The Saline City Council has approved commercial zoning status for the Union School building, which Quantum Signal LLC is buying from Saline Area Schools.

Previously, the property had a residential zoning designation. Quantum Signal had the option of asking for OS status, for office space, or for C-2 status, for commercial purposes, and chose the latter. Council approved the rezoning Monday night.

Quantum Signal plans to move its operation from its 14,000-square-foot headquarters on Plaza Drive near the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport in Pittsfield Township to the aged 43,000-square-foot school facility sometime this fall.

The historic Union School in Saline, which will be home to Quantum Signal.

Alan Warren | For AnnArbor.com

The C-2 zoning status concerned some Saline residents who attended a meeting of the Saline Area Planning Commission in late August.

“I think folks are more concerned about, if you have a commercial zoning, what can go in after you leave,” such as fast food restaurants, said Quantum Signal Chief Operating Officer Mitch Rohde.

“We plan to be here a long, long time. I live outside Saline, and I like where I live,” Rohde said. “I’ve invested a tremendous amount in landscaping ([my home),” he joked, “so I’m not moving.”

“The worries, while I can see them being reasonable, I think in the long term they’re going to die away and it’s not going to be a problem,” Rohde said.

Rohde said there is no ideal zoning status for a company like Quantum, which makes a variety of products from software to robots, and offered to work with the city in the future to create a more applicable status.

“It’s a new technology business and it’ll be a real benefit to the downtown area,” said Gary Roubal, city superintendent and engineer.