VBT planners approve temporary permit for corn maze

Van Buren Township Planning Commissioner Jeff Jahr said extending temporary uses is turning them into permanent uses and the commission has to come up with best practices to handle this situation. This was at the June 23 zoom meeting of the VBT Planning Commission.
Commissioner Jahr was commenting on the DeBuck sod farm’s request to extend the previous temporary land use for its corn maze, pumpkin patch, and fun farm activities by 15 years. Earlier temporary land uses were granted in 2010 and 2013 and the latest eight-year extension was due to expire on June 26.
The uses at 50240 Martz Rd. include a roughly 12-acre corn maze, a roughly 20-acres pumpkin patch, wagon rides, a pollinator garden, a pedal car track, a mix of play equipment, food services areas, and a combined roughly 8.3-acre parking area, which can be expanded.
After discussion, the commission voted unanimously to extend the temporary land use for three years and to direct the staff to explore adding Agritourism to its ordinances and to bring other information to the commission for study.
Also, a part of that motion was to approve expanding the parking area at the farm from seven to ten acres.
Commission chairperson Carol Thompson said she would like staff to bring helpful information, but she is not convinced an Agritourim ordinance is the way to go.
Dan Power, director of planning and economic development, had introduced the request for a time extension for DeBucks, saying he’d like to research the topic and one or two years would be enough time to grab a more permanent solution.
He explained in a memo that DeBucks presently had two options: seeking extension to temporary land use approvals or seeking a permanent land use under the township’s present zoning ordinance. The second option would invoke the township’s engineering standards for paving and stormwater management. The applicant initially selected to pursue the temporary land use.
Power said staff found such an extension would defeat the intent of the commission’s past approval of the use as being temporary.
“However, staff also recognizes that the mix of activities on the site have been well-received in the area and help to harness a strong local farming economy,” he wrote in a memo.
“One way to recognize and allocate for the long-term benefits of these uses without imposing strict standards on the site or similar sites would be to create specific zoning standards for agritourism uses.”
Power said he wants to look at a long-term solution and discover how the state law allows activities under the Right to Farm law.
Scott DeBuck said the staff calls the middle two Saturday and Sundays in October the “Super Bowl Sundays” because of the large crowd between 1 and 3 p.m. on those days when they can have up to 1,000 cars to be parked. That’s why he had requested allowing double the parking for this extension.
“We absolutely love what we do,” DeBuck said. “We hire extra staff in the busy times and we have bright yellow shirts for the staff.” He said handicapped parking is marked by blue tape and blue paint on the ground.
Commissioner Brian Cullin said he agreed to granting the extension for more than one year. He said the township might get tied up with the details and force the applicant to come back too soon.
DeBuck said it might be tough to do it in one year. He agreed that a permanent solution is needed. He said he is on the board of a national association and he can reach out to other states to see how they are handling the issue.
Vidya Krishnan, planning consultant from McKenna Associates, said she got lost in their corn maze and that was not fun. But, she said, she can write a really good Agritourism ordinance because she has experience with that and could get right on it.
In other business at the one-hour-and-23-minute meeting, the commission:
• Discussed the request and then granted preliminary and final site plan approval for the Van Buren Transfer Station project at 44145 Yost Rd. The commission also accepted parking for four vehicles, modifications to landscaping and the use of a concrete wall and fence along the railroad as a buffer. Rob Wagner of Midwestern Consulting represented the owner of the 1.2-acre property Kevin Rameriz. The solid waste recycling facility has been in operation since the early 1970s and came under new ownership in 2018. The state’s Environment Great Lakes and Energy now requires a cover for the facility in its existing non-conforming use. Wagner brought the project to the planning commission for suggestions at its March 24 meeting and then went to the Board of Zoning Appeals and received a variance for the setbacks at the BZA’s April 13 meeting. “The applicant is making his best effort,” Krishnan said;
• Was introduced to new planning commission member Callie Barr, who replaces former member Jane Franzoi, who resigned. Barr is a graduate of Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan and is an attorney for Jones Day and the University of Michigan;
• Heard Steven Dark ask, via zoom, what the Denton Road/Ecorse Road project is that is shown on VBT’s online project map. Power said there is no project. He said there was a preliminary plan but the township has no design details so he will take it off the map;
• Learned Power is sending commission members information on trainings, included some recorded. He said there is a series on Agritourism; and
• Learned the meeting format will remain remote for a while, based on action by the board of trustees.