Romulus OK’s re-zoning for new trucking facility

Scott Spielman
Special Writer

Another trucking facility could come to a vacant parcel on Ecorse Road in Romulus. 

Members of the city council approved a request last week to rezone a 10-acre site between Inkster and Middle Belt roads from light industrial use to industrial transportation uses. Peter Zelos, an architect representing the potential buyer, said the sale would be contingent upon the rezoning.
The plan would be to establish a trucking facility on site, along with an 8,000-square-foot dispatch and truck repair facility. There would be space for about 30 trucks and or trailers to be parked on the site, he said.

“It's open to the public, but its primary purpose is to service their own trucks,” he said. “The rest of the site is basically truck/trailer storage.”
The site is located just west of Birchdale Street, a residential neighborhood, but Zelos said the industrial transportation use requires additional landscaping between it and any residential uses. There would 100 feet of landscaping between the two properties, he added, that would include any retention basins.
“There's also going to be a barrier, as well,” he said. “They won't be able to see into it.”
He also pointed out that the new use is consistent with other recent developments.
“Even though it is residential, this zoning has taken over a good-sized area of that residential zoning. We're in full compliance with the future land use map,” he said. “We're well within an area that is planned to be [this zoning] in the future.”
The council voted 6-1 on the rezoning, with Virginia Williams casting the lone negative vote. She said she was concerned that there were other similar businesses in the area.
“If you're going to hurt the businesses that are already there-that's my concern,” she said. “Those businesses have been there and they're offering some of the same things you are going to offer to the general public.”
Zelos said that would be a small part of the operation, however.
“They're not competing with anyone else,” he said. “If someone comes looking for a repair, they won't turn them away, but their primary focus will be to service their own trucks.”
The project will be sent back to the planning commission for site plan review before any final approval.