Sumpter Twp. Planners recommend zoning changes on MJ grows

The Sumpter Township Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend to the township board zoning amendments having to do with placement of marijuana grows. This was at its Feb. 10 meeting, the first in-person commission meeting held in about a year and a half.
The Feb. 10 meeting was just 20 minutes long, but discussions on the amendments had been held at two previous meetings and a public hearing with no public comment was held Dec. 9.
Township Attorney Rob Young spoke at length at the Dec. 9 meeting, explaining the background of the amendments that provide that CareGivers and those wishing to grow commercially may do so in Industrial zoned districts in the township.
Young said a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision said that communities can legitimately regulate locations of CareGiver operations through zoning ordinances.
The township board directed the planning commission to review the issue and make appropriate recommendations to the board to limit areas where these types of operations could locate. This would govern only new facilities, not those currently under operation.
CareGivers still may grow medical marijuana at their homes.
At the Dec. 9 meeting, Trustee Matthew Oddy, who sits on the planning commission and chaired that meeting in absence of chairperson Jane Stalmack, asked Young to fine-tune three of the provisions in the proposed amendments. The board voted unanimously to have Young make the changes and bring them back for consideration at an upcoming meeting.
After the Feb. 8 vote the recommendation to approve the amendments was sent to the board and was expected to be placed on the Feb. 22 board agenda for consideration.
In other business at the Feb. 10 meeting, the commission:
• Heard Oddy say the planning commission probably will be heavily involved in the proposed bike/pedestrian path for the township. He said the board passed a resolution asking Wayne County to explore the $6.5 million project. He said the township can pull out at any time. Oddy said there probably will be a public hearing and ways to comment on the proposal. He said it is 13.5 miles of trails proposed, one starting in the City of Belleville and heading south on Sumpter Road to Arkona, where it would travel east into Crosswinds Marsh. The other trail would start at the Lower Huron Metropark and run along Bemis Road to Rawsonville Road. He said these trails would connect to the Iron Belle Trail in the Metropark and City of Belleville. He said it has to be 10’ wide with 2’ clearances on both sides;
• Heard Stalmack say she received a copy of the Sumpter Road Corridor Plan from Van Buren Township and will send copies to all the commissioners. Van Buren Township has started its 42-day comment period on the zoning ordinance amendment for property along Sumpter Road; and
• Heard Commissioner Mary Sherwood ask if the upgrades and new homes in the trailer parks will involve the planning commission. John Honey said a lot of work is being done in Holiday Woods and Holiday West, along with replacement of units in Rawsonville Woods. Sherwood said she believes there will be 2,000 to 3,000 more residents in the township. Oddy said he would like to see pressurized sewers to service the township, but that would take another bond.