County of Antrim

PLANNING COMMISSION

Jill Barnard	Jim Pascoe, Chairman	Al Luurtsema
Joe Allen	Tom Maleck, Vice-Chair	Laura Stanek
Alan Martel	Jack Norris, Secretary	Marshall Wright

Minutes

February 03, 2004, 7 p.m.

Antrim County Building - Board of Commissioners Room

Members present:

Jim Pascoe, Jill Barnard, Marshall Wright, Alan Martel, Jack Norris, Laura Stanek and Joseph Allen

Members absent:

Tom Maleck and Al Luurtsema

Advisory Present

Stan Moore

Advisory Absent

Pepper Bromelmeier

Staff and others

Pete Garwood, Howard Yamaguchi, Jim Gurr, and Ed Martel

1. Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Pete Garwood (organizational meeting)

2. Election of Officers

Pete Garwood opened the floor to nominations for the position of Planning Commission chairman. Marshall Wright nominated Jim Pascoe. Jill Barnard nominated Tom Malek Jack Norris nominated Marshall Wright. Marshall Wright declined. Joe Allen moved to close nomination, with Marshall Wright seconding the motion.

Pete Garwood called for a roll call vote. Votes for Pascoe: Allen, Stanek, Norris, Martel, Wright, and Pascoe. Votes for Malek: Barnard. Pascoe elected PC chair for 2004. Pete Garwood turned over the chairmanship of the meeting to Pascoe.

The new chairman entertained nominations for position of vice chairman. Marshall Wright nominated Tom Malek. Jack Norris nominated Joe Allen. Joe Allen declined.
Motion by Laura Stanek, seconded by Jack Norris, to close nominations for Vice Chairperson and cast a unanimous ballot. Motion carried - unanimous.

The chair next opened the floor to nominations for position of secretary. He noted that in his experience, a separate note taker is required to enable the secretary to participate in the discussions. Staff indicated they will continue to take minutes. Jill Barnard nominated Jack Norris.. Jack Norris nominated Jill Barnard. Jill Barnard declined.
Motion by Marshall Wright, seconded by Joe Allen, to close nominations for Secretary and cast a unanimous ballot. Motion carried - unanimous.

