Minutes of the
regular meeting of the Georgetown Township Planning Commission, held Wednesday,
February 15, 2006
Meeting called to order by
Chairman Honderd at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Honderd, Poskey, DeGood, South,
Pearson, Stasiak
Absent: Huizinga
#060215-01 - Agenda for February 15, 2006
Moved by
South, seconded by DeGood, to approve the agenda for February 15, 2006, as
presented.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#060215-02 - Minutes of the January 18, 2006 regular meeting and the February 1, 2006 work
session meeting
Moved
by South, seconded by DeGood, to approve the minutes of the January 18, 2006 regular
meeting, as submitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
Moved
by DeGood, seconded by South, to approve the minutes of the February 1, 2006 work session
meeting, as submitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#060215-03 - Unfinished Business (SUP0513) Orion Construction, 7559
36th Ave.
The
Planning Commission recommended denial of the special use permit request for a
restaurant and the Board denied it on January 9, 2006. The Planning Commission tabled the site plan
for revisions relating to the design and location of the building on the site,
and for references to the restaurant. No
new information is available at this time.
The
item was left tabled.
#060215-04 – Unfinished Business- Planned Unit
Development (PUD0601) Riverview Trails
Development
Group (Tara
Westhouse), 3133 Beechcrest Dr., is requesting a Planned Unit Development for condominium
housing (housing for the elderly) and office commercial related services for
seniors (elderly) under Chapter 22, on parcels of described as and located at:
P.P. # 70-14-13-100-026, 7784 Cottonwood, P.P. # 70-14-13-100-032, 7804
Cottonwood, P.P. # 70-14-13-100-033, 7802 Cottonwood, P.P. # 70-14-13-100-043,
7746 Cottonwood, Georgetown Township, Ottawa County, Michigan. view1,
view2,
view3
(no new information)
The
applicant had submitted a letter asking for more time to research options. No action was taken.
#060215-05 - Site Plans-(ST0601)
Cottonwood Veterinary Center, 7666 Cottonwood (addition)
Joe
Grochowalski, Omega Design Services Inc., represented the applicant and
presented the request.
The
zoning administrator presented a review.
On February 23, 1998, the Township Board approved a special use permit
for a veterinary hospital, under Sec. 15.3(F), for 7666 Cottonwood with the
condition that this does not include a kennel as defined by the ordinance. On February 18, 1998, the Planning Commission
approved a site plan because all the standards of the ordinance were met. The use of the site has been a veterinary
clinic since that time. Currently, the
applicant is requesting a 1,387 square foot addition to the existing 2,855
square foot building in a CS district.
She
noted that the revised plan meets all applicable standards of the
ordinance. The issues raised at the work
session have all been addressed, including the following:
·
The dog run has
been eliminated and a picnic area has been shown in its place. The fenced material is noted as a 6’ high
wood stockade fence. It was noted that
if the fenced area is used as a dog run and the Township receives complaints,
the issue would be addressed with enforcement measures.
·
Note number 11 in
the General Notes was revised with the correct parking dimension.
·
The width of the
lot at the right-of-way line was provided and landscaping meets the ordinance
requirements. Also, the legend has been
revised to have 1/3 of the trees in the streetscape evergreens and the
remainder deciduous canopy or ornamental trees.
·
Floodplain
information has been provided.
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 Pearson, seconded by Stasiak, to approve the site plan dated 2-6-2006 as
submitted, because the plan meets all applicable standards of the ordinance.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#060215-06 - Other Business-Revised Preliminary Plat
of Georgetown
Shores No. 6 , view2
Doug
Stalsonburg, Exxel Engineering, represented the applicant and presented the
request.
The
zoning administrator presented a review.
The Board granted preliminary plat approval of Georgetown Shores No. 6
on August 25, 2005 and final preliminary plat approval on October 10,
2005. The approved plans called for a
horseshoe shaped street to begin and connect to 18th Ave. at Edson
and circle around to connect back to Edson to the west. After giving initial approval for the bridge
at the south of the circular street (so that a channel could provide a way for
the boats to access the larger part of the lake), the Road Commission decided
to disapprove the bridge. The developer
still wanted a way for those lots on the interior to access the larger
lake. Consequently, the plat has been
redesigned as two peninsulas rather than one connected circle road to allow
these formerly interior lots boat access to the bigger lake. Since the plat has not received final plat
approval and is still operating within the original approval process, a new
application is not necessary. The
revised plan comes before the Planning Commission for a recommendation for
revised preliminary plat approval.
The
Drain Commissioner has approved the new layout and Road Commission approval was
also received. Building envelopes are
shown on all lots and appear to meet ordinance requirements. Other than the renumbering and redesign (most
lots appear to be affected) without the connection at the south, the plan looks
the same as the plan that was previously approved. The number of lots is also the same.
The
zoning administrator stated that the Board recently adopted a new general
ordinance that requires that an association be responsible to maintain parkways
on double frontage lots adjacent to the street where no access is permitted.
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 Poskey, seconded by Pearson, to recommend to the Board to grant revised
tentative preliminary plat approval of Georgetown Shores No. 6 as shown on the
plan dated revised 2/13/06, with the
condition that an association be responsible for the maintenance of parkways on
double frontage lots adjacent to the street where no access is permitted.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#060215-07-Other Business-Front Yard Setback in HS
District
When
an applicant contacted the office about front yard setbacks for the HS
districts, it came to light that the HS district is affected by footnote (k) in
Chapter 24 and not (l). This means that
the ordinance states that there should be a front yard setback of 30 feet in
the HS district and, according to footnote (k), the required off-street loading
areas shall not be provided in the front yard.
There is no mention of footnote (l) which states that except for
necessary drives and walks, the required front yard shall be landscaped and
shall not be used for parking, loading or accessory structures.
To
literally read the ordinance in this regard, it would be interpreted to mean
that parking and drive lanes could be located within that 30 foot front yard
setback. Accessory structures still
could not be located in the front yard because it is noted in Chapter 3. This would mean that on Chicago Dr., a building
could be setback 30 feet from the property line and the whole 30 foot front
yard setback could be parking. This
would technically leave no room for a streetscape.
The
zoning administrator asked if this was an oversight or did the Planning
Commission intend for the ordinance to read this way. The consensus of the Planning Commission was
that it was an oversight because it had been the intention of the PC that the
30 foot front yard setback should be landscaped. The Board had initiated an ordinance amendment
to add text to footnote (k) to require that the front yard setback of 30 feet
is landscaped and not used for parking or drives, consistent with all other
commercial districts and the Industrial district.
#060215-08 – Other Business-Initiate Rezoning
It
was noted that the Township Board approved a motion to create a committee to
research ways to accept bids to privatize the ice arena. It was a permitted use in the Agriculture
district as a municipal building but would need to be located in a CS district
if privately owned and CS is consistent with the Future Land Use designation
for the area.
Moved
by Stasiak, seconded by Pearson, to initiate the rezoning of the northeast
corner of 48th Ave. and Bauer Rd. from AG to CS.
The zoning
administrator noted that the address of the ice arena was 8500 48th
Ave.
MOTION
CARRIED.
#060215-09 – Other Business
It
was noted that the first April Planning Commission meeting had been changed
from April 5 to April 12 because many of the Commissioners would be absent that
first week due to spring break. It was
also noted that the Township had hired a new planning consultant.
#060215-10 – Adjournment
The
chairman adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m.