City Council

Armada Township PLANNING COMMISSION 23121 E. Main Street, P.O. Box 578 Armada, Michigan 48005 Telephone: (586) 784-5200 Facsimile: (586)784-5211 MINUTES April 7, 2021 Virtual Meeting 7:00 p.m. Regular Meeting 1. Call to order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Roll Call 4. Approve/Amend Agenda 5. Approval of minutes: Regular Meeting February 3, 2021 6. Public Comments 7. Public Hearing: Krause Pet Crematoria 8. Reports & Correspondence 9. New Business: A.) Henshaw Garage 10. Unfinished Business: A.) Blake Farm’s Landscape Plan & Road B.) Krause Pet Crematoria C.) Annual Report D.) Election of Officer’s 11. PC Projects: A.) Ordinance Updates- Administrative Site Plan Review, Agribusiness 55% to 50%; Shipping Container’s, Electrical Services, tents, small scale entertainment, second homes on property; seasonal worker clause, limit size of attachment on garages 12. Public Comments 13. Adjournment Next Scheduled Regular Meeting: May 5, 2021 Call to order: Chair Kehrig called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance: Chair Kehrig led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Present: Finlay, Wieske, Jabara, Finn, Kehrig, Murray and Abercrombie. Also, present: Planner Laura Haw and Recording Secretary Christine White. Approve/Amend Agenda: Motion made by Abercrombie, seconded by Wieske, to approve the agenda as presented. All Ayes: Motion Carried. Approval of Minutes: Regular meeting minutes February 3, 2021. Abercrombie doesn’t believe motion to be proper. Tried watching video online and could not find. She does not believe she said it that way, wants it amended to read table public hearing until a proper site plan and application is submitted as stated in the procedures and the submission requirements. Motion made by Abercrombie, seconded by Jabara, to approve the minutes as corrected. All Ayes: Motion Carried. Public Comments: Monica Job inquired about the residency of Norm Wieske. Ken DeCock expressed that is was a great honor serving the residents of Armada Township on the planning commission. He had three concerns: Dr. Krause getting the run around, administrative review ordinance mis-used, and new planner. Chair Kehrig thanked former commissioner DeCock for all of his years of hard work over the years. He welcomed Maureen Finn to the planning commission. Randy Finlay feels that Dr. Krause is not getting the proper service and information to be helped. Monica Job wanted to make sure meeting is being recorded. Public Hearing: Krause Pet Crematoria: Chair Kehrig went over that the Public Hearing was tabled from last month and is still open. Dr. Krause presented that he does not understand why he needs to hire an engineer and surveyor for a building that's been there twenty years, when the survey and legal description are on file at the township? He understands the EPA and MDEQ regulations and will be compliant. The request from McKenna in regard to planting shrubs and a couple of other things will not be an issue. He stated that if he needs to hire an engineer and architect to tell them what’s been there for twenty years that he would. Chair explained that the standards for site plan submission are a requirement of the zoning ordinance and the commission must treat every applicant the same. Ken DeCock stopped by township office to look at plans, the plan still does not have all the information. Monica Job asked if any one doing business in the township is following the proper procedure. Randy Finlay stated that all procedures, and checklists, should be followed before going to planning commission. Abercrombie stated we should not close public hearing until we have a proper site plan per the township attorney Christine Anderson. Finlay says we should wait until we have everything in place before the hearing is re-noticed and put on the agenda. Applicant is aware of what he needs. Motion made by Abercrombie, seconded by Jabara, to table public hearing until proper site plan and application is submitted as stated in the procedures and submission requirements. All Ayes: Motion Carried. Motion made by Finlay, seconded by Abercrombie, to have the liaison ask the township board to not charge Dr. Krause any other fees for printing in the paper. Finlay made amendment to motion, for notices in newspaper, seconded by Abercrombie, for notices in the newspaper. Clarification of fees was requested. Two Ayes: Finlay, Abercrombie; Five Nays: Kehrig, Finn, Murray, Wieske, Jabara: Motion Failed. Reports and Correspondence: Chair Kehrig noted the Planning & Zoning News for February, March-April, 2 emails from Blake Farm’s, emails and information from DTE Steven Graham regarding the power grid and marijuana grow houses, a road report for Armada Center Rd., a copy of the building code for site plans, the application from Krause with the updated zoning, a letter from the township engineer in regard to Armada Center Rd., the fire department review for the Henshaw Accessory Structure, a letter from engineer Robert Lindh in regard to Henshaw. Motion made by Abercrombie, seconded by Finn, to receive and file as presented. All Ayes: Motion Carried. New Business: A.) Henshaw Garage: The applicant would like to construct an approximate 6,300 sq. ft. accessory structure to be utilized for the purpose of storage of equipment and vehicles. The property is zoned M-1. The applicant did receive a dimensional variance from the ZBA on February 1, 2021 for the subject accessory building, approving a reduced side-yard set-back of 1.5 feet from the southern property line. It does meet all other set-back requirements. The west elevation will be visible from Powell Rd. and it is recommended that evergreen trees be installed west of the structure, to soften the building façade. The existing size of the office and industrial building a total of 174 parking spaces are required. 