Big changes are in the planning stages at LaFontaine Chevrolet in Dexter, which wants to build a new, multi-million dollar auto dealership on its property in the village.

The auto dealership, located at 7120 Dexter-Ann Arbor Road, is expected to submit a site plan to village officials on Tuesday that call for building the new 32,000 square foot building in place of two older buildings.

The plan is to completely tear down the existing facility and build from the ground up without interrupting business.

It also includes such upgrades as going from nine to 22 service bays, new landscaping and lighting, and storm water detention, which would help reduce large amounts of rainfall from running off the site.

"We want to create an environmentally friendly facility in Dexter and make sure that it is consistent with the other big projects such as the new Dexter Pharmacy, the Monument Building, and Busch's grocery store that were done by A.R. Brouwer," says Matt LaFontaine, general manager of the LaFontaine Auto Group, which is based in Highland.

"When we bought the store in Dexter in 2005, our plan was to build a new facility. The store was selling about 600 new and used cars a year then, and our sales have increased every year since.

"In 2010 we will sell between 1,400 and 1,500 new and used cars, and our new facility will sell over 2,000 cars a year."

LaFontaine says the company was waiting for General Motors, with its car line changes and dealership closures, to give the dealership a clear direction.

Dexter Village Council President Shawn Keough along with Community Development Manager Allison Bishop first viewed LaFontaine's preliminary plan in August.

"This project will be a huge benefit to the Village and our Downtown Development Authority in many ways," says Keough, who adds that the new plan would bring the dealership up to the village's current standards and be an aesthetic improvement to the Dexter-Ann Arbor corridor.

"The fact that LaFontaine is choosing to invest in Dexter shows their commitment to this community."

Keough says that the DDA will benefit from the increased tax revenues that the newer facility would provide.

"The LaFontaine plan would be the final piece for the Dexter-Ann Arbor Road corridor," says Bishop, who says that the corridor will also have complete pedestrian access.

LaFontaine, who has lived in Dexter for nearly 14 years and has three children in Dexter schools, says he is personally invested in the Dexter community.

"The Dexter schools, which have accomplished many things in the last five years, have been our vehicle to reinvest in this community," says LaFontaine. "This will be one of the largest facilities in our group."

LaFontaine says that Chevrolet is now the number one brand for GM and accounts for over 70 percent of GM's business. The LaFontaine Automotive Group, founded by his parents, Mike and Maureen, also operate dealerships in Saline and Dearborn in addition to Highland in Oakland County.

Bishop says the Village Council will review the site plan after the Planning Commission, which is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1. She doesn't anticipate any action on the plan until year-end at the earliest.

LaFontaine is hopeful that the project could get underway as early as this winter and be completed by fall 2011.

Bloom General Contracting Inc. will do the construction, if the plan is approved.

Among changes at other local GM dealership are an expansion at Suburban Chevrolet Cadillac in Scio Township and the sale of Jim Bradley Pontiac Buick GMC to Mack Buick GMC, which moved to a new location in Scio Township this summer.