Ensley Township in Newaygo County MI

Planning Commission

June Minutes

Ensley Township Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

June 26, 2006

Members Present:        

Phil Starr

Keith Bouwkamp

Matthew Bonzo

John VanderMeulen

Ralph Palmer

Ronald Bell

Members Absent:

Louise Yowtz

Guests Present:

Robert Hall Zoning Administrator

Public:

            None

Meeting:

            Meeting was called to order at 8:03 by Starr.  Pledge of Allegiance was cited.

Starr presented the agenda.  Motion made (Bouwkamp/VanderMeulen) to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Unapproved meeting minutes of May 22^nd ‘06

Minutes of May 22^nd were read.  One change made was to replace “under” with “off” in last sentence of paragraph six on page three.

Motion made and carried (Starr/Bouwkamp) to approve minutes of May 22^nd, ‘06 with the change indicated.  

Ron Bell pointed out that he was left out of the roll call voting of the April 24^th meeting minutes.

Motion made and carried (Bouwkamp/Bell) to add Ron Bell into the roll call of meeting minutes of April 24^th.

Reports

Phil Starr reported the following;

·               Roughly $3,200 of the approximately $4,300.00 budget approved for Planning Commission had been used already.

·               Survey had been sent to the County

·               Township Board to decide on the criteria to determine survey recipients.

·               Ryan Coffey of MSU can help with the Master Plan at no charge to the Township

Correspondence Received

A.     Township Representative

John Vander Meulen updated the Planning Commission on the activities of the Township Board and said that Mr. Verduin needs to be notified when the Ensley Web Page is to be updated.  Phil Starr commented that all updates from the Planning Commission should go through Cynthia Harwood.

Motion made (Bouwkamp/Bell) that all PC updates to the Ensley Web Page go through the Township Clerk.  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr, aye; Bell aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Palmer aye. Motion carried.

B.     Information and Inquiry

None

C.     Zoning Administrator

Robert Hall passed out the Zoning Administrators Report to the PC for the Month of May, which included a strong recommendation that the PC consider language in the ordinance to distinguish between a home based business and a home occupation and a favorable opinion on the proposed language from LSL on (PUD’s/Site Condo’s) from a enforcement and regulatory standpoint.

John VanderMeulen requested more detail from the Robert Hall relative to zoning complaints and suggested a listing of each with current status/action taken would not only be helpful for the board members to track progress but also answer residents questions.  Robert proposed then to meet with the Township Supervisor Bergman to get input on what format would work best for the board as a whole.

Public Hearing,     Amending Sections 3.35(C), 3.40, 3.42, 3.43. 3.44, 3.45 and 3.46 as well as Section 2.03 and Section 15.05 for Site Condos

At 8:15 motion made and carried (Starr/Bouwkamp) to go to the public hearing for amending the ordnance.  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr aye; Bell aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Palmer aye.

Phil Starr pointed out main differences in the proposed language from LSL are in the requirement for internal roads, clearing of land, underground utilities and large scale developments.

Motion made and carried (Bonzo/Bell) to accept the Sections as written.  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr aye; Bell aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Palmer aye.

Motion made and carried (Bouwkamp/Starr) to recommend to Board to adopt Sections as written.  .  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr aye; Bell aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Palmer aye.  Motion carried

Motion made and carried (VanderMeulen/Bouwkamp) to close public hearing and go to the Public Hearing for Dangerous Building Ordinance.

Public Hearing,     Dangerous Building Ordinance

Phil Starr pointed out that in Section 6, item d, “4D” should be changed to “4C” on proposed ordinance.

Motion made (Bell/Bonzo) to close public hearing on “Dangerous Building Ordinance”.  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr aye; Bell aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Palmer aye.

Motion made (Bonzo/Palmer) to recommend approval of ordinance with noted correction.  Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr aye; Bell aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Palmer aye. 

  Old Business

A.     Eave Overhang on Homes and Mobiles

Phil Starr called for discussion and recommends leaving the 12” overhang alone.  Matt Bonzo asks if the issue is not now moot with the newly adopted 24ft width requirements for dwellings.  John VanderMeulen feels the Board is leaning towards something less than 12 inches.

Motion made (Bouwkamp/Bonzo) to hold a public hearing on eave overhang issue with the intention of getting public input and input from the Building Inspector. 

Phil Starr called for a vote: Starr, aye; Bouwkamp aye; Bonzo aye; Vander Meulen aye; Bell aye; Palmer aye.

B.     Discussion Home Occupation Zoning

Phil Starr called for discussion on the letter dated May 22, 2006 from LSL Planning, Inc. concerning Home Based Business and for all to make recommendations.

Motion made and carried (Bouwkamp/Palmer) to table issue until July meeting.    

New Business

A.  Michigan Zoning Enabling Act

Robert Hall attended the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act seminar and reported that the Act will take effect on July 1^st, 2007.  There is no hurry to change existing zoning ordinance and Robert will be going through the existing ordinances and make a report on what changes will need to be made by the July 1^st, 2007 deadline.

Motion made and carried (Palmer/Bouwkamp) to adjourn at 9:40 PM

Sec.  Palmer

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