MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION,

WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2000, 7:00 P.M.,

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN

 

1.   Roll Call.

PRESENT:    Commission members – Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Rapanos, Senesac, Slicker, Wieland

ABSENT:    Lind (excused)

OTHERS PRESENT:   Mark Ostgarden, City Planner, Acting Secretary; Cheri Standfest, Administrative Assistant; and 12 others

2.   Approval of the minutes of the meeting of September 12, 2000.

It was moved by Baker, seconded by Slicker, to approve the minutes of the meeting of September 12, 2000.  Motion carried.

 

3.      Public hearings:

Steve Rapanos requested the Planning Commission to excuse him from consideration of Site Plan #193 due to family ties to the project.  A motion was made by Senesac and seconded by Kozaciewicz to abstain from deliberations on Site Plan #193.

All in support.

4.  Public Comments.

There were no public comments.

 

5.  Old Business.

     The Commission discussed the request of Tom McCann to rezone land on M-20 and Vance Road.  The City Planner reviewed the staff report that was included in the packet.  The Commission heard additional comments from the petitioner and from one neighborhood resident.  Mr. McCann questioned the staff report in which it states there have no changed conditions.  He argued that traffic has increased considerably.  He also distributed a staff report from 1990, in which the Planning Director stated that BB-2 zoning is appropriate.  Alan Preston, who lives on Cedar Street, reminded the Commission that the areas zoned BB-2 have been that way for some time.  He urged the Commission to deny the request.

The Commission unanimously agreed that rezoning the Vance Road frontage was not consistent with the Land Use Plan.  There were no changes to warrant the rezoning request.   The Commission had discussed this area extensively in the 1997 Master Plan review and agreed that Office Service was the appropriate land use designation for the Vance Road frontage.  The neighborhood was well kept and the change was inappropriate for the area. 

There was a difference in opinion on the land fronting onto M-20 and whether it should be rezoned from Business A to Business B-2.  Several Commissioners were not convinced that the change in zoning violated the Land Use Plan and, therefore, it should be approved.  There was acknowledgement that the any increase in traffic was due to the casino.

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September 26, 2000

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The Commission determined the request should be split into two actions.  A motion was made by Ray Senesac and seconded by Jim Geisler to split the petition into two parts.

Motion unanimously approved.

A motion was made by Dan Kozakiewicz and seconded by Jim Geisler to deny the request to rezone the Office-Service 2 land to Business A.

Vote on the motion:

YEAS:  Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Rapanos, Senesac, Slicker, Wieland

NAYS:  None

ABSENT:  Lind

A motion was made by Ray Senesac and seconded by Dan Kozakiewicz to deny the request to rezone the Business A land to Business B-2.

Vote on the motion:

YEAS:  Baker, Garner, Senesac, Wieland

NAYS:  Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Rapanos, Slicker

ABSENT:  Lind 

The City Planner commented on whether another vote would be needed.  It was suggested by Ray Senesac that another vote to approve would result in the same tie vote.  It was recom-mended that the vote be left as taken, and if another vote is needed, that will occur at the Commission’s next meeting.  The City Planner wil contact the City Attorney for guidance.

6.  New Business.

a.   A motion was made by Senesac and seconded by Kozakiewicz to consider Site Plan #193.

All in support, with Rapanos abstaining.

The Commission agreed the site plan was very straightforward and there were no objections to the plan.

A motion was made by Kozakiewicz and seconded by Senesac to approve site plan #193. 

Vote on the motion:

YEAS:  Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Rapanos, Senesac, Slicker, Wieland

NAYS:  None

ABSENT:  Lind

ABSTENTION:  Rapanos

b.   A motion was made by Senesac and seconded by Slicker to adopt the following resolution for 2001 meeting dates and times:

RESOLVED, that regular meetings of the Midland City Planning Commission for the calendar year 2001 will be held in the Council Chambers at the Midland City Hall, 333 West Ellsworth Street, Midland, Michigan, at 7:00 p.m. on the following dates:

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                              January         9 and 23              July            10 and 24

                              February      13 and 27           August           14 and 28

                              March          13 and 27            September   11 and 25

                              April             10 and 24           October                      9 and 23

                              May                8 and 22           November     13 and 27

                              June            12 and 26           December     11      

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary be and is hereby directed to cause a public notice of the foregoing regular dates and times for meetings and the place at which meetings are to be held, by publishing a notice once in the Midland Daily News, a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Midland; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that public notice of each special meeting and of each rescheduled regular or special meeting listing the date, time, and place of each meeting shall be given by prominently posting a copy of the notice at the Midland City Hall at least eighteen (18) hours prior to the time of such special or rescheduled meeting.

Vote on the motion:

YEAS:   Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Rapanos, Senesac, Slicker, Wieland

NAYS:   None

ABSENT:  Lind

c.   The City Planner reviewed several upcoming conferences with the Commission.   The Fall Michigan Society of Planning Conference is scheduled for October 18-21st.  Midland County Planning is hosting an evening conference on October 4th.  A conservation development workshop is planned for October 10th in Saginaw.  Commissioners interested in attending should contact the Planning Department.  

d.  Joe Slicker will not be at the October 10th meeting.

It was moved by Geisler seconded by Slicker, to adjourn.  Motion carried, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

SUMMARY OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION

The purpose of the Planning Commission work session was to discuss special use permits. Because there are several new members on the Planning Commission and because it was felt not all members really understand what a special use permit is, the Planning staff provided an overview of several documents to make sure the Commission had a basic understanding of special uses permits.  The following items were reviewed:

·          State enabling legislation for special land uses.

·          Article XXVII of our Zoning Ordinance which describes the procedure for reviewing special land uses.  We specifically highlighted the nondiscetionary and discretionary standards in the article.

·          Sections of the zoning ordinance in which special use permits are currently allowed.

·          Special use permits that have been approved in Midland.

·          Special use permits listed in ordinances from other communities.

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Following the review of the above items and discussion on the special use permit process, the Commission concluded it was not ready to move ahead with or even consider adding any special land uses to the Zoning Ordinance at this time.   More time is needed to discuss and consider how best to move ahead.  The Commission thought additional work sessions are needed to continue discussions and asked staff to provide additional information for future meetings.

 

In addition, it concluded that for any zoning petitions that are pending decision by the City Council, the decision to rezone should stand on the merits of whether it is appropriate to rezone the property. 

 

The Commission was reminded that there are three methods for a zoning text amendment  - Planning Commission initiated, City Council initiated and public initiated.  It was explained that the public can submit a zoning text amendment request for a special land use.  The process would then require public hearings and review and approval by the City Council and Planning Commission.  Once in the Zoning Ordinance then an application for the new special use can be made.  It was emphasized to the Commission that even though it may not be interested in amending the Zoning Ordinance, it may still have to deal with the process if it is initiated by the public.

 

 

Respectfully,

 

 

 

Mark Ostgarden

Acting Secretary

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