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Record of Proceedings

Ferndale Planning Commission Meeting Summary: September 16, 2026

City Council & Commissions — Wednesday, September 16, 2026
BodyFerndale, Michigan
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateWednesday, September 16, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:00:00

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0:38

Manuel Nikolski here.

0:42

Show Walter.

0:43

Here.

0:43

And Michelle.

0:45

Here.

0:47

All right.

0:47

Um, we've heard from Alan Heil that he will not be able to make it this evening.

0:52

Um, and I did not hear from Commissioner Manuel.

0:56

Okay.

0:57

So he may or may not be here.

1:00

Motion to excuse.

1:02

Second.

1:03

Motion to excuse by Brazen, second by Showwater Show Walter.

1:07

All those in favor?

1:08

I mean, this evening we have a couple of edits to the agenda.

1:16

Um one, um, we had a request from the applicant to move the PUD application from this meeting to a meeting December 7th, which is a special um meeting time.

1:29

Um if anyone is here tonight to talk about the PUD that was on the agenda, you can talk at the call to audience.

1:35

Um, but that um public hearing will be canceled for tonight, and we will have that on October 7th at the planning commission, and then there will be an additional pl um hearing or um discussion at the city council after that.

1:49

And you here for that?

1:51

Is that for the bouncy law?

1:53

Correct.

1:54

Yep.

1:57

No, no, we'll have comments.

1:58

It just um I so I just want to inform you that we're officially canceling it for this night.

2:02

We will have another, but we will still take comments.

2:04

Okay.

2:08

So will the com so that comment, so instead of having the comments during the public hearing, it's instead gonna be moved to the comments during the call to audience, which is number four.

2:16

So that's gonna happen after the approval of the minutes.

2:19

Yes.

2:21

Um and then any I think there's another one more edit.

2:26

Yes.

2:26

Um so for public hearing item five B.

2:30

Um the first parcel identification number was identified as two four-one five-three five and so forth.

2:36

Um, it should actually be corrected to read two four-two five-three five um dash one two six dash oh oh nine, and the remainder would be correct.

2:46

It's just the one five to two five.

2:48

Thank you.

2:50

Any other um requests for uh changes to the general um for the record.

3:00

Um Commissioner um Manwell has joined us at six thirty-second.

3:04

Hello.

3:06

All right.

3:08

I'll take a motion on the amended agenda.

3:13

Move to accept the agenda as revised.

3:16

Second.

3:17

Motion by Michelle, second by Brazen.

3:19

All those in favor?

3:20

Aye, aye.

3:21

Aye.

3:23

All right, so next is approval of the minutes uh for consideration of minutes of August 19th, 2026, the draft planning commission meeting minutes.

3:33

Any amendments or comments?

3:39

None.

3:40

I'll take a motion.

3:44

Move to approve the minutes from um August 19th is submitted.

3:49

Motion by Azar.

3:51

Second, second by Brazen.

3:52

All those in favor?

3:55

All right.

3:55

Now we'll have a call to the audience for the um for anything that um folks would like to talk about other than the public hearing for the special land use on East Nine Mile at 1640 for 1700 um for storage facility.

4:10

Um, but if you would like to talk about the PUD for the um the lot on nine mile, uh kind of behind comas in the bacon lot or anything else, um, you can go ahead and step up um to the microphone here.

4:23

Thank you.

4:25

So I'm just looking for clarification.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning and Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Parking████████11%
Procedural█████7%
Building Code Enforcement████5%
Public Engagement██3%
Public Safety██3%
Youth Programs██3%
Transportation Safety██2%
Economic Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Ferndale Planning Commission Meeting – September 16, 2026

The Ferndale Planning Commission met on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 6:30 PM at City Hall, 300 East Nine Mile Road, Ferndale, MI. The agenda included a postponed PUD application for a parking structure with retail and residential components, a special land use and site plan public hearing for an indoor self-storage facility, and a discussion of a potential development concept at 1975 Hilton Road.

Roll Call and Minutes

  • Roll call was taken and the commission approved the draft Planning Commission minutes from August 19, 2026.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • One resident, a board member of the condominium complex at 211 East Nine Mile Road, spoke during call to audience about the PUD that had been on the agenda. The resident said most residents in the complex are in complete opposition to the redevelopment and asked for clarification about the approval process and the reported proposal to gift the city the underground parking garage.
  • No members of the public commented on the self-storage facility application during its public hearing.

