A regular meeting of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 24th day of August, 2009 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
Roll Call: Commission members present were John Knowles, Russ Niskanen, Larry Steidl and Lyle Hammerschmidt. Also present was Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk, and Ben Oleson, Township Zoning Administrator. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Knowles at 6:00 p.m.
Agenda: Steidl, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to approve the agenda as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Hammerschmidt, seconded by Steidl, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 7/27/09 meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: The commission requested Zoning Administrator Oleson check on a parcel which appears to have junk vehicles/debris.
New Business: Permanent Docks Interim Ordinance. Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that the Interim Ordinance for Permanent Docks will be expiring soon. The commission requested Oleson to research two issues: 1) regulating the length and width of docks, citing environmental and safety concerns; and 2) broadening the ordinance to include all docks.
Interim Use Permits. Oleson said that the zoning subcommittee has been discussing the possibility of adopting “Interim Uses” as an alternative to just having permitted and conditional uses. He said an interim use is defined as “a temporary use of property until a particular date, until the occurrence of a particular event, or until zoning regulations no longer permit it.”
Oleson asked the commission for their views on changing all conditional use permits to interim use permits. The consensus was that both permit types should be utilized.
Enforcement Policy for Conditional Use Permits/Variances: Zoning Administrator Oleson presented a proposal of a “three strikes” approach to permit violations.
Training Session: Zoning Administrator Oleson conducted a training session entitled, “Understanding Legal Requirements for Granting/Denying Requests”.
Old Business: None
Adjournment: Being no further business Hammerschmidt, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted…
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ___________, 2009
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John B. Knowles, Chairman