Regular Meeting
Zoning Commission Vice Chair Dianne
Wenslow called the meeting to order at
Upon motion by Mike Biskup, duly seconded by Sherri Meinke,
the
The secretary distributed the following items:
- Listing of Zoning Permits through March 2009
- March and April 2009 Grassroots Clippings newsletters
Dianne Wenslow reported on an article entitled “New Growth
at
At the
The list to date includes:
-
Nonconforming Lots in
- Comprehensive Plan Revision;
- Parking Regulations;
- Site Plan Review Procedures;
- Abolish Rear Lots;
- General Clean-up of Zoning Code;
- Lake Road Zoning Districts;
- Allowable Uses in Local Commercial;
- Conditional Uses.
Other possible items suggested at this meeting were:
- Solar and Wind Power;
- Transportation/Trolley;
- Signage.
The various board members present agreed to start research/review of some of the suggested items. It doesn’t mean that changes have to be made but it should be reviewed to see if anything is out of line. It was suggested that for each topic the board member look at one or two other townships zoning code to see if they have something different that might be able to be utilized in this township. If you don’t find anything different, that’s the review but the review needs to take place. The members will start their review and report back on their progress at the next meeting(s). Assigned items include:
Dianne Wenslow – Abolish Rear Lots
Sherri Meinke – Signage Regulations
Mike Biskup – Local Commercial District
Russ Green – Solar and Wind Power
Matthew Strehle – Parking Regulations
Mike Biskup commented about his review of the Local Commercial District zoning and asked some questions to get some input from the board members. Some discussion points/comments included:
- We know that our current zoning book is out-of-date;
- We need to get a game plan and get a vision of what we want in commercial, manufacturing, residential – everything across the board;
- We can get the ball rolling on our own without waiting any longer for the comprehensive plan revision;
- There are some gray areas in our zoning book with some different interpretations for things;
- The township is growing and do we want pockets for commercial zoning, etc. or do we want areas set aside for commercial zoning etc.;
- Do we want strip malls and things like that or do we want single businesses that we can keep more with the rural look;
- There are things you can do and set them up to keep that rural look and still have commercial areas;
- Establish some basic guidelines and then we can brainstorm on those ideas;
- What type of businesses do we want to encourage and what type should we discourage;
- Look under current permitted uses and conditionally permitted uses to see if changes should be made;
- As far as grading zoning districts from commercial to light manufacturing, things in commercial should be a permitted use in light manufacturing also;
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We don’t have a great commercial base in
- With things happening with the Chippewa Resort project as well as the Country Club project we know things are coming and what do we have in the township that can help sustain those entities or help complement those things in order to benefit our township;
- Traffic flow in Chippewa will be increased and the lots in Chippewa are all messed up and not ideal to bring in businesses.
- What areas do you see to incorporate commercial zoning;
- The comprehensive plan discussion earlier talked about hot spots in the township for expansion;
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- We could almost do a square (or a triangle) from Rt. 42 & Lake down to Rt. 162 & over and then up on Rt. 42 – that’s a whole prime area;
- Chippewa has its own problems and needs its own zoning;
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What about zoning around the
- Look at LC and LM to see if some things could be consolidated, eliminated, changed because something that was feasible 20 years ago might not be appropriate or realistic at this time;
- Green (township/city?) has a chart showing allowable uses, permitted uses, etc. with the zoning districts at the top so you can look up a business use and immediately see what zone it could go in – perhaps we can set up something like that;
- We need more flexibility to have businesses in the township;
- New businesses are going to want easy access to I-71 and main thoroughfares in the county/township;
- We have to be mindful that if we designate certain areas for commercial, industrial or retail that the push in the comprehensive plan discussion was to keep as much residential/rural/agricultural – the western part of the township would still remain residential/rural/agricultural but the eastern part of the township could have some zoning changes to allow some tax base by bringing in new businesses;
- Do we want single-family or duplex or expand into condo’s, apartment buildings, etc.;
- Under LC permitted uses there is a size limit of 7500 sq. ft. – is that a realistic figure for the type of businesses we want to attract;
- Once we get our zoning areas determined we need to think about possibly putting a minimum and/or maximum size for buildings, businesses etc.;
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How do we classify the
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Would
- Right now we have two areas for LC – in Chippewa and at SR 42/Lafayette Road & SR 162/Wedgewood Road – one area for LM at the NE corner of SR 42;
- People want to maintain the rural atmosphere but the definition of rural has changed tremendously – rural can be thought of as the outskirts of Medina City to a two-acre lot to a 100+ acre farm;
- Rural is a perception - an image – we need to capitalize on that image and run with it;
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Changes are already coming to
- The Park District and the bike trails could be a big draw for tourists;
- We need to look at the big picture and not just a handful of people who might not want any changes;
- Do we want to regulate the size of the lot or the size of a business that would go into a certain area;
- As entrepreneurs go down the road they are thinking about places where they can make money and that has good visibility, easy access in and out – a good location for their business;
- We don’t want businesses that are going to be detrimental for our community;
- New business suggestions include a larger gas station, concrete figurines/gift shop, a bicycle rental place;
- If we have an area zoned LC or LM, businesses are going to sort themselves out and do their own marketing studies etc. – we need to write the zoning that will allow the present size existing lots to be used as commercial or manufacturing sites;
- In LC it refers to Signs as regulated by Article IV and Parking as regulated by Article V – these should be reviewed as well;
- Annexation was discussed but it is not something that would go into the zoning code.
Mike Biskup will go ahead and start to put some basic things together relative to Local Commercial (uses and zoning areas) for the board to review.
Any board member wanting copies of notes or articles, etc. made for the entire board should contact the zoning secretary prior to the next meeting.
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Next MCDPS Zoning Workshop will be
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Next regular meeting of the Zoning Commission will be
Upon motion by Sherri Meinke, duly seconded by Mike Biskup,
it was unanimous that the meeting be adjourned.
Adjourned at
Marlene L. Oiler, Certified PP, PLS
(Note: Minutes
approved on