Opinions

Opinion: Planning Commission reflections from Feb. 28

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By Elizabeth Jordan

Saturday, March 24, 2012

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(Note: These are the observations and opinions of Planning Commissioner Elizabeth Jordan (Ward 9) about matters that came to the Flint Planning Commission Feb 28.)

Site Plans

There were two site plan reviews and the extension of a third. The first was a request for a Dollar General store to be built on the site of what was previously the McCree North Human Services building on Pierson Road.

Dollar General is buying the property from Genesee County. It plans to demolish the building and put a store there. There are two driveways to the property. The one closest to Bryant School will be removed and the other one will be widened to improve pedestrian safety.

There were a few questions about what kind of marketing study had been done to ensure that if this dollar store opens near an existing dollar store it will not end up as a vacant building.

(I expressed my disappointment in seeing this request because it would remove any chance of reopening this human service hub in a neighborhood that has inadequate access to such services. At the same time, I realize that the county is not in a position financially to reopen the old human service center and having a vacant building does not do the community any good either.)

The motion to approve the site plan passed 7-0.

The second site plan review was for the expansion of an Auto Zone store on North Dort Highway. The store is one of a few stores in the state that will have the capacity to store parts for distribution at other stores.

The motion to approve the site plan passed 7-0.

A site plan was approved last May for an in-patient physical rehabilitation facility on Clio Road. It has taken some time to finish putting together the financing required to build the facility, so the applicant asked for a one-year extension on the site plan. It was approved with Commissioner Freeman Greer abstaining because he is the architect on the project.

Medical Marijuana

The commission was told that the emergency financial manager extended the moratorium on medical marijuana facilities by six months. No new medical marijuana facilities can open during that time, but it does not affect existing places. The reason for the extension is that the city had been close to considering an ordinance, but a court decided that any sort of dispensary was illegal. The case is being appealed and it does not make sense to pass an ordinance until the final result of that case is known.

Sign Regulations

At the last meeting, a motion was made to recommend to the emergency financial manager that we have a moratorium on digital signs that have animation, flashing lights or moving images.

There has been a proliferation of such signs lately, and the city does not have anything on the books to regulate them. The big concern is that flashing signs, intensely lit signs or ones with images that move can be a distraction to drivers.

(I heard back that it might be helpful to put some parameters on the size of signs we wanted to put a moratorium on.)

The matter was postponed because it is important to get legal guidance on how to frame the issue in a way that respects First Amendment rights.

General Discussion

There was a general discussion about recent Flint Journal articles about the master planning process. One commissioner voiced concerns about farming potentially being done on one side of town while the other side might get investments in new housing.

(I am not opposed to urban farming. I enjoy seeing the Flint River Farm taking root just south of downtown off Beach Street. I do take the commissioner's larger point that there is an inequality in terms of which part of town has a higher concentration of vacant property, and certainly the residents' vision for their own neighborhood — whether it is a vision that involves urban agriculture, new housing, both or something else — cannot be ignored.)

There was an e-mail explaining that a group of arts organizations met with the city about an Our Town grant through the National Endowment for the Arts that would use art in the master planning process. The e-mail noted that due to the short deadline, there was not time to involve the planning commission fully in the process of developing the proposal concept, but the exclusion was not intentional.

Commissioners asked some questions about where the matching dollars referred to in the e-mail would come from. Another person expressed the desire to be involved with master planning related funding concepts on the front end as outlined in the memorandum of understanding.

(I did appreciate that the e-mail recognized that the planning commission is supposed to be involved. There was another meeting with arts organizations after the e-mail. I would have also found it helpful if there had been a brief verbal or written summary of the concept that came out of that meeting so we could be aware of the idea and contribute any connections or voice any cautions ahead of the proposal due date — two days after the planning commission meeting.)

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Elizabeth Jordan is a lifelong Flint resident who represents the Ninth Ward on the Flint Planning Commission. In addition to working in the nonprofit sector, she is involved with various community initiatives promoting social justice and peace.

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