By Hannah Poling
Staff Writer
The Westland Area Commissioners discussed two zoning requests during their September meeting.
The first request was at 5757 West Broad St., formerly Starbright Trailers. The applicant would like to rezone the property to allow for a Sheetz gas station.
According to the applicant, the new Sheetz would look and function very similarly to other Sheetz gas stations in the area.
Commissioner Janet Cahill said the residents of the Summerland development had several concerns about the plans. They worry about potential truck parking and leaving trucks running all night. They also shared concerns about safety and lighting.
Cahill said that Sheetz has addressed those concerns, saying that there will be barriers so trucks cannot park all night. They also said the property will be landscaped with trees and shrubs and will have a privacy fence. The gas station will have no less than two people in the station at any time with 24/7 security and cameras.
“The neighbors around there are looking forward to ordering food in the night and not having to get out of their cars. People are eager to have some convenience,” Cahill said.
The commission voted 11-1 in favor of the zoning request with a condition that Sheetz adds connective sidewalks in their design plan.
The commission also considered a council variance at 100 Galloway Road where National Church Residences wants to expand its current location.
According to Sarajane Steffes, from National Church Residences, they want to add additional senior housing with a four-story building that would include 150 units to match the property next door.
National Church Residences was looking to change the zoning of the property from rural to multi-family housing in the future. However, they had an opportunity to request government funding to build this housing as part of a competitive application program. In order to satisfy the requirements of the application, they asked the commission for a variance of use to prove that the commission is okay with that land being used for multi-family housing.
According to Steffes, if they get the funding they will have to come back to the commission with an actual zoning request and variance in the future.
The commission voted 7-5 in favor of the council variance request.
