Minutes of the
regular meeting of the Georgetown Township Planning Commission, held Wednesday,
October 19, 2005
Meeting called to order by
Chairman Honderd at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Honderd, Poskey, DeGood, South,
Huizinga
Absent: Pearson, Stasiak
#051019-01 - Agenda for October 19, 2005
Moved by DeGood,
seconded by South, to approve the agenda for October 19, 2005, as presented.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#051019-02 - Minutes of the September 21, 2005 regular
meeting, the September 14, 2005 joint
planning meeting and the October 5, 2005
work session meeting
Moved
by DeGood, seconded by South, to approve the minutes of theSeptember 21, 2005 regular meeting,
as submitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
Moved
by South, seconded by DeGood, to approve the minutes of the September
14, 2005 joint planning meeting, as submitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
Moved
by DeGood, seconded by Huizinga, to approve the minutes of the October
5, 2005 work session meeting, as submitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#051019-03 - Site Plan (ST0513) Advance Auto Parts-600
Baldwin St.
John
Fergus, Fergus Companies, represented the applicant and presented the request. He noted that the site plan had been revised
according to comments made at the work session.
The
zoning administrator presented a review and noted that the review distributed
for the work session details compliance with ordinance requirement. A revised site plan has been submitted
addressing comments and concerns that were raised at the work session. The driveway access to Baldwin has been
eliminated (the other two access driveways remain). As a result, three more parking spaces have
been added and the parking calculations have been adjusted to reflect the
change. The trees are scattered with the
burning bushes between them, as requested by the Planning Commission. The plan shows two less tress and the
applicant has indicated in a letter that two of the existing berry trees on the
east side have died and would be removed.
Landscaping calculations have been adjusted to reflect the change and
still meets ordinance requirements.
South
clarified that they would contribute $5,000 toward the decel lane along Baldwin
to the west.
Honderd
stated that the site plan looks good.
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 South, to approve the site plan for Advance Auto Parts
dated “Revision 10/7/05” as submitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#051019-04 – Planned Unit Development-Preliminary Development Plan (PUD0502)
Youth for
Christ and
Georgetown Township are requesting a Planned Unit Development for commercial, park and
municipal (senior center) uses, under Chapter 22, on parcels of land described
as P.P.# 70-14-24-100-015 and 70-14-24-100-018, located at 7096
8th Ave.
Since
many people were present in the audience in regards to the lots along 8th
Ave. that the Township Board had discussed selling, the zoning administrator
clarified that the Planning Commission only had the authority to review the
application for the designated area of the Youth for Christ building in regards
to the Zoning Ordinance and that only the Township Board could authorize the
sale of property.
South
clarified that the sale of lots along 8th Ave. had been referred
back to a committee.
The
chairman explained that the Planning Commission would review the plan according
to the Zoning Ordinance and that comments about the sale of the lots should be
referred to the Township Board.
Mark
Windemuller represented the applicant and presented the request.
The
applicant had asked that the Planning Commission take action on the final
development plan at this time since the final development plan and the
preliminary plan are the same.
The
zoning administrator presented a review and noted that the determination was
made that the PUD meets the ordinance qualifying conditions listed in Sec. 22.2
and a narrative was provided according to Sec. 22.5. At the work session meeting the applicant was
directed to supply the following additional information and the plan has been
revised to show the following:
a.
The setbacks and
dimensions to both the overall property lines as well as to the proposed lot
split are shown.
b.
The existing use
and zoning of the parcel and adjacent parcels has been added in a note on the
plan.
c.
The method of
trash screening has been noted.
d.
A pedestrian path
has been shown on the plan.
The
chairman opened the public hearing.
Dave
Dykwell, 811 Brentwood, said that the applicant was not the land owner and the
Planning Commission should not review the application because property owners
were not notified about the lease.
The
zoning administrator explained that the Township was also an applicant and that
the applicant had the property owner’s permission.
Mark
Windemuller said that they had a 100 year lease with the option to purchase the
property.
Mike
Farr, 886 Rosewood, said that he was not informed that the lease had been sold
and that it should come back to the people.
The
zoning administrator explained that State law requires property notification
for zoning actions such as rezonings and special use permits, but she was not
aware of any notification requirements for leases and was not involved in it.
The
chairman said that property owners within 300 feet are notified for zoning
applications, but he did not know anything about the law for notifying people
about leases.
Mark
Windemuller said that when the lease was renewed, UCAB requested to get out of
the lease and asked if Youth for Christ would take over the building. He said that UCAB took over the 99 year lease
and the Township then changed the fee from $1.00 per year to $6,000.00 per
year. He said that part of the deal was
that the Township agreed to give Youth for Christ the option to purchase the
property.
Bernard
Fries, 865 Rosewood, said that the Planning Commission should not act on the
application since there were questions regarding the lease and the sale of the
property.
The
chairman asked South to bring these concerns to the Board because the Board had
the authority to deal with these issues.
The
chairman closed the public hearing.
