Hayes Township Resolution Compliance with the Hayes Township Master Plan, Part 3

I realize it has been awhile since the last installment in this particular series, but I felt that the Proposed Amendment being voted on by the Hayes Township Board of Trustees was more important in the lead up to the vote. Now that the Trustees have voted to change the rules in the middle of this court case, I will continue to illustrate how the Resolution granting the Special Use to the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler does or does not line up with the Hayes Township Master Plan.

In today's installment, I will examine the Recommendations section of the Hayes Township Master Plan, and compare it with the minutes of the Hayes Township Planning Commission Special Meeting, dated May 17, 2010, which lay out in detail the decision taken by the Planning commission, and restrictions to be applied to the Special Use assigned to the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road.

Unless otherwise specified, page numbers refer to the Hayes Township Master Plan as found on the Hayes Township Website.

Page 42:  Section 5.4: Plan Recommendations, #3.  Agricultural/Rural Residential:  “…The Rural Residential/Agricultural category is intended to accomplish a number of goals:

- Preserve the environmental resources, including upland and lowland forests within the Township, for future generations.”

How does the clear cutting of almost 200 acres of forested area to develop a motorized vehicle racing and riding and business preserve said forest in the Township for future generations? 

Is that good stewardship of those natural resources?

- “Steer development away from environmentally sensitive areas in the Township such as wetlands.”

What did Hayes Township Planning Commission, as stewards of the environmentally sensitive wetland area surrounding Mostetler Creek, do to steer the development of a motorized vehicle racing and riding business away from the area and toward a more appropriate area?

- “Related agricultural activities such as tree farms, horse farms, or fish hatcheries are also anticipated in this category.” 

A motorized vehicle racing and riding business was not anticipated in this category. 

The Hayes Township Planning Commission, in their resolution recorded in the minutes of the 17 May 2010 Special Meeting, references page 42 of the Hayes Township Master Plan in the justification of the granting of the Special Use to the Gamble-Longenecker property on

Mostetler Road

.

I assume that they were referencing the following sentence: “Outdoor commercial recreation and open space uses such as riding stables, golf courses, campgrounds, nature preserves, and similar uses, should also be considered compatible uses.”  Again, motorized vehicle racing and riding businesses were not specifically mentioned among these compatible uses.   And yet they considered the Motorized Vehicle racing and riding business one of those “outdoor commercial recreation uses” as a “similar use” that “should also be considered compatible uses.”  

The Hayes Township Planning Commission declared that “the property is not conducive to farming and is more suited to outdoor recreational activities.”  And one paragraph later, “The property is not conducive to farming, with rolling hills, and is more suited for recreation.”  (Minutes, page 2)

These are arbitrary declarations on the part of the Hayes Township Planning Commission, and purely subjective.

“B. The proposed project promotes the intent and purpose of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance for the following reasons:  Outdoor commercial recreational use.  An organized sport meeting the criteria for outdoor recreation activities as on Page 42 of the Master Plan.”  (Minutes, Page 3)

Once again, when combined with the intent laid out in the context of entire document, it is one single point taken separately from the whole.  

Also, outdoor commercial recreational uses listed in the Hayes Township Master Plan are similar to one another in that they tend to be pastoral in nature and they are dissimilar from a motor vehicle racing and riding facility in that motorcycles and ORVs are anything but pastoral in nature with the noise, dust and emissions they produce.

The Gamble-Longenecker Property on Mostetler Road is suitable for tree farms (Christmas trees, fruit orchards, vineyards), even with the rolling hills, and horse farms, as evidenced by the Collins’ horse farm adjacent to the property.

The Minutes go on to say, “C.  The special exception use set forth above will comply with the standards and purposes set forth in the Master Plan for the following reasons: It encourages outdoor activities and positive use of the land as in A and B.  Above."  (Minutes, Page 2)

Outdoor uses are encouraged in the Master Plan, but that is a vague reference to the Master Plan.  The Master Plan also encourages good stewardship and preservation of the Township’s wooded lands, so it does not comply.

                 

The Master Plan encourages positive use of the land.  It does.  Whether A and B above, (referring to a motorized vehicle racing and riding facility) are a positive use of the land is subjective.  Those who believe that Michigan Moto Mania will be the economic savior of Hayes Township, Harrison, and Clare County will find it to be a positive use of the land.  Those who must now live near the facility and all of the noise, dust, emissions and traffic that goes with it, will not find it to be a positive use of the land. 

Apparently, pursuit of the Almighty Dollar trumps any misgivings of those who live near it.