A public hearing has been set for 6:35 p.m., Thursday, March 8, before the Sumpter Township Planning Commission to hear input from the community on a requested rezoning to make way for a funeral home.
The request, by Chris and Sandy Janowiak, is to rezone the property at 19865 Sumpter Road from Residential-2 to Commercial-2.
The building is 4,000 square feet on less than two acres of land.
This building was last used as site of the Salem Romanian Apostolic Church. It is next to commercial zoning and is master planned for commercial use, so planning consultant Laura Kreps said the rezoning shouldn’t present a problem.
The Janowiaks currently own and operate a funeral home in Ypsilanti and this would be their second location. They have been in the business for 35 years.
At the regular Sumpter Township Planning Commission on Feb. 9, the setting of the public hearing was the first order of business.
The commission then continued discussion of proposed ordinance changes as a part of a complete update of the document with the help of planning consultant Kreps of Carlisle Wortman.
At the previous meeting on Jan. 12, the commissioners discussed general provisions, such as distance between driveways and traffic studies.
“When the economy picks up, we’ll be ready for development,” Kreps said.
Commission Chairman Jane Stalmack said she compared the Sumpter draft to Van Buren Township’s zoning ordinances and found them very similar.
They discussed accessory structures — attached and detached — and setbacks for lots on the road next to easements for driveways for rear parcels. Such situations have caused a lot of sessions for the Board of Zoning Appeals in the past.
The present zoning ordinances, and the updated zoning ordinances, are to be administered by the township “zoning administrator” and no one knew who that might be.
It is expected the administrator will be someone who will be appointed by the township supervisor for the task, which has been done by the building department and police department in the past.
Currently, Deputy Clerk Esther Hurst gives out preliminary applications to people and then refers projects to the planning consultant.
There was a new section on an additional single family home on a 10-acre minimum parcel to house farm workers.
“This is one of those Right to Farm things,” Kreps said. “But, we can try to have standards … at least for discussion purposes.”
The commission also discussed Home Occupations (done inside the home) and a new category, Home Business in a detached accessory building.
At the Feb. 9 meeting, the commissioners discussed open space preservation, mixed uses, new section on vehicle storage (allowing one commercial tractor and trailer over one ton with special land use approval for a property owner with more than an acre), new section for animal rescues/shelters, new section for artisan/farmers’/flea markets, new section for bed and breakfasts, and others.
When discussing tractor/trailer parking, Kreps said, “If you think of something less restrictive for the township, it’s OK with me. We had to start somewhere … We can think about that a little more.”
The March 8 meeting will be devoted to the public hearing on the proposed rezoning and so the next session to discuss proposed ordinance changes will be April 12. At that meeting the commission will begin with the Extracting and Filling ordinance.
When the whole document is updated and approved by the planning commission, it will be sent on to the township board for final action.