MARION TOWNSHIP

                  PLANNING COMMISSION

           AGENDA and DRAFT MINUTES

                       OCTOBER 11, 2005                       

CALL TO ORDER:

MEMBERS PRESENT:  

MEMBERS ABSENT:

CALL TO THE PUBLIC:    Agenda Items Only – 3 minute limit

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:  October 11, 2005

APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR:  None              

OLD BUSINESS: 

    1)     Proposed Text Amendment Section 6.20 A – Pre-Existing Non-Conforming Private Roads

2)     Proposed Text Amendment Section 6.20 B – New Private Roads

3)     Proposed Engineering Standards

NEW BUSINESS:  

CALL TO PUBLIC:

ADJOURNMENT:            

                                           SPECIAL MEETING - DRAFT MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:      JOHN LOWE, CHAIRPERSON

                                        DAVE HAMANN

                                        JIM ANDERSON

                                        DEBRA WIEDMAN-CLAWSON  

ABSENT:                         JEAN ROOT, SECRETARY

OTHERS PRESENT:        ROBERT W. HANVEY, SUPERVISOR

                                      ANNETTE MCNAMARA, ZONING ADMINISTRATOR

                                      PHIL WESTMORELAND, ORCHARD, HILTZ & MCCLIMENT

                                      JOHN ENOS, CARLISLE/WORTMAN                                             

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CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7:37 p.m.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Dave Hamann motioned to approve the October 11, 2005 Planning Commission Special Meeting 

agenda.  Jim Anderson seconded.  Motion Carried 4-0. 

INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS

John Lowe, Jim Anderson, Dave Hamann and Debra Wiedman-Clawson were present.  Jean Root 

was absent.

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

John Lowe opened call to the public. 

Senator Valde Garcia introduced himself and gave a synopsis of the work done by the Senate over

this summer. The first was balancing the budget; this was accomplished with give and take.

The second was long range in diversifying the economy in the State of Michigan , no longer 

depending on the auto industry for employment.  Creating new jobs in the life science, alternative

energy, homeland security and advanced manufacturing.

The third would be to coordinating contracts with the government and existing factories to build 

products for defense and homeland security.  This will put people to work today.

Senator Garcia asked if there were any questions.

Jim Anderson asked the Senator about local school funding and higher education.

Senator Garcia answered; higher education took a cut and an increase of $175.00 per student at

the local school level.  The majority of this money went to health care costs.

John Enos asked the Senator where he stands on requiring developers to invest in off site

improvements, schools and such, based on the impact of the proposed development. John Enos 

has heard of other states that require this and it has been successful.

Senator Garcia answered; he did not think there was support at the state level as this cost gets

passed on to the homeowner.  He does not think there is a lot of support at the state level.

John Lowe asked the Senator if there has been any clarification from the state on the MDEQ 

(Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) requirements for On-Site Private Sewage/Waste

Water Treatment Plants.

Senator Garcia clarified, the gap between what the township think they can do and what the 

MDEQ tells the township they can do?

John Lowe answered yes.

Senator Garcia invited John Lowe and others that may be interested, to meet with him and discuss

the topic.

John Lowe impressed upon the Senator the impact on Marion Township , as a large portion of the

township is not served by public utilities.

John Lowe closed the call to the public at 7:50 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

September 26, 2005 Special Joint Meeting Minutes

Dave Hamann motioned to table the minutes until the Planning Commission Secretary, Jean Root 

is in attendance, and this will be the October 25, 2005 regular meeting. 

Debra Wiedman-Clawson seconded.  Motion Carried 5-0.

OLD BUSINESS

Proposed Text Amendment Section 6.20 A - Pre-Existing Non-Conforming Private 

Roads

Debra Wiedman-Clawson asked for clarification on the roads that will be affected.  Would this be a 

road in existence, which does not have a private road maintenance agreement and was never

approved by the township? 

John Enos answered yes.

She thinks there should be a date attached, so people would know whether they fell into this 

category.  She also asked the Planning Commission members what they were trying to prevent.

John Enos said to allow for development of pre-existing non-conforming private roads. The road 

may or may not be safe and the township is concerned with the health, safety and welfare of

residents.

