Category: Planning Commission Quarterly Meetings & Public Hearings

Arvon Township Planning Commission Work Session
Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Call to Order
Roll Call
Nancy Strohschein (Chair), Joe Bollech (Board of Review), Bob Janda (Board Rep), Robert Lindert (Vice Chair & Secretary), Jay Loman (Board of Review Chair), Donna Preston – Absent with notice, Ken Anderson (Zoning Administrator) –
Absent with notice
Pledge of Allegiance: Recited
Introductions/Guests: Jason McCarthy expected to attend in person
Approval of Agenda: Motion: Jay, Second: Bob
Approval of minutes of October 19, 2023 Work Session: Motion: Bob, Second: Joe
Agenda:
I. Recreation Plan
A. Status from Jason – Need completed plan to publish and print.

• Jason will need to set up an account with the State DNR so we can upload the
  plan then apply for grants. Nancy will be the point person for this account.
  Jason still needs to add all the appendices, which he does have, then it will
  be complete. Nancy asked him to have it to her by 11/27/23 so it can be
  posted on the website and printed.
  B. Comments not part of Rec Plan – No action taken yet
• Same
  C. Comment from resident via Donna Preston about kayak park location
• Donna sent us all an email with a suggestion from a resident to put the kayak
  park at the township park, instead of at the undeveloped strip of land near
  Wtiz’ Marina. Although that makes sense for access, the beach at the
  proposed new site is much better. This project is a 2025 project. We will
  want the Recreation Committee to look into this.
  D. Recreation Committee – Update from request to board on November 6, 2023
• Nancy provided the document that was used for discussion at the board
  meeting, which listed the names of the volunteers. The board did not take
  action on this request. Jason clarified that he recommends 5 people on the
  Rec Cte, not 7. There may be a public act that requires a Rec Cte. He will
  look into this. He suggests the committee meets 4 times a year and has
  diversity of age and skills.
  II. Ordinance Update – Led by Jason
  A. New definitions – Incorporation into districts
• Discussed mobile homes; we want to allow them because it adds tax value to
  the township.
• General residential will be the only district to allow duplexes and multi-family
  units.
• Short term rentals will be permitted everywhere except General Residential
  where it will be permitted with special conditions. In all districts it will
  require a permit.
• Shipping containers are an accessory use, not principal use.
• Discussed sauna buildings being put under same conditions as outdoor wood
  boilers.
• Discussed principal use versus accessory uses.
  B. Other topics per Jason’s guidance
  III. Next meetings
  A. December 7th 2023: Planning Commission work session
  B. 2024 quarterly meetings will be moved to Thursdays. The incorrect dates were
  listed for April and October in the previous agenda. Below are the correct dates.
• January 11
• April 11
• July 11
• October 10
  Adjourn – Motioned by Jay, seconded by Robert. Adjourned @ 7:15pm

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Call to Order:  6:00 p.m.

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chairperson; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Board ofReview; Robert Lindert, Vice Chairperson; Jay Loman, Board of Review Chair.  Absent:  Bob Janda, Board Representative; and Donna Preston, Trustee; both absent with notice.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Recited

Guests:  Jason McCarthy

Approval of Agenda:  Joe made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Robert.  Motion carried.

Approval of minutes of March 16, 2023 work session:  Robert made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Joe.  Motion carried.

Agenda: 

1.  Recreation Plan Survey update:

Joe made a collection box for surveys to be dropped off and is located at the town hall.  We sent a total of 500 surveys.  The Survey Monkey is on Facebook and township’s website.  There is a problem with the website and Nancy will work on that.  Nancy reported she has already received some surveys back. 

2.  Recreation Plan update from Jason:

We reviewed the updated sections of our recreation plan.  We like the new map and suggest using a map legend that is color coded to show what we own and what we don’t own, plus identify our main attractions. 

Tonight, we concentrated on the goals & objectives and 5-year work plan. 

