VBT Planners approve rezoning for Alden Dr., send on to township brd.

The Van Buren Township Planning Commission is recommending to the township board the rezoning of 40631 Alden Drive from C-1, General Commercial, to R1-C, Single Family Residential.
The unanimous vote was taken at the commission’s April 12 meeting.
The owners of the house, Martha and Steve Drahos, said their property is zoned commercial and they want to put on an addition to their house because another child is coming.
But, since their property is zoned commercial in the middle of a residential neighborhood, for some reason from the past, the township cannot allow the addition on a nonconforming use. Rezoning it to residential, like their neighbors, would allow them to add on.
They said they paid $600 to ask for rezoning, but it was worth it to them because if they couldn’t add on they would have to move.
Martha Drahos said the lady’s property next door also is zoned commercial and she didn’t know it.
A public hearing on the rezoning was held at the April 12 meeting and then the vote was taken to recommend approval.
Commission chairwoman Carol Thompson said they usually do not vote on a request the same night as the public hearing, but in this case the rezoning had been on the March 8 meeting agenda and that meeting was cancelled because of the big windstorm. The couple had been delayed and construction season was here.
The commission also held a public hearing on adoption of more than 350 pages of a new zoning ordinance, a comprehensive update to the current zoning ordinance.
Planning consultant Patrick Sloan of McKenna Associates gave a brief summary of some of the changes to the ordinance. The planning commission had gone over portions of the updated ordinance in six separate meetings since October.
Once approved, this ordinance will be put online and will have places to click to get related information. There also are more drawings and charts.
No one offered any input at the public hearing. A vote will be taken at an upcoming meeting.