Discussion ensued on which roads this applies to, what the township is trying to prevent and the 

set of standards.  Is this the responsibility of the homeowners or the township?  Will the proposed

requirements hold up in court?  We are asking the residents to invest in their roads, yet the 

township is not putting budget monies into the public roads, such as Davis Road .  Some 

municipalities go by a sliding scale, once you reach a certain threshold and are increasing traffic 

on the road you have to upgrade the road.  Special assessment districts were discussed and the

possibility of doing this with private roads. 

Dave Hamann stated putting township authority out there, we are putting them in a position 

where they cannot resolve this and forcing court action against the township because of it. 

Think about what that will cost the township as a whole.  There are other township ordinances

relating to private roads that are less restrictive, high level of health, safety and welfare reasons.

Debra Wiedman-Clawson thinks the standards are too restrictive.  She thinks the township is 

asking for higher standards than the county roads.

The Commissioners would like to discuss this at a meeting with Mike Kehoe in attendance.

Phil Westmoreland noted to the Commissioners, this is a guideline to go by; all the standards do

not have to be met.  Each road is different; some may not need much work.

To answer Debra Wiedman-Clawson question on which roads this applies to; John Enos read from

Section 19.10-Illegal Nonconforming Use s.

Nonconforming uses of structures or land existing at the effective date of this Ordinance that were 

established without approval of zoning compliance or without a valid building permit or those 

nonconforming uses which cannot be proved conclusively as existing prior to the effective date of 

this Ordinance, or the prior Ordinance enacted January 11, 1977, shall be declared illegal 

nonconforming uses and are not entitled to the status and rights accorded legally established 

nonconforming uses.

John Enos proposed the following text to the Commissioners.  This text would be placed in

ARTICLE XIX NONCONFORMING USES OF LAND AND STRUCTURES.  “New lots as a result of 

land division shall not receive a land use permit for a proposed new principal dwelling unless the

road is improved to meet the then current private road design standards or as decided by the

township private road committee.”

Dave Hamann motioned to table agenda items number 1 and 2 until the next workshop, 

Mike Kehoe will be asked to attend.  Jim Anderson seconded.  Motion Carried 4-0.

Proposed Text Amendment Section 6.20 B - New Private Roads

See the above motion.

Proposed Engineering Standards

Phil Westmoreland went over the proposed standards with the Commissioners and noted that 

Items B thru K are at the discretion of Marion Township and adjustable. 

A discussion on who would be designated to review and decide if a road required upgrading. 

Would this be the Planning Commission or the Board of Trustees?

The Commissioners requested the following changes to be submitted for the next special meeting.

I. Roads and Paving

Item B - Adjust language to include standards for new private roads.

Item F - The Commissioners would like to discuss the number of lots to have access. Is the 

township required to follow the International Fire Code (IFC) that has been adopted, or can the 

number stay at 25.  They agreed to discuss this at the next special meeting.

Item G - The length of a private road will be discussed at the next special meeting with 

Mike Kehoe.  Commissioners questioned if this enforceable and reasonable.

Item L - the Commissioners would like the same number of units allowed on a new private road 

as a pre-existing non-conforming private road.

Item L 2 a & b - Debra Wiedman-Clawson would like Phil Westmoreland to define major and 

minor to the best of his ability.

Item L 3 a - Phil Westmoreland noted some roads will be more narrow that twenty-four feet edge

of gravel to edge of gravel.

Item L 5 b & c - Gravel road and paved road requirements - Phil Westmoreland noted these items 

are discretionary, Marion Township can recommend 22AA limestone aggregate, equivalency is the 

goal, sometimes six inches of sand is not necessary.

Item L 10 - The Commissioners would like to discuss this further with Mike Kehoe at the next 

special meeting.

Discussion on Section 6.19 B Access Controls

The number of lots to have access with one point of intersection in relationship to the IFC was 

discussed.  Again, the Commissioners would like Mike Kehoe to be part of the discussion.

The Commissioners went back to the Engineering Standards to discuss the length of a private road,

all agreed on the following.

For new private roads in Rural Residential, thirty lots with one hundred fifty feet of frontage on

two thousand linear feet of black top. 

Also in Rural Residential, twenty lots with one hundred fifty feet of frontage on two thousand 

linear feet of gravel road.

The requirements for Suburban Residential will be discussed at the next special meeting. The 

Commissioners would like to have time to think about this and would like to discuss with 

Mike Kehoe.

NEW BUSINESS

No new business.

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

None heard.

ADJOURNMENT

Dave Hamann motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:06 p.m. Debra Wiedman-Clawson seconded.

Motion Carried 4-0.