Goal #6:  We eliminated goal #6 but kept the objectives and transferred them to goal #4.  The goals were similar, and we felt the objectives fit better under goal #4. 

Goal #7 will now become goal #6.

Under Goal #2 we will add the possibility to mitigate dust control for certain trails.

5-Year Work Plan:  Jason discussed the action plan for projects.  Our goals/objectives will guide us on these.  We could choose a project for every year.  Examples:  2024 – redo the baseball field and get cost estimate.  2025 – kayak launch by Witz Marina on property we own.  The information we obtain from the survey and public hearing will assist us in this.  The deadline to apply for grants is April 1 of every year.  This plan can be amended but must repeat the whole process again, i.e., 30-day review, public hearing.

Timeline for Recreation Plan:  The in-person input session is set for Thursday, May 4, 2023.  If conflict with date, will change it.  We are trying for completion of the rec plan draft by June 1, 2023 and 30-day review begins.  We are trying for a public hearing in July with board approval in August.

3.  Zoning Ordinance

The Zoning Administrator (ZA) and building inspector positions need to be filled.  Chris Wahmhoff, a trustee with the Township Board, stated he would be interested becoming the ZA.  There may be a conflict with his position on the board, but in rural areas that may be overlooked when it is hard to find someone to fill certain positions.  Jay expressed interest in the building inspector position and even considers the ZA.  Both positions require certification via training.

We discussed the article from the MTA on using a municipal civil infraction to enforce nuisance, zoning and building code violations.  Jason explained this very well and we need to implement this in our ordinance.

Before adjourning, Nancy polled each of us as to how many surveys (paper and on-line) we think will be returned by April 30^th.   We had some optimistic numbers!!

Next meeting:  Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the firehall.

Adjourn:  Robert made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Jay.  Motion carried.  Adjournment was at 7:30 p.m.

Submitted by Linnea Barron, Secretary

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Call to Order:  6 p.m.

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chairperson; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Trustee; Bob Janda, Township Board Representative; Robert Lindert, Vice Chairperson.  Absent with notice:  Jay Loman, Donna Preston.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Recited

Approval of Agenda:  Bob made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Robert.  Motion carried.

Approval of minutes from March 9, 2023 work session:  Joe made a motion to accept the minutes, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.

Agenda:  This work session was dedicated to printing out the recreation plan survey (500 copies), cross-referencing the addresses on the resident list with the homestead list as there were duplicates, applying the addresses to the envelopes and stamping them.   This process took three hours, and we were happy to have Sue Bollech to assist us.  Nancy will take these to the post office.  Joe is making a collection box for participants to drop off their survey at the township hall.

Next meeting:  Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the firehall.

Adjourn:  Joe made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.  Adjournment at 9 p.m.

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Call to Order:  6:30 p.m.

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chairperson; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Trustee; Bob Janda, Township Board Representative; Robert Lindert, Vice Chairperson.  Absent:  Jay Loman with notice; Donna Preston, with notice.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Recited

Guests:  Jason McCarthy, by phone.

Approval of Agenda:  Robert made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.

Approval of minutes from February 16, 2023 meeting:  The topic of noise ordinance was added to the agenda and discussed.  Therefore, Joe made a motion to approve the minutes with the addition of noise ordinance in the agenda, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.

Agenda: 

1.  Recreation Plan.

A.  Jason McCarthy joined us via phone for this meeting to go over the recreation plan.  Changes were made to the sections Introduction, Community Description and Administrative Structure as requested.

 In section, Arvon Township Recreation Inventory, it was felt a map indicating the township waterfront parcels and other points of our recreation inventory would be helpful.  Jason agreed and has already planned for this.  We also requested that the Huron River information should go under the title Additional Area Recreational Facilities.  Also, under this title we changed the description of the first sentence of Silver River Boat Launch Site to read; Silver River Boat Launch is near the corner of Skanee and Townline Roads.  Jason will work on the description for Aura Town Hall & Ball Field.  The Town Hall is the site of the Aura Jamboree, a well-attended event in the summer.  Under Big Erik’s Bridge & Campground the addition of noting outhouses and a popular place for steelhead fishing was suggested.  A sentence was removed from the Old Ravine River Cemetery and correction of typos. 

