City of Lakewood Planning Commission Meeting – September 4, 2025

The City of Lakewood Planning Commission met on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 12650 Detroit Avenue. The agenda scheduled a pre-review docket session at 5:30 p.m. and a regular meeting at 6:00 p.m.; the meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m. The commission took roll call with four members present, excused one absent member, approved the August 7, 2025 minutes, and acted on four docketed applications: a mixed-use overlay for Detroit Avenue, historic designation and a similar-use determination for Franklin School, and two Warren Road parking-plan requests.

Consent Calendar

• Commissioner Reesla was excused by motion; the absence was approved by voice vote.
• The minutes of the regular meeting of Thursday, August 7, 2025 were approved by voice vote with no discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Docket No. 08-28-25: No public comments were offered.
• Docket No. 08-29-25: Linda Barbero of the Lakewood Historical Society voiced strong support for designating Franklin School as historic, citing its classical revival architecture and the Weger family's role in Lakewood education history. Sam Diaquila, architect for new owner David Fox, announced that the owner consented to the historic designation after closing on the property.
• Docket No. 09-30-25: Gene McKay asked whether the playground equipment would be removed; the applicant later confirmed it would be removed and replaced with green space.
• Docket Nos. 09-31-25 and 09-32-25: No public comments were offered.

Discussion Items

Mixed Use Overlay – Docket No. 08-28-25 (13815 and 13901 Detroit Ave., The View on Detroit East)

• McKenzie Make Peace of Di Geronimo Companies and Gregory Soltis of RDL Architects requested approval of a mixed-use overlay under Chapter 1135 for two four-story buildings on C3 commercial property. The project includes 122 residential units, ground-floor amenity and fitness space, a small commercial space, and ground-floor residential units. The applicant described privacy measures including raised window sills, sheers, solid drapes, and landscaping.
• City staff reviewed development standards and found no variances were needed: Detroit-facing setbacks are within the zero-to-five-foot range (east building at 2.25 feet; west building at 2.7 feet), side and rear setbacks meet the five-foot and ten-foot requirements, and building heights of about 44–46 feet, plus mechanicals, are well below the C3 maximum of 120 feet.
• Parking: the 120 dwelling units require a minimum of one space per unit and a maximum of two spaces per unit. The plan provides 140 total spaces (80 in the west lot and 60 in the east lot), above the 120-space minimum; the under-2,500-square-foot commercial space requires no additional parking.
• Traffic: the 2020 trip-generation analysis estimated fewer than 100 new peak-hour trips, and the engineer confirmed a new traffic study was not warranted.
• The application was treated as a new review because more than 12 months had passed since the prior approval. Timing discrepancy noted in the record: the applicant said the project was originally approved in 2021, while city staff repeatedly referenced a 2020 approval.

Historic Designation – Docket No. 08-29-25 (13465 Franklin Blvd., Franklin School)

• Peter Ketter, chair of the Lakewood Heritage Advisory Board, presented the nomination. Franklin School was built in 1907, with additions in 1915 and 1921 and a gymnasium in 1950. LHAB concluded that the rear parking lot and the 1950 gymnasium addition are not significant to the designation, while the front yard contributes.
• City staff explained the two-step process: the nomination was heard in June 2025, and this hearing considered designation. Without owner consent, four affirmative votes would be required; with owner consent, three are required. After public comment, owner consent was announced.
• The commission designated Franklin School as a historic property without adding conditions; Secretary of the Interior standards will apply to future exterior work.

Determination of Similar Use – Docket No. 09-30-25 (13465 Franklin Blvd., Inner Peace)

• Samuel V. Diaquila of AMSR LLC, with owner David Fox, requested a similar-use determination under Sections 1173.02 and 1173.03 to operate Inner Peace in the C4 Commercial/Public School district. The applicant described classroom-based vocational and adult day programs serving adults with developmental disabilities or autism, with operating hours Monday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., a roster of about 165, and typical daily attendance of about 120–130 including roughly 25–30 staff.
• City staff supported the application as compatible with a school use and addressed the parking plan review: the lot has 80 spaces, including four handicapped spaces. Applying the assembly formula to the roughly 9,000 square feet of classroom space would generate a 114-space minimum plus 25 employee spaces, but staff argued this exceeded actual demand and exceeded what comparable Lakewood elementary schools provide.
• The applicant said no significant exterior changes were planned initially, though future maintenance and possible accessibility improvements would require separate permits. The applicant also said the large rear and side fencing would be kept and cleaned up.

Parking Plans – Docket Nos. 09-31-25 and 09-32-25 (1205-07 and 1209-11 Warren Rd.)

• James Provost of PE Limited and co-owner Mary Catherine Lynch requested parking-plan approval to exempt the properties from the garage-construction requirement under Sections 1143.09 and 1143.10, proposing pervious geo-pavers instead of garages. The properties are in the R2 district and contain five dwelling units sharing a tight driveway; the garages were demolished in 2022 and 2023 and have not been replaced. The applicants said building garages would reduce rear parking from three spaces per parcel to two and push more parking onto a street with limited capacity.
• City staff noted that among 203 properties on Warren, Cook, and St. Charles, only five that could have garages do not have one. Staff also noted the applicant had signed demolition permits agreeing to rebuild within six months. Commissioner Sanderson opposed the request, arguing that the garage requirement should be applied as written and that the proposed gravel/geo-paver surface is not a permitted parking surface. Commissioner LePoint said he wanted a more definitive backyard use plan.
• The commission voted to defer both parking-plan applications so the applicants could develop a more mature site plan and investigate pervious-paving options with city staff.

Key Outcomes

• Docket No. 08-28-25: Approved by voice vote with conditions including no more than four stories excluding mechanicals; at least 1,500 square feet of non-resident-accessible ground-floor commercial space with Detroit frontage; supporting bicycle parking; Architectural Board of Review approval of building, parking-lot, and landscaping design; and civil engineering approval with stormwater best management practices.
• Docket No. 08-29-25: Franklin School was designated as a historic property; the motion carried with no dissenting votes.
• Docket No. 09-30-25: The similar-use determination for Inner Peace was approved with the condition that the front-yard playground equipment be removed, the front yard reseeded, and the front-yard fence removed.
• Docket Nos. 09-31-25 and 09-32-25: Deferred to a future meeting for a revised plan.