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Posted on Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 5:40 a.m.

Saline City Council approves rezoning for Quantum Signal's use of Union School

By Tara Cavanaugh

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.

Union School Saline.jpg

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.

Comments

David

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 5:26 p.m.

We are pleased to have Mitch Rohde and Quantum Signal as one more new business in our downtown. While I had hopes for an Art Center when the Schools no longer occupied Union School, it is good to have a community minded business in that historic building.