Planning Commission Restarts Discussion Following Meeting Notice Issue

However, the Lake Township Planning Commission has opened up the discussion on the proposed amendments to the RV and watercraft storage regulations following the declaration that the actions taken during its July 15 meeting were not valid. This was because the Lake Township Planning Commission had decided to revisit the issue after realizing that there was a possibility that the July 15 meeting was not properly advertised according to the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

Current Rules Create Challenges for Waterfront Property Owners

The review revolved around issues to do with the storage of recreational vehicles (RVs) and motorized boats in the R-1 waterfront district of the township next to Lake Huron. According to the present zoning ordinance, recreational vehicles must be stored in the rear yards.

Side yards may only store such vehicles when property owners cannot access the rear yards. In previous meetings, residents stated that it was difficult to comply with these regulations because waterfront parcels have peculiar designs that prevent rear-yard access. To solve these problems, the township administration suggested an amendment of the ordinance.

Commission Considers Broader Rule Changes

Planning Commission Chair Robert Siver recommended permitting storage of RV’s and motorized watercraft within side yards of Lake Huron frontage lots. If side yards cannot accommodate such storage, then the front yard can serve as an alternative location, on condition that the vehicles comply with the accessory building requirements.

Under the amendment, there will also be an expectation that any vehicle stored within residential lots does not obstruct vision and is kept off public road rights-of-way according to Michigan Department of Transportation guidelines.

In his contribution, Commissioner Matt Pryor emphasized that flexibility in such requirements ought to apply to lots that are not waterfront. In other zoning districts such as R-2 zoning districts, residents also suffer from the same difficulty with access due to odd lot configuration.

The commissioners concluded that amending the ordinance for all affected lots would be more equitable. Therefore, they chose to amend the ordinance at the township level rather than just the waterfront lots.

No Final Decision Yet

Though commissioners have decided to work on amending the language, no official steps were taken. No ordinance amendments were approved, no public hearing was scheduled, and there were no recommendations for amendments to the township board.

Also, it was made clear that the discussion is limited to the storage of RVs and watercraft. RVs camping regulations will be reviewed separately after the information will be given from the township's zoning administrator.

Lake Township Planning Commission is expected to review the proposed ordinance amendments at its next regularly scheduled meeting, to be held on August 12 at Lake Township Hall in Caseville.