and there were a lot of ‎

utilities in that corridor, so there would be about a year‎-‎and‎-‎a‎-‎half of ‎

relocations‎. ‎Another reason it was pushed back was because the City of ‎

Rochester would be redoing downtown Main St‎. ‎next year‎. ‎That would be ‎

a building‎- ‎to‎-‎building complete removal and reconstruct, and Tienken ‎

would be used as a detour‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Winnie asked about Hamlin from Livernois to Rochester‎. ‎He said ‎

that the traffic circle worked well, except at ‎5‎:‎00 ‎p‎.‎m‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Shumejko said ‎

that in the past submittal for the Federal funding, Hamlin Rd‎. ‎was ‎

submitted from Livernois to Rochester as a ‎3‎-‎R project ‎(‎restoration, ‎

rehabilitation and reconstruct‎)‎, and it was approved for ‎2015‎. ‎In the CIP, ‎

they proposed to build a center turn lane and towards Rochester, and ‎

there would be five lanes at the intersection‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Winnie asked if they had ‎

the right‎-‎of‎-‎way from the roundabout to Rochester‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Shumejko said ‎

that they did from the subdivisions on the south side because they were ‎

built at ‎60 ‎feet, but they would have to negotiate for the older acreage ‎

parcels‎. ‎They also wanted to do an overlay from Rochester to John R, ‎

and that was approved for ‎2015‎. ‎

Any Further Business‎:‎

Mr‎. ‎Damone asked about the status of the Magna project on Hamlin, ‎

recalling that there would be some financial support needed from the ‎

LDFA‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that the City supported the issuance of tax exempt ‎

bonds through the Economic Development Corporation ‎(‎EDC‎)‎, but ‎

Magna took its time making a decision, and they missed the window of ‎

opportunity for the bonds, but Magna decided to do the project in‎-‎house‎. ‎

They sent a series of questions that he and the Mayor responded to, and ‎

they were very careful not to make any financial commitments‎. ‎They were ‎

willing to make commitments for expedited permits and approvals and to ‎

give a single point of contact‎. ‎Magna was still very much a player; they ‎

were just taking their time‎. ‎He still believed the project was a go, and that ‎

Rochester Hills was number one‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Damone remembered that the ‎

EDC was going to lease the building to them‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek said the City was ‎

looking at a lot of different things‎. ‎EDC could have owned the building ‎

and leased it; they could have owned the building and leased the land; ‎

the LDFA could have been involved, and there were other variations‎. ‎In ‎

the last conversation, they said they wanted to buy the land and own the ‎

building‎. ‎

Ms‎. ‎Golden reminded that when Mr‎. ‎Casey was at the City, they had ‎

talked about taking a bus tour of the district to look at the infrastructure‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that when they get Staff back on board, they would take ‎

that up again‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek said that at the last meeting, Mr‎. ‎Ellis had suggested that the ‎

LDFA might have to take a stronger support role for the SmartZone‎. ‎The ‎

OU INCubator would be the support wing of the Clean Energy Research ‎

Center that the School of Engineering was establishing at the Shotwell ‎

Gustafson Pavillion‎. ‎He stated that currently, the City was not contributing ‎

anything to the INCubator‎. ‎Dr‎. ‎Russi, President of OU, was concerned ‎

because OU was solely funding the INCubator‎. ‎They had asked for any ‎

type of financial support from the LDFA‎. ‎They could possibly do a grant ‎

or partial loan, to be recovered from future SmartZone captures when the ‎

economy picked up‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Winnie felt it should be on the next meeting‎’‎s ‎

agenda, if not sooner‎. ‎Ms‎. ‎Golden said that as far as she was concerned, ‎

it was a huge priority and part of her argument to be reappointed to the ‎

Board‎. ‎She realized they had some tough calls, but the last thing they ‎

needed was to not be pursuing things that would bring jobs to the area‎. ‎If ‎

they could not find a way to assist the business INCubator, there would be ‎

no future revenue for the plans‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Anzek thought it was imperative that ‎

the INCubator survived, especially with its new market niche‎. ‎He stated ‎

that the new Dean of the School of Engineering was very impressive‎. ‎In ‎

addition to the Clean Energy Research Center, there would be ‎

commercialization of medical technologies‎. ‎When another medical ‎

school opened in the country, it produced seven billion dollars worth of ‎

spinoff supporting activities‎. ‎They wanted to capture some of that here, ‎

and that was why they were looking at the Hamlin‎/‎Adams corner for office‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Anzek advised that there was ‎15 ‎years of capture for the SmartZone, ‎

and they had not been paid a penny for two years‎. ‎The City had been ‎

holding money back for tribunal resolutions, and it did not seem as if the ‎

City was living up to its commitment‎. ‎He thought perhaps a combination ‎

of an annual grant for two years and annual loan could be paid back from ‎

future SmartZone captures‎. ‎

Mr‎. ‎Breuckman reminded that at the workshop, supporting OU was a top ‎

priority‎. ‎Mr‎. ‎Winnie agreed it was critical to the corridor‎.‎

NEXT MEETING DATE

The Chair reminded the Board that the next Regular Meeting was ‎

scheduled for July ‎14‎, ‎2011‎.‎

ADJOURNMENT

Hearing no further business to come before the Board, the Chair adjourned ‎

the Regular Meeting at ‎8‎:‎50 ‎a‎.‎m‎.‎

Respectfully Submitted,‎

_____________________________‎

Stephan Slavik, Chairperson‎

Rochester Hills‎

Local Development Finance Authority‎

_____________________________‎

Maureen Gentry, Recording Secretary‎