Members Present:  Phil Starr. Matthew Bonzo, Ralph Palmer, John VanderMeulen, Keith Bouwkamp and

Louise Yowtz

Members Absent:  Ron Bell

Guests Present:  None

Public:  None

Meeting:

A         Pledge of Allegiance

Meeting was called to order at 8:05 by Phil Starr.  Pledge of Allegiance was cited.

B.                 Roll Call

Ron Bell is absent

C.                 Approval of Agenda

Starr presented the agenda for March 26^th, 2007 with the addition of a discussion on Section 3.11.b.2 recommendation from the County.  Motion made (Bouwkamp) and supported (Yowtz) to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

D.                Approval of Minutes for March ‘07

Motion Made (Bouwkamp) and supported (Yowtz) to approve Minutes of March ’07 with the clarification that the Newaygo County Citizen Planner sessions are in White Cloud.   Starr called for a vote, motion carried.

Reports

A.                 Correspondence Received

The following correspondence was received;

·         Document from Hall entitles Section 3.23 Nonconforming Uses, Buildings or Structures; Zoning Administrators Recommendation.

·         Updates from Hall for the Ordinance for the Township to be in compliance with the changes associated with the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act.

·         Starr passed around a brochure on Risk Management from the Michigan Association of Planners

Starr gave some information from the Financial Statement.  Budget for the Planning Commission was $10,000.  PC went over by $608 and new budget is $10,050.00

Phil Starr requested that the “Lot to Depth Ratio” letter from 8/30/2006 be reviewed for the next meeting.  Starr also asked the the PC think about making lots wider and increasing the minimum lot size and noted that the Master Plan from ten years ago recommended the township go to 250ft on page seven.  This would allow for enough footage for house with a garage on the side, and a septic.

B.                 Township Representative

John Vander Meulen gave the Planning Commission an update on the Township Board.

C.                 Information and Inquiry

Starr gave an update on the Citizen Planner meetings and that they are very interested.

D.                Zoning Administrator

Report tabled

 Old Business

A.                       Michigan Zoning Enabling Act

The March 22^nd memo from LSL Planning, Inc with the recommendations for changes was reviewed but without the Zoning Administrator, Starr tabled the discussions until they could be reviewed with him prior to any public hearing. 

B.                       Non Conforming Lots/Zoning Changes

Topic tabled until issue can be discussed with Zoning Administrator.

C.                       Section 3.11.b.2

Starr reported that the County Planning Commission took a look at the recommendation to remove Section 3.11(b)(2) from the Ordinance by the Ensley Township Planning Commission and thought the Township should reconsider it.   The County Planning Commission did not vote for on it but did recommend that the existing section be changed to allow for a square footage for accessory building of up to 1000 or 12000 square feet.  Their fear was that someone might build a huge building if they had more than one lot.

The original idea from the Ensley PC was that the Ordinance as it is today does not allow for much of a building to store such equipment as a pontoon boat or an RV of any size. 

The recommendation is to leave it as it is and let the Township Board decide.  The PC will not change its recommendation.

New Business

A.                       Master Plan

Starr reviewed the Montcalm County master plan and requested the PC take a look at page three.   Starr said the PC needs to decide if it is going to make any recommendations to preserve farm land such as the use of more Quarter Zoning or Sliding Scale Zoning.  Also, that the PC should consider a special meeting to discus solely the preservation of farm land.

Starr reviewed the outline for the Master Plan and said under the Introduction Section, the PC has finished I.A or “Background” but is not sure that 1.B or “Legal Basis for Master Plan” should be the next section.  Also, that the proposed outline has some categories that do not seem to apply to Ensley such as “Schools” under Section II.C.vii. 

The following sections or topics were assigned to PC members for discussion at next meeting: Starr, Agriculture; Vander Meulen, Recreation; Bouwkamp, Commerce and Industry; Palmer, Public Buildings; Yowtz, Open Spaces; Bonzo, Soil Conservation and Forest as well as Bonzo will go through the survey to find supporting statements for any recommendations or direction to be taken by the PC.

B.                       Citizen Planner Update

The sessions are very interesting and worthwhile.

Motion made by (Bouwkamp) and supported (Yowtz) to adjourn at 9:50 PM.  Motion carried.