In today's installment, I will continue to examine the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, 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. I will take this section by section as I did in the series on the Hayes Township and Clare County Master Plans.
Unless otherwise specified, page numbers refer to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance as found on the Hayes Township Website.
The Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance carries the weight of the law.
This series is not a complete dissection of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance. This series will look at only those points of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance that pertain specifically to the Resolution to grant the Special Use With Restrictions to the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road . I will examine the rest of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance at a later time.
Page 22: Article IV, A-R Agricultural/Rural Residential District: Section 400: "Intent: The district is also intended for very low density single-family housing as well as the preservation of natural open spaces and lands that are unsuitable for development due to constraints such as flooding, or lack of infrastructure."
The Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road is unsuitable for development due to lack of infrastructure. The business proposed in the Special Use request would be better suited to a zone with infrastructure such as public water and sewer and electricity to better serve the public as a business.
It is this lack of infrastructure and the restrictions that deal with infrastructure that makes me believe that the governing officials of Hayes Township are not concerned with the the success of Michigan Moto Mania. For this business to succeed to its full potential, Doug needs access from a road that is not a local road. If this business were located near the highway, with highway access, it would be easier to find and get to for potential users.
Doug wanted to have a place where riders could shower off after they ride. For that running water is needed, and plenty of it, not only for that, but for rest room facilities and for concession stands. Wells and septic tanks/fields are inadequate to handle the number of riders and spectators for events to make this business all it has the potential to be. It needs to have public water and sewer, which just isn't on Mostetler Road.
He needs electricity in order to do many of the things he'd like to do. Unless he uses generators and pays to run electricity to where he needs it, it will be more difficult for him to run his business at a profit.
Doug's dreams for Michigan Moto Mania were grandiose, but the restrictions placed on him with regard to infrastructure severely limit him and his dreams. If he had decided to put Moto Mania in a place where there was infrastructure in the form of better roads, public water and sewer he could utilize and electricity he could more easily tap into, his business would have better odds of succeeding.
Porta-Potties and Roach Coach types of concessions are not all that great for amenities.
Does Doug really think those restrictions are going to help him stay in business?
Page 22: Article IV, A-R Agricultural/Rural Residential District: Section 400: "Intent: When land in the Agricultural/Rural Residential District is needed for urban purposes, it is anticipated that the zoning will be changed to the appropriate zoning district(s) to provide for orderly growth and development in accordance with the Master Plan."
Why was this a Special Use request and not a Rezoning request?
Why did the Planing Commission not consider the option of Rezoning the Gamble-Longenecker property?
If they did consider the Rezone option, why was that option rejected?
The use is so incompatible with the A-R designation that a rezone request would have been more appropriate. A Motorized Vehicle Racing and riding business is an urban use.
Having said that, a Rezone is also inappropriate for Mostetler Road. There are few grounds for granting a Rezone.
Who counseled Doug to request a Special Use and not a Rezone? Someone on one of the Hayes Township boards must have told him what he needed to do. Who was it, I wonder? From the minutes of the October 2009 Planning Commission Special Meeting, I don't think it was Lyle. It should have been Jim VanWormer, but I don't think it was him because he was cut out of the process. John Scherrer was at the Planning Commission Special Meeting in Oct 2009. Was it him? Was it a member of the Planning Commission?
I remind the reader that there is a difference between a want and a need. Michigan Moto Mania fulfills a want, but it does not fulfill a need.
4 Pages 22-23: Section 401: Uses Permitted By Right, and Section 402: Uses Permitted by Special Exemption:
A Motorized vehicle racing and riding business is a use neither Permitted by right nor by Special Exemption in the Ordinance for the A-R zone.
Page 29: Article X, C-2 Highway Commercial District, Section 1000 Intent: "The provisions of this district are intended to encourage general commercial development to locate along major arteries particularly adjacent to major intersections where such development could most adequately serve the needs of the community’s residents and those of the traveling public, without excessive quantities of strip development."
Inasmuch as it is the hope of many of the residents and businesses in Hayes Township that Michigan Moto Mania will bring much needed tourist dollars to Hayes Township and Clare County, the C-2 Zone is an appropriate place to put a business such as Michigan Moto Mania. Tourists are the “traveling public”.
Page 29: Article X, C-2 Highway Commercial District, Section 1001: Uses Permitted by Right: "10. Clubs."
Since Michigan Moto Mania is by definition a club, and club is a use permitted by right in the Ordinance, C-2, Highway Commercial District is the appropriate zone for Michigan Moto Mania.
No Special Use Permit is required for a club in the C-2 Highway Commercial District.
To be continued...
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