PUD Application for 9 Mile Road Parking Structure (5.A) – Postponed

  • City staff announced that the applicant requested moving the PUD application from the September 16 agenda. The public hearing was not held. Staff stated the rescheduled public hearing would be October 7, 2026, with a subsequent City Council discussion; the transcript also references a December 7 special meeting, so the exact rescheduled date is unclear from the record. Residents were invited to speak during call to audience instead.
  • The chair noted the concept had been presented previously as a discussion item on May 20, 2026.

Special Land Use and Site Plan: 1640 and 1700 East Nine Mile Road (5.B)

  • The public hearing addressed a request for special land use and site plan approval to redevelop an existing vacant industrial site, comprising two parcels known as 1640 and 1700 East Nine Mile Road, as a three-story, climate-controlled indoor self-storage facility with no external self-storage.
  • Staff reviewed the applicable special land use approval standards, specific use standards, and site plan requirements, including a proposed 35-foot building height, a new curb cut on East Nine Mile Road, reducing the total number of curb cuts, and screening of the parking area from Wanda Street with a landscape buffer.
  • Applicant representatives answered commissioner questions about site access, staffing, a grade change of about three feet between buildings, and operational details such as hours of operation.
  • Commissioners discussed the order of consideration and agreed to consider the special land use before the site plan.

Discussion Item: 1975 Hilton Road (8.A)

  • The commission held a discussion-only review of a potential development concept at 1975 Hilton Road. Conversation addressed the proposed sports-related use, hours of operation, walkability considerations, and whether the use might be considered an accessory use or qualify for administrative site plan approval.
  • City staff advised that after additional concept information is provided, a pre-application meeting with reviewing departments would help determine whether the proposal would need full Planning Commission approval or could be processed as an administrative site plan. No formal action was taken.

Key Outcomes

  • The commission voted to recommend approval of the special land use for the self-storage facility at 1640 and 1700 East Nine Mile Road, based on the September 11, 2026 staff report and subject to resolution of outstanding site plan items and coordination with staff.
  • The commission voted to approve the associated site plan, including a waiver from standard 1707 of the zoning ordinance, permitted under section 7.03F, to allow the curb cut locations as shown on the plans.
  • Both approvals passed on a roll call vote with five yes votes and will be forwarded to the City Council for final action; city staff said they would notify when the item is placed on a future City Council agenda.
  • The PUD item was not decided, and no formal action was taken on the 1975 Hilton Road discussion item.

Meeting Transcript

Manuel Nikolski here. Show Walter. Here. And Michelle. Here. All right. Um, we've heard from Alan Heil that he will not be able to make it this evening. Um, and I did not hear from Commissioner Manuel. Okay. So he may or may not be here. Motion to excuse. Second. Motion to excuse by Brazen, second by Showwater Show Walter. All those in favor? I mean, this evening we have a couple of edits to the agenda. Um one, um, we had a request from the applicant to move the PUD application from this meeting to a meeting December 7th, which is a special um meeting time. Um if anyone is here tonight to talk about the PUD that was on the agenda, you can talk at the call to audience. Um, but that um public hearing will be canceled for tonight, and we will have that on October 7th at the planning commission, and then there will be an additional pl um hearing or um discussion at the city council after that. And you here for that? Is that for the bouncy law? Correct. Yep. No, no, we'll have comments. It just um I so I just want to inform you that we're officially canceling it for this night. We will have another, but we will still take comments. Okay. So will the com so that comment, so instead of having the comments during the public hearing, it's instead gonna be moved to the comments during the call to audience, which is number four. So that's gonna happen after the approval of the minutes. Yes. Um and then any I think there's another one more edit. Yes. Um so for public hearing item five B. Um the first parcel identification number was identified as two four-one five-three five and so forth. Um, it should actually be corrected to read two four-two five-three five um dash one two six dash oh oh nine, and the remainder would be correct. It's just the one five to two five. Thank you. Any other um requests for uh changes to the general um for the record. Um Commissioner um Manwell has joined us at six thirty-second. Hello. All right. I'll take a motion on the amended agenda. Move to accept the agenda as revised. Second. Motion by Michelle, second by Brazen. All those in favor? Aye, aye. Aye. All right, so next is approval of the minutes uh for consideration of minutes of August 19th, 2026, the draft planning commission meeting minutes. Any amendments or comments? None.

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