Tee Times prompting township zoning changes
By Dana Casadei
A public hearing was held at the Bloomfield Township Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, August 5, regarding suggested ordinances changes that would allow indoor recreational restaurants to obtain a liquor license.
The planning commission unanimously voted in favor of sending those changes on to the board of trustees after hearing a presentation from Andrea Bibby, deputy director of planning, building and ordinances, and from Brandon Shaya, co-owner of Tee Times.
This change could lead to a overall within the ordinances, allowing for more hybrid uses of recreational activities and restaurants, much like what will be at the planned Tee Times, throughout the township.
Tee Times would not only be home to 13 golf simulators but a full-service restaurant and bar, too. Shaya emphasized that the food they serve is not quick bowling alley food, but will be handcrafted by a chef and their team.
At their Rochester Hills location, the menu ranges from wings and salads to wraps and sliders. There are also about a dozen different appetizers.
“I really believe this is something the township will be proud of,” Shaya said. “We thought Bloomfield Township would be the place to put it.”
The upcoming Tee Times – which will be located in the former home to Rebel Boxing, located within Maple Telegraph Shopping Center on Telegraph Road at Maple Road – will offer golf simulators and other state-of-the-art golf technology, and was what got the ball rolling on these changes to the ordinance in the first place, making it the first of its kind in the township.
The current ordinances aren’t specific enough for the type of business like Tee Times, so it isn’t permitted. Class C and tavern licenses are only permitted as special land uses in the B-2 Community Business District and the B-3 General Business District as part of a full service restaurant or a cinema use. Cinemas with a Class C or tavern license may be permitted as part of a mixed-use development with a development agreement – which was originally intended for the theater proposal for the original Bloomfield Park project – and as an integral use within a planned shopping center, such as the former Maple Theater’s location within the Bloomfield Plaza Shopping Center.
The proposed amendment changes to the zoning ordinance are very similar in language to the one that allows alcohol in cinemas, and would incorporate the Class C standards for restaurants and cinema uses to also include indoor recreational uses.
Standards in the amendments that would allow for indoor recreational restaurants to sell beer, wine and liquor include that off-street parking shall be a part of the shared parking study for the planned shopping center and approved by the township; an application fee to the township would need to be paid; it would be unlawful for any person, company, corporation or other legal entity to seek a Class C or tavern license, or transfer a Class C or tavern license unless a permit was obtained from the township; and the license shall be for the sale of beer, wine and/or spirits that will be consumed on the premise. Also, the sale of beer, wine and spirits cannot exceed more than 50 percent of the total gross sales of the business.
Currently, the township has issued 25 on-premises Class C and/or tavern licenses, leaving them with five available to issue within the township, according to the the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC).
The planning commission also sent along their recommendation to allow for Tee Times’s proposed hours of 9 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays. These proposed hours will be compatible with those nearby.
Because those proposed hours extend past 9 p.m., a special land use approval by the township board is required for this type of Class C liquor license.
