Planning commission recommends approval of Shops on Ford site plan with conditions and owner assurances

The Canton Township Planning Commission recommended approval of the Shops on Ford site plan (SPC-7782) by a unanimous vote after staff and the applicant agreed to add a condition requiring documentation from the adjoining shopping-center owner confirming restrictive lease/REA language and design approval.

Staff described the two‑phase construction approach driven by a visibility/lease restriction that limits initial developable square footage until certain tenant lease events lapse; the project would build the western phase first and complete the east after the restriction expires. Planning staff noted MDOT has acquired a 9‑foot frontage easement that could narrow required landscaping depending on final MDOT designs.

Key recommended conditions accepted by the commission require: selecting a grout color lighter than the brick; including community amenities required by the ordinance (public art, bicycle racks, outdoor dining areas); updating the photometric plan to show illumination on the east side and lowering light poles to ordinance standards; providing a phase‑one site plan that shows lawn/finishing for the undeveloped phase‑two area; and providing excerpted lease/REA restriction language and owner approval of the proposed design prior to final signoff.

Commissioners asked for verification that the shopping-center owner had seen and agreed to the plans so the township will not be left with an unfinished outlot if the owner later objects. Commissioner Watkins made the motion to recommend approval with the stated conditions; Commissioner Singh seconded. The recommendation will be forwarded to the Township Board for final action after the applicant revises plans to incorporate the commission’s conditions.