Revised Kroger Still Not in Line With Planning Commission's Vision

After months of arguing about the possibility of a in downtown Royal Oak, Tuesday evening’s Planning Commission meeting put the Kroger controversy to rest — almost.

Tuesday night was the Kroger team’s second public opportunity to present plans for a supermarket for the vacant lot on Main Street, just north of 11 Mile Road. The Planning Commission sent Kroger back to the drawing board with a slew of revisions to make after the , tabling any formal decisions at that time. However, that wasn’t the tune of the meeting Tuesday.

Four Planning Commission members clearly stated their wish to deny the approximately 45,000-square-foot supermarket as presented. To be procedurally correct in denying the project, Planning Department Director Tim Thwing suggested the Planning Department staff write an official finding of fact document listing the reasons for denial.

“I’m not going to be able to support this tonight,” Mayor Jim Ellison said.

Ellison made the motion to create the document to deny the project and the other members of the Planning Commission agreed unanimously. That document is to be formally presented at the next Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Aug. 9, when commissioners will vote on the plan.

Though there were not as many community members in the audience as at the previous meeting, about 15 residents rose to note their issues with Kroger's revised plans. Much talk focused on the size of the building – that it is still too large in scale for the area – that it seems more suburban than urban and that Kroger didn’t seem to acknowledge a majority of the comments made about the design at the previous meeting.

During its presentation at the meeting Tuesday, Kroger representatives showed the revised plan moves the building to the northern part of the lot as requested, that there would be no access to Pingree Boulevard any longer, the loading dock was moved, landscaping increased and other minor details tweaked. Comments from planning commissioners made it clear they were looking for much more.

“I think we were quite specific in what we wanted,” Planning Commission member David Poulton said. “But we didn’t get it.”

At the June meeting, and at Tuesday’s as well, the designs of the Kroger stores in Birmingham and Grosse Pointe were brought to the attention of the Planning Commission.

A design similar to the Birmingham Kroger is ideal to many, including Ellison, because it involves mixed-use, bringing in other business. At the June 14 meeting, Ellison also noted that aside from the scale, he would like to see the Kroger building moved to front Main Street, with the parking in the rear to convey more of an urban feel and keep with the walkability of the city. Grosse Pointe’s Kroger, though not a multi-use building, blends into its downtown nicely by providing a small and stylish supermarket, many said.

“I was really inspired when I saw the back end of that Kroger store in Grosse Pointe,” said , Royal Oak resident who presented pictures of the Grosse Pointe store to the Planning Commission. “They can do this, this works, this is beautiful … This is what the seniors of deserve and this is what our neighborhood deserves.”

After the Kroger team presented its revised plans and many members of the community stood at the podium to voice their opinions on the development, Ellison cut to the chase and addressed his concerns.

“I made myself pretty clear at the last meeting in what I was looking for … and you came back with a plan that does not fit the vision I had,” Ellison said.

Ellison asked the Kroger team that if it were sent back to the drawing board again if there was any chance its plan would be positioned more in line with his vision, similar to the Birmingham or Grosse Pointe stores. Kroger reps conceded their business model for the Royal Oak market does not fit the vision of the commission. With that said, Ellison said, “By you telling me that no matter how long we delay this your marching orders are to stay with this type of building, I do not see any reason to approve special land use, approve the site plan or delay this process any longer.”

Planning Commission member Dan Godek agreed with Ellison’s thoughts on the matter and listed many of the reasons he believes the proposed Kroger does not work, including it does not fit in with the vision of the city's Master Plan and that the character of the building does not align with the city's.

Still, Ellison defended Kroger by saying he believes it is doing what fits Kroger’s business model best as opposed to ignoring the wishes of the Planning Commission. Unfortunately for Kroger, its business model doesn’t fit Royal Oak’s.