Minutes of the regular meeting of the Georgetown Township Planning Commission, held Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Meeting
called to order by Chairman Honderd at
Present: Jansma, Huizinga, DeGood, Stasiak,
Poskey, Honderd, South
Absent: none
#030917-01 - Agenda for
September 17, 2003
Moved by Jansma, seconded by DeGood, to approve the agenda for September 17, 2003, as presented.
MOTION CARRIED.
#030917-02 - Minutes of the August
20, 2003 regular meeting and the September 3, 2003
work session
meeting and August 13 special master plan meeting
Moved by Huizinga, seconded by DeGood, to approve
the minutes of the August 20, 2003 regular meeting, as submitted.
MOTION CARRIED.
Moved by Jansma, seconded by South, to approve the
minutes of the September 3, 2003 work session meeting, as submitted.
MOTION CARRIED.
Moved by South, seconded by DeGood, to approve the
minutes of the August 13, 2003 special Master Plan meeting, as submitted.
MOTION CARRIED.
#030917-03 – Unfinished
Business (PUD0302) Meijer Inc., 2929 Walker, is requesting a
Planned Unit Development for a drive-in restaurant,
under Chapter 22, on a parcel of land described as P.P.# 70-14-13-300-058,
located at 460 Chicago Dr.
The application was left tabled.
#030917-04 – Unfinished Business
Preliminary Plat of Fox Hill
Moved by Poskey, seconded by Stasiak, to remove the
item from the table.
MOTION CARRIED.
Steve Witte, Nederveld Associates, represented the
applicant and presented the request. He
stated that the stub street had been added to the plan because the Ottawa
County Road Commission denied the waiver and it was required. The plat would have twelve single family
homes on lots that meet or exceed ordinance requirements. Public utilities would be provided and storm
water would be discharged to the detention area.
It was noted that one change would be required to
note “G” on the plan that states that the homeowner would be responsible to
install streetlights because the developer would be responsible for
streetlights. It was also noted that the
exception meets ordinance requirements if it were to be split in the future.
The chairman opened the floor to public
comments. No one was present to speak on
this topic. The chairman closed the
floor to public comments.
Moved by DeGood, seconded by Stasiak, to recommend
to the Township Board to grant tentative preliminary plat approval of Fox Hill,
with the condition that letter “G” be corrected to reflect that the developer
is responsible for the installation of street lights.
MOTION CARRIED.
#030917-05 - Site Plan (ST0313)
Randy Rottschafer (Mani’s Photo Studio)- 612 Baldwin
Randy Feenstra, Feenstra & Associates,
represented the applicant and presented the request. He said that changes have been made,
including correcting the streetscape and greenbelt landscaping, the parking in
the front setback was removed, the drive-through was eliminated, topography was
shown for the adjacent property, and the building was moved two feet off the
property line.
It was noted that the size of the building was
increased from 7,400 to over 8,000 square feet resulting in the requirement of
two additional parking spaces. The size
of the building should be reduced to eliminate the parking in the rear and the
south driveway should be removed. It was
noted that too many curb cuts were proposed for this small parcel and to
address the neighbors’ concern, the extra drive to the south should be
eliminated.
The chairman opened the floor to public comments.
Randy Rottschafer, property owner, said that he had
a miscommunication with Randy Feenstra and had always wanted the building to be
this size.
The chairman closed the floor to public comments.
It was noted that the dumpster could be located in
the front of the building to eliminate the drive and to lesson the noise impact
on the residential neighborhood. It was
noted that the decel lane should be shown and the applicant stated that it was
shown by the proposed 50 foot right-of-way line. The trees would not be affected by the decel
lane.
Moved by Poskey, seconded by Jansma, to table the
request.
The applicant was directed to show elevations, to
eliminate the southern driveway, and to relocate the dumpster.
Yeas: Honderd,
Poskey, Stasiak, Huizinga, Jansma, South
Nays: DeGood
MOTION CARRIED.
#030917-06 - Special Use
Permit (SUP0306) David Stevens, RV Tech, 2000 Chicago Dr., is
requesting to have an open air business, under Sec.
16.3(H), on parcels of land described as P.P.# 70-14-22-450-010 and
70-14-22-450-009, located at 2000 and 2034 Chicago Dr., in a (HS) Highway
Service Commercial District
The applicant will submit site plans for the October
agendas.
#030917-07 – Special Use
Permit (SUP0310) Roger Lucas, 1211 McClelland, is requesting to
have customary agricultural operations with farm animals,
and for the number to be waived due to the size of 71 acres, under Sec. 7.3(C),
on parcels of land described as P.P.# 70-14-35-100-047 and 70-14-35-200-044,
located at 1211 McClelland, in a (RR) Rural Residential district
A letter was submitted in favor of the proposal.
The chairman opened the public hearing. No one was present to speak on this
topic. The chairman closed the public
hearing.
