Minutes of the
work session of the Georgetown Township Planning Commission held Wednesday,
March 2, 2005
The meeting was
called to order by Chairman Honderd at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Huizinga, DeGood, Honderd, Pearson,
Poskey (arrived at 7:45 p.m.)
Absent: Stasiak, South
The work session,
which formulated the agenda for March 16, 2005, included the following items to
be placed on the agenda, discussion, and action:
I.
Approval of agenda
II.
Approval of minutes of the February 16, 2005 regular meeting and
the March 2, 2005 work session meeting
III.
Unfinished
Business
A. Preliminary
Plat of Cedar Lake Estates No. 11
No new information
was available and no one was present to represent the applicant. The request was left tabled.
IV. New
Business
A.
Site Plans
1. (ST0501) Mike Anderson (Kamps
Construction)-1728 DeWent Dr.
2. (ST0502) Mike Snip (Kamps Construction)-1752
DeWent Dr.
3. (ST0503) Dennis Snip (Kamps Construction)-1706
DeWent Dr.
A parcel along 18th Ave. that belonged to DeWent Gravel had
been split (by metes and bounds) into 8 parcels and is in the Industrial
district. Three site plans have been
submitted for approval for parcels resulting from this split. The proposed plans meet setback requirements
including the 30 foot landscaped area in the front yard. The plans meet the streetscape requirements
and parking requirements.
Todd Stuive, Exxel Engineer, represented the applicant and presented
the requests. The three site plans were
considered together since they were basically the same. Storm water management is handled on the
DeWent property. Sidewalks are
proposed. Lighting will be by wall
packs.
The planner presented a review.
It was noted that sign details should be provided, but the note on the
plan would be sufficient, and driveway accesses and parking could be combined
along with cross access provided.
The applicant stated that the driveway accesses had already been
approved by the Road Commission and they would rather have the accesses and
parking spaces because the tenants were not known at this time. He stated that there was no potential to save
any existing scrub trees.
There is no floodplain information.
If the site is not affected by a floodplain, a note should be added
indicating that the site is not affected.
4. (ST0504) Kuperius Trucking-2220 Center
Industrial Ct.
Todd Stuive, Exxel Engineering, represented the applicant and presented
the request. The plan is for an office
with truck bays. Utilities are available
and storm water detention is provided.
Pole lights and wall packs are proposed.
The planner presented a review. The
dumpster must be screened. No side
property line is dimensioned to the north (although it scales to be well in
excess of 20 feet). Adjacent zoning is
not shown. No sign or lighting detail is
provided other than a note that states that the ordinance requirements will be
met. Also there is no floodplain
information. If the site is not affected
by a floodplain, a note should be added indicating that the site is not
affected. More traffic information
should be provided.
Only one landscaping plan was submitted and it was given to the
planner. With motion #040628-10, the
Township Board waived the requirement of sidewalks along Center Industrial
Ct. Therefore, sidewalks are not
required for this site.
Poskey arrived at 7:45 p.m.
The zoning administrator stated that floodplain information should be
provided for all the plans because it was being enforced. She also noted for the previous applications
that since there are multiple units, the applicant should be instructed that
each tenant would have to obtain a Zoning Compliance Certificate prior to any
occupation of these units. In addition,
if the uses would require a special use permit, it would have to be obtained
prior to the occupation of any unit.
Also, it should be noted that parking requirements could change
depending upon the uses of the tenants. The
Fire Department memos for all of the previous plans including this plan were
noted.
B. Public Hearings
1.
Special Use Permits
a. (SUP0502) Visual Workplace LLC, 2668 Edward St., is requesting to
have a warehouse under Sec. 15.3(I) and a commercial enterprise producing
merchandise on the premises under Sec. 15.3(G), on a parcel of land described
as P.P.# 70-14-21-472-004, located at 2668 Edward St., in a (CS) Community
Service Commercial district
Steve Witte, Nederveld Associates, represented the applicant and
presented the request. This is an
existing building on .49 acres and with fifteen parking spaces. Oak Tree Apartments are located to the south
within the City of Hudsonville. One sign
is proposed. The reason for the
application is for the special use permits and no changes are proposed for the
building. He said that the applicant
purchased the site last November and has been occupying the site without an
approved Zoning Compliance Certificate.
He said that the use was material warehousing with material resold to
customers. He said that they were
applying for special use permits for warehousing under Sec. 15.3(I) and for a
commercial enterprise producing merchandise on the premises under Sec. 15.3(G). He said that these were similar uses to those
that previously been conducted at this site.
The planner presented a review.
The request meets the general standards of the ordinance and the
specific standards for a commercial enterprise producing merchandise. However, one standard for the warehouse is to
be 100 feet from a residential district and this is not met because Oat Tree
Apartments in the City of Hudsonville is within 100 feet. The streetscape does not meet requirements
(100 feet divided by 25 equals 4 trees and only 3 are provided). There is no specific parking calculation
listed in Chapter 26 for a commercial enterprise producing merchandise, but the
plan meets the requirements for parking for a warehouse. Striping for parking is not shown. The rear setback is 39 feet and 40 feet is
required; however, no changes are proposed.
A greenbelt should be provided along the rear parking area because it
abuts the apartments (a residential use).
Three trees are shown here, but no dimension is shown for the area of
the parking lot to determine if the requirement is met. No sign details are listed except a note that
it would meet ordinance requirements.
The sign is shown 15 ft. from the property line, which meets the
ordinance requirement for a ground mounted sign.
The applicant stated that it is the most attractive building and they
would plant the trees if required. The
consensus was that the trees would have to be planted. The applicant also stated that the dumpster
would either be removed or screened.
There was discussion regarding the fact that the site does not meet
aisle width and parking requirements, although the required number of spaces is
met.
The zoning administrator stated that the ordinance does allow for the
use of non-conforming structures as long as the structure is not increased or
enlarged. She said that the plan shows
that the building would not be enlarged in any way and she would determine that
the existing non-conforming status would remain valid since there was no way to
change the site to become conforming.
The zoning administrator said that she would determine that there would
be storage for the use of commercial enterprise producing merchandise. Therefore, since the specific standard for a
warehouse of being located at least 100 feet from a residential district was
not met and could not be approved, she said that the use the applicant was
proposing would still be allowed under the other special use application. She said that she would determine that
standard for being 100 feet from a residential district would still be
applicable even though the residential district was actually located within the
limits of the City of Hudsonville.
The Planning Commission directed that the request be published for both
special use permit requests and they would both be considered, though not
necessarily both approved.
2. Rezonings-none
3. Plats-none
4. PUD’s-none
5. Ordinance Amendments-none
V.
Other Business
VI. Commissioner Comments
VII. Staff Comments
VIII.
Adjourn
The meeting was
adjourned at 8:15 p.m.