The section, Description of the Planning Process, was explained by Jason.  He went into detail on how the “system” planning method works. 

Section, Description of the Public Input Process: The Community Survey, paper and on-line, will start mid-March and end on April 30.  We have a tentative date for the Early Public Input of Thursday, May 4, 2023.

B.  Goals and Objectives:  Jason proposed seven goals and objectives.  Jason stated that they are general but detailed.  The Michigan State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) was utilized in these goals and objectives and adapted for Arvon Township’s needs.  He pointed out that each goal had a word emphasizing the purpose of the goal.   Nancy questioned the repetition of trail networks on goal 2 as this subject has been covered by the township with decision against trail networks due to a good portion would travel on Skanee Road and be too dangerous, or on side roads causing extreme dust conditions for residents.  The township is not against trail networks if alternative routes could be established.  Jason commented that purchase of easements from landowners for trails is a possibility.  On goals 6 and 7, Nancy stated that the objectives did not seem to project the goal.  Jason will reword these two.

C.  Survey.

Jason suggested some changes to the survey, remove the question on gender and how often one recreates.  We agreed to remove #4 on gender, but decided to keep question on how often one recreates.  We would like a header for the survey.  Jason will add a statement at the end of the survey stating people can photocopy the paper survey if multiple people want to participate.

We have a budget of $700 for the survey.  Jim Fedie has supplied the addresses for the paper survey.  There are duplicates and businesses that we need to eliminate to get the number down to 500.  Nancy had a question if too many addresses, can we pick and choose who to send to.  Jason will investigate that with MTA attorney.

Jason explained how the Survey Monkey works.  We plan to print, label and stuff envelopes at the next meeting.

D.  Review schedule. 

Survey dates of mid-March to April 30.  In-person input session set for Thursday, May 4, 2023.  Results of survey and input session will be used in the Goals and Objectives and Action Plan.  Tentative date for public hearing is June or July with final adoption in August or September.

E.  Next work session set for Thursday, March 16, 2023, at 6 p.m. with Jason in attendance.

2.  Zoning Ordinance

A.  Chris Wahmhoff, Trustee on Township Board, has agreed to be the Zoning Administrator (ZA) after receiving the education necessary for the job.  We need to check with MTA if he can serve as ZA and on the Board.

B.  Nancy read an article from MTA on enforcing ordinances.   The article changed violating an ordinance from a misdemeanor to a municipal civil infraction with procedures to follow including sending a letter to violator, possible appearance in court with a judge to determine outcome.  Jason was aware of this recommendation and strongly suggests that we adopt this approach in the updated ordinance.  We will have to make sure the duties of the ZA are clearly defined in the updated ordinance.

Next meeting date will be Thursday, March 16, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the firehall.  We will be printing surveys, addressing and stuffing envelopes.  Jason will be at this meeting and go through the next steps in the survey results, Goals and Objectives, and Action plan.

Adjourn:  Robert made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Joe.  All approved and motion carried.  Adjournment at 7:55 p.m.

Submitted by Linnea Barron, Secretary

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Call to Order:  6 p.m.

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chairperson; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Trustee; Bob Janda, Township Board Representative; Robert Lindert, Vice Chairman; Jay Loman, absent with notice; Donna Preston, absent with notice.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Recited

Guests:  None.

Approval of Agenda:  Bob made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Robert.  Motion carried.

Approval of minutes of January 24, 2023 meeting:  Robert made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Joe.  Motion carried.

Agenda: 

1.  Recreation Plan:  We reviewed the first three sections, Introduction, Community Description, and Administrative Structure, in the proposed plan with the changes that Jason made.  We still feel the map on page 2, Figure 2, could be larger or just different from map, Figure 1. 

