A regular meeting/public hearing of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 22nd day of October, 2007 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
Roll Call: Commission members present were John Knowles, Julie Feuling, 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 6:30 p.m.
Agenda:
Niskanen, seconded by Steidl, made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes:
Feuling, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 24, 2007 meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Niskanen, seconded by Steidl, to recess the meeting at 6:35 p.m. to open up the public hearing on the Jack’s Family Recycling Conditional Use Permit, which would allow industrial use of a building in the urban residential district, and to reconvene at the end of the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting recessed at 6:35 p.m.
Public Hearing:
Zoning Administrator Oleson addressed the commission, stating that there may be cause to table the conditional use permit. He and Township Attorney Michelle Clark have been researching the issue of conditional use versus variance with regard to this property. Some questions raised were: 1) does the fact that this property was grandfathered in mean they can put up a building , and 2) what impacts are there since the first building went up via an over-the-counter land use permit through the County? Part of the discussion on re-zoning centered upon what constituted “spot zoning”.
Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that the commission, in essence, had two options, which were to have the applicant apply for either a variance or for re-zoning. He stated that the applicant has indicated that she intends to apply for re-zoning before the November 5, 2007 deadline.
Since no one from the public was present for public comment, Chairman Knowles called for a motion. Niskanen, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to table the conditional use permit application to allow the applicant time to apply for re-zoning and to have our zoning administrator research environmental impacts. Roll: Hammerschmidt – yes, Feuling – yes, Knowles – yes, Steidl – yes, Niskanen – yes. Motion carried unanimously.
Feuling, seconded by Steidl, made a motion to reconvene the meeting. Meeting reconvened at 7:30 p.m.
Zoning Administrator’s Report:
The only question raised was with regard to correspondence sent to the Affeldts concerning contiguous lots.
Old Business:
It was determined that the tabled business; i.e. Jack’s Recycling, was sufficiently covered during the course of the public hearing.
New Business:
Zoning Administrator Oleson apprised the commission of the impending expiration of the interim ordinances. The commission will review the ordinance changes at their November meeting.
Niskanen requested an update on the Zunker issue. Oleson commented that Township Attorney Clark and Clerk Raisanen will be meeting with Mr. Zunker in the near future. During the course of discussion, the possibility of adding height to the screened fence aspect of the ordinance was raised.
Adjournment:
Being no further business, Feuling, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted….
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this _______day of ________, 2007
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John B. Knowles, Chairman