Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A special land use request for a new gas station at the old Rite-Aid site in downtown Howell has been denied.

The Planning Commission met Monday night and voted to deny a required special land use permit for a WOW! Marketplace and gas station.

Traffic patterns and circulation, design, and a lack of parking were among some of the issues.

The project involved redeveloping the existing building into a travel center with 12 fueling locations, a convenience store, and a fast casual restaurant with a drive-thru. The project is located on a 1.17-acre parcel at 1002 E. Grand River – mainly the old Rite-Aid site - as well as the 0.15-acre parcel to the north and unspecified portions of the parcel to the east.

The applicant, Iden Kalabat with Kalabat Engineering, was back before the Planning Commission Wednesday night and requested a decision on the special land use request - before proceeding further with site plans and other items.

The current building was not planned to be changed other than renovations, and the access points to the property would have remained the same.

Convenience stores and restaurants with drive-thrus are permitted uses in the B-2 General Business zoning district, and automobile filling stations are permitted with special land use approval.

Traffic congestion in that area of Grand River and National Streets has been a concern and proposed parking was not in line with ordinance requirements. The applicant maintained there were ample spaces provided, given what they see at their other locations and current market standards.

The northern and eastern parcels are owned by Abe’s Auto Glass. A memo noted the applicant did not provide evidence of a use agreement or other permission from the property owner to use the parcels for the proposed project.

Kalabat stated during the meeting that discussions have been taking place between the two owners about options and potential shared parking but no agreement has been reached.

The motion to deny the special use was made by Jacob Schlittler, who the City Council liaison on the Commission. He asserted the Planning Commission has spent lots of time and effort putting forth a master plan that translates to truly mixed use in that area. Schlittler pointed out the City is trying to move away from automobile-oriented uses in the area toward form-based code. He stated "it’s an extension of the DDA district and walkability is key – and moving in that direction will benefit the entire downtown as a whole".

Chair Kathleen Kline-Hudson commented that she was not in favor of granting the request because they have not seen any cooperation with the neighboring property owners and there are selected ways they’ve chosen to comply with the special land use.

Vice Chair Maryanne Vukonich was the lone opposed vote. She commented in the meeting that she was not opposed to having a gas station there, but didn’t think the lot was big enough to accommodate everything the owner wants to do.