SUTTONS BAY TOWNSHIP

PLANNING COMMISSION

Wednesday, April 6, 2006  6:30 p.m.

Suttons Bay Township Office

 

 

CALL TO ORDER:  Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

ROLL CALL:  Chair Jerry Bergman; Commissioners: Tom Nixon, Doug Periard, Cristal Guinan (arrived @ 6:35 p.m.), Ron Send, Jon Walter (left @ 7:35 p.m.), Shirley Wall, Don Gregory, and Jeff Corbin.

 

Staff Present:  Rochelle Rollenhagen and Steve Patmore.

Guests Present:  Chris Branson, Kevin Endres, Vincent Bertram, Ray & Jan Pezzi, David Bahle, Sabrina Smith, and Janet Stowe.  (There were six other guests present.)

 

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES of the March 1, 2006 meeting minutes.

Move to approve minutes as presented.  Move by Bergman support by Walter.  Ayes-9, Nays-0, Absent-0, Abstaining-0.

 

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Move to accept the agenda as presented.  Move by Nixon support by Walter.  Ayes-9, Nays-0, Absent-0, Abstaining-0.

 

 

PUBLIC HEARING

1.          Zoning Ordinance Amendment:  Article X Open Space Residential Land Development.

 

Staff Report

Rochelle Rollenhagen stated that the proposed amendment would allow for land within the Residential Zoning District to utilize the provisions of Article X, Open Space Residential Land Development, commonly referred to as the Cluster Ordinance.  Currently, Article X only applies to land within the Agricultural Zoning District.  She stated that the omission of the Residential Zoning District in Article X may have been an oversight when the amendment was written.  She discussed where the Residential Zoning District language would be applied throughout the proposed amendment.  In addition, the Zoning Ordinance Committee has proposed a change to calculating the number of units in an Open Space development from using total gross acreage to using total buildable acreage. The definition of Buildable Acreage is included and this concept would be a significant change in the Ordinance that the Planning Commission will want to look at.

 

 

Public Comment

Guest David Bahle stated his concerns for this ordinance and that he wasn’t aware of any problem until today. The Thorntree Commons project was conceptually approved by the Planning Commission last Fall, and included a clustered project in the Residential District.

 

Patmore explained that the Clustering Ordinance was established a few years ago and took a certain amount of time to develop.  The omission of Residentially Zoned Land may have been an oversight, and was partially due to the fact that there are few Residentially Zoned parcels with enough land for a clustered housing project.

 

Guest Bob Send of 600 W. Broadway St. Suttons Bay discussed his concerns for the change in clustering.

 

Commissioner’s Comments

The Commission discussed the Buildable Acreage concept with regards to wetlands, steep slopes and water bodies.  It was agreed that this change would require additional thought and should be removed from the proposed amendment at this time.

 

Public Hearing closed at 6:51 p.m.

 

Move to support the changes included in Article X Amendment with the exception of any reference to the term “Buildable Acreage” and the definition there of.  Move by Nixon support by Gregory.  Ayes-9, Nays-0, Absent-0, Abstaining-0.

 

 

Consensus to hold the Reports till the end of the meeting.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS

  1. Discussion/Decision on Petition to Rezone 30 Acres at 9496 E. Stone House Rd. from Agricultural to Residential, submitted by Vincent Bertram.

 

Engineer, Kevin Endres of Gosling-Czubak, reiterated the petition to rezone from last month’s meeting.  The parcel is 30 acres directly west of residentially zoned property.  Bertram wants to divide the parcel into site condominiums.  The applicant is asking for a conditional rezone to the Residential Zoning District that would allow the building of 20 units as opposed to the allowed 30; should the land be rezoned to residential.  The applicant submitted a map with a proposed road.

 

Steve Patmore discussed the fact that the parcel is a one-30 acre lot and not three-10 acre lots.  A private road can be expanded as long as it is brought up to the current standards set forth in the Zoning Ordinance.  He stated there is a Deed Restriction to as how many units can be place on this parcel, but Patmore stated it is not the Townships responsibility to enforce these restrictions.

 

Corbin researched and found that changing from agricultural to residential would allow the applicant to double the number of units for the parcel.  He calculated that there would be room (due to the topography) for only 10 or 11 units and not 15 which would be allowed under agricultural zoning verses the asking 20 units which could be allowed under the residential zoning.  He recommended adding a one-way round about road and stated there would be a 33% slope for the road and driveways.

