VBT Planners send Sumpter Rd. Corridor Plan on to twp. board

After almost two hours of discussion at its Feb. 9 meeting, the Van Buren Township Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend to the township board the Sumpter Road Corridor Plan.
The 60-page plan was sent on to the township board for the next step in the plan’s approval – sending copies to surrounding communities and utilities for the 42-day comment period. When that is over there will be a public hearing.
Planners considered the full draft of the plan for the Sumpter Road corridor from Bemis Road to the city limits of the City of Belleville.
Planning and Economic Development Director Dan Power said the plan is an amendment to the 2020 VBT Master Plan which addresses a vision, future land use, and mobility recommendations for the corridor.
He said the plan is the culmination of six combined work sessions with either the VBT Planning Commission or the commission’s subcommittee, a workshop held in July 2021 and public input from a variety of stakeholders including over 35 written letters and other comments and five one-on-one meetings or calls with township staff.
The plan was presented to the commission by Adam Cook, a Master Plan consultant from McKenna Associates. He presented historical information, a description of existing conditions, a description of public engagement, a vision statement, a draft future land use plan, and a plan for regulating a mixed-use future land use district for Sumpter Road.
The plan also includes a mobility plan, which is the basis for proposed road and non-motorized path recommendations, and a zoning plan which calls for the addition of a Sumpter Road Mixed Use zoning district (SRMUD) and a Sumpter Road Overlay District (SROD) zoning ordinance.
Power said the SRMUD and SROD zoning ordinance amendments will be key tools for plan implementation.
Power said this plan is different than the original plan because they found there was no appetite by the residents to expand services south of Hull Road, so single family homes have been planned in Rural Residential Patterns.
Cook said once you cross Hull Road, “You’re in a different world. An idyllic world and they don’t want that built up.”
Power said anything they discussed will be spelled out in the zoning ordinance amendments, which will be brought back to the commission in late winter or spring.
Power said during meetings the subcommittee regularly brought back the plan to what the people said they wanted.
“I believe the community will love it,” said Commissioner Medina Atchinson who served on the subcommittee, along with Commissioners Jeff Jahr and Callie Barr.
In other business at the Feb. 9 meeting, the commission:
• Welcomed its new member Kamika Garrett. The commission now has the full seven members;
• After a brief discussion asked staff to proceed with development of a zoning text amendment on outdoor dining;
• Recommended the staff proceed with a zoning ordinance text amendment to reduce the minimum floor area requirement in certain residential zoning districts;
• Recommended the staff proceed with a zoning text amendment regarding the categoration of gasoline filling and service stations, and add EV stations to the study; and
• Reviewed a list prepared by Power of the 17 construction projects under way in the township and each project’s stage in the process. This is available on the township website. Commissioner Brian Cullin asked about an 18th project, the Clover Development, that was not on the list. Power apologized and added Clover senior apartments on Belleville Road to the list and said it was an active development.