Discussion Continues on Vacant Gas Station Property

 A has been one of the main topics of discussion at for several months, but the dialog at last week's planning commission meeting brought both city officials and developers a little closer to what the project will look like when it comes up for approval in March.

Namely, the developer’s plan -- which was brought up only for discussion and public input, not a vote -- during the meeting, has changed since it was first proposed last year.

It remains to be seen whether those changes will allay the concerns of the commission, city officials and the business community, all of whom fear a project of this scope will bring logjam of traffic, decreased parking and a loss of customers to long-term businesses in the city’s downtown.

Original proposal, new specs

The building is being developed by Ed Dombrowski and his business partner, Omar Hamdan, for the southeast corner of Main and Ann Arbor Trail. Initially, the specifications for the building included a food court on the partially sunken first floor, two restaurants or retailers on the second floor and a restaurant with rooftop dining on the third floor.

Don Wortman of Carlisle & Wortman, the city’s planning consultant, conducted a site plan review of the project, and indicated that the first and second floors are now speculative space, which means it could be all office, retail or restaurant -- or some combination to be determined by the interest in the property.

The third floor is still earmarked for restaurant space, Wortman added.

But the changes made to the project may not be significant enough to stop the widespread opposition among business owners and some of the commissioners; some commissioners said there’s a need to tighten the zoning ordinance.

“I don’t see anyone saying that, ‘Wow, this a great project for Plymouth,’” said Commissioner Meg Dooley.

Wortman conceded that speculative space in a new development can seem like a moving target when trying to determine how a development would effect existing resources, like parking and utilities.

“It’s not unusual, though, to have speculative space,” he said. “We saw it in the Mayflower Center and at Park Place.”

New requests

Loading and unloading for businesses along Main and Ann Arbor Trail are a big concern for commissioners, which led some commissioners to ask for a scaled down building to allow for additional space for loading and unloading.

William Schlecte, an attorney retained by Dombrowski and Hamdan, said there’s no guarantee that’s what will be on the table at March’s planning commission.

“I can’t guarantee [a scaled down project] will be proposed; we will be looking at all of the city’s ordinances,” he said.

Legally, the city can only hold a developer to existing ordinances and specifications in place at the time a project is proposed.

City Commissioner David Workman said the city also has the option to consider projects on a letter-of-the-law basis.

“I hope the city also looks at its ordinances because if [a developer] is in trouble, we have to consider whether to give you a break, and whether you’re in trouble because you put yourself there,” he said. “I live here and I don’t ever plan on leaving  . . .  this building is in the middle of our downtown.”

City Commissioner Ron Loiselle said it would be fruitful to examine the ordinance as closely as possible as the process plays out, and told the commission they must have a reason based in the city’s ordinances if they are considering rejecting it.

Some business owners still believe the project is too big for downtown.

“This is going to take up parking, and my concern is that it’s going to put people out of business,” said Teri Allen, the owner of .