126 spaces are provided. 47 parking spaces are banked spaces. The company has 70 employees, no increase is proposed. A total of 4 existing parking spaces would be impacted by the construction, along with 13 banked parking spaces. There is room for the 17 parking spaces, should they ever need to be constructed. The site plan should be updated to illustrate the location of the re-located spaces. A letter from the applicant’s engineer moved the building to two feet off the south property line, any further the driveway apron would be too steep on the west end. The parking spaces were also revised, and trees were added. The applicant did provide letter and revised plan. The commission went through the fire department review. Motion made by Jabara, seconded by Kehrig, to approve the site plan contingent on addressing the concerns of the fire department and engineer. All Ayes: Motion Carried. Unfinished Business: A.) Blake Farm’s Landscape Plan & Road: In October the landscape plan was tabled. A response was sent in on March 8, 2021, from Blake Farm’s, which was read. Another letter was read dated March 23, 2021 from Blake Farm’s stating their commitment to the community and their experience to their customers expressing the landscape being held off until there is a clear path for road being addressed. The road issue is more important to address than the landscape plan. They should not have to install landscape, just to have it torn out if there is a road improvement. There is a letter from the township engineer in regard to a road study that will be in front of the township board at their next meeting. The time frame was questioned with no clear answer, other than the traffic study could take a few months. Motion made by Abercrombie, seconded by Finn, to table the landscape plan for three months. All Ayes: Motion Carried. B.) Krause Pet Crematoria: Tabled until proper site plan is submitted. C.) Annual Report: Planner Haw went through the updated version of the Annual Report. The detail for the report was well received. Motion made by Abercrombie, seconded by Finlay, to approve the annual report and to send to the township board. All Ayes: Motion Carried. D.) Election of Officer’s: Finlay nominated Abercrombie for second chair. Jabara was willing to be secretary. Kehrig as Chair. Motion made by Finn, seconded by Murray, to nominate Kehrig as Chair, Abercrombie as Vice-Chair, Jabara as Secretary until next March. All Ayes: Motion Carried. PC Projects: A.) Ordinance Updates: Administrative Site Plan Review, Agri-business 55% to 50%; Shipping Container’s, Electrical Services, tents, small scale entertainment, second homes on property; seasonal worker clause, limit size of attachment on garages: The township planner gave an overview of the shipping container ordinance. It is ready for public hearing. Discussion of the Agri-business 55% to 50% changed to align with the GAMMP’s. Planner will provide a clean copy and is ready for public hearing. Motion made by Murray, seconded by Wieske, to change the agri-business ordinance to align with the GAMMP’s. All Ayes: Motion Carried. Electrical services discussed, fire code and building code already provide regulations for single family homes. Administrative Site Plan Review discussed. Planner commented that they are typical in ordinances and recommended this for development, but it is up to the community. It was decided to change Planning Commission member to Chair and Vice chair. Planner will provide a clean copy for next month’s meeting. Tents discussed, more information from the building official requested. Planner will provide more information for next month’s meeting. Small Scale Entertainment, there is a discrepancy in the ordinance that is contradictory. Planner will bring more information and recommendation next month. Second homes on property; seasonal worker clause was discussed. More information will follow. Attached garage size will be looked at a later time. Accessory building locations in the near future should be looked at. Public Comments: Ken DeCock discussed Administrative site plan reviews, the open meetings act and issues regarding planner and Krause plan. Adjournment: Motion made by Jabara, seconded by Finn, to adjourn at 9:10 p.m. All Ayes: Motion Carried. Respectfully submitted: Christine White, Recording Secretary Approved: DJ Kehrig, Chairperson_________________________________Date_____________________________