Planning commission approves Carvana customer center, with conditions on lighting and pedestrian access

The Farmington Hills Planning Commission voted 6-2 on May 21 to grant preliminary site plan approval for a Carvana customer experience center at the northeast corner of Drake Road and Grand River Avenue, subject to conditions including a revised lighting plan, a pedestrian connection to Grand River and limits on outdoor loading and display.

Staff consultant Mike Auerbach of Carlisle Wortman Associates summarized the project as a reuse of a roughly 6.8-acre former dealership site, noting the larger building is about 28,600 square feet and the smaller building about 7,500 square feet. Auerbach told the commission the applicant expects to store "roughly 80 to 100 inventory vehicles" on site and that the facility would typically operate 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with public pick-up generally between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. He highlighted regulatory questions the commission must resolve, particularly whether the Carvana model is a conventional dealership or a permitted "other commercial use," and flagged lighting, loading-location and pedestrian-connection issues.

"The primary consideration for the planning commission tonight is determination about the proposed use," Auerbach said, adding that commissioners could attach conditions "to ensure that there aren't more intensive auto repair activities that take place on-site over time."

Applicant Dennis Cowan, representing Carvana, said the company intends to use the site as a customer experience center and would not install the company's signature vending tower. "We will not have the tower," Cowan said. He told commissioners Carvana does not plan to carry out major repairs at the site, that "Carvana doesn't even have mechanics on-site," and that above-ground tanks previously at the property have been removed.

Engineers for the applicant proposed modest exterior work and additional parking-lot landscaping to bring the site closer into compliance. Project engineer Jamie Antonevich said the team would remove existing pole-mounted floodlights and install new fixtures that would be dimmed to 70% during nonoperational hours to maintain security while reducing off-site glare.

Nonetheless, several commissioners pressed the applicant on photometric results showing off-site illumination levels above the city's 0.3 foot-candle property-line limit. One commissioner noted enforcement typically occurs only after a complaint and asked whether the city would perform inspections. Auerbach said a revised lighting plan must demonstrate compliance, and the motion adopted by the commission requires submission of an updated photometric plan showing adherence to the property-line limit.

Commissioners also debated whether to set a numerical cap on on-site inventory. The applicant said the site has roughly 300 parking spaces and that the team would prefer flexibility; staff noted ordinance parking and minimum requirements mean much of the lot will be reserved for employees and customers while other spaces could be used for inventory. The commission declined to impose a strict numerical inventory cap and instead relied on the site plan and ordinance parking requirements to limit outdoor storage and required that "no outdoor display or storage of inventory is permitted in required setbacks."

On loading, the commission authorized a side-yard loading area between the two buildings given practical constraints on rear-yard access, and the motion included language prohibiting vehicle-carrier staging in Grand River right-of-way or required setbacks.

The motion approved the site plan "based on the information provided by the applicants" and the consultant and city review letters, and it included the following key conditions: (1) a formal finding that the proposed use qualifies under the B-3 zoning category as an outdoor sales/display of motor vehicles or a similar allowed use; (2) a revised lighting plan demonstrating property-line compliance with the 0.3 foot-candle limit; (3) provision of the pedestrian connection from Grand River unless a practical hardship is demonstrated; (4) loading only in the approved side-yard loading area; (5) all items in the consultant, city engineer and fire marshal review letters addressed to the satisfaction of the relevant staff; and (6) a waiver of rooftop-screening nonconformity and a temporary waiver of handicapped spaces for the east building until that building is put into use (as reflected in the motion language).

The commission debate highlighted two approaches: several members argued the operation is functionally similar enough to a traditional dealership to use the city's existing dealership standards, while others favored treating the Carvana model as a distinct, less "objectionable" commercial use and applying specific limitations to prevent future conversion to more intensive repair activity. Chair and other commissioners noted that if the use later changed materially, the property owner would have to return for additional approvals.

The motion passed on a roll call vote the commission recorded as 6 yes, 2 no (Commissioner Grant and Chair Lindquist voted no). After the vote, Cowan thanked the commission and said the team would coordinate administratively with staff on final plan details.

Next steps: the applicant will submit the materials required by the approval conditions (revised lighting plan, revised site details addressing review comments), and staff will process the final site-plan approval administratively if the submittal meets the conditions. The commission also noted the city will continue its zoning ordinance audit and a planned June study session on site-plan review and text amendments.

(Reporting in this article is based solely on the commission meeting transcript and the applicants' presentations and does not represent a verification of construction or business decisions beyond what was stated in the meeting.)