MARION TOWNSHIP

                        DRAFT MINUTES

                            October 4, 2004  

MEMBERS PRESENT:     John Lowe, Larry Fillinger, Linda Manson-Dempsey, Dan Lowe, and Dan Rossbach

MEMBERS ABSENT:                 None

OTHERS PRESENT:                  Annette McNamara , Zoning Administrator                                                                              

**********************************************************************************************

CALL TO ORDER

John Lowe called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.  

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Linda Manson-Dempsey motioned to approve the agenda as presented.  Larry Fillinger seconded.  Motion carried 5-0.

MEMBERS PRESENT

The members of the Zoning Board of Appeals introduced themselves. 

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

None.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Zoning Board of Appeals, September 7, 2004

Dan Rossbach asked to have a typographical error corrected on page 3 of the minutes.  Larry Fillinger motioned to

approve the minutes as amended.  Linda Manson-Dempsey seconded.  Motion carried 5-0.

OLD BUSINESS

ZBA Case #4-04— Jesse Drive

Jeffrey Haw from Boss Engineering introduced himself.  Mr. Paw reviewed the history of the variance requests. Based

on changes made to the site plan, three of the four variance requests have been eliminated.  The applicant is now only

seeking one variance for the length of the road.  Mr. Ward provided a copy of a letter from the MDEQ authorizing

Boss Engineering’s revisions to the site plan. John Lowe said the township attorney has reviewed the changes and is

pleased with the end result.  If granted, the variance should be subject to the township attorney’s review and approval

of the road maintenance agreement.  Mr. Lowe asked Mr. Ward if he would still consider 22 lots as opposed to 25. 

Mr. Ward said no, he believes it should be left at 25 lots per the ordinance. 

Motion

Larry Fillinger motioned to relax the private road ordinance for ZBA Case #4-04—Jesse Drive to grant a 385-foot variance,

from 2,000 feet to 2,385 feet in length, to allow access to the northern parcels.  Due to wetlands restrictions, the road

cannot be extended further than 2,385 feet in length.  Mr. Fillinger addressed Section 5.05 C, items 1-6:

1. How the strict enforcement of the provisions of the township’s zoning ordinance would cause an unnecessary

hardship and deprive the owner of rights enjoyed by all other property owners owning property within the same zoning

district. Strict enforcement would prohibit the owner from making improvements as requested, could impact the wetlands,

and would limit access to the northern parcels.

2. The conditions and circumstances unique to the property, which are not similarly applicable to other properties in

 the same zoning district. The conditions and circumstances are unique to this property because of the topography, the

location of the wetlands on the property, and the distance from Coon Lake Road .

3. The conditions and circumstances unique to the property were not self-created.  The conditions and circumstances

are not self-created.

4. Why the requested variance would not confer special privileges that are denied other properties similarly situated

in the same zoning district.  All other requests within the same zoning district would be considered individually.

5. Why the requested variance would not be contrary to the spirit and intent of this zoning ordinance.  The requested

variance would not be contrary to the spirit and intent of the zoning ordinance.

6. The difficulties shall not be deemed solely economic.  This request is not solely economic.

All information and drawings related to this private road development, including the road maintenance agreement, OHM

letter dated October 4, 2004 , site plan with revision date of September 28, 2004 , and MDEQ letter dated

October 4, 2004 , will be submitted to the township attorney for review and approval.  Linda Manson-Dempsey seconded.

Roll call vote:  Dan Rossbach, Larry Fillinger, Linda Manson-Dempsey, John Lowe, Dan Lowe—all yes. 

Motion carried 5-0.

Zoning Board of Appeals Rules & Procedures

Dan Rossbach motioned to approve the Zoning Board of Appeals Rules & Procedures with the revisions provided in

Mike Kehoe’s review letter dated September 27, 2004 .  Larry Fillinger seconded.  Motion carried 5-0.

NEW BUSINESS

None.

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

None.

ADJOURNMENT

Linda Manson-Dempsey motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:59 p.m.   Larry Fillinger seconded.  Motion carried 5-0.