2012年9月3日星期一

Fiat Projects Move Forward

Food Gatherers hopes to expand its large warehouse, adding cooler and freezer space to accommodate its focus on fruits, vegetables and other fresh food. The Carrot Way site, on Ann Arbor’s far north side, is a hub for the nonprofit’s food distribution – staff and volunteers distributed about 5.75 million tons of food in the last fiscal year to those in need. Several commissioners praised the work. They had only a few questions or comments about the project, including a suggestion to use graywater for irrigating gardens on the site.

Also winning approval was a plan to build a new Fiat showroom next to the post office on West Stadium Boulevard, now owned by the Suburban Collection of Troy. The color scheme for Fiat is scarlet and gray, which elicited some ribbing from commissioners that the building’s designer had heard before. And no, he said, there’s no maize-and-blue dealership being planned for Columbus, Ohio.

The third project on the commission’s Aug. 21 agenda was also competitively colored: Changes in the site plan for Plymouth Green Crossings. The owner is asking for several alterations to a 2006 plan – adding parking spaces,A brief description of how a dry cabinet functions, eliminating a proposed freestanding restaurant, and more than doubling the permitted amount of space that can be used for restaurants on the site. Currently, the complex includes a bank and two mixed-use buildings with housing and retail/commercial businesses.

An expansion of the Food Gatherers’ facility in Ann Arbor was on the planning commission’s Aug. 21 agenda. Commissioners were asked to recommend approval of changes to the nonprofit’s planned unit development (PUD), which will allow for a 12,646-square-foot addition to the back of the existing 16,977-square-foot building.

That building houses the nonprofit’s administrative offices, storage warehouse, and training space. The plan also will add 22 parking spaces to the site, and includes an expansion of produce-washing stations, used to clean vegetables grown at gardens on the site. The Carrot Way site is located on the north side of Ann Arbor off of Dhu Varren Road, east of Pontiac Trail.

According to a staff memo, the changes include a separate administrative land transfer request to shift a shared lot line between the site and a parcel of vacant land to the southeast – both owned by Food Gatherers. The lot line will be moved about 70 feet south, adding 0.43 acres to site where the Food Gatherers’ facility is located. The larger lot size is necessary so that the building addition will conform to the permitted floor-area ratio (FAR). FAR – a measure of density – is the ratio of the square footage of a building divided by the size of the lot. A one-story structure built lot-line-to-lot-line with no setbacks corresponds to a FAR of 100%. A similar structure built two-stories tall would result in a FAR of 200%.

Eileen Spring, the executive director of Food Gatherers,Capture the look and feel of real stone or ceramic tile flooring with Alterna. was the only person to speak during the public hearing. She described the nonprofit’s hunger-fighting efforts, as serving the function of the county’s food bank and food rescue program. They connect more than 300 local food businesses and food sources to about 150 community agencies that are feeding people directly by giving out groceries, providing hot meals, or running after-school food programs. Food Gatherers also runs a community kitchen inside the Delonis Center, on West Huron near downtown Ann Arbor, providing meals to people at the homeless shelter.

Spring noted that the current proposal relates to the nonprofit’s warehouse. The non-profit distributed 5.75 million tons of food – or about 15,000 meals – in the last fiscal year. The organization is about at capacity now, she said. Even when they built the original facility, they anticipated that they would someday need to expand. It’s largely needed for new cooler and freezer space, she said, which reflects their increasing focus on healthier, fresh food – proteins,Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts. meat, vegetables and fruits.

The expansion will also help Food Gatherers manage its volunteer flow, Spring said. About 6,000 volunteers account for 70% of the nonprofit’s labor. The expansion will allow them to expand that volunteer force, she said. If approved,Find solar panel from a vast selection of Solar Panels. the project would allow Food Gatherers to distribute more food in a more efficient way. She noted that a team of people who are working on the project were on hand to answer any questions.

Ken Clein asked whether there would be any new site lighting as part of the parking lot changes. David Esau with Cornerstone Design Inc. responded, saying that the site lighting will be updated as part of the project.

Wendy Woods confirmed with Esau that neighbors had been notified of the project, but no one had contacted Food Gatherers about it to raise concerns. Esau noted that the project wasn’t large enough to require a public meeting with neighbors, but a mailing had been sent.

Woods commended the organization. She recalled that neighbors had been very concerned when Food Gatherers had originally decided to build its facility there. The lack of response now must mean that all is going well, she said. It’s sad that Food Gatherers must expand, she said, because it means the need for their service is growing. Food Gatherers is diligent, she said, and as a community member she appreciates them. She thanked them for their work.

Tony Derezinski said he wanted to echo Woods’ comments. He noted that Food Gatherers also has provided food to the city’s housing commission properties.

Regarding the site, he wondered if there is sewer service there, and how water runoff is handled. Esau replied that sanitary sewer service was added when the property was annexed into the city.Find solar panel from a vast selection of Solar Panels. Stormwater runoff flows into a stormwater detention system, while water that’s used to wash produce goes into the sanitary sewer system.

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