Politics & Government

Saline Won't Get BK for West Side BP

Mayor Driskell said Burger King isn't interested in a franchise at the West Michigan Avenue location.

Plans for a Burger King drive-thru at the station are on hold, according to Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell.

At Monday’s meeting, Driskell said Saline Property, LLC, has decided against applying for special land use approval needed to convert the gas station and carwash into a gas station and fast food restaurant. Driskell said

Driskell told council that Burger King wasn’t interested in putting a franchise in the location at 777 W. Michigan Ave.

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Planning Commission has been dealing with the issue for months. At its Nov. 9 meeting, planners voted to recommend the special land use to council with several conditions, including Zoning Board of Appeals approval of variances, a plan for storm water run off and revisions to the parking plan to meet setback requirements.

During the meeting, councillor Dean Girbach said he was disappointed that the city had done so much work on the project when the Saline Property LLC owed the city $15,734 in taxes and $2,907 in water bills.

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“I wonder how this was able to proceed so far without being stopped. Isn’t this one of our first steps in reviewing?” Girbach asked. “This has happened multiple times.”

Councillor David Rhoads agreed.

“It seems to me it should be policy that whenever someone submits a request that involves staff time, the first thing we should do is ensure all obligations are met,” Rhoads said. “I am in favor of business, but responsible business.”

Finance Director Lee Bourgoin said that the city needed to be careful about policies withholding services based on whether or not taxes are paid.

“Some services you may not be able to wave. As government, there are services you are required to carry out, and I am not sure how you can withhold them,” Bourgoin said.

Driskell said that the city’s approval of the project would have been contingent upon taxes being paid and emphasized that the tax situation had nothing to do with the decision to stop the process.


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