A site plan for a new Dollar Tree store at the corner of M-20 and Vance Road was approved by the Midland Planning Commission on Tuesday night in the Midland County Services Building.
This site plan was reviewed by the commission on Dec. 12, but a final decision was postponed until several missing items were resolved. The plan proposes constructing a 9,828-square-foot Dollar Tree at 3410 Isabella Street (M-20). The property is the former site of Furlo’s Pizza and Pasta.
The store would be constructed on the corner closest to the intersection, leaving the rest of the lot to be filled with a detention basin and landscaping. This would be done in order to maintain as many trees as possible around the perimeter of the site as a buffer between the store and surrounding residential areas.
The developers plan to maintain the fencing that exists on the north and east sides of the property where it borders residential properties, but will not build any new fencing. The plan’s landscape screening along these borders is compliant with City standards.
The missing items that are now resolved included:
• Additional fire hydrants
• Clarification on fencing around the HVAC equipment
• Combination of lots 3410 and 3420 Isabella St. into one lot — 3410 Isabella St.
• A pedestrian connection from the sidewalk on Vance Road to the building’s main entrance
• The addition of a bike rack
• Compliant ADA parking details
• Spacing details between the Dollar Tree driveways and the other driveways across Vance Road
• Proposed building elevations
• Updated landscaping plan including parking lot landscaping
The plan was approved by the commission in a 7-0 vote, with some contingencies. This includes a deferred parking agreement approved by the city attorney, a storm water management permit, a final soil erosion and sedimentation control permit, and final permitting of signage.
Capital Improvement Plan
Assistant City Manager for Development Services Jacob Kain provided an introduction to the 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The Planning Commission will decide on a recommendation to City Council for the plan at its next meeting on Jan. 23.
The Capital Improvement Plan is a multi-year planning instrument used to identify needs and funding sources for upcoming capital project expenditures.
This plan anticipates almost $70 million in expenditures in the 2024-2025 fiscal year and more than $264 million over the next six years.
The proposed plan includes $500,000 for the Center City Authority in the next fiscal year and $9 million over the next six years. These funds would be used for the Saginaw Road Streetscape Phase II project.
The $500,000 for design and engineering in the next year has already been acquired. The $9 million, which has yet to be acquired, would be used for construction of the project that will run from Dartmouth Street, through the Circle and to Jefferson Avenue.
The Downtown Development Authority also has some big projects in its future, including a permanent restroom. The CIP plans for $500,000 for this project. The facility would be the same Changing Places restroom as the one being built at Grove Park.
The engineering section of the plan lists $250,000 as the City share of an upcoming Michigan Department of Transportation project resurfacing M-20 from M-30 to Currie Parkway. This project is planned for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
This section also lists $2.15 million in the next fiscal year for a reconstruction project on Swede Avenue between East Ashman and Wheeler.
The plan also includes Concept 5 project funding, mostly in the Water Reclamation section. Along with this, Kain provided the commission with an update on the plan. The cure-in-place pipe lining that started last winter is almost complete. While this part of the project was expected to be complete in June 2027, it is now expected to be completed this summer.
Pipe upsizing on Perrine, Sugnet and Main streets that was expected to be completed this coming June was actually completed in November 2023.
The one-million-gallon Sylvan Offline Storage facility is mostly completed with only a few minor items to finish.
The 90-day inspection window for the Footing Drain Disconnect Program closed on Dec. 31. Of those in Phase I of the program, 92% of the homes have completed their inspections.
Sylvan Lane pipe upsizing will begin this spring and is expected to be completed in the fall.
Other Business
• The commission recommended to City Council that RA-4 Single Family and Two Family Residential city zoning be applied to 6500 N. Saginaw Road – a property annexed from Homer Township last year.
• The commission also recommended a rezoning of 4500 E. Ashman from Limited Commercial, Manufacturing and Research to Industrial A.
