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MARION
TOWNSHIP
AGENDA & DRAFT MINUTES
12-06-
2004
CALL
TO ORDER:
MEMBERS
PRESENT:
MEMBERS
ABSENT:
CALL
TO THE PUBLIC:
APPROVAL
OF AGENDA: December
6, 2004
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES FOR:
November 1, 2004
OLD
BUSINESS:
NEW
BUSINESS:
#7-04 - Meier - 4681 Pinckney Road
#9-04 - Adler Enterprises - Frances Road Property
CALL
TO PUBLIC:
ADJOURNMENT:
MEMBERS
PRESENT:
John Lowe, Larry Fillinger, Dan Lowe,
and
Dan Rossbach
MEMBERS
ABSENT:
Linda Manson-Dempsey
OTHERS
PRESENT:
Annette McNamara
, Zoning Administrator
Bob Hanvey
, Township Supervisor
******************************************************************************************
CALL TO ORDER
John Lowe called the meeting to order
at
7:31 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Zoning Board of Appeals,
November 1, 2004
Dan
Rossbach motioned to approve the minutes as presented.
Dan Lowe
seconded.
Motion carried 4-0.
NEW BUSINESS
ZBA Case #7-04—Earl E. Meier
John Lowe asked the applicant to
summarize the variance request. Mr.
Meier said he has a
lot on the corner of
Pinckney Road
and
Brighton Road
. Due to the wetlands and high power
lines, Mr. Meier is requesting
this variance to construct a house. The
ZBA members reviewed
the site plan provided.
John Lowe stated that what Mr. Meier is proposing is similar to other
houses in the area.
Mr. Meier asked if the property would ever have public sewer.
John Lowe
said probably not.
Call to the Public: None.
Motion
For
ZBA Case #7-04, Larry Fillinger motioned to relax Section 8.01 F 3
a—Front
yard
setback, to allow a 20-foot variance from the structure to the
centerline of
Pinckney
Road as depicted in current engineering plan, shifting 10 feet to the east
if
possible and if not in violation of wetlands requirements.
If shifting 10 feet to the
east
causes a violation, then the variance application is approved as requested
based
on the Boss Engineering survey, for a 30-foot variance from structure to
centerline
of
Pinckney Road
. Dan Rossbach seconded.
Motion carried 4-0.
ZBA Case #9-04—Adler Enterprises
Mike
Boss from Boss Engineering presented the preliminary site plan for
Copperfield.
Mr. Boss said the development they are proposing is a benefit for the
township.
He is requesting three variances and will discuss each one
individually.
The
first variance, to Section 6.19 B, is a request for 30 lots on a private
road.
Mr.
Boss said the ordinance does allow 30 lots on a road that ends with a
cul-de-sac
if
it’s a public road. The 30-lot limit
is due to fire protection. However,
on a private
road,
the ordinance specifically states there can only be 25 home sites.
Mr. Boss
explained
that the reason the road is proposed as a private road is because there
are
some existing high power lines with two poles that sit within the 66-foot
right-of-way.
The Livingston County Road Commission (LCRC) will not accept a
public
road with poles in the right-of-way. Boss
Engineering has submitted a
request
to Detroit Edison to have the poles moved, but
Edison
won’t be able to
review
the request until after the first of the year.
If the request to move the poles
were
approved, then this variance wouldn’t be necessary.
Mr. Boss presented an
alternate
layout that would give five lots frontage on
Francis Road, and thus meet
the
zoning ordinance. However, he
doesn’t believe it’s in the township’s best interest
to
do that because there would be five more driveways onto
Francis Road. They
would
prefer to keep access on the interior road, with the exception of lot 31.
The
cul-de-sac
lines up with Schroeder Park Drive. There are no plans to improve
it at
this
point. This would allow a
connection to be made in the future if necessary.
The
second variance, to Section 6.20 F 3, is a request for five (5) buildings
with
frontage
on a cul-de-sac. The zoning
ordinance clearly states that only four (4) are
allowed.
One option would be to push the road down further so there would be
more
frontage
and could get four lots on the cul-de-sac.
However, that pushes down a
steep,
wooded hill. They would like to
keep the road up so the houses can be at
the
top of the hill. Another option
would be to have the fifth lot on the cul-de-sac
with
frontage on
Francis Road
. Boss Engineering believes
allowing five lots on the
cul-de-sac
is a better design for the township.
The
third variance, to Section 6.13 B 1, is a request for encroachment of the
road
into
the 50-foot landscape buffer zone due to physical constraints of the
property.
John
Lowe asked about the 66 feet from the cul-de-sac to Schroeder Park Drive
,
and
whether that could be set up with a breakaway gate for emergency access for
the
fire department. Mr. Boss said
that would be possible. There’s
no roadway per
se
right now. Mr. Lowe said he
would like to see a locking gate at the property line.
Mr.
Boss said they have no problem with that; they would be willing to work with
the
Eagles.
Mr. Lowe said for safety reasons, he would like to see a secondary
emergency
access. It would also satisfy
the basis for 30 houses on a private road.
John
Lowe said The Forest has five houses on a cul-de-sac and the spacing
between
houses appears to be similar to the other houses.
Mr. Boss said the
LCRC
had the requirement primarily for houses with open ditches.
The proposed
development
will be curb and gutter with catch basins.
John Lowe asked if the
frontage
on the cul-de-sac lots was the same as the others.
Mr. Boss said yes.
Call to the Public
Kathy
St. Onge,
693 Francis Road
:
Mrs. St. Onge asked where the power lines
would
be moved. Mr. Boss showed her on
the site plan.
Louise
Dodd, 1722 Fox Ridge:
Mrs. Dodd asked the approximate value of the
homes
that would be built. Mr. Boss
said his best guess would be in the $280,000
to
$320,000 range. Mrs. Dodd asked
about an evergreen buffer on Francis Road
.
John
Lowe said additional trees wouldn’t provide screening, because the houses
would
be up on the hill.
(Close Call to the Public)
Motions
Dan
Lowe motioned to relax Section 6.20 F 3 to grant a variance to allow five
building
sites on the cul-de-sac due to the topography.
Also, the road will be curb
and
gutter with higher standards of drainage rather than open ditch.
Larry Fillinger
seconded.
Roll call vote: Dan
Rossbach, Larry Fillinger, John Lowe, Dan Lowe—
all
yes. Motion carried 4-0.
Dan Rossbach motioned to relax Section 6.13 B 1 to allow a 50-foot encroachment of the
road landscape buffer zone referenced
on the preliminary site plan dated 9/7/04 (sheet #5—
landscape plan), due to power lines
that encroach on the road right-of-way.
The 50-foot
greenbelt requirement was intended
for county roads, not interstates that have larger road
rights-of-way.
Additional landscape buffering will be provided.
Moving the road further
south would push houses closer to the
interstate. The developer will
provide evergreens
instead of deciduous trees subject to
the approval of the township Planning Commission.
Dan Lowe seconded.
Roll call vote: Dan
Rossbach, Larry Fillinger, John Lowe, Dan Lowe
—all yes. Motion carried 4-0.
CALL
TO THE PUBLIC
None.
ADJOURNMENT
Larry
Fillinger motioned to adjourn the meeting at
8:45 p.m.
Dan Rossbach
seconded.
Motion carried 4-0.
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