Ensley Township in Newaygo County MI

Planning Commission

October Minutes

Ensley Township Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

October 30, 2006

Members Present:  Phil Starr, Matthew Bonzo, Ralph Palmer, Louise Yowtz, Ronald Bell, and

                   John VanderMeulen

Members Absent:  Keith Bouwkamp

Guests Present:  Robert Hall

Public:  None

Meeting:

A         Pledge of Allegiance 

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

B.                 Roll Call

All present

C.                 Approval of Agenda

Starr presented the agenda.  Motion made (Bonzo) and supported (Yowtz) to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

D.                 Approval of Minutes for July 31^st and August 28th

Motion Made (Yowtz) and supported (Bonzo) to approve Minutes of September with a change to the Township Board Representative section under Reports that it is LCL and not the Board that has made a recommendation to change or update the sign ordinance because they consider it weak. Phil called for a vote, motion carried.

Reports

A.        Correspondence Received

Nothing received

B.                 Township Representative

VanderMeulen gave the Planning Commission an update on the Township Board.

C.                 Information and Inquiry        

Outdoor Furnaces or Wood Burners article was passed out to the Planning Commission to consider or for general awareness.  Bob Hall has had no complaints about them as of date.  

D.                 Zoning Administrator

The Zoning Administrators Report to the PC for the month October was passed out by Robert Hall.

Robert Hall also recommends that the Township develop a guideline to be used for the Zoning Administrator to set priorities

 Old Business

A.                       Discuss Land Division Ordinance

Robert Hall passed out a Land Division ordinance that he feels would be an asset to the Township (See his summary; with the hand written notes/comments entitles “Land Division Ordinance”) and to inform that there is a Michigan requirement that governs the division of land under the Michigan Land Division Act.

The Pros and Cons of a having the required information for land divisions condensed in one spot for the Township and the Zoning Administrator and the potential issues of having duplicate information in several places through out the ordinance were discussed.  The trade-off for the convenience of all relative information in one spot would be the additional administrative work to ensure that all relevant references to a change through out the entire ordinance be updated accordingly to avoid things like circular references and/or conflicting requirements in the ordinance as a whole.

Phil requests Robert to make a suggestion or stab at what he would recommend combining the best of both worlds.

B.                       Michigan Zoning Enabling Act

Robert Hall met with Ryan and it will be a major time requirement but not a major legal issue and that there is more work to be done

Issue, due to a state mandated requirements, not sure if the Township has the authority to make changes without a public hearing.

C.                       Non Conforming Lots/Zoning Changes

Robert passed out an article entitled “Variances and Lake Lots” to the Planning Commission to for consideration.    The Zoning Administrator needs some latitude to make judgment calls based on an approved policy or standard.    Such as an authorization to approve any move that decreases an already non conforming lot in any way.

Phil Starr will add to next months agenda 

New Business

A.                       Master Plan Survey Results

Master Plan Survey results passed out today.   All to review for next month

B.                       Height Restrictions On Pole Barns,(added agenda item)

Phil asked what the Township Ordinance currently has for height restrictions for accessory buildings.   The section 3.11.B.6 of the ordinance pulled from the Township web site dated, 1997, says;

 “No accessory building shall exceed sixteen feet in height. as measured from the average grade to the highest point of the roof or eave, except for those used in farming operations, which may be as high as reasonably necessary”.

This is thought to be an older version of the ordinance and that there was a revision made last year.  Management, as in revision control, and identification of the “Master” set of Township Ordinances is unclear to the Planning Commission.    John Vander Meulen will request from the Township Secretary a current copy of the Ordinance and check to see that the web site is posting the latest or correct revision.

C.                       ZBA Discussion

Due to the nature of the scheduling or specifically, the short notices given, LouisYowtz is having difficulty making some of the meetings and wants the Planning Commission to understand that it is not always represented.  She will go when she can. 

Township Board Representative to ask that the meetings be coordinated with all ZBA members.

Motion made by (Bonzo) and supported (Bell) to adjourn at 9:20 PM.  Motion carried.

Sec.  Palmer

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