The new sections we reviewed were:  Recreation Inventory; Description of the Planning Process; and Description of the Public Input Process.  In the Recreation Inventory, we removed Roland Lake from the inventory as we do not own it and placed this site under possible new category, Other Natural Resources.  Also in this section under the Arvon Township Waterfront Parcels we would list only the 34 acres of undeveloped Lake Superior frontage property, the 38-acre parcel near Vicks Point and the 100-foot strip of property at Witz Marina as properties that we own.  The Witz Marina, trails and rustic camping at Pointe Abbaye and the area managed by the Keweenaw Land Trust at Lightfoot Bay would be listed under Other Natural Resources.  In the Description of the Public Input Process, we changed the order so that the Community Survey would be the first step for us followed by the Early Public Input, next would be the 30-day Review Period and closing with the Public Hearing & Resolution of Adoption.

We also noted some minor typos that need to be corrected.

Other Recreation Resources include:  Roland Lake, Point Abbaye, Witz Marina, Silver River access, Big Erick’s campground, Lightfoot Bay Nature Reserve, Aura Town Hall and Ballfield, Skanee cemetery and Ravine River cemetery, Arvon Township historical museum.  Natural features include:  Waterfalls (Silver River Falls, Quartzite Falls, Letherby Falls), the slate quarry, mouth of the Huron River and Mount Arvon.

The survey, paper and on-line version, was reviewed in detail.  On #4 to save some room on the survey we combined some recreations.  We eliminated question #10 as unnecessary.  We set the date, May 8, 2023, as the person input session.  Tentative date of May 16, 2023 set for work session.  Tentative date for public hearing in June with final board approval at July 10, 2023 township board meeting.  Completed recreation plan set for August.

2.  Zoning Ordinance.

The need for a noise ordinance was brought up with a recent incident that occurred.  This would involve airB&B’s, short-term rentals, etc. 

Adjourn:  Nancy made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Joe.  Motion carried.  Work session ended at 7;50 p.m.

Next meeting:  Thursday, March 2, 2023, tentative.

Submitted by Linnea Barron, Secretary

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Call to Order:  6:00 p.m.

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chairperson; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Trustee; Bob Janda, Township Board Representative; Robert Lindert, Vice Chairperson; Jay Loman, Board of Appeals Representative.  Absent:  Donna Preston, absent with notice.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Recited

Guests:  None.

Approval of Agenda:  Addition made to the agenda under recreation plan; list of resources.   Joe made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.

Approval of minutes of January 12, 2023 work session:  Joe made a motion to accept the minutes, seconded by Robert.  Motion carried.

Agenda: 

A.  Recreation Plan:  We reviewed the sections of the recreation plan provided by Jason again.  In answer to Jason’s question of providing examples of community volunteerism in Arvon Township recreation planning:  Ballfield clean-up done by volunteers; Farmer’s Market; the Christmas party for children put on by the fire department auxiliary; Aura Jamboree; community garage sales; pie social/quilt show by historical society; Memorial Day luncheon provided by the historical society; craft show; 4^th of July parade, ice fishing tournament.  Another question from Jason was about the township interacting with the school or other public agencies regarding recreation programs or activities:   Arvon Township school Christmas program at the town hall; Veteran’s Day program at the school.

In preparing our recreation plan survey we utilized the one from Autrain to guide us.  We ended up with twelve questions that will be on-line as well as paper copy, as follows.

1.  Do you or your family use recreational facilities offered in Arvon Township?  Yes or No

2.  Does Arvon Township have enough recreational facilities to accommodate our residents and visitors?   Yes or No and written comment section.

3.  Are Arvon Township’s recreational facilities that you have used adequately maintained?  Yes or No.

4.  What activities do you and your family members participate in Arvon Township for recreation?  (Please include all seasons.)  Written comments.

5.  Are there additional recreational opportunities you would like to see developed in Arvon Township?  Please be creative.

