A standing room only crowd turned out in Benton Township tonight for roughly 90-minutes of debate over the fate of a re-zoning request from PriMar Petroleum to help pave the way for a service station, convenience store and car wash at the intersection of M63-North and Enterprise Way. Eighteen of the nearly 70 people on hand addressed the planners and the majority of them urged the commission to deny that request, which they ultimately voted to suggest to the Township Board.
Brothers Kurt & Craig Marzke were joined by other executives from the PriMar team to show site plans and architectural renderings of their proposed 6,000 square foot convenience store, as they asked planners to approve a zoning change from D-2 Professional to D-1 Retail Commercial. They were met with a deluge of opposition from at least 14 of the 18 residents who addressed the planners, most of whom cited safety, environmental, traffic, and light pollution concerns.
Residents came from both sides of M63-North including homeowners from both the Woodridge neighborhood further down Enterprise Way and from the Rocky Gap neighborhood.
The property was changed to D-2 Professional use in April of 2007, allowing commercial use of the property, but not the type that would be required for the PriMart station and store being sought by the Marzke's.
The Marzke's showed blueprints for a 6,000 square foot C-store that they peg at roughly a $1.7-million to $2-million investment at that corner. The proposed store would operated initially 18-hours per day, hiring some 8 to 10 employees. If traffic warranted advancing to 24-hour service, the employee count would be boosted to 12 to 14 on staff.
PriMar has 13 stores in their current line up the first of which was built in 1972 in Stevensville and that station is still in full service operation. They have 140 employees and service 18 other dealer sites not owned by PriMar. The last one built is now 20 years old, having been built in 1996 in Mattawan from approximately $800,000.
The nearly $2-million proposed investment here will have two times the marketing space of all other PriMart operations, because they want it to be a flagship, very modern facility offering healthier food options, a deli and a co-branded pizza shop. With some 3,200 square feet of showroom space, they also have applied for licensing of beer and wine sales there.
The proposed station would also have extensive green space with substantial landscaping surrounding it. Due to Michigan Department of Transportation restrictions, the only access to the station would be off of Enterprise Way, and there are no assurances that MDOT would put a traffic light in place to help control traffic there.
Craig Marzke projected 1,500 to 1,800 customers visiting the store daily, based on traffic counts on M63-North.
A Rocky Gap resident said there's no need for such a facility inasmuch as there are other stations within 1.5-miles of the site. He also voiced concern with having a gas station next to the fire station for fear a fire could wipe out the fire station. Several people, including Roy Shoemaker whose home is directly across the street from the proposed curb cut area said they voice opposition ten years ago when the plan was first proposed and they see no reason to change their minds now.
Richard Wright asked why the company cut all of the trees down a year ago and destroyed the ambiance of the neighborhood. He is also fearful that the newly revitalized Rocky Gap County Park would be a magnet for trash from things purchased at the store.
Joe Molton said he wanted to add his voice to the decision to deny ten years ago, calling it a sound decision. He said it was a nice quiet neighborhood and worries about decreasing property values. He also said "it was a slap in the face to denude the entire lot and let it sit like that, and frankly it pisses me off. That was totally unnecessary, and this is an inappropriate use of that land."
John Herman concurred with that opinion saying they should re-establish the landscape, because, as it sits, it is a blight.
James Agens is a representative for Fiskars Properties, the owner of four lots on the periphery of the proposed station site. Two have been sold to homeowners who are building $300,00+ homes and they are working to see the other two. Fiskars had purchased the property and wanted to rezone it to D-2 Professional, but were denied. He also cited safety concerns for the many kids on bikes he sees routinely in that neighborhood.
Ben Kunst said he was not for the project or against it, but said he would play the devil's advocate and ask for additional points of clarification and suggested the township and residents get everything they can out of the deal before approving.
Amy Davis, likewise, said she simply came to listen and is not against it. She also said not everyone in the Woodridge neighborhood is against it. She works at Whirlpool and said if it's done tastefully and with the residents in mind she would be open to it.
Doug Schaffer said he does not have a straight up opinion other than to caution the township to look at the bigger picture of adjacent properties that are also D-2 that could have a domino effect in the future. He also applauded the Marzke family and PriMar Petroleum for their countless philanthropic support of many organizations within the community over the years.
Dr. Stuart Boekeloo has lived in that area for some 16 years now and echoed Schaffer's comments on the many good things the family has done for the community. He cited the huge increased in joggers, marathoners, bike traffic and more along M63 and said having a nice place to stop off for a bit of a rest and refreshments would make great sense to him, and while he's not 100-percent for it, he hopes everyone will keep an open mind to see what the plan has to offer.
The Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 to recommend to the Township Board of Trustees that they deny the zoning change. Concerns over potential crime, additional traffic, and environmental concerns were shared by Marletta Seats on the commission. Jennifer Swingler was the only planner to vote against the denial.
The vote is advisory in nature only…and the final decision rests with the Board of Trustees who will take it up at a future meeting.