The
zoning administrator said that the Planning Commission had the authority to
review the application for compliance with the Zoning Ordinance and that the
PUD application was before them now for consideration. The other issues relating to the lease and
sale of the property were issues for the Board.
Moved
by DeGood, seconded by Poskey, to recommend to the Township Board approval of
the Preliminary Development Plan for Planned Unit Development (PUD0502) Youth
for Christ and Georgetown Township for commercial, park and municipal (senior
center) uses, under Chapter 22, on parcels of land described as P.P.#
70-14-24-100-015 and 70-14-24-100-018, located at 7096
8th Ave., as shown on the plan dated Sept. 19, 2005, based on
compliance with the standards in Chapter 22.
MOTION
CARRIED.
Moved
by DeGood, seconded by Huizinga, to approve the Final Development Plan
(PUD0502) Youth for Christ and Georgetown Township, 7096
8th Ave, as shown on the plan dated Sept. 19, 2005, contingent
upon Board approval of the Preliminary Development plan, based on compliance
with the standards in Chapter 22.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#051019-05 - Policy and Procedures for Planning
Commission applications
Moved
by Huizinga, seconded by Poskey, to recommend to the Township Board to adopt
the Planning Commission Submittal Procedures Policy and SOPs for Township
Office Procedures for Planning Commission Applications, as follows:
Planning Commission Submittal Procedures
POLICY
In order to expedite
applications that are reviewed by the Planning Commission, the Township has
adopted the following policy regarding application submissions. This process will save valuable assets relating
to time and financial investments both for the applicants and the Township in
regards to meetings and reviews.
Information, Forms, and Fees.
Information, application
forms, submittal material requirements and fee schedules are available in the
Building and Zoning Department at the Township Office or at the Township
website at gtwp.com, Building and Zoning.
Please note that the Township highly encourages
submission of electronic files (in pdf format) along with the other required
submission materials for projection use at meetings. The electronic files can be sent by email to
mmin@gtwp.com.
Deadline for application submission.
The submittal deadline for
applications for the Planning Commission is normally two weeks prior to the Planning Commission Work Session meeting
(this meeting is normally scheduled for the first Wednesday of each
month).
If application materials are
submitted with substantial,
necessary or required information missing, incorrect or not in compliance with
the Zoning Ordinance, the Planning Commission normally would postpone review
and action on the application until such time as the missing or incorrect
material is addressed and submitted to the Township. A Pre-Application Meeting could help to
eliminate such a possibility with a review by the Township zoning administrator
prior to the application submission.
Pre-Application Meeting.
A pre-application meeting
with the zoning administrator and the applicant is required prior to application submission according the requirement
of the Zoning Ordinance. The
pre-application meeting must be
scheduled with Township staff by calling the Building and Zoning Department
at 616-457-2690. This meeting must be scheduled and held at least three
business days prior to the submission deadline for a particular meeting agenda (or
as scheduled by Township staff). Failure
to attend a pre-application meeting could result in the application being
withheld from a Planning Commission agenda.
The cost for a
pre-application meeting is established by the Township Board and can be applied
toward the application fee of the particular application being reviewed if the
particular application is submitted to the Township within two months of the
Pre-Application Meeting. Alternately,
the complete application fee could be submitted at the time of the
pre-application meeting.
The purpose of the
Pre-Application Meeting is for a complete
or nearly complete proposal and/or plan to be reviewed by the zoning
administrator with the applicant present to determine if all the necessary and
required elements are provided on a plan and that all submittal requirements
are fulfilled. The proposed plan would
also be initially reviewed for compliance with Township Zoning Ordinance
requirements. If necessary, the Township
zoning administrator could schedule the attendance of other Township
representatives at the Pre-Application Meeting such at the planner, Fire Chief
or Director of the Department of Public Works.
Attendance at a
Pre-Application Meeting does not guarantee approval for a proposal; rather it
helps to ensure that the application has all of the necessary elements and
submission materials for review by the Planning Commission.
Since the Open Meetings Act
(Public Act No. 267 of 1976, as amended) requires that all deliberations
towards decisions, as well as decisions, are to be made at meetings that are
open to the public rather than private meetings between applicants and members
of a public body (Boards and Commissions), no decisions nor deliberations towards
decisions would be made at any time other than at a public meeting.
Direct contact by applicants
with the Township planning consultant would be at the applicant’s expense.
SOPS
Township Office Procedures for Planning
Commission Applications
The following are office
procedures for applications for site plan approval, special use permits, plats,
PUDs and rezonings.
1.
When a potential
applicant contacts the Township Office, information is supplied regarding
meeting deadlines, meeting dates, submittal materials, pre-application meeting
requirements, fees and forms. This
information can be obtained at the Township website or at the Township Office.
2.
When a petitioner
plans to submit an application, a pre-application meeting is scheduled and held
at least three days prior to the submission deadline with the zoning
administrator and petitioner present.
