Auto wash plan proposed for Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth
A plan to build an auto wash at 40700 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth Township will be discussed during Wednesday’s Plymouth Township Planning Commission meeting.
A developer’s plans drafted in early-2024 to turn the property at 40700 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth Township into a Starbucks have been nixed in place of a proposal to make the former Applied Fitness Solutions site into an auto wash.
A public hearing to discuss the conditional rezoning of the 2.45 acres from OS-ARC (Office Services Ann Arbor Road Corridor) to ARC (Ann Arbor Road Corridor District) will be held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Township Municipal Offices located at 9955 N. Haggerty Road.
The conditional rezoning request by applicant Samantha Burgner “has been reviewed for compliance with the Township’s Zoning Ordinance, the 2015 Master Plan and sound planning principles,” according to a letter from township planner McKenna to the planning commissioners.
Burgner is a Vice President, Development & Construction at El Carwash based in Miami, Florida, according to zoominfo.com.
Back and forth
The applicant’s previously-submitted conditional rezoning application to build a Starbucks at the site offered different conditions, thus the need for a new public hearing.
Initially, the developer planned to convert the property into a car wash/Starbucks. The development team ditched the car wash concept, in part, because extensive research on market conditions for car washes in the community was not promising, according to documents included in planning commission meeting minutes.
During the Jan. 17, 2024, Plymouth Township Planning Commission meeting, commissioners voted 4-3 to recommend approval to the Board of Trustees for the conditional rezoning of the property from Office-Service Ann Arbor Road Corridor District to the Ann Arbor Road Corridor District — a necessary step in bringing a Starbucks to the space.
Board of Trustees have final say
Following Wednesday’s public hearing, members of the planning commission can vote to recommend approval to the Board of Trustees; recommend denial to the Board of Trustees; or to table the application.
McKenna recommends approval of the conditional rezoning based on the findings of its thorough review, adding the request, “is consistent with the goals of the 2015 Master Plan, such as redeveloping the site to reflect high-quality design standards that contribute to the positive image of the Township; will establish an appropriate use of the property, which presently vacant and underutilized; and will provide extensive landscape buffering along the North property line as an appropriate buffer to transition from adjacent single-unit residential development, beyond what is required by the Zoning Ordinance.”
During last year’s planning commission public hearing to discuss rezoning the property to allow for a Starbucks, Township Planner Nani Wolf noted that, although the property is zoned Office, “the lack of demand for office space nationwide makes this type of zoning difficult to accommodate.”
