VBT BZA OKs BYC 85.3′ dock lengths on 4-3 vote

After about another hour of discussion on the issue, at its May 9 meeting the Van Buren Township Board of Zoning Appeals approved an exception for the Belleville Yacht Club, allowing it to have two 85.3’ docks into Belleville Lake.
The Belleville Lake Shoreline ordinance limits the length to 40’.
The BZA vote was 4-3, with John Haase, Amos Grissett, Aaron Sellers, and BZA chairman John Herman voting yes. Voting no were township board liaison Trustee Kevin Martin, Planning Commission Representative Jeff Jahr, and BZA alternate member Charles Larocque.
Grissett said he changed his vote from no at the last meeting to yes at this meeting because, “I was stuck on the word ‘variance,’ but it was ‘special exception’” being sought. “Now I understand how it will benefit the community… I kept thinking it was a variance… I changed my vote.”
Each board member was asked to address the five criteria necessary for the exception to be approved. All the written and verbal comments on the issue from the public were provided to the BZA members.
The BYC’s original request in December was for one dock 120’ long, but that was eventually reduced to the two, 85.3’ dock request that was approved.
The request came to the BZA on Jan. 10, the Planning Commission on Jan. 11 and Feb. 8, and the BZA on March 14, when there were just six members of the BZA present and members told what their votes would be and it was to be a tie. They decided not to vote until there were seven present.
The BZA presently has one vacancy on the board and one vacancy as alternate member. Bylaws call for seven members on the board.
Dan Power, director of planning and economic development, said the 85 feet was the existing condition in 2020 before the new construction and trip to court. It was handled by the court who told the BYC to work with the township and state officials.
BYC representative Scott Jones said there were no BYC members with him that evening, but they are very supportive of the request.
At previous meetings, a large number of BYC members accompanied Jones and filled the meeting room. When asked, Jones said there now are 300 members of BYC.
Jones said they had two and a half years with the 85’ configuration without a problem. When they started to build farther out was when the township put the stop work order on the project.
When the BYC bought the former Moose Lodge, it had the 85’ dock, but the new shoreline ordinance passed and made that non-conforming.
BZA chairman Herman said after approval of the exception for the BYC, the project would still have to go to the planning commission for site plan review and the township board and the state EGLE (Energy, Great Lakes, Environment). He said the approval is not precedent-setting and each case is handled on its own merits.
Sellers said there had been zero problem with the 85’ length over the past two-and-a-half years. He said he is a boater and surfs in that area often and there are no navigation issues.
Jahr said 40’ is the law and the purpose of the law is to limit the size. He said this exception being considered is contrary to the purpose of the ordinance. He said in his opinion all five issues to discuss were not met.
He said maybe in the future the 40’ limit should be reconsidered and maybe 60’ is more reasonable.
“I’m being asked to weigh in on the letter of the ordinance,” he said.
“This will come to the planning commission at some point and we will build a nice dock, but the ordinance is not met,” Jahr said.
Haase said he sees the need for a special exception and his vote continues to be a yes. The McKenna planning consultant’s report said this does not set a precedent, he noted.
Trustee Martin said he was among the 17 members working on the lakeside ordinance. He said ordinances are expected to be followed and that’s why the township has ordinances. He would not approve this exception, he said.
He said one of the five issues to consider was if the present condition prevents reasonable use of the property. He said it doesn’t because they have been using it for years. He said the other four items to consider are moot, since it doesn’t meet all five conditions, as required. He said he would vote no.
Larocque said he’s a no vote and he agrees the 40’ length was set up to benefit the whole community. He said he doesn’t see any special circumstances and he doesn’t find all five conditions met.
Haase’s motion to grant the exception to the 40’ ordinance, seconded by Sellers, was approved, 4-3.