The complete or nearly complete plan or proposal is reviewed for
completeness of submittal materials and preliminarily for compliance with
Zoning Ordinance requirements and any applicable general ordinances. A fee as established by the Township Board is
charged and can be applied towards an application fee amount if the application
is submitted within a two month period of the date of the pre-application meeting. Alternately, the complete application fee
amount could be paid at this time without the payment of the separate
pre-application meeting fee. The
petitioner should use the information provided at the pre-application meeting
to revise the plan and/or submittal material prior to the formal application
submission. Planned Unit Development
applications have additional requirements listed in Sec. 22.4 of the Zoning
Ordinance that must be met in addition to the above standards for a
pre-application meeting.
3.
At the time a
formal application is submitted (including a signed application, fee, ten
copies of a site plan and any other relevant information), the materials are
reviewed by the zoning administrator for completeness and the application is
placed on the Planning Commission agenda for the next meeting cycle. If substantial or required elements are
missing or incorrect, the zoning administrator would recommend to the Planning
Commission to postpone review and action on the application until such time as the
missing or incorrect elements are addressed.
An application would not be added to the Planning Commission agenda
until the pre-application meeting has been held.
4.
The zoning
administrator conducts a formal review of each application that has been submitted
by the deadline, has been determined to be sufficiently complete and correct,
and for which a pre-application meeting was held. The application materials are reviewed for
compliance with all requirements of the Zoning Ordinance and applicable general
ordinances. The zoning administrator may
contact the planning consultant with questions regarding any application, site
plan or complicated detailed proposal in order to incorporate additional
information into the review. Only those
applications with questions or detailed complicated plans would be forwarded to
the planner for a review. The planner
would present a review to the zoning administrator of those specifically
requested plans and the information would be incorporated into the formal
review provided to the Planning Commission.
5.
The formal review
compiled by the zoning administrator would provide information as to whether
Zoning Ordinance and applicable general ordinance requirements have been
met. For rezoning applications,
capability, consistency and compatibility would be evaluated. In addition, information regarding past
history, current circumstances and any other relevant material would be
incorporated into the review.
6.
The agenda and
the formal review compiled by the zoning administrator (along with submission
materials) would be forwarded to the Planning Commissioners prior to the
meeting (agendas and minutes by email and paper copies of site plan via US
mail). Members who have questions or
would like additional information prior to the meeting could contact the zoning
administrator.
7.
At the Planning
Commission meeting, the zoning administrator would present the formal review
with any additional information that had been requested by Planning Commission
members. If requested, the zoning
administrator would provide recommendations with options for motions, including
possible conditions. However, the intent
is for the Planning Commission to have the responsibility to deliberate the
actions and to take the action they deem appropriate, after being provided with
all pertinent information (specifically if ordinance requirements are met) and
considering the request.
8.
If an applicant
requests withdrawal of an application, the procedure would be the same as for
any application such that if the Planning Commission has the responsibility to
take action, they would act upon the request, but if the Board takes action,
the Planning Commission would make a recommendation to the Board.
And to initiate Zoning Ordinance Amendments to
require a preapplication meeting, as follows:
Site Plans
(A) The site
plan,
completed application form, and application fee shall be submitted to the
Zoning Administrator, by the petitioner or his designated agent, in sufficient
copies and at such time prior to the next regular Planning Commission meeting
as prescribed by the Planning Commission.
The Zoning Administrator shall cause the submittal to be placed on the
agenda of the next regular Planning Commission meeting. The petitioner shall attend a pre-application meeting with the zoning
administrator prior to submission of the application in accordance with the
established Township policy.
Special Use Permits
The
application for a Special Land Use shall be submitted and processed under the
following procedures:
(A) An application shall be submitted through
the Zoning Administrator on a special form for that purpose. Each application shall be accompanied by the
payment of a fee as established by the Township Board and by a complete site plan as specified in
Chapter XIX, in
sufficient copies and at such time prior to the next regular Planning
Commission meeting as prescribed by the Planning Commission. The petitioner
shall attend a pre-application meeting with the zoning administrator prior to
submission of the application in accordance with the established Township
policy. In the event the
allowance of a desired use requires both a rezoning and special land use
approval, each request shall be considered independently, with the rezoning
being addressed first.
Rezoning
The
Township Board is authorized and empowered to cause this
Ordinance to be amended, supplemented or changed. Proposals for amendments may
be initiated by the Township Board, the Planning Commission or by petition of
one or more owners of property in Georgetown Township affected by such proposed
amendment. The procedure for amending this Ordinance shall be as follows:
(A) Each
petition shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator, accompanied by a fee
as established by the Township Board, and then referred to the
Township Clerk to set a hearing date and publish notices. The petitioner shall attend a pre-application meeting with the zoning
administrator prior to submission of the application in accordance with the
established Township policy.
MOTION CARRIED.
#051019-06 – Other Business
There
was discussion regarding the Master Plan for rezonings from I to HS and
regarding the attendance of Planning Commission members at a preapplication
meeting.
#051019-07 – Adjournment
The
chairman adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.