6.  How many hours per week do you spend in recreation?

7.  What time of year do you or your family recreate in Arvon Township?  Year-round, spring, summer, fall, winter.

8.  What is your age?  18 & under, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50+

9.  What is your gender:  Male, female.

10.  Which one of these Arvon Township recreation areas do you believe need additional improvements:  Need to supply list of our resources.

11.  Are you interested in joining a recreation committee for Arvon Township?

12.  Do you live in Arvon Township?  (on-line only)

For the return of paper copies of the survey a drop box will be provided at the post office, town hall (fire hall), Huron Bay Trading Post and the Finns.  A deadline date will be set for dropping off the surveys and the on-line survey.

Linnea will compile a list of Arvon Township’s resources for recreation purposes.

B.  Zoning Ordinance.

Nancy reported that all of Ken’s files are now with Lisa Marinich, Township Clerk.  They include all current and old files.  Ken indicated he would like to continue with land division.  Ken also suggested to Jay Fish, Township Supervisor, that the township needs to have a person in the office at least a couple hours a day or week.  Nancy will continue to be in contact with Ken via email regarding the ordinance and the fee schedule.

The following definitions were discussed for inclusion in our ordinance:  concrete dome structures, geodesic domes, yurts, root cellars, greenhouses, barndominiums.  Also multiple cabins on 5-acre parcel for rent and vaulted privy instead of mound septic system needs to be addressed.  The vaulted privy would be a health department issue. 

Adjourn:  Robert made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.  Adjournment was at 8 p.m.

Next meeting date for work session:  Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the fire hall.

Submitted by Linnea Barron, Secretary

January 11, 2023

Call to order:  6 p.m.

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chair; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Trustee; Bob Janda, Township Board Representative; Robert Lindert, Trustee; Jay Loman, Board of Appeals Representative.  Absent:  Donna Preston, absent with notice; Ken Andersen.

Recognition of visitors:  None.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Recited

Comments on agenda:  Nancy walked us through what was on the agenda and if we  had anything to add.

Approval of agenda:  Robert made a motion to accept the agenda, seconded by Bob.  Motion carried.

Approval of minutes from October 19, 2022 quarterly meeting:  In the minutes the names of Jay Fish and Linda Keohane needed to be added as receiving letters from FEMA or DEQ.  Joe made a motion to accept the minutes with the addition of the names, seconded by Jay.  Motion carried.

Public comments:  None.

Chairman Comments:  Location and Format of Planning Commission Documents.

Nancy explained her concern of where Planning Commission documents are stored, i.e., paper, electronic, etc.  She researched MTA for some answers and was able to get on the community forum site where she asked this question and received various replies with the same concerns.  Consequently, she will be meeting via Zoom with some of these people to address this issue.

Old Business:

1.  Planning commission comments/concerns:  Joe had a concern with the recent house fire in the community regarding the cleanup of the debris left over from the fire.  There are a couple cases in this community where the cleanup of fire debris took a couple of years to get cleaned up.  Insurance sometimes dictates the cleanup.  The question was if there should be something in our zoning ordinance on this.

2.  Bob Janda:  Report form Township Board Rep:  Bob thanked this board for their work.

3.  Jay Loman:  Report from Zoning Board of Appeals Rep:  None.

4.  Ken Andersen:  No report.

5.  Flood Insurance:  We have all reviewed the information provided from FEMA and the DEQ concerning the areas designated as a floodplain.  Nancy brought up a map for us to look at showing the area off of Collins Road.  We have a copy of Eagle Harbor Township and how they address this in their ordinance.  We made a decision to put this on hold until we can review this further.

6.  Recreation Plan:  We have a meeting tomorrow night with Jason McCarthy who is assisting us with our plan.  We have been approved by the board to have a mailing of a survey to all residents of Arvon Township.  We feel this is the best way to reach everyone.  This will be discussed further tomorrow night.

7.  Zoning Ordinance update:  We all have an electronic copy of Arvon Township’s ordinance.  We have discussed adding definitions to our ordinance.  Nancy will put the completed ordinance on the website.