Moved by Jansma, seconded by South, to recommend to
the Township Board approval of special use permit (SUP0310) Roger Lucas, 1211
McClelland, to have customary agricultural operations with farm animals, and for the number to be waived due to the
overall size of 71 acres which is substantially larger than many lots in the RR
district, and the remote and rugged site buffers any potential impacts from
adjacent properties, under Sec. 7.3(C), on parcels of land described as
P.P.# 70-14-35-100-047 and 70-14-35-200-044, located at 1211 McClelland, in a
(RR) Rural Residential district
MOTION CARRIED.
Moved by South, seconded by Stasiak, to approve the
site plan dated Aug. 20, 2003, as presented.
MOTION CARRIED.
#030917-08 – Special Use
Permit (SUP0311) Taco Bell (Chicago Diversified Foods Corp),
Richland, MI, is requesting to have a drive-in
restaurant, under Sec. 15.3(A), on part of a parcel of land described as P.P.#
70-14-13-400-052, located at 174 Chicago Dr., in a (CS) Community Service
Commercial district, Georgetown Township, Ottawa County, Michigan.
Tom Barns, WL Perry, represented the applicant and
presented the request. He said that the
use required 34 parking spaces and 38 were provided along with 11 stacking
spaces. He said that a 30 foot green
space and a sidewalk had been provided along Chicago Dr., and there was a 60
foot setback. He said that the use
required no additional curb cuts.
The Zoning Administrator explained that the lot
split as shown would require front yard setbacks for the remaining parcel along
the rear property line of the split parcel, according to the definition of the
ordinance. No parking would be permitted
in this front yard setback and it would have to be landscaped. In addition, the drive is still shown
conflicting with traffic movement for the drive-through lane.
It was noted that cross access easements would be
required for the drive lane and drive lanes should be clearly identified by
means of landscaping. The 30 foot front
yard requirement results in the loss of some parking spaces. Landscape islands should be added to prevent
hap hazard driving, the same as the Planning Commission had required for
Meijers, Culvers and 5th 3rd Bank. Three trees for the streetscape should be
located back on the Taco Bell property.
There was discussion regarding overall parking
spaces. It was also noted that a
landscape screen should be provided to shield Chicago Dr. from lights from
vehicles in the drive-through lane.
The applicant stated that they had a recorded
document for shared parking easements with Aldi’s and that Aldi’s would not
need the spaces until they came in to the Township to expand their building. He said that there were 49 spaces that were
not even used by Aldi’s.
The Zoning Administrator asked if these numbers were
correct, then were the numbers for parking spaces provided on the land split
application wrong because the numbers were different. She also asked if parking requirements could
be met off the subject parcel.
The public hearing had NOT been advertised for this
meeting and it was noted that there were too many issues to advertise for the
public hearing. The applicant was directed
to discuss the issues with the Zoning Administrator. It was also noted that there was no
flexibility with the Zoning Ordinance requirements because this was not a
planned unit development.
The applicant stated that 65% of their business was
drive-through.
#030917-09 – Rezoning
(REZ0305) To change from (AG) Agriculture to (LDR) Low Density
Residential a parcel of land described as P.P.#
70-14-17-400-009, located at 3540 Baldwin
Frank Ditzler, property owner, stated that he had requested
a rezoning so he could split his property.
The chairman opened the public hearing.
Gary, Sosnowski, 3506 Baldwin, said that he lives in
the house on the east side and the driveway is 4 feet and 2 inches from his
property line. He said that he hears
doors slam next to his bedroom window.
He said that his house is only 7 feet from the property line and he did
not want a house close to him. He said
that he moved here for peace and quiet and did not want another house by him.
It was noted that pavement for a driveway could go
right up to the property line as long as water and snow is not drained on the
neighboring property. It was also noted
that if Gary Sosnowski’s house was only seven feet from the property line, it
was non-conforming because his house would be required to be ten feet from the
property line if in a LDR zone, and twenty feet from the property line in the
AG (and this was AG property).
The planner explained the different uses that were
permitted in the LDR and AG zones. He explained
for a rezoning request consideration was given as to whether the property was
capable of handling uses in that category, whether the request was consistent
with the Master Plan, and if the uses permitted in the new district were
compatible with surrounding uses.
The chairman closed the public hearing.
It was noted that the applicant would have to submit
a survey for a land split to determine if the new proposed parcels met Zoning
Ordinance requirement. The applicant stated
that the lots would be about 262 feet deep and 100 feet wide.
Moved by Jansma, seconded by DeGood, to recommend to
the Township Board approval of Rezoning (REZ0305) To change from (AG) Agriculture to (LDR)
Low Density Residential a parcel of land described as P.P.# 70-14-17-400-009,
located at 3540 Baldwin, based on the following:
·
This parcel is surrounded by developed LDR properties and the request
could be considered to be an infill opportunity;
·
Agricultural opportunities are not possible on this parcel any longer.
·
Utilities are readily available to this site via Baldwin.
MOTION CARRIED.
#030917-10 - Master Plan
It
was noted that a letter was received regarding the future zoning of the Rolling
Hills Golf Course land to LDR.
Moved
by Huizinga, seconded by South, to recommend to the Township Board to approve
the draft Master Plan (revised 9-3-03) as presented for distribution to the
neighboring municipalities.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#030917-11 - Adjournment
The chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.