By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Two Pokagon Township women, Judy Clarke Corak and Linda Keesler, spoke in favor of Leisure Living's assisted living facility, but against 40 additional Eagle's Trace apartments before Dowagiac Planning Commission Monday night.
City planners nevertheless recommended conditional approval of site plans for Leisure Living of Grand Rapids' 20-unit residential development in the Dowagiac Commercial Center and Eagle's Trace, a two-story Planned Unit Development (PUD) submitted by Peter Jobson of Excel Realty of Shaker Heights, Ohio, developer of the existing Eagle's Wood.
Wightman, the city's engineer, "physically delineated the wetlands out there," City Manager William H. Nelson Jr. added. "Neither of these developments being considered tonight are within that wetland. Not only will the approach that we're taking on the drainage handle the new Eagle's Trace and Leisure Living developments, but also will go back and pick up the first phase, Eagle's Wood, and other developments that may come on that area west of Pokagon Street.
In a related action, planners accepted the City of Dowagiac's lot split request to complete the land sale south of Amerihost Drive to Leisure Living, a single-story, wood-frame structure containing about 16,219 square feet.
Ground will be broken yet this fall.
It will take eight months to construct, giving a target completion date of June 2006.
In a third item of business, planners reviewed favorably a site plan for a recycling facility in the industrial park, Deerpath Recycling, 56625 Woodhouse Drive.
Michael Demski's site plan involves construction of bermed tire storage area, both chipped and whole, and storm drainage into a sediment cell with liner and some additional parking.
Corak suggested that the city leave vacant the area where it wants 40 more apartments and put in an environmentally-friendly park for residents of the apartments already there and for the assisted living residents.
Corak also drew a parallel to Hurricane Katrina, which City Clerk James Snow questioned as being relevant to the public comment portion of the panel's agenda.
Dowagiac City Council on March 7 approved rezoning the Eagle's Trace property to a PUD and a preliminary site plan. The one remaining item, which delayed the final submittal, was obtaining state approval.
The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) provided a letter stating it does not have jurisdiction for the drainage system installed for the development.
According to the site plan report, the proposed development will provide storm water drainage for both the site and the parking surfaces.
The system will be a catch basin and piping system directed to the regional drainage system.
The regional system includes a sedimentation cell piped into two infiltration basins. This system has been designed and sized to adequately handle all storm water runoff from the development site west of Pokagon Street.
This system will be constructed as a shared cost system, with the developers assisting with its costs. It will be built in two phases.
The first phase consists of the sedimentation cell and one filtration basin sized to handle all storm water runoff on the south side of Amerihost Drive. This includes Eagle's Wood, the planned Eagle's Nest and Leisure Living.
The second phase of the regional drainage system, including the second infiltration basin, will be constructed once development occurs on the north side of Amerihost Drive.
No approval or permit is needed for drainage system construction because it is entirely out of the DEQ-designated wetland, according to city Building Official James Bradford.