Ensley Township in Newaygo County MI

Planning Commission

January '07 Minutes

Ensley Township Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

January 29, 2007

Members Present:  Phil Starr, Matthew Bonzo, Ralph Palmer, Ronald Bell, John VanderMeulen, and

Keith Bouwkamp

Members Absent:  Louise Yowtz

Guests Present:  Robert Hall, Steve Knox, and Two public

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

All present

C.                Approval of Agenda

Starr presented the agenda.  Motion made (Bouwkamp) and supported (Bell) to approve the agenda with the addition of appointing a new member to the ZBA from the Planning Commission. Motion carried.

D.                Approval of Minutes for October

Motion Made (Bonzo) and supported (Bouwkamp) to approve Minutes of November as is. Phil called for a vote, motion carried.

Election of Officers for 2007

A.                Chairman

Motion made (Hall) and supported (Bouwkamp) to nominate Phil Starr as Chairman.  All voted aye.

B.                 Vice Chairman

Motion made (Hall) and supported (Bouwkamp) to nominate Ron Bell as Vice Chairman.  All voted aye.

C.                Secretary

Motion made (Bouwkamp) and supported (Starr) to nominate Ralph Palmer as Secretary.  All voted aye.

D.                Zoning Board of Appeals

Motion made (Bouwkamp) and supported (Starr) to nominate Matthew Bonzo to the Zoning Board of Appeals.  All voted aye.

Meeting Dates for 2007

A         Motion made (Bouwkamp) and supported (Palmer) for the Planning Commission to meet at 8:00 PM on the following dates; 2/26, 3/26, 4/30, 5/21, 6/25, 7/30, 8/27, 9/24, 10/29, 11/26 and January 28^th, 2008.  There is no December 2006 meeting.  All voted aye.

Reports

A.                Correspondence Received

Planning Commission Annual Report

LSL Planning memo regarding Lot to Depth to Width Ratios

Letter from Law Weathers & Richardson regarding Lot Width-to-Depth Ratio Requirements,

LSL Planning memo “Planning for large quantity groundwater withdrawal”

Zoning Administrator’s Planning Commission report for January 2007

Phil pointed out and included in the January package a pamphlet from the Michigan Association of Planning (MAP).   The MAP is offering 2007 Workshops for the “Citizen Planner”.

Phil also pointed out that there a re a number of  books at the Township Hall that could be of interest to PC members such as books about the Muskegon Watershed and Master Planning for Townships as well as Zoning options that could be used to help protect farm land

Additionally, Phil included in the PC January package the Ensley Township Planning Commission Annual Report for 2006, a handwritten classification of the various survey comments by type, and two excerpts form the paper concerning the barrier at the northern end of Algoma road.

B.                 Township Representative

John Vander Meulen gave the Planning Commission an update on the Township Board including but not limited to the following;

Steve Knox is the new Supervisor

Dog Clink 2/24 at Fire Barn

Township Clean-up 4/6 to 4/7 and is to be announced

Annual meeting 3/31 on a Saturday

Steve Knox added that he has correspondence from a new Planner from Grand Rapids to be considered for bidding purposes and asked if there is any reason that the PC is unhappy with LSL.  Steve Knox also reminded the members of the Planning Commission that the annual township meeting is the 31^st of March and hopes to see all attend.

C.                Information and Inquiry

None

D.                Zoning Administrator

Robert Hall gave an update per the supplied Planning Commission Report for January 2007.

 Old Business

A.                      Land Division Ordinance

After reviewing the ordinance with the township attorney, Robert Hall, as outlined in his January report, stated that the purpose of the “Stand Alone” Land Division ordinance should not include the actual details or parameters in it but serve only to inform the publish that there are zoning regulations that must be met by anyone considering a parcel division.  See Zoning Administrators January 2007 report for more detail.

Robert Hall also stated that the process for the Assessor does not have to be part of any stand alone “Land Division” ordinance and that the process can remain unchanged or as it is today.

Phil Starr asked the document entitles “State of Michigan, County of Newaygo, Township of Ensley, Land Division Ordinance, be revised by Robert Hall and re-submitted to the PC

Relative to Section IV, “Prior Approval Requirement for Land Divisions”, clarification was requested as to why either sub-sections A or B under Section IV would be required.  Phil Star asked Robert Hall to look into the need for these sections.

The Memos “Lot Width to Depth Ratio” from 1/18/07 and “Planning for large quantity groundwater withdrawal” from 1/9/07 from LSL Planning, Inc. were discussed as well as the letter from Law Weathers & Richardson regarding “Lot Width-to-Depth Ratio’ from 8/30/06.

Steve Knox gave a bit of history on the zoning history in the township and asked that the Planning Commission consider that farmers in general do not want to farm around residential areas.

Phil said that he felt the 109 feet for width is narrow and that this is what should change and not so much the 4 to 1 ratio itself. 

Steve Knox brought up “large lot” zoning as one possibility and that in the northern counties there are five acre minimums as a tool or means to control growth.

It was recommended that the minimum lot size should be tabled until the PC has a better understanding of the “big picture” from evaluating the survey results and obtaining other sources of information to understand the various trade-offs between bringing houses closer to the road to enable farming behind them verses long narrow lots.

Robert Hall was asked to give any updates on the issue to the Planning Commission as they may come available.

B.                       Michigan Zoning Enabling Act

Robert Hall expects to have the first submission of the required statutory changes for the February meeting.  See Zoning Administrators January 2007 report for more detail.

C.                      Non Conforming Lots/Zoning Changes

Robert Hall pointed out that the current ordinance reads that if one were to meet all the set backs listed in the ordinance, there would be no issues and that the ordinance does not take into account the specific or applicable district into account and that the ordinance should.  He sited several townships that do take into account the specific district when setting such things as set back requirements.    

Phil Starr asked Robert Hall to make suggestion to be considered by the PC next month

D.                      Building Sidewall Height in all Districts

Robert Hall reported that there is a conflict between the illustration and the wording of the current ordinance for building sidewall height and the maximum height.  The text prevails in Zoning so that if the PC wants 16ft eaves, then just change the illustration,

Phil Starr suggested that the ordinance should take into account the district or the circumstances for which it is to apply and gave the example of the difference between buildings on a lake shore verses a building built on the other side of the road.

The consensus was to leave the ordinance as it is and not to limit the Lake District people anymore than any other district.

E.                       Square Footage Requirement

Section 3.11.B.2, “Accessory Building” of the township ordinances states, “In RS and RL districts, a detached accessory building shall not exceed six hundred and twenty four (624) square feet.  The combined area of two (2) detached accessory buildings shall not exceed seven hundred and forty four (744) square feet. 

The concern is that the 624 square feet allowed today is restrictive and that if the dimensions of the property allows for a bigger building, that is, if all the set back requirements are met, let the owner build a bigger accessory building.

Motion made (Bell) and supported (Bouwkamp) to eliminate section 3.11.B.2 of the township ordinance and to hold a public hearing on feburary 26^th, 2007.  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr Aye, Bonzo, Aye, Vander Meulen Aye, Bell Aye, Palmer Aye.  Motion passed.

New Business

A.                      Master Plan

Phil Star postponed discussion on the Master Plan for the next meeting.

B.                       Start on Chapter One of Master Plan

Phil Star postponed discussion on the Master Plan for the next meeting.

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

Sec.  Palmer

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