Ensley Township in Newaygo County MI

Planning Commission

January Minutes

Ensley Township Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

January 30, 2006

Members Present:        

Phil Starr

Ronald Bell

Ralph Palmer

Keith Bouwkamp

Matthew Bonzo

John Vander Meulen

Members Absent:

            Louise Yowtz

Guests Present:

Doug Verduin, Acting Zoning Administrator

            Sarah O’Donnell, Project Planner, LSLS Planning Inc.

Public:

            None

Meeting:

            Meeting was called to order at 8:00 by Starr at 8:00 pm.  Pledge of Allegiance was cited.

Starr presented the agenda and it was approved with no discussion.

Unapproved meeting minutes of 11/28/05

Minutes of 11/28/08 were read.  The following changes were made;

                        Fourth paragraph:  Changed “fictitious” to “alternate”

Tenth paragraph:     Added “Discussion to further review ordinance for Site Condominiums followed”

            MMS (Bouwkamp) to approve with changes.  Motion passed.

 Correspondence Received

            Doug Verduin reported the following;

Mr. Roosien had faxed the township that the plan for a site condominium is dead.

An arrest for dumping of tires had been made in this and neighboring counties and additional suspects are sought.

Election of Officers

Motion made by Bouwkamp and motion approved to nominate Phil Star as Chairman.

Motion made by Bouwkamp and motion approved to nominate Ronald Bell as Vice Chairman

Meeting Dates of Year

Starr presented the following dates for the Planning Commission to meet in 2006, 1/30, 2/27, 3/27, 4/24, 5/22, 6/26, 7/31, 8/28, 9/25, 10/30, 11/27 and 1/29 in 2007.

Motion made by Bouwkamp and motion approved to accept dates.

Reports

A.  Township Board Report from John Vander Meulen:

1.      Deputy Roesler would like to have office hours  at the Township Hall are being considered between 1:00 and 1:30 every Friday

2.      The title search on the north-west corner property on Cypress and 120^th is on going with no resolution to date

3.      Tax Assessor Contract is being worked on in response to Max Evens schedule retirement in the Spring

4.      The modular on Warrens Way has been brought into compliance for “Overhand” and an occupancy permit is to be issued

5.      Money for various road projects is tight; one mile for the Elm project is estimated to be over $100k

B.     Information and Inquiry

1.   Per Vander Meulen, the Roosien Site Condominium plan has been a positive experience for the Township Board and the Planning Commission in that it has exposed areas in need of improvement in the current zoning.

Old Business

The proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance regarding civil infraction penalties resulted in a tie by the board. The Planning Commission recommends approval to the Township Board and the Township Board recommends the Planning Commission to reconsider.

Per Doug Verduin, the adoption of the amendment would provide the Township a method to enforce zoning without involving lawyers.

Per Phil Star, the adoption of the amendment would also provide the Township a method to end continuous violations and that the Township Board would be informed prior to the issuance of any ticket.

Motion was made and approved to adopt the amendment to the Zoning Ordinance.

New Business

A.  Dog Kennels

Per Vander Meulen, the Township Board wants the Planning Commission to review all information and make a proposal to them for changes or amendments to the existing ordinance.

      Planning commission to provide a list of items to be considered such as Agriculture/Residential, distance to property line, noise, site plan considerations, minimum lot size, and etcetera.  

      Starr requested that LSL Project Planner Sarah O’Donnell formulate and present draft language to the Planning Commission with the above considerations.

B.  Site Condominiums

Per Doug Verduin, Township Attorney Clifford Bloom recommends that a moratorium be placed on the granting of any new applications for rezoning relative to Site Condominiums.  This would give the Township time to amend the deficiencies in the existing Text.

Starr requested the opinion of Sarah O’Donnell who also made the same recommendation.

Keith Bouwkamp made a motion for the Planning Commission to recommend a six month moratorium on Site Condominium applications until the ordinance could be revised.  Motion was supported.

Starr introduced discussion on the January 12^th, 2006 letter from LSL Planning to the Ensley Planning Commission.    In letter, LSL addressed the seven items identified by the Planning Commission.   Two of the responses were discussed with the following points/requests made

Item One:

Starr requested more information on PUDs. 

Item Five: 

Starr requested clarification on the LSL response.  Sarah O’Donnell recommended/clarified “no” on condominiums and “yes” on PUDs.

Item Seven:

Sarah O ’Donnell clarified that the Site Condominium is about the division of land and does not govern the structure or dwelling on a property. 

Doug Verduin recommended that the minimum width be increased to 24 ft.

Starr requested Sarah O’Donnell to be on call to attend next meeting.

C.  Romer Property “Fence”  

Per Doug Verduin, there have been two complaints to the township regarding the fence on the Romer Property at the north end of Algoma.  One complaint came from the Solon Township Supervisor and one was anonymous.

Township Board has requested the Planning Commission to decide if this structure is a fence; Starr to take this question to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

D.  Survey

Starr requested that all look over the survey and be prepared to discuss at next Planning Commission meeting.

Sarah O’Donnell commented that the answer fields are double the normal in such a survey and that the “Services and Enforcement” section is normally a topic which is “out of scope” in such a survey.

Motion made and supported to adjourn art 12:20 PM

Sec.  Palmer

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