 

The Commission discussed adding conditions on the Rezone with justification, restricting the percentage of slopes, the topography of the parcel, and lack of standards for driveways.  The Commission discussed this rezoning objectively at great length.

 

Walter left at 7:35 p.m.  He stated to add slope restrictions of 12%.

 

Public Comment

Guest Sabrina Smith stated she is a homeowner on Stone House Rd.  She discussed her concerns for the need of rezoning.  She stated that when her and her husband had purchased their lot, they were told that there were three 10 acre lots.

 

Guests Ray and Jan Pezzi, owner of property on Stone House Rd, stated there is a deed restriction on this land that states the property can only be divided into six lots.

 

Guest Janet Stowe stated she bought adjacent property with the restrictions of not being able to split her land.

 

Patmore stated if the deed restrictions are true, it may supersede and is more legally binding but that the township is not responsible for this act.

 

David Bahle stated that there is already work being done to the property.

 

Motion to not recommend changing the said parcel from agricultural to residential.  Move by Nixon support by Wall.

 

Reason for this decision is that it does not appear that the site is conducive to greater than agricultural density.

 

Roll call vote:  Corbin-Aye, Gregory-Aye, Wall-Aye, Walter-Absent, Send-Aye, Guinan-Aye, Periard-Aye, Nixon-Aye, Bergman-Aye.

 

 

  1. Introduction to The Thorntree Commons Cluster Site Condominium submitted by David Bahle

Patmore stated that the Residential Zoning for Clustering Developments can concurrently run with this Site Plan process.  He discussed the road following the terrain, open space meets the current ordinance, the lot sizes are less that an acre and meet the standards as does the road grade, and he suggested adding buffering on the north end property line.  A description of the commons area and what is allowed there will be needed.

 

Engineer Representative Kevin Endres, for David Bahle, discussed the preliminary site plan.  He stated the open space was not topographed, unit #13 and #14 will become one lot, all sites have separate well and septic, some lots will share drives, and there will be a Homeowners Association.

 

The Commission discussed adding the buffering, a southern cul-de-sac, and pedestrian movement to the open space.  A public hearing will be scheduled for May.

 

Bahle discussed his concerns with the residential/clustering problem.  He also stated he has an accessible website with information on the project.  www.Thorntreecommons.com  He mentioned having the help of University of Michigan students to evaluate and write a paper on this project.

 

Bergman mentioned Leelanau Conservancy getting in touch with Bahle to save some of the wild flowers.

 

 

  1. Discussion on Attorney Comments for Office Transition District

The Commission discussed this revision dated April 4, 2006 including:

  • Page 1:  removing the work permanent from section 1 & 2.
  • Page 2:  revising Section 6A.2 number 3; removing the intro to section 6A.3 and an addition to #1 and moving #5 to 6A.5
  • Page 3:  replacing uses prohibited with permitted accessory uses section 6A.4 and adding 1 & 4 and moving 2, 3, 5 (combining 5 &6 w/daycare) to special uses.

 

Motion to extend the meeting 10 minutes.  Move by Periard support by Corbin.  Ayes-8, Nays-0, Absent-1, Abstaining-0.

 

  • Page 4:  removing #7 under 6A.4; Adding special uses as they go along to 6A.5
  • Page 5:  replacing #7 under 6A.6 staff suggestion  and eliminating letters d & e (repetitive); removing the last sentence under #8 6A.6
  • Page 6:  under 6A.6 #8 letter b replacing Masonite with cementous; replace 6A.6 #9 a & b with combination rewrite as one paragraph; 10, 11, 12 upper and lower case instead of all caps; remove #13.
  • Page 7:  remove #14, #15; and add section 6A.7 and 6A.8 to add for documentation.

 

Motion to support the revisions presented at this meeting for the Office Transition District document dated April 4, 2006; including consideration to rezone the Peck Rd. area.  Move by Nixon support by Wall.  Ayes-8, Nays-0, Absent-1, Abstaining-0

 

A public hearing will be held on this issue next month

 

(MOVE TO FIRE HALL NEXT MONTH)

 

 

REPORTS

Zoning Administrator Report

As submitted

 

Planner Report

None

 

Zoning Ordinance Committee Report

None

 

Township Board Representative Report

None

 

Chairman’s Perspective

None

 

 

NEW BUSINESS

None

 

 

COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS

None

 

 

MOVE MEETING TO FIRE HALL NEXT MONTH

 

 

ADJOURNMENT was at 8:50 p.m.

 

 

Minutes submitted by:  Shelly Routzahn