3. 2004 Meeting Dates and Times
	The chair entertained a motion to keep the meeting dates and times the same, unless there is a pressing need to change.
	Motion by Jack Norris, seconded by Jill Barnard, to retain the 7 p.m. of the first Tuesday of every month as the regular Planning Commission meeting date. Motion carried – unanimous.
	Ensuing discussion brought up the need to set an alternate date in the event that weather conditions force a postponement of the meeting. This alternate date would not necessarily be used if a cancellation takes place due to lack of agenda items.
	Motion by Alan Martel, seconded by Joe Allen, to reserve 7 p.m. of the second Tuesday of every month as alternate Planning Commission meeting date. Motion carried – unanimous.
4. Antrim County Land Use Atlas
	Alex Bloye of Land Information Access Association (LIAA) presented 35 copies of the completed Antrim County Land Use Atlas to the Planning Commission. He thanked Antrim County for its support and patronage. Howard briefed the Commission on plans to distribute the printed copies to all the townships, villages, and their planning commissions. He also noted that CD’s of the Atlas will be the preferred medium of distribution to the public. Alex then fielded questions from the Commission, particularly on the use of the change table. The chair thanked Mr. Bloye for his efforts in compiling the Land Use Atlas.
5. Public Comment Periods
	The chair opened the floor to a discussion and vote on setting public comment periods for upcoming Planning Commission (PC) meetings. Pros and cons of allowing two periods, one at the beginning and end of the meeting, as opposed to one at the beginning, were discussed. A comment period at the beginning allows audience members to give their comments, then leave without having to sit through the whole meeting. A period at the end allows audience members who came in late to give their comments, and also allows those who stay to the end to comment on the agenda items discussed that evening by PC members..
	The need to limit discussions to some set period of time, as well as the necessity of placing long comments on the main agenda, were discussed. Staff noted that if an agenda item comes in at the last minute, staff (within reason) will place the new item on a revised agenda, which in turn will be distributed to the PC on the night of the meeting. If needed, the addition will be cleared with the chair.
	Motion by Marshall Wright, seconded by Jack Norris, to have public comment periods at the beginning and end of each meeting, with the chairman setting the allowable speaking times at his discretion. Motion carried – unanimous.
6. Minutes of PC Meetings of October 7, 2003, and November 4, 2003
	Prior to the approval of minutes, the PC discussed the wording of the minutes. Staff was directed to report the discussions as the collective view of the PC, rather than identifying individual comments and viewpoints. The PC also discussed the reasons for removing attribution of comments, the PC being an administrative body rather than a legislative body. The fact that the PC is departing from the standard that administrative minutes  have attributions, while legislative minutes do not, was discussed.
	Motion by Marshall Wright, seconded by Joe Allen, to approve the October 7, 2003, and November 4, 2003 minutes of the Planning Commission. Motion carried – unanimous.
7. Membership Changes
	Pete Garwood briefed the PC on the changes made by the county Board of Commissioners regarding the Planning Commission. He stated that membership was reduced from 11 to 9 because of the reduction in meeting budgets for all commissions and councils.
8. Milton Township Zoning Map Change
	The county PC was asked to comment on a proposed zoning map change for an 80-acre area currently zoned manufacturing to agricultural zone. This area is part of a 200 acre area that was re-zoned to manufacturing to agricultural almost three years ago. In general, the Planning Commission saw this change as a positive move.
	Motion by Marshall Wright, seconded by Jack Norris, to recommend to the Milton Township Board that they approve the re-zoning of the 80-acre area from manufacturing back to agriculture, to recommend that the Township re-zone additional acreage in the manufacturing zone back to agriculture if appropriate.
	Motion amendment by Marshall Wright, seconded by Jack Norris, to revise the foregoing motion to recommend to the Milton Township Board that they: · approve the re-zoning of the 80-acre area from manufacturing back to agriculture, · re-zone additional acreage in the area back to agriculture if appropriate, and · revise their Future Land Use Map in the Master Plan to reflect these changes. Motion carried – unanimous.
9. Elk Rapids Township Zoning Ordinance Amendments
	The PC next turned to the zoning ordinance amendments submitted by Elk Rapids Township for review and comment. The proposed amendments cover revisions to the Township’s “Environmental Zone.” Pete Garwood reviewed his staff analysis, while PC members added their own comments to the proposed amendments.
	Motion by Laura Stanek, seconded by Jill Barnard, to recommend to the Elk Rapids Township Board that they approve the proposed amendments of the Environmental Zone, taking into account the staff comments. Motion passed – unanimous.
10. Master Plan Update
	The Planning Commission discussed the land use portion of the master plan, which will be under preparation now that the Land Use Atlas has been delivered. Al Martel will prepare, for distribution next month, a draft of the portion of the chapter summarizing the information on the Land Use Atlas. Discussion ensued on how the county Master Plan (possibly to be renamed “General Plan?”) might incorporate future land use concepts. Discussion centered on the usefulness (or lack thereof) of creating a map, when land use decisions are devolved to local units of government. Suggestions were fielded on providing instead a set of development guidelines for specific locales, given the projected levels of economic, agricultural, and transportation development for the area.
	Howard briefed the PC on the revised visioning session results grouped by subject matter. This second version ranks the individual issues based on the scores they received at the sessions. This version was distributed to PC members at the meeting.
11. Communications
	Howard introduced a flyer, distributed by the NW Michigan Council of Governments, of a class on Ethics and Conflicts of Interest, sponsored by the Leelanau Planning Commission and taught by MSU Extension. The workshop will be held on March 4, 2004, at the MSU Horicultural Research Station in Bingham Township. Howard invited all from the PC to attend. There is a training budget in this year’s budget.
12. Public Comment
	Ed Martel spoke on the need for local standards in identifying and delineating wetlands. He informed the PC that an “affinity group” of wetland professionals has been formed in the County. This group includes ACD staff and independent consultants.
	Jim Gurr talked to the PC on the need for Antrim County to develop its own model for growth and problem solving in our rural environment, as an alternative to the governor’s emphasis on smart urban growth.
13. Member Comment
	The chair invited member comments around the table.

Meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.