VBT Planners set Oct. 23 public hearing on Master Plan change

To make way for Scott Jones’ planned residential development next to Sandy’s Marina on the lake, a public hearing has been set for 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 23, for the Van Buren Township Planning Commission to hear public input and then vote on the proposed amendment to the Master Plan.
On Aug. 5, the township board of trustees approved distributing the future land use map amendment for the Jones’ property at 41620 E. Huron River Dr. to adjacent communities for the required 42-day review and comment period.
After this period, the application requires a public hearing to be conducted by the planning commission, who would then make a recommendation to the township board which would make a final decision.
The next regularly scheduled planning commission meeting after the review and comment period is complete is Oct. 23.
At the regular planning commission meeting on Sept. 25, the commission voted unanimously to set the public hearing for Oct. 23.
McKenna planning consultants provided a revised Future Land Use Map which depicts the property at 41620 E. Huron River Dr. as RM, Multiple Family Residential with a note which states, “Land uses should be limited for parcel 83-089-99-0010-702 to single family detached dwellings at a maximum density of 6-7 single family dwelling units per acre. Due to the adjacent land uses multiple family housing is not suitable for this area.”
On the projected timeline for the Jones’ project, the township board would consider the Master Plan amendment at its Nov. 4 work/study session and Nov. 5 regular meeting, when board members would make a decision.
Then, a public hearing for rezoning of property would be held before the planning commission on Dec. 11 and planners would vote on a recommendation to the township board. The township board would consider the rezoning at its Jan. 6 work/study session and then vote on the first reading of the ordinance amendment at its Jan. 7 regular meeting, with the second reading and final adoption at its Jan. 21 meeting.
In other business at its 34-minute meeting on Sept. 25, the commission:
• Held a public hearing and then recommended to the township board rezoning of two properties of about an acre each at 791 Savage Rd. and 13720 Martinsville Rd., from M-1 Light Industrial to R1-B, single family residential. Jody Ihlenfeldt, who owns the Savage Road property, and Guy Menyhert, who owns the Martinsville Road property, took advantage of the township’s offer to rezone without charge parcels in that area that were changed to M-1 in the 1980s by the township, but are used as residential parcels. “This is to make a correction,” said Vidya Krishnan of McKenna planners;
• Held a public hearing on requested rezoning of an 80’ wide by 595’ deep strip (6.53 acres total) that runs along the north side of the DTE parcel at 8001 Haggerty Rd. and then voted to recommend to the township board the rezoning from C-1, General Business, to M-1, Light Industrial. The parcel is in the middle of an Industrial corridor and Krishnan explained the rezoning is to clean up the property and correct the split-zone parcel. DTE has no planned use for this strip, but it is proposing construction of an Alternate System Operation Center (ASOC) on its main property site. The proposed building will function as a back-up facility for the DTE Downtown Campus Electrical Systems Operation Center (ESOC). Judy Pendergrass, DTE project manager, said the ASOC will be a back-up facility in the event the primary ESOC is inaccessible/inoperable. The construction of this facility is a requirement set forth by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation; and
• Heard Chuck Reavis of 1043 Savage Rd. ask if it is too late to take advantage of the free rezoning offered by the township for that area of the township. Krishnan said it was a one-time offer to do the rezonings without fees, but she would ask Director Matt Best about Reavis’ request. Reavis said the property was zoned M-1 when they bought it.