8.  Fee Schedule update:  We reviewed the present fee schedule concerning building permits, that has not changed since 2015.  We felt this should be addressed by the building inspector as it was quite confusing.  Jay mentioned that he would investigate other townships on how they handle fee schedules. 

New Business:

1.  Review of By-Laws and select officers:  Nancy brought up a few issues with our by-laws that we are not doing.  We reviewed that appointed positions are done yearly.  We also need a vice chairperson.  Robert made a motion for Nancy to be chairperson, Linnea as secretary, seconded by Bob.  Nancy made a motion to have Robert be our vice chairperson, seconded by Linnea.  All approved.  Nancy gave us all an assignment to read the by-laws before the next quarterly meeting in April for any changes we may want to consider.

2.  Quarterly meetings:  We set up the following planning commission meeting schedule:

January 11, 2023, April 12, 2023, July 12, 2023, and October 11, 2023.

3.  Training for members:  Nancy mentioned that she and Robert received training when they joined the planning commission.  She wondered if there was any other training available for us.  This will be followed up with a possible check with MTA, and sometimes our township board receives this information.

4.  Budget for 2023:  The Township Board sets our budget from the information we give them.  Training costs, ordinance publication, master plan hard copies, recreation plan hard copies, and grant monies.

Next Quarterly Meeting:  April 12, 2023, 6 p.m. at the firehall.

Adjourn:  Bob made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Robert.  All approved.  Adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

December 8, 2022

Call to Order:  6:00 PM

Roll Call:  Nancy Strohschein, Chair; Linnea Barron, Secretary; Joe Bollech, Trustee, Bob Janda, Township Board Representative; Jay Loman, Trustee; Robert Lindert, Trustee.  Absent:  Donna Preston, Trustee, absent with notice.

Pledge of Allegiance recited.

Guests:  Jay Fish

Approval of Agenda:  Bob made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Robert, all approved.

Approval of minutes from November 9, 2022 work session:  A mistake was noticed by Jay that his name was listed as Joe, so that correction was made.  Nancy made a motion, seconded by Bob to accept the minutes with the correction of Jay’s name.  All approved.

Agenda: 

1.  Recreation Plan:  Jason informed us that the deadline to apply for grants is February 1^st.  We will not be able to complete our recreation plan before that date.  Even without grants, there were many ideas we could do without grant monies:  Replace fence at the ballfield, improve dugouts, and a hiking trail at the ballpark were suggested.  Jay felt that help from other players could accomplish this.  Also the Covid money could be used to fund these projects.

We discussed possibly having a recreation committee, separate from the planning commission, to keep up with the needs of the community.  This committee would be completely voluntary and work with the planning commission.

As work on the recreation plan progresses, ways to get input from the community include a survey (paper and on-line); newspaper article; posters at the school, post office, Trading Post, and the Finns; Facebook, Arvon township website were mentioned.

2.  Review of rec plans from other townships.  Our assignment for this meeting was to go on-line and look at other townships’ recreation plans.  Nancy prepared a chart for us to use with suggested townships with categories including:  length; recreation committee; DNR grants; other grants, past project updates, public input, comments.  We had info from Mueller, Eagle Harbor, Chassell, Baraga, Bergland.  We listed what we liked about each including priorities, assets (park/public spaces), survey (paper and electronic).  We felt this was helpful.

3.  Zoning Ordinance:  Word document from Jason sent out to all members.  Definitions from Jason that came from Autrain were sent to Kenny to review.  Our ordinance is always changing as new issues to deal with are presented.  With that in mind, it was suggested that we have a yearly public hearing to present these changes for inclusion in our ordinance.  The first part of June was suggested for this hearing.  This will be discussed further.

4.  Robert talked about the Dark Skies status and regulating the lighting used by businesses, discourage use of LED signs for example.

Adjourn:  Bob made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Jay.  All approved.  Meeting adjourned at 7:10 PM.

Next Meeting:  January 12, 2023, 6 PM at the firehall.

Submitted by Linnea Barron, Secretary