Little Leaguers and people trying to beat the heat in Hartland Township will have one less option as an ice cream shop is preparing to be rebuilt.

The Dairy Queen on M-59 will soon be razed to the ground and then rebuilt from scratch. The Hartland Township Planning Commission approved the site plan for rehabilitation of the site at their regular meeting, Thursday night. The new building will be located in the same spot, and consist of an 11,200 square foot multi-tenant building. Dairy Queen will be one of three tenants and a have a drive through window and patio for customers to sit out on. A representative for the developer said they are hoping to get major furniture company that sells mattresses into one of the other 2 spots, but nothing is concrete yet. The planning commission required 41 parking spots for the site, and 46 will be available.

Township Planner Troy Langer said one concern brought up by the planning commission was that the green space between the business and M-59 fell roughly 9 feet short of township standards. To fix this would most likely eliminate a row of parking and could stop the project from happening. The commissioners discussed it, and came to the conclusion that there would still be a large enough shield from the road and waived the requirement. No traffic impact study will be necessary either as Langer said that generally is not required when rebuilding a property on a commercial site.

With lighting, the impact the building will impose, while slightly higher than allowed, was agreed to be by such a negligible amount that it wouldn’t be noticeable. The developer’s next step is to submit their construction plans to all the appropriate parties, and once approved, may begin the rehabilitation. (MK)