Expansion of long-standing veterinary clinic in Birmingham
A long-time Birmingham company is hoping to change the look of the city’s northern entrance.
Gasow Veterinary Hospital, 36877 Woodward Ave., has asked to rebuild its longtime veterinary clinic on the corner of Quarton Road and add a second floor to the space.
“This is an opportunity for an iconic business in a very bad building,” said Mike Bailey, owner of the establishment. “We see this now as an opportunity to make a beautiful building make a statement.”
The plans were considered by the city’s planning council at its March 23 meeting at Birmingham Town Hall. Plans call for complete renovations to the veterinary clinic, including the addition of a second floor. The clinic, in operation since the 1960s, would remain the only business operating at the northern entrance to the city.
Several issues surrounding the construction of the new building were present in the submitted plans, including the need to reduce the height of the building, parking screen issues, and a reduction in the parking lot frontage.
Overall, a dozen construction issues were identified by the city’s planning department. Members of the planning committee saw this as unusual.
“You mentioned a dozen things that are not in accordance with our ordinance,” planning board member Bert Koseck told planning staff presenting the project. “And some of them are so important.”
Nicholas DuPuis, the city’s planning director, said many of the issues raised would only be addressed later, when plans come back for a final site plan, not a preliminary site plan.
“Talking to Brooks (Cowan, a town planner), there are four or five that we usually mention during the preliminary site plan review and don’t review until the end,” he said. declared. “A third of them are things we wouldn’t necessarily address before the final.”
It is possible that some of the elements will be submitted to the City’s Zoning Appeals Board for discrepancies with the project.
Several area residents who live near the clinic have expressed concerns about parts of the plans, including screening. Resident Brady Blain, who lives near Redding, said he was happy to see the renovations taking place at the clinic, but said there would be issues keeping lights out of the space and preventing cars from infiltrating neighboring houses.
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“There are other issues that I would like to bring up to the board, and all of that could be resolved with further screening,” he said. “These lights will shine all the way to the back of our homes.”
The planning board approved the preliminary site plan at the meeting, which will revert to the council for its final site plan in the future.
After the vote, Planning Board Chairman Scott Clein told the petitioner that he hoped many of the issues raised would be resolved before the City Commission reviews the project.
“Please take the comments to heart,” he said. “We don’t want to hang anything before it goes to commission.”
Contact reporter David Veselenak at [email protected] or 734-678-6728. Follow him on Twitter @davidveselenak.
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