Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A big upgrade and showroom expansion project for the old car dealership in the Village of Pinckney.

The project received needed final site plan approvals at Wednesday night’s Planning Commission meeting.

It includes an expansion of the front portion of the existing Pinckney Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership building at 1295 E. Main Street/M-36, owned by Genesis Automotive Group.
The project will replace the existing showroom with a larger one, and renovate the remainder of the building. It will add approximately 13,912-square-feet to the existing 17,717-square-foot building to expand the showroom and enhance the service area and employee workspace.

Site improvements include lighting, landscaping, storm water management, and improved access for emergency vehicles.

The project architect stated “were here to really bring this old eyesore of a store back into the 21st Century” as well as meet current brand guidelines to enhance image and branding is. He said they’ll demolish the existing showroom and build a new 2-story showroom addition but leave the current service garage existing. The architect noted they’ll fill the hole along the front for retention - saying it’s a really nice project and thinks they’ve “Done a great job with looks, aesthetics, design, function, and trying to create site flow for traffic and safety”. It was stated they’ll move everything up and also square off the parking lot to make it even with the one next door.

There will be lighting upgrades with occupancy sensors that will dim at 10pm but go back up if someone is on the site for security purposes.

Owner Rob Gagliano with Genesis Automotive said they bought store 18 months ago and have been working on it ever since – agreeing it needs to be brought up to the 21st Century and thinks they have a good design to utilize what’s there and make it more efficient for both customers and employees.

Village Planner Lucie Fortin noted it is not a change of use, just improving a small portion of the site and plans “really exceed ordinance requirements”. She said the applicant is proposing to improve the look from M-36, add a new showroom, and spruce up the site – adding “it’s certainly going to be an improvement”. A portion of the front will also be paved over for an underground storm water management system.

A pedestrian connection from the Main Street sidewalk to the building entrance has been added, including several ramps. Fortin said they’re requesting that the sidewalk crossing to the Post Office be located directly across the sites to provide a continuous accessible connection.

Commissioners agreed it’s a much-needed improvement, with one stating it basically just looks like a parking lot now and you really can’t tell it’s a dealership. It was stated the underground retention will also make a big difference for the overall feel of the property.

The existing ground sign along Main Street/M-36 will remain. Proposed new signage, including ground and wall signs, will require a separate permit prior to installation.

A formal timeline for construction was not stated. More information is available in the meeting packet.